You might recall that earlier this year I teamed up with Community First to encourage local businesses to lead the way in finding volunteer drivers to help take people to their coronavirus vaccination appointments.
Productive conversations with Gaigers, Wadworth Brewery and TH White led to generous offers to help find volunteer drivers among their own staff (as well as their family and friends) and helped promote the need for volunteer LINK drivers – part of charitable groups which offer a transport and good neighbour service to local people.
I’m so pleased that this was a success – with Samantha Lloyd at Community First confirming they had had an influx of volunteer drivers. As she wrote in a recent newsletter: “The responses have been overwhelming – with 250 people signing up to volunteer with Link Schemes across Wiltshire and playing a vital role in getting people to their vaccination appointments.”
I have written before on how impressed I have been with the spirit of volunteering in Wiltshire throughout this pandemic, not only through the LINK schemes but the way people have created local Covid support groups and reached out to those who would otherwise have found themselves totally isolated during lockdown. I hope that as the vaccination programme continues and restrictions ease, this spirit will continue and that those who have enjoyed volunteering over the past 12 months continue to do so as life returns to normal.
