Thank you Battersea Coronavirus Angels

We recently threw a ‘thank you’ party, on the riverfront by St Mary’s Church in Battersea, to thank everyone who volunteered with the Battersea Coronavirus Angels.

From Day One we had always wanted to thank the 450 volunteers, who had completed 1000’s of missions we undertook during the pandemic. Friday night was a fitting way to do that. We had lots to eat, listened to some great Jazz music, got a great goodie bag donated by Battersea Power Station, and importantly got to spend time with one another in-person (not over Zoom) to celebrate our achievements and simply catch up!

The Battersea Coronavirus Angels was simply a place where people in the local area could volunteer to help other local residents in need, whether it be to do their shopping, walk their dog, collect their prescription or be someone at the end of the phone. We matched people together, with certain safeguards to protect both the person in need and the volunteer.

As David B., one of lead Angels organisers said, “I do look back now as those busy, but scary times at the start of the pandemic. From a personal point of view, I felt I needed to do something to help others, and by bringing people together the response was brilliant…. Looking back now, I feel an enormous sense of pride for the community and how we responded. We might now head back to our normal lives, but long-term relationships have been established and we have built on this by creating a group of befrienders. Would I do it again? Yes of course, but hopefully not on the back of a pandemic next time!”

The incredible effort by everyone involved with the Angels is to be highly commended.

A very BIG thank you to all our Angels.

Rev. Canon Simon Butler (in the middle), the inspiration behind the Angels, picking up an Award on behalf of all the Angel volunteers from the Mayor of Wandsworth, at a recent Battersea Volunteers ‘Celebration of Community Volunteering’ event.