NEW COLLEGE HEALTH AND SOCIAL CARE LECTURER SAVES THE DAY WITH LAMBOURN VILLAGE HUB

Anna Field currently teaches Health and Social Care at New College Swindon. However, she has been putting in extra hours, by volunteering outside of work, in order to support her local community.

The food bank in Lambourn, where Anna lives, had to close as a result of the pandemic, because the volunteers who were running it are all in the high-risk category for COVID 19. Anna, along with a pro-active group of volunteers from the village, made it their mission to set up a centrally based village hub – The Lambourn Coronavirus Community Response Group.

The hub provides food, toiletries, household items and other essentials for those in need and is run entirely on donations from villagers for villagers. The service is open Monday to Saturday, 11am-1pm and does not make any judgment about who might need help. Volunteers will just ask for the number of people in a household so they know how many items a person will need. Items can be collected from the Memorial Hall or a doorstep delivery can be organised.

Anna explained that setting up and running the hub has been and continues to be a challenge in many ways and in lock-down she is busier than ever. Alongside the other volunteers, she organises

donations in and out, sanitises everything, promotes and publicises the cause and communicates and thanks the community for their support.

Anna said: “It’s busy, but needed and every week it’s getting more and more necessary. COVID 19 has had an impact on everyone and many of us have very suddenly found ourselves in need of help and support. Whether this is help with shopping, picking up prescriptions, or just chatting to someone if you are isolating or shielding at home.”

More information can be found by contacting the volunteer line: 01488 50 50 50.