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 four of the groups who are giving up their own time to help out.

Dunbar

FACE-TO-FACE counselling sessions are now being offered by The Ridge to people in need of advice or support as lockdown restrictions ease.

The support service is able to see residents while respecting social distancing measures, and can offer help with citizens’ advice and mental health support.

Dunbar community resilience teams are continuing their work to support the most vulnerable residents and those in isolation or need of help.

George Robertson, who is at the heart of the resilience efforts, said the work by volunteers was much appreciated by the community.

He said: “Our volunteer teams continue to support the local community with the usual range of ‘good neighbour’ services.

“The foodbank and meals service continue to be busy and their efforts are very much appreciated by the community.

“The Ridge are providing citizens’ advice and mental health support and are now able to offer face-to-face counselling with social distancing in one of their buildings.

“Our pet service had a couple of calls to take a dog to the vet and another to a grooming service.”

A campaign to provide refurbished laptops for schools has also been a success and George thanked everyone who has donated to it.

He said: “After a thorough clean, re-install and repair, these items are now being delivered to the Dunbar schools. Fifteen laptops were delivered [last] Friday, and a further 20 on Monday.

“Donations are slowing down now, probably because most have been gathered.”

Anyone who still has a laptop or tablet they are willing to donate can get in touch with the Dunbar Covid Team at Dunbar.covid19@gmail.com or by calling 07568 316842.

Dunpender

THE resilience effort in East Linton and surrounding villages is “kind of quiet and winding down a bit”, says community council chairwoman Judith Priest, as more residents are able to leave home.

And Dunpender Community Council’s emergency response team will wind down once the Government declares lockdown over, said Judith.

“This was an emergency response so we won’t continue with it in this form,” Judith said.

“We’re looking at winding up at the end of July. But we hope to keep the resilience team mothballed, as it were, for future use, having set it up and had volunteers happy to have their names kept on a list.”

In the meantime, information relating to the coronavirus can be found at www.tyninghamevillagehall.org.uk or by going to www.eastlinton.uk.com

People can also contact 07514 136334 or 07933 709745.

Haddington

THINGS are getting much quieter in Haddington, though calls are still coming in, while the number of resilience team volunteers is shrinking, says Haddington Community Council vicechairman Chris McEwan.

Emergency shopping has been completed for some residents, and the team has seen several more foodbank referrals, as workplaces remain closed and employees are struggling financially.

The team is also continuing to perform prescription uplifts for those who remain shielding.

“It’s becoming more difficult for us, as some of our volunteers are starting to return to work themselves,” said Chris.

The resilience team’s pool of volunteers is now “severely diminished,” said Chris.

“We had 50-odd volunteers and we’re now a fraction of that.”

While referrals from the council have slowed down, the group continues to support residents with whom it has struck up a relationship, and who remain in need of assistance.

The community council team is discussing when to wind down support.

“It’s all based on what the Scottish Government’s shielding targets are,” said Chris.

“We’re hoping East Lothian Council has a plan for this. The biggest problem we have now is the number of volunteers.”

Chris also pointed out the impact all the work during lockdown has had on the volunteers themselves.

“We’ve all been doing this since March,” he said, “a lot of us haven’t had a break since then, so there’s that aspect – we need to keep the mental health of our volunteers up. My bad jokes are usually the biggest source of enjoyment!”

Anyone needing assistance can still visit www.haddingtoncc.org.uk or call 07952 003386 between 10am and 4pm.

Gifford

THE Gifford Larder launched this week, to help support households in the community council area who are having difficulties accessing essential food and household items due to the financial impact of Covid-19.

The larder will operate by appointment only on Tuesdays and Fridays in Gifford Village Hall’s Todrick Room.

The appointments system will allow organisers to manage social distancing and numbers, as well as give people the privacy to attend in confidence.

Adam White, Gifford’s resilience co-ordinator, said: “We were very kindly offered a private financial donation to establish a service for people living within our community council area.

“First we spent time researching similar schemes, most notably in Dirleton, to shape our thinking. It is important that whatever we do is of real help to people, is safe and is sustainable.

“We’re very grateful to everyone who has helped us reach this stage, to our coordinators Julia and Katy, and our volunteers who will be operating the larder. We will be gathering feedback on the Gifford Larder as it progresses.”

Organisers welcome support for the new service but are asking people not to donate food.

They said: “We are not accepting food donations. This is because it adds another complex layer of organisation that would need to be managed – it is harder to offer certainty of what people using the service can expect to find and it is harder to manage stock control – we want to avoid waste.

“It also means our co-ordinators can respond to what visitors are telling us they would benefit from. We have carried out research before making this decision and we hope you understand.”

Instead, people wanting to donate food are asked to consider East Lothian Foodbank, in Tranent, with Yester Church in the process of setting up a collection point.

Gifford Community Council’s Facebook and website pages have been updated to include information on the new larder service, posters are being created and leaflets will be delivered to all homes in the area.

To find out more, go to www.giffordvillage.org/post/the-gifford-food-larder

Meanwhile, additional supplies of face coverings have been handed into Hogg’s newsagent by local volunteers and crafters who have been busy sewing.

All donations are used by the “Soup and a Smile” service volunteers, and the face coverings have been very well received by members of the community.

Anyone who needs support or wants to help can contact: Jo Allen, on 01620 811019 or chairgiffordcc@gmail.com; Adam White, on 01620 810298 or adamjswhite@outlook.com; Wendy Ferguson, on 01620 811069 or wendyferguson.wf@gmail.com; or the Rev Aniko Schuetz Bradwell, on 01620 811193 or anikoschuetzbradwell@churchofscotland.org.uk