Public rush to volunteer with SVP in the face of Covid-19

Countless people are contacting the SVP to volunteer to help people in need as the Coronavirus crisis deepens.

We have been inundated with calls from people who want to help those who may be self-isolating or who may be facing financial hardship, while others are offering their assistance to help homeless people who they fear may become forgotten.

“Of course, anybody can help their self-isolating neighbours by offering to do shopping for them or share an online delivery, but many people recognise that providing help in a co-ordinated way is best done through an organisation like the SVP,” says National President, Helen O’Shea.

“We’ve seen the TV news footage of people stockpiling food and toilet paper, and it’s interesting how this crisis has brought out the worst in some people, but it’s also clear that it’s brought out the very best in many people at the same time,” she adds.

As well as ordinary members of the public offering their time, retired SVP members have been asking to re-join their local groups. Although they may not be mobile enough to get out and about helping people, they can still telephone or write letters to other isolated people.

Normally, SVP members visit those they help but approaches have quickly been adapted in response to social distancing, with activities including:

• Making befriending phone calls to isolated older people
• Arranging for essential deliveries to people who may be in need
• Picking up prescriptions and shopping for people
• Helping parents who now find their children permanently home from school, by providing craft materials, colouring books etc
• Getting their children to make cards to send to those in isolation
• Collecting food for local food banks who may have been suffering severe shortages
• Distributing food and SVP Vinnie Packs (kits with cold weather items including toiletries, hat, gloves, socks and a thermal blanket) to rough sleepers on the streets who may be in danger of being forgotten

“When the SVP began in Paris in 1833 the founder members had to contend with cholera and other diseases as well as poverty and hunger,” Helen O’Shea points out.  “It’s a sad irony that nearly 200 years later – two centuries in which the SVP has spread around the world – here we are, still dealing with the effects of sickness, poverty and hunger.”

If you would like to support the SVP during this time of crisis, please visit Crisis Help to learn more about volunteering or donate to our Covid-19 crisis fund.