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 nine of the groups who are giving up their own time to help out.
Cockenzie and Port Seton
WHILE work goes on to wind down the resilience effort and prepare the community in Cockenzie and Port Seton for life after lockdown, volunteers have continued to provide assistance and receive donations.
The local resilience effort has been led by Cockenzie and Port Seton Community Council, which has this week continued to pay tribute to its volunteers on social media.
The craft club at Chalmers Memorial Church has been making masks and donated some to the resilience team.
Meanwhile, local people, including those in Longniddry, can visit the pantry at Port Seton Centre for food and other items.
Delivery is also available by phoning the centre on 01875 818181.
Throughout lockdown, East Lothian Council staff at the centre have been making meals and, alongside resilience volunteers, delivering them to residents.
Thanks was also given from Preston Seton Gosford Area Partnership to Scotmid for the donation of deodorant and body wash it gave to the centre when it went to pick up toiletries for the pantry.
The resilience effort will wind down either at the end of the month or when children go back to school in August.
Contact details
To contact the Cockenzie and Port Seton resilience team, call 07783 643105.
Dunbar
COMMUNITY resilience volunteers in Dunbar are getting ready to hand over the reins to East Lothian Council.
Volunteers from throughout the town and neighbouring West Barns have been working to support vulnerable members of the two communities.
The community resilience team will take a step back at the end of the month.
George Robertson, chairman of Dunbar and East Linton Area Partnership, said a lot of volunteers were already stepping away due to work commitments or to go on holiday.
He said: “I’ve found it to be in some ways quite rewarding because it was very gratifying to see what a positive response we had from the local community and how people stepped forward as volunteers.
"This started in mid-March when we set up those teams, we have come a long way now. People are getting fatigued and quite glad to be stepping down and do less.”
The community was split into nine clusters, with each assigned a lead volunteer.
George told the Courier that the busiest cluster would receive about 30 calls a week when restrictions were at their peak.
People would collect prescriptions and shopping, as well as take dogs for a walk.
Hot meals were also delivered to those in need while volunteers worked with Dunbar’s foodbank.
Electronic devices were also blanked and given a new lease of life with students in the town who were studying from home with schools closed.
However, as restrictions have eased, George said the number of calls had “dropped right off”.
Volunteers have agreed to be on hand in case of a second spike and will be ready to ramp up their efforts should the need arise.
Contact details
To contact the Dunbar resilience team, email Dunbar.covid19@gmail.com
Gullane
CHEQUES totalling more than £1,800 have been handed over to five good causes. Members of Gullane Resilience Team thanked the community for donating goods and money throughout lockdown.
The money was added to cash raised through the sales of bread flour and face coverings before a cheque presentation was made.
Gullane Village Hall received £1,100, with a further £275 going to Muirfield Riding Therapy and £220 to Brain Tumour Research.
East Lothian Foodbank received £150, with £100 going to the Gullane Scrubbers.
Contact details
Contact the team for help on 07312 117993 or by emailing gullanerteam@gmail.com
Haddington
THE head of Haddington’s community resilience team has described the efforts of volunteers as “fantastic”.
A squad of members of the public, giving up their own time, has been on standby in the town since the middle of March in a bid to help anyone affected by the coronavirus.
As lockdown restrictions are eased, the community resilience team is set to take a step back at the end of the month.
Chris McEwan, who has been at the heart of the Haddington team, told the Courier that the number of calls in recent weeks had dried up as people slowly got back to normality.
He said: “In the beginning, it was utterly stressful because we did not have anything in place that would even remotely deal with this.
"We had to build a resilience team up of volunteers.
"Everything else we had beforehand was round about community council members and a few other people like the events group and Christmas lights team.
"We could call upon each other to help out and in the past that has been spreading some grit or helping out here or there but nothing like this whatsoever.”
Volunteers have been on hand to offer a range of services, including collecting shopping and prescriptions, as well as the delivery of hot meals to people through Our Community Kitchen.
Copies of the Courier have also been delivered to people, while volunteers have called vulnerable people to check in with them.
Earlier in lockdown, Chris made face shields, using a 3D printer, for people in the healthcare sector.
Recently, more shields have been produced for people as businesses begin to reopen.
Chris added that community resilience groups from across East Lothian had been coming together to share their Covid-19 experiences.
