Though of course there is one big difference between 2020 and 2021 and that is that we now have two COVID-19 Vaccines beginning to be injected into the arms of our most vulnerable family and friends and it will just be a matter of time before our turn comes to be vaccinated.

In order to get those vaccines into people's arms as fast as possible the NHS is in need of people to register to help with the vaccine rollout. To find out more about how you can help see the next article.

It will be several months before the vaccine brings about the changes we all want to see so in the meantime the hub continues to support those in our community with shopping, prescription collection and befriending. We thank all our volunteers for continuing to support those efforts.  Our volunteers are also involved in supporting the village shop with food deliveries and Insomnia with hot drink deliveries.

So in order to ensure vaccines are delivered as fast as they can be supplied an army of ordinary people are needed to take up both paid and voluntary roles. If you can get involved with the rollout in the local area please fill in the form

https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/WorkforceInfo

or email dsv.covid@gmail.com to find out if you can help.

The volunteer WhatsApp group appears to be working very well with regard to finding volunteers to support with hub tasks and client needs. However we understand that some people are not seeing these messages and are therefore not able to respond to requests for help. If you are not part of the volunteer WhatsApp group but believe yourself to be registered as a hub volunteer please contact Nikki by email at ettingtonhub@gmail.com to let her know so she can add you to the group. Please include a mobile telephone number as it may be the hub does not have a mobile number registered for you.

If you do not have a mobile telephone please do also let Nikki know this so we can find another way of keeping you informed.

Changes To The Hub

Colette Inman has been appointed the new Hub Coordinator after Sharon Price stepped down from the role a few weeks ago. A huge thank you to Sharon for her time and talents and a warm welcome to Colette who moves from the call handler role to this important role in managing the hub.

Also a huge thank you to Kate Allen for taking on the call handler role on a more permanent basis.

Hub Manager, Nikki Moon, is now gainfully employed by South Warwickshire GP Federation supporting the vaccine rollout in South Warwickshire so having Colette and Kate in these two important roles will ensure the hub continues to operate in a way that supports our community.

The decision was taken by the hub trustees to suspend volunteers being used to transport clients to appointments. It was felt that the new strain of the virus and the new lockdown meant this was a risk to both volunteer and client. Instead we offer to support those who require transportation by referring them to VASA transport service, who are a charity based in Stratford-upon-Avon and are geared up to support people’s transport needs in a COVID-19 safe way.

Anyone in need of transport can contact them direct using www.vasa.org.uk

Hub Data as of 1st January 2021