Volunteers in Powys have stepped up the plate during the pandemic

Nearly a year into the Covid-19 pandemic, the unsung army of volunteers in Powys, have now been mobilised to help the mass vaccination effort.

Powys Association of Voluntary Organisations chief executive, Carl Cooper, spoke about the inspirational work being done by volunteers.

Carl said: “Before Covid, I would have said that Powys is the volunteering capital of Wales.

“The number of volunteers here is higher than anywhere else in Wales.”

Around 60,000 people out of a total population of 132,000 in Powys had given their time to help others for free.

Carl said: “We have 350 people at the Newtown, Llanelwedd and Bronllys vaccination centres, and they work as “wayfinder marshalls.”

“They are doing fantastic work, a great partnership has been developed between the voluntary sector, the health board and the council during this emergency.

“It has been inspirational and is one of the good things that has come out of a dark, difficult, and challenging time.”

The volunteers meet and greet people when they arrive, help them through the process, make people feel relaxed and help find items such as wheelchairs if needed.

The volunteers could be anyone, and several local politicians have been part of the effort.

“I will be doing this next week with other volunteers, and I’m looking forward to playing my part,” said Carl.

He explained that this is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to the efforts made by volunteers since the emergency started in the UK, back in March 2020.

He said: “During the pandemic we have been coordinating and supporting the informal or “spontaneous” volunteers who have been hard at work in their own communities.

“What we have is a network of networks.”

“By now we have 13 of them across Powys that support and coordinate their efforts in the community.”

Before Covid, there were over 4,000 third sector organisations in Powys, and 112 Covid related volunteer groups have been formed around the county, during the last year.

Carl stressed: “Their contribution has been massively important.”

Alongside this, PAVO has recruited nearly 2,500 volunteers who have worked alongside Powys Teaching Health Board and Powys County Council in various capacities such as helping with food in hospitals, and as drivers.

At the start of the pandemic, Carl explained that PAVO took responsibility for the volunteering effort.

He said during the latest lockdown, coordinating the volunteer effort has been easier, due to the lessons learned in earlier periods.

Carl said: “The first lockdown came out of the blue, we didn’t have the agreements or processes in place that were needed.

“It did take some time to work with our partners to ensure these were put in place, such as sharing information, health and safety, and risk assessing.

“We now have a system that works smoothly and one where we are able to respond much quicker than we could at the start.”

The profile of who volunteers has also changed during the pandemic.

Many regular volunteers who are older, needed to shield as they had, or their loved ones had underlying health conditions, which needed to be protected against coronavirus.

This saw a new cohort of volunteers emerge.

Carl said: “We had people who were on furlough for example who had the time, and were able to offer their services temporarily.”

He also explained that volunteering is good for mental health.

Carl added: “Volunteering has helped the vaccination programme it helps the services, but it also helps the volunteers because they have been able to go out and come back with better mental and emotional well-being.”

For more information on PAVO – visit their website, www.pavo.org.uk