WE WANT TO HELP!

++ Thousands of Scots want to join NHS volunteer army ++ 405,000 sign up south of the Border in single day ++ Sturgeon urged to co-ordinate recruitment drive ++

A VOLUNTEER army is ready to help Scotland’s NHS and vital public services cope with the coronavirus crisis.

Thousands of Scots are stepping up to assist with non-medical tasks such as delivering medicines and fetching supplies.

The Scottish Government is now being urged to provide more leadership by co-ordinating volunteers and making sure they are carrying out work that is needed most by the NHS and other vital services.

More than 405,000 people volunteered to help in England within just 24 hours after UK Health Secretary Matt Hancock made an urgent appeal on Tuesday – but there has been no similar recruitment drive here.

As the number of Scottish deaths hit 22, with 719 confirmed cases, George Thomson, chief executive of the Volunteer Scotland charity, called for more ‘command and control’ from

the Scottish Government and councils. He said: ‘We have so many people wanting to help, play their part and contribute locally to meet different needs. The goodwill and community spirit is there.

‘What we are waiting for now is clarity on what is required, how we get protections in place and how we can assist.

‘We need to see real co-ordination of these activities, such as one local authority co-ordinating for their area. That is the best way forward – to get some co-ordination, command and control in place .

‘The issue is not willingness to help, it is what help is needed. We have to define that

‘We need to prepare for a tsunami’

and then look at how we organise ourselves around meeting that need.’

He added: ‘If you imagine a tsunami – we need to prepare for it. It is about what we can do now, what we can do in the middle of it and what we can do when the wave of infection has passed, whether on jobs, mental health or other areas.’

After Mr Hancock launched his appeal south of the Border, people in Scotland who tried to respond found the scheme was open only to those in England – and there is no identical alternative north of the Border.

The Scottish Government has mainly focused on encouraging retired doctors and nurses to return to the NHS – and said on Tuesday there have been 3,300 responses.

Scottish Tory health spokesman Miles Briggs said: ‘The Scottish and UK Governments

have worked really well together as we face this unprecedented crisis.

‘Now this volunteering scheme has been set up for England, this would be another good way for both to collaborate. Hopefully the Scottish Government will follow suit and harness the amazing goodwill out there.’

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon last night promised to look at whether more central direction should be provided for the ‘vast number of people’ who are eager to help with the ‘national effort’, adding the Government ‘will certainly consider whether we need to do more national co-ordination’.

She said: ‘I see in my own social media groups, my own email, my own personal contacts around the country, that there is an enormous amount of this voluntary effort under way. If there is a sense that we need to co-ordinate that better we can do that – there is a website, ReadyScotland.org, which gives people a lot of information about that.

‘The announcement last week by [Communities Secretary] Aileen Campbell about more funding for wellbeing initiatives had funding for community voluntary efforts.

‘People also need access to advice about how to safely, without putting their own health at risk, take part in voluntary efforts.’

Comment – Page 24