West Yorkshire organisations’ Covid-19 efforts recognised in national report

West Yorkshire Prepared, the region’s Local Resilience Forum, has welcomed the publication of a report looking into social connections during the current pandemic.

Yesterday (14 May) saw the publication of ‘Social connection in the COVID-19 crisis’, a report from the COVID-19 Inquiry by the All Party Parliamentary Group on Social Integration. A two-part inquiry, this initial report was conducted in the first fortnight of lockdown, while the UK was following social distancing measures.

While national Government is leading the response to the COVID-19 crisis, it is Local Resilience Forums and Local Authorities that are coordinating the support to vulnerable people. This report collates and shares best practice for reaching isolated groups, looks at the challenges organisations have faced and the ways they have overcome them.

Robin Tuddenham, co-chair of West Yorkshire Prepared and Chief Executive of Calderdale Council, gave evidence for the report. He said: “As mentioned in the report, co-ordinating the response of providing support to the most vulnerable and isolated people in what has been a rapidly developing situation has been extremely challenging.

“I believe one of the reasons West Yorkshire LRF has been able to respond effectively has been the clear lines of communication that were established early on between partners when we started our Covid-19 planning in February. This enabled us to ensure recommendations were cascaded to local authorities and other relevant organisations in the area to act on.”

As highlighted in the report, Local Authorities in West Yorkshire have taken a number of steps in working with vulnerable and shielded people during the Covid-19 pandemic:

• Taken steps to identity those who were clinically vulnerable and also those who were socially vulnerable, to make sure that both groups received appropriate support
• Involved established local civil society organisations in planning the response to the crisis from the start
• Used the fire service – as trusted public servants – to make visits to people who had been identified as potentially vulnerable
• Made sure that every household in the local authority received written information about sources of support so internet non-users did not miss out
• Taken on the coordination of volunteers, deploying them to local ‘hub’ organisations from which they were then allocated tasks
• Appointed a Cabinet-level political lead to oversee volunteering and responses to social isolation
• Worked closely with the local community foundation to make sure that civil society organisations were getting the support they need.

Dave Walton, co-chair of West Yorkshire Prepared and Deputy Chief Fire Officer with West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service, said: “I’m extremely proud of how the partners in West Yorkshire LRF have acted collectively in recognising the importance of social connection and community support at this challenging time.

“Working together, we have ensured the issue remains an important focus of our ongoing plans in dealing with the Covid-19 pandemic in order to continue shielding the vulnerable and providing support to community organisations and wider communities in the region.”

The full report can be found at britishfuture.org/wp-content/uploads/2020/05/Social-Connection-in-the-COVID-19-Crisis.pdf.

For reliable, up to date information on Covid-19, please visit www.gov.uk/coronavirus or www.nhs.uk/coronavirus.

To keep up to date with West Yorkshire Prepared, please visit westyorkshireprepared.org.uk or follow us on Facebook (@WYPrepared) or Twitter (@WYRForum).