Dear Volunteer
I am so sorry I have not been in touch before but I have been waiting to give you some up to date information. Even if I send something out to you today and tomorrow, it could change again but I know you will be prepared for that, and act accordingly. As you may be aware Chorlton Good Neighbours have suspended all our on site activities for the time being , and this frees us up to concentrate on supporting older residents who may need help with shopping or other collections or getting outside for a walk.
Guidance on social distancing and for vulnerable people
The Government has shared guidance on social distancing measures we should all be taking to reduce social interaction between people in order to reduce the transmission of coronavirus (COVID-19). This guidance is for everyone and is intended for use in situations where people are living in their own homes, with or without additional support from friends, family and carers.
It would help us greatly if you could do the following :
1. Telephone your older person and explain you will no longer be able to visit them at home indoors. This is not because you dont want to but because we have all been asked to follow government guidelines about limiting face to face interactions.
2. Say you will telephone them every few days or even once per week to see how they are or do they need anything. You will find your own rhythm of what would suit you both. Remember to dial 141 before you dial their number so yours is blocked.
3. Can you also find out from your older person if they might need some shopping support , and that may be in the future , not now. Don’t feel under pressure yourself to do this shopping, but if you feel you can then that would be great. Let me know if they need or will need help with shopping and you feel unable to support them with that, and I can begin planning for them.
4. If possible it might be an idea to remind your older person to get some cash in so that it makes it easier for volunteers to go shopping for them. At the moment we are still adhering to the CGN policy of not taking cards and pin numbrs to the shops. We are handling cash only.
5. I will send out some more guidance to you over the next few days. I will definitely need your help in thinking about how we can be a bit more creative in supporting our older people, so that we can help them stay as positive as possible in this challenging situation.
Please feel free to email me or ring whenever ; I am interested to get your feedback on how people are dealing with the situation. If you get in touch by email I will try to come back to you the same day ……thank you so much for your offers of support.
Kind regards
Helen
Chorlton Good Neighbours 