Bexley neighbours’ support group hires IT specialists to reach residents
A new type of Covid support group has been created by a group who met online to reach more than 100,000 families in its borough.
Bexley residents on a local app raised concerns about elderly neighbours accessing essentials.
Despite not knowing each other, seven created Isolation Help Bexley (IHB) aiming to be so well co-ordinated that they could ensure ‘nobody self-isolating in Bexley feels isolated’.
Coordinators Fiona Thompson and Dave Paul set about utilising other volunteers’ skills to make this a reality.
One month on, IHB is employing IT and communications expertise to reach vulnerable residents who have no digital presence.
A team of 615 volunteers has now assisted 520 local people in need, and that number is rising daily.
It has been so successful that other groups have been in touch to see if they can run the same scheme in their boroughs.
IHB have strived to be good neighbours by delivering toilet rolls, collecting urgent medication or simply picking up the phone to say hello.
They want to reach every vulnerable person in the borough through a combination of the latest smart tech and more traditional leafleting to every home.
IT experts Ash Bennett and Eugene Petzer developed a computer-aided
dispatch system that gives them ‘at-a-glance’ details of all IHB volunteers and the people who’ve reached out to the group for help.
This means the team can see which volunteer is closest to which person in need – and get them assistance straight away.
Leafleting has proved the best way to reach those in the borough without any online access.
Fiona said: “Many other groups rely on Facebook or WhatsApp to reach those in need and we knew this may mean many older or vulnerable people were falling through the cracks.
“So far we have delivered leaflets to 67,000 of the estimated 106,000 homes in Bexley, and every day we are reaching more and more people.”
Bexley resident Lorraine, 70, is self-isolating with her 90-year-old
mother. She said: “We got a leaflet through the door and called as we needed eggs, but they brought us a food box full of goodies and a bunch of flowers. It made our day so much we cried.”
Dave said: “We want this group to continue long after Covid has been beaten, with volunteers and those in need still buddying up.”
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