MORE than 4,100 Oldham residents have been given vital aid and support by the Oldham Community response during the Covid 19 crisis.
Oldham Foodbank, Action Together and Oldham Council have worked together to coordinate the delivery of emergency food and other essential personal and household basic items to people in need.
This offer is for people who are unable to leave the house and don’t have a trusted friend, neighbour or family member to help them.
A helpline for people to call for help went live on Friday 27th March and since then 3934 calls have been answered with 1709 households in vital need of the service being helped. The helpline (0161 770 7007) is open from 9am-5pm on weekdays and 11am to 2pm on Saturdays.
After calling the helpline the aim is to get back to people in 24 hours and a package is coordinated in the following days. The food is a basic package of items and other essential such as sanitary products and basic toiletries. The delivery of prescriptions medicines is handled separately by local pharmacies who contact people on GP lists.
The offer is for people in the local community who are genuinely in emergency need because they are self-isolating and don’t have any friends or neighbours who can support them or are unable to leave the house to shop for these items.
As well as the emergency food and supplies offer, we have been able to link people to mutual aid, co-ordinate emergency response volunteers and act as a source of local intelligence.
And the Council, Oldham Foodbank and the Voluntary and Community Sector led by Action Together have been warmed by the fact that in the vast majority of cases people have used this resource responsibly so that it doesn’t become overwhelmed and that it can give help to those who need it most.
It is crucial that those who want to help, and who are in a position to be able to donate items, do so at this time. We are currently running low on some items
• Tinned Fish
• Cooking Sauces
• Fresh & Tinned Fruit
• Rice Pudding
• Shampoo, shower gel & deodorant
• Teabags – small boxes
• Tinned Soup
Councillor Arooj Shah, Deputy Leader of Oldham Council and Cabinet Member for Community Safety, said: “4100 of our most vulnerable residents have been helped by hard working colleagues from across our partners and our thanks go out to them for all their efforts.
“Thank you as well to all the residents and local businesses that have donated items to Oldham Foodbank and it has been great to see on social media some of the local fundraising that has been going from kind-hearted residents across the Borough.
“This collective effort shows how the whole community is pulling together to help people who need it the most.”
Laura Windsor Welsh, Strategic Locality Lead for Action Together, said: “I applaud all those people who continue to help some of the most vulnerable people in our communities affected by the impact of coronavirus.”
“This help is so vital at this time, and by us working together, with the generous donations from the public and local businesses, we are really making a difference to people’s lives in Oldham.”
