Shrewsbury community unites with WhatsApp help group
A new community self-help group has been set up on WhatsApp to unite residents on a housing development in Shrewsbury and is helping to boost community spirit amid the coronavirus outbreak.
It has been created by residents at The Old Meadow, which was formerly Shrewsbury Town Football Club’s Gay Meadow ground, and now has 179 separate residences.
The group has been running for just over a week, and already more than 60 households are linked together to offer support to one another – with more joining up every day.
The support offered ranges from help with shopping and collecting prescriptions to making phone calls to residents who are on their own.
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And another group has been set up so residents can share funny stories and videos.
The idea of setting up a WhatsApp group arose from the collective views of the directors of the residents’ management company.
John Yeoman, one of the directors and chair of Shrewsbury Severn Rotary Club’s community and vocational committee, said: “Our project started off with a simple flyer distributed by a team to all our households with email and phone number contacts.
“We are now in week two of the WhatsApp group.
"It is great to see the flow of offers of help and the developing community spirit.
“The project has brought together the young and the old in a most positive way and an interesting off shoot is people starting to post humorous videos and jokes through the group.
“Conscious of wanting to keep the humour apart from the serious side of things, we have created a separate group called TOM’s – The Old Meadow – Giggles.
“Tom’s Giggles is proving a real hit with dozens of funny stories and video clips being shared and helping to keep people smiling, though separating the funny from the serious side was important.”
He added: “As we are looking at a couple of months of lockdown, I suspect these little community groups are going to provide an important lifeline to our most vulnerable residents.
“Even if we are not able to go out and do the shopping we can readily get involved in our communities and do our bit.
"A phone call to someone on their own can make a lot of difference.”
