On the fifth anniversary of the first Covid lockdown

Like many others this week, we are reflecting on the fifth anniversary of the first Covid-19 lockdown in the UK

We are thanking once again the volunteers and staff who provided support and reassurance to some of the most vulnerable members of our community through the pandemic.

Volunteers and volunteering at the forefront of the response

Voluntary sector organisations in Reading were quick to reconfigure their services to ensure that those they support could access services in new ways, or to extend their support to a wider audience. The RVA volunteering service supported this by linking organisations to additional volunteers and by streamlining the process for individuals to express an interest.

The shopping service RVA launched completed 453 shops for households across our town, providing essentials to those who would have otherwise struggled to access them.
Then from January to June 2021, RVA coordinated volunteer support at the Reading Central and Whitley vaccination hub. Over 150 volunteers provided about 4,608 volunteer hours, helping 17,000 members of the community to access their first Covid-19 vaccination.

Supporting the voluntary sector

The pandemic underscored the vital importance of infrastructure support for charities and community groups, especially access to timely, high-quality advice, information and training.

When the first Covid lockdown happened, RVA’s advice service was inundated with requests for one-to-one support on crucial issues.
From March 2020–21, the RVA advice service supported 116 charities with 477 separate advice sessions.
The service received national recognition in December 2020, with Herjeet Vass receiving NAVCA’s Rising Star Leadership Award.

No-one left behind

Existing health inequalities were starkly highlighted during the pandemic, with Covid-19 disproportionately affecting people from an ethnic minority background.

RVA worked with community partners to make sure everyone to wanted the vaccine could access one. We set up a vaccine support helpline to coordinate community transport and offer buddy support. £17,000 was distributed in small grants to enable community groups to participate.
RVA hosted the facilitator for a community participatory action research project investigating health inequalities, including the barriers to accessing maternal healthcare services faced by ethnic minority communities as a result of Covid-19 and digitisation, and the disproportionate impact of Covid-19 on Nepalese communities in Reading.