In celebration of Samaritan’s day, which is 24th July we’ve decided to look at good deeds during lockdown. The Samaritans are a brilliant charity setup to help others when they need it most. Samartians helpline is open 24 hours a day for people to call whenever they need. Covid-19 has ensured this year has been stressful for so many people, so there has been no better time for an organisation such as the Samaritans to be about.
However, we must look at the positives – during Corona there was a brilliant sense of togetherness, with 51% of adults having reported to donate to charity. So we thought we’d look at some the positive things people have done to help people during Covid-19.
Sir Captain Tom Moore
Popularly known as Captain Tom, he raised money for the NHS Together Charities but walking laps of his garden during the run up to his 100th Birthday. The original goal was to raise £1000 but managed to raise a staggering £32.79 Million overall. In addition to the laps of his garden Captain Tom featured on a cover of You’ll Never Walk Alone with proceeds going to the same charity. The single went to Number One, making Captain Tom the oldest person to top the music charts.
Voluntary Services Lewisham (VSL)
VSL is an organisation that normally offers services such as outreach work and transport support, during lockdown they asked volunteers to organise and deliver food parcels to vulnerable people who were shielding. They also have a befriending service where people were isolating or just wanted to talk to someone can arrange a regular phone call.
Holly’s Lockdown Fight Game for Mind
A stunt double in training, Holly decided to put their skills to use and filmed a hilarious ‘self fight’ video in aid of Mind. The video consists of different ‘characters’ (all played by Holly herself) fighting in many humorous shapes and forms. You can watch the whole video here.
Manchester Central and North Mini Scrub Hub
A Manchester based group of sewing professionals and hobbyists dedicated their skillset and free time towards creating PPE for the NHS. The group of 15 creatives made PPE for local hospitals, GP surgeries and care homes. The group have now changed their name to Manchester Creatives now the need for PPE is less urgent. You can see some examples of their work here.
Telegraph Hill: Feed the Hill
As so many people loss their jobs or ability to work during lockdowns, communities used this as an opportunity to reach out to one another. The area of Telegraph Hill, in South East London really pulled together to support those in need.
Volunteers used The Hill Station Cafe to store food, that they were able to purchase at wholesale prices and asked people to donate to feed local families. This initiative raised a whopping £29,000, and people still appear to be donating. You can read the whole story here.
Tracey Decon’s Food Bank
Up in York, on the last day of strict lockdown, Tracey Decon found out that food banks were shutting down and there would be no source of such supples for people that needed them in York. Tracey had the initiative to set up a food bank from her front garden, and now is feeding 140 families with the help of food donations from many major supermarkets.
PopUp Painting Fundraisers
PopUp Painting co-founder, Gareth used his time on furlough to put on two successful Fundraisers during lockdown. The first was a virtual quiz to raise money in aid of NHS, Refuge and Barnados. Then later on in the summer he organised a Pride online games night in aide of AKT, NAT and UK Black Pride. These events collectively raised over £1000.
Next month, Gareth is organising a fundraiser for Mind, Mindout and the Mental Health Foundation.
