Wotton Area Mutual Aid Volunteer Newsletter WAMA VOLUNTEER NEWSLETTER #4We know that many people will look to family and friends for assistance during the Covid-19 outbreak, and Wotton Area Mutual Aid group is here to make sure that no one is left alone, by connecting people in need, with volunteers who are available to help out General Info Thanks for being a WAMA volunteer! If you recently signed up, you can access our first 3 newsletters on our facebook page. We hope you are all staying well. It is fantastic to hear the loud clapping coming from homes around the area on a Thursday night. We too would like to extend our gratitude to all key workers and those keeping us safe, looked after, and fed at the moment. Please remember to continue to monitor the "request for help" spreadsheet to see if your neighbours need anything. It is also important to mark any jobs as "complete" once they are finished so we can remove them from the spreadsheet. A few people are feeling frustrated that there are never any outstanding tasks. We are seeing that as a good sign! There are so many people willing to help that they come off the list quickly. Also, some volunteers who have helped their neighbour before are now just staying in contact and helping directly. We are also managing prescription deliveries in a different way, so they aren't being shown on the spreadsheet. However, we are here to ensure everyone in Wotton and the surrounding villages get the support they need - either through us, directly with neighbours or from other community groups. If you know of anyone who is isolated and may need contact from a WAMA volunteer, please give them our phone number: 07545 042 794 Contactless Co-Op The Co-Op is working with WAMA to ensure that our volunteers handle as little money as possible and people who have run out of cash can still get shopping delivered. It is now possible to collect someone's shopping and take the Co-Op's portable contactless card machine to your neighbour so they can pay by card. Please watch the video below which explains, in detail, how this is done. Once you've all had a look, we can start advertising the service. Soup! 90 portions of soup went out over the two days this week. The service is being used by local health workers for patients, by self-isolating individuals and families and by caring neighbours to get soup to people who either need it or will be cheered up by it! This popular free soup delivery service is back again Wednesday and Thursday this coming week. If people would like soup, they can call Wotton Baptist Church on 01453 844726 between 9 a.m -12. This week it will be Broccoli and Stilton, Tomato and basil and Leek and potato. These delivery jobs will then go onto our volunteer spreadsheet. Thanks to those of you who delivered last week. Please do spread the word. Prescriptions If you, or your neighbours, have requested your prescriptions to be delivered, please remember that we put the order into Lloyds at 2 pm, and then collect them at 5 pm. This delivery can take up to 2 hours, so please don't worry if you don't receive them straight away. Support from Stroud District Council We are pleased to announce that we have been awarded a grant from Stroud District Council for our work during the COVID-19 crisis. We will be using this money in a number of ways, including: raising awareness of the group in the area, purchasing a couple of contactless card machines for prescription collections, a fund to reimburse volunteer expenses and some vital PPE and hand gel for our delivering volunteers. We will update you on this in the coming days. Interactive Map We let you know in our last newsletter that we now had an interactive map showing all of the local businesses that are delivering. We have now also made that into an online list This wasn't our idea, it came from one of our amazing volunteers. If you think of any other useful community resources, let us know and we'll see what we can do! Supporting Local Businesses We have offered our WAMA volunteer delivery services to local businesses providing essential goods. This is vital for those self-isolating, but also lessens the number of people needing to enter those shops. If this would help your business, but you haven't heard from us - please call the WAMA number. Severn Vale Kitchen Severn Vale Kitchen are offering healthy and tasty affordable meal deliveries in the Severn Vale area on a not-for-profit basis to ensure that the most vulnerable stay fed during this time. They're offering 7 meals for £25 which is open to everyone, and they can produce upwards of 1500 meals per day. They're currently delivering on Tuesdays and Fridays but can increase this if demand necessitates. They are also offering subsidies for those who cannot afford their meals. If you want to find out more, or know someone who may benefit, please click below:
Help is at hand It is fantastic that you have offered to help, but we don't want you to feel out of your depth or uncomfortable. If you feel that someone you have spoken to may need extra support, or you are concerned about them in any way, please let us know so we can arrange someone with the relevant experience and training to get back in touch with them. Volunteering Safely Gloucestershire Constabulary have produced some helpful guidance for community volunteers on social distancing, protective measures, taking payments and using PayPal to cut down the need for cash. Click here to read it Reminder to share with friends and neighbours: At the request of North Nibley, Charfield and Wickwar Parish Councils, our volunteers have posted WAMA leaflets through doors in North Nibley, Wickwar and Charfield. Information has also been shared in Hillesley. The way to contact Wotton Area Mutual Aid for help is to:
If your neighbours are self-isolating and you are unable to help them directly, please give them this information. And Finally..... If you are able to do so safely (following distancing guidelines), it would be great to share some photos of some of our lovely WAMA volunteers in action. If you email them to us at wottonareamutualaid@gmail.com, we can share a selection in our next newsletter. Hee is Tom at the Baptist Church giving out the soup!!
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