Bassetlaw voluntary service say economic impact of Covid-19 on people’s lives will be ‘vast’

Catherine Burn - speaking about the slow easing of lockdown restrictions - said the effects of furloughing and economic uncertainty would mean a ‘long return to some sort of normality’.

BCVS has operated a service helping isolated over-65s integrate back into society for the last five years.

However the isolation imposed on other groups by coronavirus has forced BCVS to reach out to others - such as single mothers and shielded individuals with long-term health conditions.

Catherine told how the service - known as ‘social prescribing’ - would also be focusing on ‘supporting people’s fears’ and giving them confidence to engage with ‘some sort of normal life’.

She said: “If you’ve been isolated for eight weeks and not even stepped outside to the shop that will cause huge anxiety.

“Constant media feeds about the negative impact of Covid-19 will also make it very difficult for people with mental health problems to gauge how safe it is.”

When lockdown was announced at the end of March BCVS used a database of elderley and isolated people to identify those most in need.

It also set up two food distribution hubs in Worksop and Retford to deliver emergency food parcels when Bassetlaw Food Bank - which relied on elderly, high-risk volunteers - could no longer operate.

At the time of writing BCVS had delivered 938 parcels to people across Bassetlaw since March 27.

Catherine said: “People’s primary worry right now is having enough money to buy food due to furloughing and economic uncertainty - so we’ll continue to do this for as long as necessary.”

However Catherine said now face-to-face meetings with high-risk, isolated people seemed unlikely for some time to come.

She added: “The next step is to understand how we can help support people in a meaningful way - such as providing online help.

“We don’t know how the sector will adapt to doing things virtually or safely within Government guidelines.”

Catherine said none of the work BCVS has done during the last few weeks would have been possible without its volunteers.

The service recruited 170 new helpers when the crisis deepened - who have helped with delivering food and medicine and befriending.

She added: “We’ve had a huge swathe of volunteer support and financial donations but the issue is we don’t know how long this is going to go on for.”

BCVS is appealing for donations of food to distribute to those in need.

You can donate at any of the following locations:

Co-op - Plantation Hill, Worksop Co-op - Carlton-in-Lindrick Co-op - Ordsall, Retford Morrisons - Worksop & Retford Nationwide Building Society - Worksop & Retford One Stop - Kilton Hill, Worksop Sainsbury's Local - Newcastle Ave, Worksop Sainsbury’s Supermarket - High Grounds, Worksop Tesco Supermarket, Worksop

To donate money make cheques payable to Bassetlaw Community and Voluntary Service - posting them to BCVS@ThePriory, The Old Abbey School, Priorswell Road, Worksop, Notts, S80 2BU.

Online payments should be paid to Bassetlaw Community and Voluntary Service, sort code 60-83-01, account number 20260969.

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