‘Nobody in Nidderdale or the Washburn Valley should go unnoticed’ – that’s the mission for the army of 600 volunteers, who are helping self-isolated people whose homes are located in far-flung rural communities within the two valleys.
In geographical terms, the neighbouring valleys take up almost half the land area of the Harrogate district, but the population is around 12,000 and the number of households approximately 6,000 – highlighting the logistical challenge that volunteers face in ensuring that nobody is missed out.
The coloured areas are in Nidderdale and the Washburn Valley and are divided into 13 areas where the volunteer networks are operating.
The response to the coronavirus crisis is being co-ordinated by the Nidderdale Plus Community Hub in Pateley Bridge, which is providing the umbrella organisation, advice and support, to 13 volunteer networks, whose volunteers are working on a daily basis to deliver food, prescriptions and other vital items to people who are self-isolated in their homes.
Helen Flynn, who co-chairs Nidderdale Plus, with Paula Newson-Smith, told The Stray Ferret:
“We have a very wide area to cover, but are determined to ensure that nobody in Nidderdale or the Washburn Valley should go unnoticed, or be out of reach of the help that the volunteers are providing.”
Working with parish councils, churches, GP practices, the Pateley Bridge Pharmacy, local shops, pubs that are providing takeaway services and the teachers from Bewerley Park Centre for Outdoor Education, Nidderdale Plus has established links with trusted organisations, who themselves marshal the volunteer activities in their own area.
Mrs Flynn (pictured above, outside the Nidderdale Plus Community Hub) pointed out:
“Our aim is to make the home delivery service as local as possible, with zones served by volunteers that typically include no more than 20 homes. This, as well as encouraging the use of local shops and a prescription delivery service that reduces the number of people going to their GP practice, is designed to limit social contact and help people to keep safe.”
Nidderdale Plus is providing the volunteer networks with a crucial single point of reference on issues ranging from safeguarding policies to ensuring the safety of the volunteers who make the deliveries – which now include library books as well as food, medicines and pet supplies.
The huge team effort across Nidderdale and the Washburn Valley is being carefully coordinated to keep coronavirus at bay and Mrs Flynn expressed a collective wish when she said:
“We don’t want to see blue lights in our area.”
