We wanted to share a huge lockdown success story we were proudly able to facilitate throughout the Covid-19 pandemic crisis – demonstrating early on just how valuable our ethos of community empowerment through facilities and connectivity can be in bringing true resilience.
When we gave a home to Serve On at our facilities in Wilton, none of us knew quite how important the timing would turn out to be in enabling Serve On to do their amazing work in support of the Covid-19 emergency. We are so pleased we were able to help.
Serve On support the emergency services and local authorities through deploying trained volunteer Community Resilience Teams in response to emergencies and major incidents. These Teams also engage members of the public who want to help, including young people, long-term unemployed, ex-military and ex-emergency services, transforming lives and skills in the process.
Craig Elsdon, Operations Manager from Serve On, tells the story in his own words:
“Serve On is an organisation that helps people. Simple. That single premise permeates though what we do at all levels. It enables us to work with other volunteer agencies, emergency services and councils when they need assistance.
“The organisation was hard at work with these partners during the Covid-19 emergency carrying out nearly 3,500 doorstep welfare visits of vulnerable people across Wiltshire. These checks allowed the county council to provide assistance and support when required. Couple that with three-million items of PPE distributed from a temporary warehouse built by our team and hundreds of prescriptions and food deliveries and other support provided in Hampshire, Sussex and London.
“So how does an organisation that has a considerable volunteer reach and capability end up in Wilton?
“An interesting fact is that when Serve On was in need of assistance Entrain Space stood up and was there to help us. We had come to the end of our agreement at our previous location and it was time to move on, but to where? For nine months we searched for a base to operate out of while still maintaining our commitment to supporting the public and emergency services. Times were hard, trying to keep morale of the team up and provide constructive training with no home to go to and our kit spread out in trailers and garages.
“Just as things began to get really tough Entrain offered us a home, no strings just good old-fashioned help. We took it and haven’t looked back since.
“The move in was complicated by a government inspection of our capability, and then Covid-19 arrived making training and organising our equipment difficult. However, having that base of operation in Wilton allowed us to switch up a gear, and when Wiltshire called, we were in a position to be able to support to the fullest extent of our ability. Something that would have been a herculean feat without a base to operate out of.
“So the impact of what one organisation can achieve when it just helps another? Lots of people helped, even some lives saved I’d say, all made possible by a little help from our friends at Entrain Space.”
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