TEAMS of volunteers are in place across East Lothian doing everything they can to help vulnerable members of their communities.
From collecting shopping and vital prescriptions to dog walking and simply being there for people, the volunteers are there for residents throughout the coronavirus crisis.
Here, we look at six of the groups who are giving up their own time to help out.
Dirleton
WORKS of art are brightening up an old phonebox in the heart of Dirleton.
The Dirleton Area Resilience Team (DART) have created a number of initiatives to help people throughout the village.
Kate Hamer, DART coordinator, has launched the D-ART Gallery where children of primary school age have been creating works of art.
The children’s work will go towards their Hi5 Award, which records and recognises wider achievement in youngsters, and has been very well received in the village.
The phonebox was bought by the community for £1 from BT earlier this year and will be transformed into a book exchange once the coronavirus pandemic is over.
Other initiatives in the village include the Essentials Larder, with the number of people using the service continuing to grow.
David Tait, DART’s lead coordinator, was pleased to see the scheme proving a great success.
He said: “This demonstrates the value of this resource to the community.
“We continue to receive generous donations – particular thanks must be given to Lucy Miller of Ferrygate Farm for another generous donation of fresh eggs, and to Ross McGregor and his team at Archerfield Walled Garden for continued donations of flowers, fresh herbs, confectionery and other food items.”
The larder is now storing baked and cooked goods, including desserts, cakes, crumbles and soups generously prepared and donated by local residents.
David added: “Special thanks must also go to Andy Gordon of Gordon’s Consulting for the generous donation of medical grade KN95 face masks.
“These will increase the protection DART can offer to the community and our volunteers. Additional masks will be donated to carers within our area.”
Meanwhile, Janice MacLeod, DART area co-ordinator, has started a new initiative of Wednesday lockdown treats.
Assisted by other volunteers, she will be preparing these on a fortnightly basis.
They could include fresh meals, desserts and other items.
If any resident is interested, they are invited to email Dart.Coordinators@outlook.com, marking their message for Janice’s attention.
Finally, David is confident that DART will still continue to meet the demands and expectations of the community, and forward planning to meet likely future outcomes will continue to take place.
DART’s primary objective remains service to the community, both in the village itself and in the surrounding area.
He also notes that, under the new government guidelines, DART is recognised as a third sector organisation and that all volunteers and family members in their household are eligible for Covid-19 testing.
Any DART volunteer showing symptoms can now book a test through the Government website.
Contact details
For more information, email dart.coordinators@outlook.com
Dunbar
DELICIOUS hot meals continue to be delivered to people in need throughout Dunbar.
Hundreds of meals are being sent out to those in need throughout the town, as well as East Linton and other surrounding villages.
George Robertson, who is heading up the community resilience efforts in Dunbar and West Barns, said it was a service which had proven very well received.
He said: “It is a service that is by referral only and we are trying to get it to the people who need it.
“That has been very, very well received across the ward and includes the East Lammermuir area and as far as East Linton.”
George praised the efforts of Helen Harper, who is based in Dunbar’s Bleachingfield Centre, and Katie Pollock, from Home-Start East Lothian, in getting the project up and running.
Catering company Thomas Franks, which operates in Belhaven Hill School, has been at the heart of cooking the meals in Musselburgh’s Loretto School, before the meals are transported back to Dunbar for distribution.
George was confident that the service, which sees almost 600 meals sent out each week, would continue even if youngsters returned to school.
He added: “It is very well received from the people that are getting it and they appreciate that.
“Obviously, there are other ways to get food to people and Dunbar’s foodbank has been busy.
“They are distributing food to people to cook themselves and that is just as important to encourage people to do their own cooking.”
The hot meal group also marked VE Day, with an afternoon tea sent out to elderly members of the community.
The town’s resilience efforts are split into nine clusters, with each having a lead volunteer.
The nine clusters are: Shore and Harbour Group; High Street, Parsonspool to Kings Court; West End to Countess Road; Belhaven and Kirk Park; West Barns and the Beveridge Row development; Queen’s Road and the new housing developments; Hallhill, Kellie Road and to the railway line; Brodie Road east and north to the railway line; and Brodie Road west and north to the railway line.
The community councillor said a surprise – socially distanced – birthday party was being arranged for a resident, with cake and candles being planned.
Contact details
For more information, go to Dunbar and District Coronavirus Community Helpers at facebook.com/groups/2770007929781573 or Dunbar Community Council at facebook.com/Dunbar CommunityCouncil
Dunpender
VOLUNTEERS continue to be on hand to help those who need assistance in East Linton and surrounding villages.
The Dunpender Community Resilience Team is offering a range of services to people in need in East Linton, Whitekirk, Tyninghame and surrounding areas during the coronavirus crisis.
