The Angel Association welcomes what everyone is doing to look out for their neighbours.
We hope the suggestions below are helpful, and we would welcome more ideas and thoughts from members.
– We suggest a very local approach, for example your own street. You probably already know who the potentially vulnerable people are in your street.
– Can you make a note to check on them on a regular basis?
– Our experience is that some people welcome phone calls and some like keep-in-touch emails so it’s good to take an initiative and see how it goes.
– Can we also help, for example, with internet shopping and dog walking?
– There are many people/organisations out there offering help for individuals and families. What might be difficult is encouraging strangers to approach neighbours; we need to take this gently.
There are many groups and individuals offering support through Next Door Angel, leafleting, and so on, and the Council’s summary picture and advice is helpful. Two obvious points : take reasonable care with those you don’t know, and social distancing is the strong advice from Public Health England.
What seems clear is that this is going to be a long haul. So do please share ideas with Angel Association members.
Eric Sorensen
Chair, Angel Association