Meet the Leeds army reservist on the front line in the fight against coronavirus

The words of Leeds's own James Marrero-Allen who as an army reservist has been called up to serve his country in battle the global coronavirus pandemic.

The 30-year-old has taken a three-month sabbatical from Asda's Leeds home office where he works as a hardware buying manager to join the COVID Support Force in supporting the NHS and other government departments to beat Covid-19.

He and other army reservists are helping to test people with coronavirus symptoms to see if they have the virus. Initially they supported regional testing centres but now James and his fellow reservists work on mobile testing sites which travel around local communities.

He was inspired to join the Army Reserves after growing up hearing stories from his dad and grandad about their time in the army.

James said: "I joined the AR firstly to get a small insight into what my parents and grandparents experienced when they served. Their stories always inspired me and motivated me as I grew up which led to the second reason which was for the challenge the army provides, both mentally and physically.

"Leeds is my community and protecting it is the calling I wanted to answer. Today I'm doing that by helping with testing at sites in my own community."

James said Asda had been supportive in allowing him to pursue his army life away from office life.

"They have allowed me time away from the office to fulfil training requirements and get in touch regularly with words of encouragement. I owe them a big thanks as they’ve been covering my workload in addition to their own whilst I'm away.

"Asda has provided a really solid foundation for leadership along with team building and problem solving. The Army Reserves provide a huge amount of training, from physical to more advanced military manoeuvres, all of which have made me a more confident and resilient person. The Reserves have further developed my leadership skills, along with confidence and tenacity to accomplish tasks.

"Mostly I enjoy the challenge and diverse training that the reserves provides. However, we also have really strong sense of community and comradeship that’s hard to find. It’s great to be at the forefront of the battle against Covid-19, I’m serving the Yorkshire people as part of the Yorkshire Regiment."

James says the toughest part of his new testing role is spending time away from home and family.

"We have to adapt to working in different locations, which has meant we’ve had to be really flexible with the hours we work and overcoming obstacles to ensure tests can be conducted smoothly and professionally," said James who lives in Leeds with girlfriend Emily.

In the long run he thinks the sabbatical will benefit his work at Asda too.

"I’ll return to Asda with a robust and more resilient mindset," said James. "This mobilisation and the unprecedented challenge we all face, has shown me that we can and will always get through adversities, if we all work together to accomplish the task at hand."

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