LOCAL MP, JULIA LOPEZ, JOINS HORNCHURCH CHARITY’S CALL FOR HELPERS AFTER £95K BOOST FROM GOVERNMENT'S CORONAVIRUS COMMUNITY SUPPORT FUND
Last Friday, Hornchurch and Upminster MP, Julia Lopez, volunteered with Hornchurch charity, Tapestry, to highlight their new food delivery service for vulnerable and elderly people in Havering. Delivering fish and chips to residents across the constituency, Julia wanted to draw attention to Tapestry’s work to reduce isolation and get hot meals to those who may be seeing less of people over winter because of the pandemic.
Tapestry is stepping up its volunteering programme over the Christmas period, trying to identify and contact those not currently known to them who might be at risk of mental and physical deterioration, including those leaving hospital or families who might be affected by the financial impact of covid. They need extra volunteers to deliver meals at this time.
Julia said, ‘Volunteering for Tapestry is really simple and straightforward - if you have a car and a spare hour or more, it is a great way to contribute to the collective, community effort to get us through this difficult time. The box of hot food was ready to pick up when I arrived at Tapestry’s Hornchurch hub, Hopwa House, on Inskip Drive and I just needed to deliver the boxes to the addresses on my list. Then it’s just a matter of knocking on the door and making sure people get a hot meal and a hello, from a safe distance. I encourage anyone who wants to help their immediate community to sign up and get involved.’
Local charities and not-for-profit social businesses like Tapestry have made absolutely vital contributions to help local people during the coronavirus pandemic but as the Christmas periods approaches, the demand for volunteers is only increasing. The long-standing Hornchurch charity was recently given a boost from the government’s £750 million support package for voluntary and community charities across the country, receiving £95 402 from the Coronavirus Community Support Fund launched by Culture Secretary, Oliver Dowden MP.
Julia welcomed the funding when it was announced in November, saying ‘My team and I were delighted to see a range of charities and voluntary organisations across the constituency receive this much-needed funding. This pandemic has had unimaginable impacts on all of us but the voluntary and community sectors have admirably and selflessly continued to support the most vulnerable. I would urge anyone with the spare time or desire to help their local charity if they can over the winter period and particularly over Christmas, where volunteers can be overstretched and fewer in numbers whilst demand for services increases.’
BACKGROUND INFO
The Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, Oliver Dowden MP, recently announced which charities would receive funding from the Government’s £750 million support package for voluntary and community charities across the country. The emergency package was broken down to specific areas, including:
- An immediate allocation of £200 million to hospices across England
- £200 million to the Coronavirus Community Support Fund
- £160 million to government departments for charities working on the front line
- £37 million to the BBC’s Big Night In appeal
- £85 million through the DCMS’ Community Match Challenge
- £60 million to the Devolved Administrations
- £5 million to the Voluntary and Community Sector Emergencies Partnership
Over 13,000 charities across the country have received funding and the following charities in Hornchurch and Upminster have received funding via the Coronavirus Community Support Fund:
- Tapestry Care UK Limited - £95,402
- Kingdom Storehouse Ltd - £49,334
- You and Me Counselling - £29,800
- SHE UNITY SUPPORT - £25,316
- Youth League UK - £24,085
- RCCG Chapel of Mercy - £9,822
About Tapestry
To volunteer for Tapestry, email hello@tapestry-uk.org or telephone 01708 796600.
Tapestry has been helping older people in the local area since 1949.
From November 2020 they have been working with all local public sector stakeholders and local voluntary organisations, to deliver the following outputs during the Covid pandemic and then review need and adapt again.
- Increase the number of individuals benefitting from current virtual support companionship/activities/services including those isolated in Care Homes
- Support the provision of the expected increased demand for hot meals over this period.
- Identify and make contact with those, that are currently not known to us, that are most at risk of mental and physical health deterioration because of isolation during the winter pandemic focusing on those most at risk such as, those leaving hospital and people from those communities most affected by Covid, such as the local BAME communities
- Provide personalised packages of support measures to these individuals to protect their physical and mental health and wellbeing during the winter months.
- Provide personalised/tailored support packages to those totally isolated and at high risk during the Christmas and New Year period, when loneliness and anxiety can become a significant problem.
- Support family members of those at risk, who are unable to support/see their vulnerable family member because of lockdown restrictions.
- Support families affected by the financial impact of Covid
It will ensure that the health and wellbeing of the most vulnerable, and at risk, and those recently made vulnerable by the pandemic, are supported through the challenging winter period and continue to live healthy, connected lives in their homes.
By doing this it will work to;
- Ensure that those that are released or moved out of hospitals to allow for Covid support, do not ‘bounce back’ into hospital.
- Reduce the number of people having to contact their GP’s, attend A&E, be hospitalised and moved to care homes or other statutory services.
- Protect primary and secondary health care services.