12,500 people in need have been helped by volunteers during coronavirus pandemic in Leeds

A report looking at the impact of volunteer work in the city since the beginning of the lockdown claims more than 8,000 people across the city signed up to become volunteers following Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s announcement of the restrictions back in March.

According to a report set to be discussed by the council’s environment scrutiny board next week, the council, along with coordinators Voluntary Action Leeds (VAL), want to set up a post-Covid volunteering platform to build on the work done so far.

It added the levels of working together between Leeds City Council and non-profit organisations had been ‘unprecedented’.

It claimed that in just one week in May, more than 1,000 food parcels were delivered by the community care volunteers programme – around 8,000 were delivered in total over the course of the lockdown.

During that time, from May 16-24, more than 450 prescriptions were collected, and more than 1,800 welfare calls took place.

Overall, 12,504 “unique customers” in the city were helped by volunteers during the Covid-19 lockdown from 19,071 enquiries for help. It is not made clear in the figures, however, how many enquiries were made more than once by the same person.

The report added: “The volunteering response to the pandemic in Leeds has been a resounding celebration of the community spirit in this city and a testimony to many years of effective partnership working, relationship building and community leadership.

“It is now incumbent on the city to harness the energy that has been liberated from communities across the city and in the way that people have come together to respond to the crisis for the benefit of the city in the medium to longer term.

“The response has created an opportunity for the good of the whole of Leeds and it is planned to build upon this in the coming months to encourage people who may not have volunteered previously to continue to undertake a voluntary role following this crisis. Voluntary Action Leeds will enhance this opportunity by introducing a new volunteering platform for the city called ‘Be Collective’.”

Details of Be Collective’s introduction were not included in the report, although the website is currently being used by some voluntary organisations in Sheffield.

The meeting of Leeds City Council’s environment scrutiny board will take place on Thursday at 10.30am.