Volunteering and COVID-19 in Leeds – new report
Added: 04/10/2022
Voluntary Action Leeds
A new report which draws together learning from Leeds in terms of our response to the pandemic has been published by Voluntary Action Leeds and Leeds City Council.
The report sets out how we worked to develop a city-wide response through the Community Care Volunteering programme and our tiered approach to volunteering – from looking to provide volunteer support to people in their homes, to local support delivered by volunteers through Community Hubs, to advice and guidance for neighbours supporting one another. It works through Leeds’ response to consider what lessons we learned and how this would influence any future response to a crisis, ending with a number of actions which set out a ‘blueprint’ for future action:
- Develop Networks to support community-led responses
- Ensure volunteering infrastructure is in place
- Articulate a shared vision for volunteering
- Provide tools to support volunteering
- Bring strategic leaders together to oversee and shape the response
Launching the report at VAL’s AGM on 28 September, Chris Hollins, Chair of VAL commented:
‘There is much to be reminded of from this report, and lessons to be learned for any future crisis where volunteers are needed. Just a quick look at the headline figures tells a story of its own – over a quarter of a million food parcels, nearly half a million befriending calls, over 42 thousand other activities. The key messages are having the infrastructure in place in order to be able to respond, alongside a network of agencies at local and community level who are able to deliver in their localities…..In the foreword to the Volunteering Report, Councillor Harland and I refer to being ready for the next challenge, whatever that may be. When we wrote those words, I don’t think we anticipated just how soon that would be, yet now the Cost-of-Living crisis is upon us which has enormous implications, both for the long term stability of the sector of which we are all a part, and for the communities, neighbourhoods and individuals with which we work’.