He felt that had been a real benefit and hoped that would be used in future if the community resilience teams ever had to tackle something similar.
He said: “Towards the end, as it is calming down, I have been really impressed with what we have done as volunteers.
"It has been really fantastic and I am hoping that goodwill goes on.”
Contact details
Anyone needing assistance can call 07952 003386 between 10am and 4pm.
Further information is available from haddingtoncc.org.uk
Humbie
VOLUNTEERS will continue to be on hand to offer assistance to people in Humbie.
Community resilience teams across East Lothian are getting ready to wind up at the end of the month as lockdown restrictions continue to ease.
Al Beck, treasurer of Humbie, East and West Saltoun, and Bolton Community Council, stressed they would continue to be available to people.
Humbie volunteers have also been working alongside neighbouring Fala to help any members of the community who require assistance.
Al said: “Like many of the small groups, there has not been a huge demand.
"We have had more volunteers than we require to provide a service but we have been happy to be there.
"Everybody has been happy to be involved and be available if required.”
He added a lot of neighbours were looking after each other rather than contacting the resilience team but stressed they were there to offer assistance.
Contact details
Contact Margo Hodge from the resilience team on 01875 833638.
Musselburgh
RESILIENT Musselburgh is continuing to move into “community recovery” as the Covid-19 lockdown eases.
Up to July 12, the army of volunteers delivered 3,845 lunches to preschool children, 262 emergency food packs, 4,206 meals from catering company Hickory, 3,525 soup and sandwich meals, four utility top-ups, 17 hearing aid batteries, 58 prescriptions, seven supplies of books, three ‘click and collect’ orders, 10 garden tools, 89 requests for information, and 308 adult and 255 children activity packs.
The resilience efforts in the Musselburgh area, which includes Wallyford and Whitecraig, are led by Musselburgh & Inveresk Community Council and Musselburgh Area Partnership.
Iain Clark, area partnership chairman, said: “The need for support has been decreasing slowly over the last few weeks.
"Hopefully we will see a continued decrease over the next few weeks as the phased return out of lockdown moves forward.
"This will enable our voluntary resources and East Lothian Council colleagues to focus on moving forward into community recovery.”
Contact details
Get in touch with Resilient Musselburgh on 07871 729037.
North Berwick
THE North Berwick Resilience Group sewing team celebrated the milestone of making 1,000 face masks with the unveiling of a giant face covering.
Khlayre Cairney said she was very proud of the achievement.
She said: “We have a great sewing team who have done a wonderful job.”
The face coverings are being given out free on Friday mornings at North Berwick Community Centre, 10am-noon.
Meanwhile, North Berwick Resilience Group team is about to enter its final full week before closing down next Friday (July 31).
North Berwick community councillor Sue Northrop, who holds responsibility for the community council emergency plan, said the team had been busy working with East Lothian Council to ensure that people who needed access to council and care services were properly supported.
Over the weekend, the team held the last of three community workshops on Covid-19 to get the wider community views and experiences of life in North Berwick with Covid.
Sue said: “This will inform the team’s final report and the future community emergency resilience plan for North Berwick.
"The team has done a fantastic job, complementing the support given by families, friends, and the wider community.
"We have lots of people to say thank you to for their help and support over the past four and a bit months.
"Our priority is to make sure that essential support is now provided by council services and that people know who to contact when they need help.
"We hope there won’t be a spike or second wave, but we will be working with the whole community to look at how we work together in future emergences.”
Contact details
For help with shopping or prescriptions, go to www.nbresilience.com or phone 07745 636441.
Prestonpans
WORK continues in Prestonpans to keep supporting those in need as lockdown restrictions are relaxed.
Brian Weddell, Prestonpans Community Council chairman, said despite the moves to ease some of the restrictions, the community resilience team continued to provide vital services.
He said: “Much of the media focus over the past week has been on the re-opening of pubs and restaurants and with it the added concern that more people may be exposed to Covid-19 as a consequence.
"Clearly no one wants to see a negative outcome with a second wave of coronavirus cases causing a return to stricter lockdown measures.
"Whilst the UK and Scottish Governments have relaxed lockdown rules, there has been no relaxation of the work of our willing team of volunteers who continue to help deliver shopping, collect prescriptions and are doing dog walks.
