Mutual aid group founded to help self-isolators

March 15, 2020 at 10:48 am

A Facebook group has been gaining hundreds of members, as it encourages folk to support members of the community in self-isolation in whatever way they can.

Community spirit is fuelling a volunteer response to the threat of coronavirus in Orkney.

With folk continually being encouraged to self-isolated should they show any symptoms of COVID-19 coronavirus, a group of Orkney residents has banded together online to offer support to those who are forced to stay at home.

The Orkney CV Mutual Aid Group on Facebook was founded by concerned citizen Sarah MacGregor, last night, Saturday. Since then, folk have been piling onto the page to offer what help they can – with more than 650 members having joined at the time of publication.

There have been offers of doorstep deliveries of essentials and friendly phone calls from across the county.

Sarah has told the group she is delighted with the response, and there are now plans to gather a list of volunteers. Though some have raised concerns that those seeking to help could accidentally spread the virus, there are plans to make all drop-offs of food and supplies “non-contact”, with others offering to FaceTime or message those in self-isolation for moral support.

To find out more, you can search for the Orkney CV Mutual Aid Group on Facebook.