To help support community volunteers during this challenging time, we’ve started to compile the following list of reputable resources, offering advice and support on responding to COVID-19. This is by no means an exhaustive list and we will continue to update it, so please do check back regularly. Is there anything we’ve missed that you’d like us to add? Please do get in touch with any resources you feel should be included and others in your community would benefit from.
Check-in with the following as they update information regularly:
Mental health and wellbeing
- Mind – Coronavirus and your wellbeing
- NHS top 10 tips
- Mental Health First Aid England – Supporting your mental health while working from home
- Mental Health Foundation – How to look after your mental health during the coronavirus outbreak
Business/organisations
- Emergency Planning College: COVID-19 Focus – supporting people, teams and organisations during the COVID-19 pandemic outbreak
- Business in the Community: Covid-19 – supporting your communities
Community
- ACRE – high level guidance, including links to ACRE network members for local / regional advice
- St John’s Ambulance advice to first aiders on COVID-19
- Age UK: information on coronavirus, including updates on how you can look after yourself and loved ones, comments from Age UK, and ways you can support older people
- Good Things Foundation Using The Internet To Get Ready For Coronavirus session plan (intended for community organisations to support those who need help at this time)
- The Learn My Way Improving Your Health Online section, which helps people get to grips with finding reliable health information online
- Online Centres Network website Digital Skills Resource Page, which includes handbooks and guides to delivery best practice
- The Good Thing’s Foundation list of collated resources
Volunteering
- Covid-19 Mutual Aid UK – a group of volunteers supporting local community groups organising mutual aid throughout the Covid-19 outbreak in the UK
- Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) – Blog: Community groups and COVID-19: what you need to know about data protection
- GOV.UK – Safeguarding Factsheet: Community volunteers during COVID-19 outbreak
- NCVO – Are volunteers on lockdown? NCVO has spoken to the government to share guidance on whether people can still volunteer under the lockdown
- NCVO – volunteers responding to coronavirus
- Volunteering Matters: Help respond to Covid-19
- Acorn Coronavirus Community Support – organising local volunteers to support people in the community who need shopping, prescription collection, post and anything else they may need if they are stuck at home
Regional advice and guidance
- Wiltshire Council COVID-19 page (Has links to volunteer information packs and individual advice)
- Volunteer Scotland
- Devon Communities Together
- Voluntary Norfolk
Please do let us know if you come across any additional resources offering COVID-19 advice and support.
Please note that while we will make every effort to ensure these links are accurate, up to date and relevant, Communities prepared cannot take responsibility for pages maintained by external providers. If you come across any links that no longer work or whose contact has been amended so is no longer relevant, please contact us here.
We’re keen to help ensure that those taking the initiative to support their community do so as safely and effectively as possible, and have put together some public health volunteer training resources which are available for free here.