"When you consider that some of our volunteers are still working, their support and commitment is really admirable.
"A special mention needs to go to Prestonpans acting SPoC Allan Sneddon, who has continued to work during the crisis and has not only headed our resilience effort – Allan led from the front delivering meals, leaflets, shopping for elderly residents and doing the occasional dog walk.
"A huge amount of work is still going on at the Pennypit with a lot of people still accessing their pantry (even with the easing of lockdown), which really goes to show the need for this.
"The Pennypit Trust are currently looking at plans for the future, with a view to keeping the pantry running and the possibility of extending current services to meet the nutritional needs of the elderly and vulnerable in the community.”
The Pennypit has also been organising activities for youngsters during the holidays to keep them active and exercising.
Anyone who needs support from the Pennypit Trust should contact Lorna on 01875 815221 or email lornabellany@gmail.com.
Jane Russell’s Sunday chicken dinners continue to provide fresh meals every weekend to more than 100 households across East Lothian and meals can be ordered on the group’s Facebook page or on 07752 284249.
The community team gave a special mention this week to Jane Shepherd, Tesco Musselburgh’s Community Food Champion, who assembled 15 crates of food provisions over the last week, and Scotmid which has provided daily food supplies throughout the past four months.
Contact details
Contact the resilience team on 07517 715085 or at prestonpansresilience@gmail.com
Tranent and Elphinstone
TRANENT Emergency Response Team will stand down next Friday (July 31) and released its plan for what people can do if they still need help or still wish to volunteer.
Volunteers will, after this date, no longer be needed to provide support in the community such as assisting with shopping, prescriptions, dog walking and checking on vulnerable people, services they have provided continuously since March.
It also means these services will no longer be available as part of the community resilience initiative.
The team’s Facebook Messenger service and emergency telephone number will also no longer be available at the end of the month.
The resilience effort in Tranent and Elphinstone has been led by the local community council and overseen by member, and single point of contact, Mike Falconer.
Mike has continuously provided updates to the volunteers on Facebook group ‘Tranent Emergency Response – Coronavirus’.
Mike said: “I am sure that many of those volunteers will continue to help out but simply as good neighbours.
"If you or someone you know is having difficulty and requires help after that date, we will be publishing a list of services, contact details and information on [the Facebook] page, on the Tranent and Elphinstone Community Council Facebook page and on our noticeboard in the car park at Winton Place/Lindores Drive.
"If you are interested in volunteering here or elsewhere in East Lothian, check out Volunteer East Lothian (formerly STRiVE on Tranent High Street).
"Take care, stay safe and hopefully we won’t need to resume operations!
"Thanks to all of the wonderful volunteers, the rest of the team and the generous donations of time, money and effort which you, the community, have given over the last few months. You have all been great!”
Meanwhile, Mike thanked volunteer Susan Coyle, who made about 100 fabric masks. Resilience volunteers distributed these masks last week.
Mike said: “Susan has probably been the busiest of our volunteers over the last few months – collecting shopping and prescriptions and checking on neighbours. Well done, you are a star!”
Susan was presented with a bouquet of flowers from David Forrest, chair of Tranent and Elphinstone Community Council, as a token of thanks.
Contact details
Contact the resilience team on 07483 453878 or at tranentemergencyresponse@gmail.com
Other resilience groups' contact details
Aberlady
Ian Malcolm 07557 236232
Sam Robertson 07920 779750
www.facebook.com/AberladyResilience-109658874085168
Bolton
Shena Jamieson 01620 810239 or shenajamieson@aol.com
Dirleton
East Saltoun
Buffy Neilson 07798 738372 or buffyneilson@yahoo.co.uk
Gifford
Jo Allen 01620 811019 chairgiffordcc@gmail.com
Adam White 01620 810298 adamjswhite@outlook.com
Wendy Ferguson 01620 811069 wendyferguson.wf@gmail.com
The Rev Aniko Schuetz Bradwell 01620 811193 anikoschuetzbradwell@churchofscotland.org.uk
Longniddry
Sheila Jamieson 07927 400437
Macmerry & Gladsmuir
07511 275461
communityresilienceteam@gmail.com
Ormiston
07737 569480
West Saltoun
Derek Smith 01875 340722
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