A CASH boost of £8,250 has been handed to the Droitwich CVS group to help it continue its hard work assisting the elderly and vulnerable during the coronavirus crisis.
The arrival of the funding is a timely intervention for the organisation which has lost 80 per cent of its income during the pandemic.
Funds for the CVS used to come from room hire and community transport but that has been lost because no gatherings or group meeting are allowed and because much of the community transport use was to clubs and other get-togethers.
Droitwich Town Council has handed the CVS £4,250 and eight Wychavon councillors have donated their £500 COVID-19 emergency pots to the drive.
The town council’s funding was made available by awarding next year’s CVS grant earlier than usual with the remainder coming from the authority’s Grant Appraisal Fund.
Tonia Enderbury, Droitwich CVS’ chief officer, said: “Everyone has been working so hard here to ensure everyone in the community has what they need.
“Obviously we do need volunteers and funding to get the assistance out there.
“We are grateful to the town council and Wychavon councillors for the cash they have contributed.”
Town council leader Coun Alex Sinton and Coun Alan Humphries, chair of the town council’s resources committee said they were aware of the amazing work being done by the staff and volunteers at DCVS in these very difficult times and were acutely aware of the financial strain being placed upon them.
“We hope the donation eases the financial pressure just a little, enabling the service being offered to continue.”
Coun Sinton added he, Coun Humphries and all the members of the town council wanted to thank the staff and volunteers at the DCVS for what they were doing for the people of Droitwich Spa in these testing and uncertain times.
“They are truly a credit to our town and their efforts are enormously appreciated by all of us.”
And they urged all residents to stay safe and follow the Government’s guidelines on staying at home and only going out for the four reasons – to shop for essentials, to care for a vulnerable person or a medical appointment, for one daily exercise session or to work and that was if it was absolutely necessary and could not be done from home.
“This will protect not only yourselves but all of our wonderful NHS staff and key workers out there so we can defeat this terrible threat, emerge safely out of this pandemic and slowly begin the process of returning to normality.”
Tonia added: “It has been absolutely manic – we have had people working here ten to 12 hours-a-day, seven days-a-week.”
We reported a fortnight ago Droitwich CVS was leading the community support during the coronavirus crisis – collecting shopping and prescriptions for people and walking dogs for those unable to exercise their pets.
But Tonia said: “We have done a lot more than we thought we would, speaking to people who have been getting anxious and having panic attacks about the situation and not being able to get supermarket delivery slots.
“Everyone has pulled together to help where they can.”
For more information on the Droitwich CVS’ community support being offered or to volunteer, click here to go to the Facebook page.
Alternatively, for those not online, call 01905 779115.
