Weston-super-Mare’s response to the coronavirus crisis has been nothing short of ‘phenomenal’, according to volunteers on the frontline in the town. 

As the pandemic took hold, communities across the world were considering how best to respond. 

In Weston, instead of bracing for the tourist trade surge, the lockdown brought normal life to a halt – businesses shuttered; everyone told to keep their distance; the most vulnerable advised not to leave their homes at all.

Within weeks, individual volunteers in the town banded together to form grassroots “mutual aid” groups, while charities and local government rapidly reorganised to meet demand. 

This is just a snapshot of the efforts by people across the town to cope with lockdown: 

Weston Town Council

Weston’s town council started from scratch as it tried to respond to the coronavirus threat, according to deputy clerk Sarah Pearse.

She said: “We had a huge reorganisation of staff.

“But within two weeks of lockdown everyone knew what they were doing. 

“If there’s anything positive that can come out of this it’s the ability to work directly with the community.”

At this time of year the council should be getting ready for the tourist season – instead there is an active campaign so people “don’t visit Weston”.

Its various sources of income are normally worth £400,000 to the council, against total expenditure of £2.9million. 

“We’re going to be looking at our budget,” said Sarah, the finance officer. “At the moment the priority is responding to the crisis.

“We’re committed to the community. We’re funded by public funds and will use those funds how we need to use them.

“We’re trying to keep things going as much as possible. It’s important to support local businesses, and that the town looks nice and presentable. 

“We work with Westhaven Special School, who provide spring bedding. They grow plants and we purchase them. We’re proud to keep that going – the students put a lot of work in before the crisis happened.”

The council has backed homelessness charity Somewhere to Go with £50,000 over two years, and has just agreed to renew that support for another year. 

It has also given donations to the food bank and the YMCA. 

North Somerset Council

The town council works closely with North Somerset Council, which launched North Somerset Together, a hotline to help people during the pandemic that serves as a single point of contact. 

The main partners are Weston Town Council, Helping People Weston-super-Mare, Weston ROC churches network and For All Healthy Living Centre -between them they have well over 400 volunteers working across Weston.

So far the network has completed 358 one-off requests for help, have 223 recurring requests and have another 119 in progress.

North Somerset Council buildings In Weston-super-Mare

A North Somerset Council spokesperson said: “We would like to thank all of the volunteers involved in supporting vulnerable people and everyone involved in organising and managing the response; it represents a fantastic example of a community using its own strengths and skills to respond quickly and effectively to a serious challenge.

“We also recognise that while not everyone has been given volunteer tasks yet, they will be needed over the coming months as this will be a long-term response so we urge them to stay involved.

“This response underlines how much potential there is in Weston and how crucial local community action is to our long-term “placemaking” agenda for the town, as well as the future of public service delivery and we are committed to working long-term with the Weston network to maintain and build on this kind of community support as part of the post-Covid future.”

Charities

Voluntary Action North Somerset (VANS) works to “represent, develop and empower” the voluntary sector, so was well placed to act when the virus crisis struck. 

Paul Lucock, its interim chief executive, said: “Right across North Somerset the response has been phenomenal. 

“We thought we’d have a massive increase in demand but a lot of it has been picked up by community groups. Especially in Weston, we’ve seen a huge response across the community.

“The council sent out thousands of postcards about North Somerset Together, the single referral hotline. They didn’t have a huge increase in people calling.

“It shows that if people need help, they have managed to get it from somewhere. That can only be positive. 

“In the last six weeks we’ve seen a transformation that otherwise would have taken years.

“Although funding is going to be more difficult to get [after the crisis] there’s an opportunity here. We should use this time to innovate.”

VANS has been on call to address charities’ concerns, mainly about funding – much of their income has been diverted to the coronavirus response. 

It has also mapped out all of the different mutual aid groups, which can be found at  www.vansweb.org.uk

Feed the Homeless 

Michelle Pellegrino has been helping the homeless in Weston for three years.

“We provide food seven days a week,” she said. “We usually do 20 meals a day, now it’s gone up to 30.

