Battersea Coronavirus Angels – Update (14Nov20)

Canon Simon Butler, Vicar of St Mary’s Battersea (and a trustee of KLS), has just written an update to the Coronavirus Angels volunteers. As we’re a partner in this group we thought we would reproduce it here. 

Dear fellow Coronavirus Angels,

Welcome to our Newsletter. A very special thank you and welcome to those who have volunteered again to offer help and support to our neighbours in this second lockdown. We send out these newsletters on a regular basis while we’re operating to alert you to what is going on, to give you a chance to heart stories as they emerge, and to direct you to other ways you can help.

First Week Update: We relaunched the Angels project last week as we entered lockdown without a clear idea of how much people would need the sort of practical help that was in considerable demand during the first one. We thought it was better to have the sort of ‘safety net’ that a local response might be able to offer, while recognising that this has been seen coming for some time and that many we helped earlier in the year would be better prepared for these weeks. I’m delighted to say that we have managed to leaflet much of north Battersea in the past week, which has resulted in a good number of people offering their time and help again. A further 50 people have volunteered on top of the many who said they would continue to volunteer from earlier in the year. This means we are ready to help. We’ve also re-established contact with the other groups we have worked with, including the Dons Local Action Group, WoW Mums, and many others.

As in early 2020, the requests for help have been slow in coming in so far. We don’t yet know whether this will be the pattern, or whether they will increase in the coming days, but the key thing is that we are ready. Thank you to everyone who is part of that amazing response.

Other Ways of Helping: We have had two requests for assistance from other partner organisations and we wanted to highlight these to you.

• The Dons Local Action Group (DLAG): this response is part of AFC Wimbeldon’s Foundation and provided meals and shopping for people across Wandsworth, as well as their local base in Merton. If you would be interested in helping, check out their website or email [email protected].
• Kambala Residents Association: This estate is on the junction of York Road and Falcon Road and has a fantastic small group of volunteers who provided food, cooked meals and support for their residents, some of whom are among the poorest in our neighbourhood. They are currently looking for drivers for their Christmas Day meal service among other things. If you can help please use the information below to reach out.

A Pre-Christmas Fayre: Finally, an invitation from us at St Mary’s Battersea – although not one that is explicitly faith-based. Richard Cross, our Church Treasurer, has done a fantastic job in scoping out the possibility of putting on a three-day Christmas Fayre in St Mary’s Churchyard the weekend before Christmas. He has got the interest of potential stallholders, local businesses in Battersea and has the advice of the Council about Covid-19 security. The Church Council decided to give this project the green light on Tuesday, because (assuming we’re not still locked down) it will be wonderful to have something positive going on in Battersea just before Christmas.

We are having a meeting next Tuesday evening on Zoom to talk with people about what is planned and to seek people to help us deliver this exciting project. If you have particular skills or experience (including but not just: events planning, publicity, marketing, first aid) or would like to contribute in a general way, please join our Zoom meeting (Passcode: 215224) on Tuesday 17th November at 7.00pm (finishing no later than 8.30pm). We would welcome community interest and involvement. 

Thanks for reading this far – but more for your willingness, even in personally challenging times, to help your neighbours and work for the common good in Battersea.

Best wishes,

Simon Butler

Canon Simon Butler
Vicar of St Mary’s Battersea
07941 552407
stmarysbattersea.org.uk

Contact

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