Support for vulnerable in time of crisis

"You might get one or two onions rolling around on the floor," he jokes.

For the past six weeks, Shropshire Council officer Pete has been on the road as part of a team set up to help the most vulnerable members of the community during the coronavirus outbreak.

He is one of 10 council staff who drive the length and breadth of the county delivering vital food supplies to the needy and vulnerable who might otherwise go hungry during the lockdown.

"It’s quite an experience delivering the food," says Pete, adding that some people are understandably wary about opening their doors.

“However, seeing how grateful people are is something that all involved in this should see.”

Since the end of March, Pete and his colleague have driven more than 12,000 miles, and have delivered more than 24,000 potatoes to people across the county.

"We start at 8am, and the latest we deliver is usually about 9.15pm, because we don't want to be knocking on people's doors in the dark."

An empty council unit at the Marches Enterprise Centre has been turned into a food distribution centre, where food is packed into parcels to supply households with balanced parcels giving them what they need to get by on for a week. The team also produce 'kettle packs' for homeless people living in temporary accommodation, providing them with food they can prepare with just a kettle, and food is also distributed to food banks in the area.

It is one of a number of new services the council has introduced to support the most vulnerable members of society during the coronavirus lockdown.

According to Penny Bason of Shropshire Council, there are 10,000 people across the county who are classified as being vulnerable. Of these, 5,200 are on the Government's 'shielding' list, which includes everybody over the age of 70, as well as those with underlying health conditions. But other people, who have called the council's helpline asking in to ask for support, are also added to the register.

Lisa Jones, a team leader with the authority, says the council has set up a dedicated helpline for people who may be in need of support. But staff are also calling people who may be at risk to see if they are in need of any help.

"We have made 3,800 called to people we know to be particularly vulnerable and we have received 1,444 calls to our helpline," she says.

So far, 864 food parcels have been delivered around the county, and Miss Jones says that staff also follow up the deliveries with a call to the families who receive them to see how they are doing. But Miss Jones says help is also available to people who may not be in financial difficulty, but are struggling to get out of their homes.

"We might contact the supermarkets about priority delivery, if somebody can afford to buy their own food, but are struggling to get a delivery slot," she says.

The problems that people may be experiencing can be varied. As well as the obvious problems of accessing food and medication, there are also the more complex problems, such as those surrounding child support, adult social care, and mental health. Miss Jones says the council will work closely with charities and other organisations to ensure they get the help they need.

"The community response has been tremendous, it's been a real benefit to the work we are doing," she says. "Community response isn't really about going out and doing the thing, it is about finding a solution in the community, and building a relationship in the community."

One major problem has been the impact the outbreak and the lockdown has had on mental health. Nationally, 15 per cent of adults over the age of 16 are said to have a mental health disorder, equating to about 40,000 in Shropshire.

Public health consultant Jo Robins says the pandemic and the rules on self-isolation have created added pressures on people experiencing bereavement, trauma and post-traumatic stress. To help with this, the council has now produced a special bereavement pack aimed at the families of those who have died with the virus.

"For people who have had someone in their own family who has died from Covid-19, the situation with funerals and cremations is slightly different," says Mrs Robins.

"At the moment people can't grieve in the same way as they could have done in the past, there's only 10 people allowed at a funeral service at the moment.

"We believe it is really important to put on some extra bereavement counselling support, and we have written that in a way that is a little bit different from our normal bereavement leaflets."

The council has also produced a leaflet offering general advice about mental health care during the epidemic. The 20-page booklet provides advice about managing anxiety, activities to keep people occupied during isolation, special advice for teenagers, and a guide to the support that is available.

The authority is also working with the mental-health charity Mind Shropshire, which reports a sharp increase in activity since the outbreak.

Chairman Clive Ireland says it could be months before the extent of the impact is known, but the charity and the council had come together in days to ensure that the right support was available.

He says the Shropshire Mind helpline was open 24 hours a day, and continues to provide face-to-face support.

Mr Ireland says the demographic of people seeking help has changed considerably since the outbreak.

"We are seeing doctors, nurses and a lot of NHS staff calling in, NHS staff are superheroes, but they are human beings as well," he says.

"Just over half are NHS staff at the moment, and we're also getting a lot of business owners to an extent we hadn't known in the past. They don't know what the future holds."

Domestic violence is another area which has seen a big spike, with the number of call relating to the issue increasing by 30 per cent since March.

Since the outbreak, the charity has started providing regular stress, anxiety and wellbeing video meetings using the Zoom conferencing app, which have been attended by 420 people in their first three weeks.

"We do them three times a week, and we have done an extra two by special request."

But, of course, not everybody has access to video conferencing technology, and that is where The Donkey comes in. The Donkey is a former police van, which was donated to the Street Pastors charity for use by the charity sector. Volunteers from Shropshire Mind regularly take The Donkey to the more remote corners of the county, where they hold drop-in sessions for people needing advice.

"The Donkey is brilliant as it has blacked-out windows, so if people want to come in for a private chat nobody can see them," says Mr Ireland.

"We also drop off leaflets. When you go to somewhere like Clungunford, people are so pleased to see you."

Shropshire Council coronavirus helpline: provides information regarding support for vulnerable people 0345 678 9028

Shropshire Council social care line: 0345 678 9044

Shropshire Mind: call 01743 368647 (24 hours) or email manager.shropshiremind@gmail.com