Guernsey sees surge in volunteer numbers

Tuesday 31 March 2020

A volunteer register has been set up to record the details of all the people in Guernsey who are willing to give up their time to help individuals and charities, during the corona virus crisis.

Volunteer Guernsey was formed by the Guernsey Community Foundation, the Association of Guernsey Charities and St John Ambulance, which have all seen a surge in the number of people looking to volunteer.

"The corona virus pandemic has brought out the best in Guernsey people," said Chief Executive of the Guernsey Community Foundation, Jim Roberts. "A huge number of people want to help their fellow islanders. But, it's become increasingly apparent that we need a central organising body to coordinate all that help, and that's where Volunteer Guernsey comes in."

The workforce will need to be well organised, limiting the amount of contact as much as possible.

"It's important to minimise the number of journeys and home visits that volunteers carry out," added Mr Roberts. "It's far better for one volunteer to make a single journey to a street and drop off shopping at four addresses than it is for four volunteers to make four journeys to the same street."

Pictured: St John will organise police checks before adding volunteers to the database.

Eager volunteers will be asked how they would like to help, as well about the presence of other people in their household, for infection control purposes. St John will then organise police checks and the volunteer will be added to the database.

"St John has a long history of supporting the community in times of need," said Chief Operating Officer of St John, Nikki Harrison. "We also have experience of coordinating large groups of people in response to emergency situations, as well as providing training for volunteers.

"Alongside the Community Foundation and the AGC, we will be building on the excellent work already done by the Guernsey Isolation Support Group through their Facebook page, which has resulted in a tremendous community response.

"Like many, I have been struck by the level of community spirit that we're seen across the island over the past couple of weeks. St John will not only bring together a central pool of volunteers, but will also fast track vetting and training of helpers before they are allocated to specific tasks."

Pictured: Nikki Harrison.

Anyone able to volunteer can register their interest by emailing recruitment@stjohn.gg, while individuals or charities in need of help can call 724147.

"Staff from St John will be working from home to collate requests for help and match them with appropriate volunteers," added Mrs Harrison. "I'd like to thank the St John team for responding so quickly to the emerging situation."

So that the team can plan ahead, Volunteer Guernsey is asking that charities submit details of their needs via the volunteer.gg website.

The organisation will work alongside others, such as Health Connections, the Guernsey Voluntary Service and Carers Guernsey, as well as the States of Guernsey to ensure help is directed in the most efficient way.