Selby community group 'managed over 16,000 enquiries since start of pandemic'
Selby District Association of Voluntary Service says their efforts have helped to bring the community together.
A Selby group volunteering to help people during the pandemic says the experience has helped to bring the community together.
The Selby District Association of Voluntary Service has managed over 16 thousand enquiries and issued grants since March 2020.
Chris Hailey Norris is the Chief Officer there, and says it's been a big operation: "What a journey we've been on, like so many people. We became a community support organisation back in March 2020, and we've managed over 16,000 enquiries since then.
"We've had a daily helpline from 8.30-5pm Monday to Friday. At the end of each day we'd do a daily mailout to hundreds of people about what was going on and how people could help.
"We had 800-900 people accessing our Facebook page as well. In terms of what we were doing it was a lot of one-to-one support for people on many issues from organising transport to food deliveries and supporting new groups.
"We also helped to distribute out grants to help people to get the things they needed to function. We've been supporting both individuals and groups, and the amount of people who've been involved helping has been staggeringly brilliant.
"The key things we've been dealing with have been very humbling: the biggest severity was the number of people trying to take their own life. We supported a lot of issues really struggling with loneliness and isolation.
"A lot of people have struggled with financial hardship, access to IT equipment and fear of losing their jobs. We put on a great amount of different offers from virtual entertainment groups, friendship opportunities, training courses and career coaching.
"In April we launched (with funding from North Yorkshire County Council) a survey to look at the needs in the community so we could shape our organisation moving forward; what emerged moving forward was concerns about employability opportunities and abilities to increase skills.
"We've also been looking at health and fitness, along with practical ways to support wellbeing. It's been brilliant to be a part of this and humbling to see the reaction from members of our community".