Melksham’s pandemic volunteers still going strong!

Melksham Community Support group has reaffirmed their commitment to continue to support residents in the town and surrounding area following the ending of shielding and the easing of lockdown.

The scheme, which has supported almost 700 local residents since lockdown was imposed in March, has confirmed that it will continue to operate and has plans on how it will be able to step up its capacity again should a second wave of Coronavirus hit, or a local lockdown get imposed.

Since March, Melksham Community Support, thanks to the help of 444 local volunteers, has delivered 1,191 prescriptions, made 1,029 friendly phone calls to people, undertaken 822 shopping trips and walked people’s dogs 268 times.

One of the organisers of the scheme, Jon Hubbard, has said that these numbers under-report the true picture. He told Melksham News, “One of the many wonderful outcomes of the project has been that new friendships and relationships have developed between our amazing volunteers and the people they have been working with.

“These volunteers no longer see helping with the shopping, walking the dog or making a phone call to check people are okay as being ‘a job’ and instead it has just become part of the norm for them. Therefore, they are no longer having the jobs organised through the hub.

“I can’t tell you how grateful we all are to these fantastic people.”

Now that lockdown has been eased and shielding has come to an end, the team has seen a reduction in the number of people using the service, but say that there is still a need for it to continue.

“In reality there was a need before Covid-19, it’s just that it was much more hidden. Now that we are aware of it, we cannot allow things to go back to how they were” Jon added.

However, the project volunteers have also been supporting people who have been trapped in their homes for months to come back out. 

Volunteer Saffi Rabey, who has been helping with the project throughout, commented “Since we have come out of lockdown, rather than just walking someone’s dog I am now supporting them to walk it themselves. Rather than just tell them it’s all over and leave them to it, I am going out with them for a short walk, encouraging them to get back out and about, and having a wonderful chat while we are at it.”

Another member of the Hub Team said, “As someone who has been shielding since March, I recently visited a supermarket again for the first time and felt very safe and able to socially distance when doing my shopping when I went in early morning. It felt really liberating to get back out there and I would encourage everyone to if they can.”

Both the Melksham Area Board and Melksham Without Parish Council have now agreed that the scheme should be continued and have backed a proposal that Age Friendly Melksham CIC will continue to deliver the support, with a backup plan to escalate back to the existing model should there be a second lockdown. Melksham Town Council has yet to discuss the issue.

Jon Hubbard, the Chair of Age Friendly Melksham CIC, told Melksham News that they are looking to integrate the scheme with other work aimed at helping tackle social isolation.

“I’m delighted that last week we appointed a new Age Friendly coordinator to help lead this work as we move forward and I’m looking forward to Phillipa really getting stuck in and taking this project to the next level.

“We are hoping to work with partners from across the community to help ensure that wherever possible, every resident in our community, regardless of age, is able to lead a fulfilled and enjoyable life. Melksham Community Support will be a key part of that solution.”