“I’ve got a lot of people collecting and delivering. I’ve got about 20 people who cook. We all buy the food ourselves.

“I was homeless, many years ago.

“There’s a lot of different people on the streets – they have mental health problems, addiction, they’ve been kicked out by their wives.

“I just feel for these people. I don’t think anyone should be out on the pavement, especially in winter.”

She said most of the people who were homeless have been put into accommodation but seven are still sleeping rough. 

Supporting them has been harder since the lockdown.

Greggs used to donate any leftover food, and the volunteers can no longer offer hot drinks. 

But Michelle’s team continue to work to feed them and keep them safe.

For more information and to volunteer, email Michelle at  hotweight@gmail.com

 Redeeming Our Community

Penny and Dave Hynds launched Weston’s branch of ROC, or Redeeming Our Community, in early February, just weeks before the lockdown. 

“At that point we could see coronavirus was coming,” she said.

“It was an opportunity to galvanise the community. We created a card people could give to their neighbours to ask for help.

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“That was the first stage, then we approached doctors’ surgeries to help take the pressure off them.”

The group is part of a response offering support to people who need it, whether it’s a one-off need or ongoing help with shopping, collecting a prescription or a weekly phone call to stave off loneliness. 

Penny added: “North Somerset Council and the town council have helped empower and not hinder – it’s a great example of working together to value the volunteers and get help to the most vulnerable. 

“I hope it will be a foundation for further collaborative working as we address the next raft of needs as we move into a different phase.” 

Grassroots volunteering

Laura Panter has been making masks to protect people during the coronavirus crisis in Weston-super-Mare
Laura Panter has been making masks to protect people during the coronavirus crisis in Weston-super-Mare

Laura Panter, a seamstress whose business was hit hard by the lockdown, decided to put her skills to good use. 

Six weeks ago she started Mask Force Weston to make vital kit for health and care staff. The Facebook group now has more than 250 members. 

To date the volunteers have made 1,270 masks, plus bags, ear savers and scrub hats. 

Much has been made with simple household items – the masks consist of two layers of cotton with reusable filters made from kitchen towel, medical gauze or dry wet wipes. 

They have been requested by volunteers, carers, postal workers, schools, first responders and the general public.

Donations for materials can be made at  www.crowdfunder.co.uk/mask-force—weston

As well as making masks, West Wick childminder Vikki Jeffreys has set up a collection point for the Griddle Trust food bank – she leaves a box at the bottom of her path and her “wonderful” neighbours contribute. 

“I have been humbled by the generosity of this estate,” she said. “The amount of food fills my car up pretty much every week! 

“We also have a birthday plan for children where we put alerts up on our local Facebook site, then residents put banners wishing the child happy birthday by name in their windows so they still feel special despite missing out on planned parties.”

Vikki is also one of the cooks for Feed the Homeless. 

In the early weeks of the lockdown, computer science student Reece Coombes pulled together all the information he could find onto a website, coronasupport-wsm.co.uk.

Reece Coombes set up a website so everyone could keep up to date with how coronavirus was affecting Weston-super-Mare

“The initial idea was to build a volunteer hub but I realised there were too many data protection/safeguarding issues, so I decided an informative site would be most effective,” he said. 

“The thing I saw most of on social media was actually questions about shopping for essentials, and which restaurants, bakeries, etc were delivering. 

“I spent a few days compiling every food business I could find in Weston still open, and put all the details on the site where people could easily find them.

“I think it went down well, lots of people said they found it useful. 

“Obviously, now the priority has shifted to helping the most vulnerable, which local charities in Weston have done a fantastic job of, and I don’t want to get in their way!” 

Summing up the response in the town, Weston mayor Mark Canniford said: “The word is astonishing.

“How the town council and North Somerset Council have worked together to bring these community groups together so they can look after residents has been phenomenal. 

“There’s been a greater level of communication, understanding and kindness than I’ve seen in my 20 years in politics. That’s probably the best thing that’s come out of this whole situation.

“People have called for help, and help has been there.”