Judith Priest, chairwoman of Dunpender Community Council, said little had changed but services such as shopping and prescription collection continued to be on offer to those who needed it.
Contact details
Information relating to the coronavirus is available on the Tyninghame Village Hall website – www.tyninghamevillagehall.org.uk – as well as at www.eastlintonuk.com People can also contact 07514 136334 or 07933 709745.
East Lammermuir
THE efforts of people supporting each other in four rural villages have been praised.
Volunteers have come forward in Spott, Stenton, Innerwick and Oldhamstocks to help any of their neighbours in need.
A leaflet was previously sent out to residents highlighting which local businesses did deliveries and how people could get in touch with them.
At the same time, shopping collection and prescription pickup services have been on offer in the area.
Chris Bruce, chairman of East Lammermuir Community Council, said there were plenty of people ready to help their neighbours where necessary.
He said: “You see people buzzing about in hi-vis gilets doing volunteer work and you see people not wearing hi-vis vests who are obviously helping their neighbours as well.
“It feels, perhaps, different but there is a sense in which everybody could have thought, ‘We do not need to do anything formal and set up a volunteer system because it is all in hand because we know our neighbours’.
“But the fact people did both and we got 20 volunteers in each of the villages – and we put a cap on that and have a waiting list – that was a great endorsement, with people looking to go the extra mile.”
Contact details
More information on the help available to people in the East Lammermuir area is available from the group’s website, www.eastlammermuircommunitycouncil.org.uk.
Gullane
THE Gullane resilience team received a delivery of Mungoswells Malt & Millings bread flour, which was put into 1.5kg bags and made available to residents for £1.50 per bag.
These were collected from the village hall hub on Tuesday, where buyers were encouraged to take care in exercising social distancing and to wear face masks.
Also on offer on Tuesday was the toys, books, games, DVD and jigsaw exchange, along with craft packs for the village’s children, which this week were based on paper plate creations.
The team are asking for donations of duvet covers and sheets to make scrub bags, scrubs and masks for healthcare workers.
There is some fabric, instructions and elastic available to those who would like to make masks.
Some fabric masks, made by Gullane Scrubbers, are available for a donation to the East Lothian Foodbank.
The village has been divided into seven ‘zones’ to co-ordinate support for those who may need help.
Each zone has a lead co-ordinator and the 140-plus volunteers have been allocated across the seven zones.
Village co-ordinators are Gordon McLelland and Lorna Scott. Zone lead volunteers are: Andy Murray (north east); Ann Pinkerton (south east); Gordon Wood (south central); Debbie Spens (north central); Robert O’Riordan (north west); Claire Walker (south west); and Clare Tulloch (West Fenton).
A map of the zones can be found at www.gullanert.com/CoVid-19/
Contact details
For more information, call 07312 117993 or email GullaneRTeam@gmail.com
More information can also be found online at www.gullanert.com, and also on Facebook at www.facebook.com/GullaneRT
North Berwick
BUSINESSES in North Berwick have been adapting in a variety of ways to cope with the coronavirus crisis.
Catherine Franks, who owns the Steampunk café in the town, has kept it closed but is roasting coffee and selling it online.
“We had an online coffee business before lockdown so we did not need to create this but we have been very lucky to have received lots of support and many orders for coffee and new coffee subscriptions,” she said.
“I do local deliveries myself and the rest are shipped by Royal Mail.
“We have kept in contact with customers during lockdown via social media and have been keeping spirits up by sharing our recipes so that people can enjoy our cakes at home and even sharing morning walks on the beach via Instagram stories so that people in cities and those who cannot get to the beach can enjoy the sea too.”
Catherine has also used this extra time to put together a recipe book, which will be published shortly.
The rest of Catherine’s team are currently furloughed.
“We are currently exploring ways that we might be able to serve takeaway coffees during the summer but are anxious to ensure this will be safe for our team, our community and our customers,” she said.
Meanwhile, people in North Berwick are being offered a swapping service for jigsaws and board games to help them pass the time.
Maya Howell, of the North Berwick Resilience Group, said a volunteer would be at the town’s community centre every Friday between 10am and noon to organise the swaps.
She said: “People can bring in jigsaws and board games and they are disinfected and are available for swapping the following week.”
The group has also successfully launched a ‘Send a Smile’ campaign after putting out a request for people to write letters or postcards, or draw a picture – anything that would ‘Send a Smile’ to someone living in isolation.
Link volunteers co-ordinator Mairi McGinley said: “We have begun delivering these cards and the feedback from those receiving them would bring a tear to a glass eye!”
For more details, email Mairi at communityresilience@northberwickcommunitycouncil.org.uk
Contact details
As usual, if residents need help with shopping or prescriptions they can go to www.nbresilience.com or phone 07745 636441.
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