Battersea Coronavirus Angels – Update (13Aug20)

Canon Simon Butler, Vicar of St Mary’s Battersea (and a trustee of KLS), is writing a weekly e-news to the Coronavirus Angels volunteers. As we’re a partner in this venture we thought we should reproduce it here as it’s full of interesting and relevant stuff!

This week’s newsletter is very brief. We wanted just to highlight the fact that the Angels practical service will be ending at the end of August. The plan is to send you much fuller details about that in the week beginning 24th August in a special newsletter, but the Coordinating Team thought a simple reminder of this might be of use for a couple of reasons:

First, it may be that there are some Angels among you who have been quietly continuing to shop or help out individuals for some time, without it going through the official coordinator route. This is absolutely fine, but we wanted to ensure that you are comfortable with the fact that, if you would like to continue doing these wonderful things, from September onwards you will be doing them as a good neighbour rather than with the backing of the Angels team. Feel free to discuss this with the Angels team if you like: we don’t want to leave you or anyone you are helping in the lurch. Just give us a call.

Equally, we want to feel that where there are people you are helping who you only feel able to do while Angels is operating, that we have their details in good time, so we can take steps to see if we can find other sources of help for them, or can signpost them to another service (e.g. the Foodbank). So, if you do wish to stop doing what you are doing regularly then please let us and the person you’re helping know as soon as you can, so we can do our best to ensure that they continued to be supported.

In short, what we’re asking is that if you have any concerns about the ending of the practical side of Angels work (shopping, errands, prescriptions, etc), please do call or email us in the coming days, so we can work with you to bring your situation to the best place possible.

Don’t forget: the telephone befriending service will continue. If you would like to be involved, please drop me a line.

SAVE THE DATE(S)…And finally…we want to have an opportunity for as many who have volunteered to safely gather to celebrate the work of Coronavirus Angels in the past six months. We’re looking at an outside event, possibly in St Mary’s Churchyard, when we can (safely) gather together and enjoy one another’s company. A group of professional musicians are offering an evening of jazz to accompany us. We’re just working on the details, but perhaps you might like to hold in your diaries the evenings of 29th and 30th September. The next newsletter will have more details. If you think you might be able to help plan this or could offer a bit of financial sponsorship, please let me know.

Best wishes,

Simon Butler

Canon Simon Butler
Vicar of St Mary’s Battersea
Prolocutor of the Lower House of the Convocation of Canterbury & Member of the Archbishops’ Council
Senior Treasurer, Clergy Support Trust
07941 552407
stmarysbattersea.org.uk

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If you need a bit of help from the Angels then do call us on 07394 856 557 and email [email protected]

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