Work Experience and Placement Advisor Liz Millmore from Crayford has been an employee at the College since 2003. She joined forces with six other like-minded good Samaritans after registering with Next-door, a site designed to bring people from local neighbourhoods together and work towards achieving community-based common goals.
The six soon became a ground force of over 790 volunteers working in response to the Covid-19 crisis, helping more than 500 vulnerable people who are self-isolating throughout the London Borough of Bexley.
Isolation Help Bexley have also provided much needed PPE to local hospices and care homes and distributed by some of Liz’s employer contacts from London South East Colleges. They have opened their own provisions centre from where they deliver essential items to people in need and stock this through donations.
Liz has worked closely with Age UK Bexley who refer people to her for services which range from the collection of prescriptions, arranging a ‘buddy’ to shop for them, dog walking, emergency food parcel delivery and phone support for people in distress.
Isolation Help Bexley have been acknowledged in several news forums including the Bexley Times, The Evening Standard, The Independent, and even Sky News.
Liz is currently acting as both the Logistics Lead and Safeguarding Officer for the action group. Busy with her normal day-job and devoting all other hours of daylight to her local community during the lockdown, she managed to find a few valuable minutes to talk to us.
Liz said: “When we met for the first time, none of the members had any idea how big this would get. Apart from my next door neighbour, I was meeting the others for the very first time. Since then, we have leafleted 100,000 homes in the borough to ensure that everybody knows we exist and how to get in-touch if they need us, built a website, enlisted 790 other volunteers who act as drivers, dog walkers, shopping and phone buddies, communications officers and many other roles.
“We have worked magnificently together and with our partners to inform elderly and vulnerable members of our local communities of what we can do, and to make them aware there is a lifeline in this time of crisis. The response has been amazing and has given me a refreshed faith in people and their kindness. Together we are ensuring that nobody self-isolating in Bexley feels isolated.”
Please click here if you would like to make a donation and pledge your support for Isolation Help Bexley.
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