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Help with things like shopping and collecting prescriptions is available to those who need it during lockdown and is only a phone call away.
Chief Exec of the county council, Richard Flinton says the council has a strong support network in place and is working with a number of voluntary organisations to provide help.
Since the first lockdown in March last year, the county and district councils have worked with 23 community support organisations across North Yorkshire to coordinate volunteer and community support, ensuring everyone who needs help has someone to call on.
These hubs are a single point of contact within the community, pulling together other organisations to provide a safety net. More than 1,500 volunteers have helped thousands of people each week with shopping, hot meals and prescriptions, as well as checking on people’s health and well-being.
Richard Flinton Says the help can be easily accessed.
Richard says it's important that everyone in the county plays their part in looking out for other people in their communities.
Richard is also chair of the county's Local Resilience Forum which is coordinating the response to the pandemic in the county he has welcomed the new lockdown.
“A national lockdown gives everyone a simple, straightforward message: stay at home.
“There are very few exceptions to that rule, they include if you absolutely need to be at work, to exercise locally, to get essentials or to volunteer. Those are the very basic exceptions to a straightforward instruction.
“The agencies of the LRF understand that people will be anxious, particularly about the new variant of Covid-19, which is much more transmissible than the previous strain of the virus. We will step up our activity to make sure we help the public at this difficult time.
“We also need all our communities to come together. We have strong communities in North Yorkshire. People look out for each other, as we have seen so clearly in recent months. Once again, we ask the public to be alert, to look out for the vulnerable and people who might be struggling.
“We must look out for neighbours, friends or family who may be lonely or isolated. Give them a phone call. It is as simple as that. Keep in touch and that will make a world of difference.”
“We thank the community support organisations that we are working with,” said Richard. “We have a strong network across the county. If anyone needs support, particularly with shopping, daily living needs, medication or just some personal contact, they should call the county council’s customer service centre on 01609 780780. That is the gateway to support.”
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