Tom Welbourne
Helping Small and Medium Businesses Achieve Their Full Marketing Potential | Digital Marketing Expert
5 Ways To Help Your Community Combat COVID-19
- April 3, 2020
- 1:08 pm
Between over half a million people volunteering to help the NHS and our entire nation getting out in their gardens to applaud our health services in unison, COVID-19 is, without a doubt, creating a sense of unity throughout the country.
While it’s unfortunate that what brings us together is something of this nature, it’s comforting that in times of strife we find a way to support one another and help members of our community.
But if you’re struggling for ideas, here are 5 ways that you can help your community combat COVID-19.
Help People With Their Shopping
The fewer outings we make, the better.
And the fewer people there are making those outings, also the better.
A sure-fire way that you can help your community is by offering to help people with their shopping.
Whether it’s your elderly neighbour or a family who is in self-isolation, offering to shop on someone’s behalf will be a huge help.
Volunteer For The NHS
Join one of the hundreds of thousands of people volunteering to support the NHS.
If you’re fit and healthy, volunteering to join the NHS could be the single most important thing you do to fight the pandemic.
The NHS is currently recruiting:
Community response volunteers – delivering essential supplies and medications to the homes of those who are self-isolating
Patient transport volunteers – providing transport for patients who are medically fit for discharge, ensuring they get home safely
NHS transport volunteers – transporting equipment and supplies between NHS sites and assisting pharmacies with medication deliveries
Check-in and chat volunteers – providing short-term telephone support to people who are at risk of loneliness as a result of self-isolation
Don't Panic Buy
Despite popular fear-fueled beliefs, the UK has enough sources of food to comfortably feed everyone… so long as we buy normally.
The difficulty starts when people hoard and panic buy huge amounts of items.
Not only does the hysteria impact the most vulnerable members of our society, but it also sets in motion a set of wider, long-term issues with supply chains.
If, in fact, we continue to purchase as we would normally – in moderation, our food stores would be equipped to weather any issues that might affect supply chains as a direct result of COVID-19.
Use Health Services Wisely
We are all aware of the strain put on our health services as a result of the pandemic.
Student doctors are graduating early to ensure there are enough bodies to handle the workload that has ensued from the rise of COVID-19 and private health services are joining forces with the NHS to provide beds for those who need them.
In light of this, support your community by using health services wisely.
While there are already measures in place to aid this such as telephone consultations and home visits, it’s vital that we don’t take advantage of our health services if our needs aren’t urgent.
Stay In The Know
The fifth and final way that you can help your community is by staying in the know.
The climate surrounding COVID-19 is ever-changing, so it’s vital that we stay up to date with the latest advice and guidelines so we can ensure our behaviour is in line with government and NHS recommendations.
In addition to the daily Coronavirus Conferences, there are a ton of other ways to stay tuned into what’s going on.
Whether that’s by listening to the Coronavirus Podcast, getting the latest news updates on your phone or by checking the Coronavirus pages of the GOV website.
Conclusion
Like many others, we are making an effort to keep you informed and up to date with the things you can do to weather the uncertainty next few weeks.
For us, supporting the community is one of the best ways we can hope to make an impact in the fight against COVID-19.
We hope these 5 ways give you a little inspiration for how you can help.
