It’s rewarding to help so many right now, says bar owner
ABUSINESS owner whose venture has been closed due to lockdown has spoken of his pride at volunteering in the battle to discover cases of the South African Covid-19 variant in Southport.
Will Bradley runs the popular Word of Mouth wine bar on Hesketh Drive, a short walk from Churchtown Village in Southport, with his wife Adele.
The venue is usually buzzing with customers enjoying dining in or sitting outside. But with that currently quiet after being temporarily closed due to the national lockdown, Will has now rolled up his sleeves and stepped forward to help the huge local Covid testing effort.
He is among scores of local people who helped staff the mobile testing sites which have opened up at the former Kew Park And Ride site at Foul Lane (now closed), and Southport Theatre & Convention Centre.
Others helped take tens of thousands of Covid home testing kits door to door to homes in the Dukes, Cambridge and Norwood Ward areas.
It was a huge community effort, led by Sefton Council and the NHS, which aims to find and isolate any cases of the South African Covid variant in order to keep Southport people safe.
Will said: “I own Word of Mouth on Hesketh Drive and since we have been closed I have been working for the NHS all around the North West on a Covid Mobile Testing Unit.
“I have been working at Southport the Kew Park and Ride Mobile Centre.
“This gives me great self-pride to be helping local people to be tested and being one of the many key workers in this fight against the pandemic.
“Working on the Covid testing unit has been very rewarding, helping and assisting people from all walks of life to be tested.
“It is very satisfying to be a part of the mass testing at Kew, especially as I live in the area.
“In a way it is very similar to my hospitality background – I have met some very interesting people and the teams I work alongside are from many varied backgrounds that even include airline pilots.
“From this role I have gained more knowledge on how valuable life is and how we all should adhere to the advice of staying safe, wear a face covering, distance, sanitise – this is reality! Follow the guidelines. Stay safe.”
The door-to-door testing was paused in the Dukes and Cambridge wards over the weekend.
The council has now confirmed that no further testing will be carried out at the mobile testing unit at the Southport Theatre and Convention Centre as the number of tests from the mobile unit and the home testing combined mean that sufficient testing has taken place.
Sefton Council set up the mobile test sites as part of the programme to detect the South African variant of the Covid-19 virus.
The council has been notified of two, apparently unrelated, historic cases of the variant.
Everyone aged 16 or over within the target areas is being urged to get a test.
Will Bradley is hoping the current operation will help to maintain the recent reduction of Covid cases in Southport and across the UK, with the hope of lockdown restrictions being eased soon and businesses gradually reopening.
He said: “I am looking forward to Word of Mouth reopening hopefully for the spring. In between working on a mobile testing site, myself and my wife Adele have been getting it ready to welcome back all our valued customers who we have missed during lockdown.
“We opened Word of Mouth in December 2019 and have spent the majority of our first year in lockdown. We have many valued customers who have supported us throughout and we are very grateful and cannot wait to reopen.”
Sefton Council for Voluntary Service
(CVS), South Sefton Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) and Southport and Formby Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) are working in partnership to register and mobilise volunteers to support the vaccination programme.
They said: “A co-ordinated effort is important to ensure that as many people as possible across Sefton receive the vaccination safely and effectively.
“The programme is designed so that people can sign-up to volunteer in a range of different roles, depending on availability and preference.”
For more on the volunteering roles and to sign up to become a vaccination volunteer, visit: volunteeringsefton.org.uk/vaccination-volunteer/
Residents can still have a Covid-19 test done at Splashworld if they have no symptoms, or can book a test at Southport Town Hall if they do have symptoms. Alternatively, they can call 119 and request for a home testing kit to be delivered.