How to help during the Covid-19 pandemic
During the Covid-19 pandemic we have seen many more people asking about ways to use their time to help. Finding volunteering opportunities or ways to use your skills to help can be difficult, so we’ve sourced some of the most high-impact ways that you can help.
Direct volunteering to help the most vulnerable
The NHS is recruiting NHS Volunteer Responders to help the 1.5 million people in England at most risk from the virus to stay well.
Tasks are simple but vital, and include things such as:
delivering medicines from pharmacies;
driving patients to appointments;
bringing them home from hospital;
or making regular phone calls to check on people isolating at home.
Members of the public can sign up quickly and easily here to become an NHS Volunteer. Once you've registered and checks are complete you'll be provided with a log-in to the GoodSAM Responder app. Whenever you are available to help you can set your status to 'on duty' on the app, and you'll see live volunteer tasks to pick from near you.
If you don’t have a particular charity you want to support in your local area, contact your local Volunteer Centre, CVS or visit the Do-it website. They can help you find out where your help is most urgently needed. Also check out OnHand and the National Care Force, where you can sign up to volunteer locally.
Volunteering locally may include activities such as:
Food sorting;
Collecting prescriptions;
Dropping off shopping to vulnerable households;
Offering a friendwly chat to isolated locals;
Tech support.
The Trussell Trust food bank network, have set up their own online schemes to match volunteers with food banks in their area. There are a number of different ways to get involved, including working in the warehouse sorting donations and working in the food banks themselves, helping in the office by making tea and meals for visitors and giving out details about other local services.
Many communities have also set up groups to co-ordinate volunteer efforts in their area. Try searching on Facebook for mutual aid groups in your area - for example, in London there are groups set up for most boroughs. You can also try these groups:
Skilled employee volunteering to help remotely
Using your skills to volunteer is great for you and the organisation you are helping. Not only will they get access to the skills that they actually require right now, but you will also get a chance to gain experience and develop your skills in another field.
Finding volunteering opportunities using your specific skill set can be tricky, so here are some of our recommendations.
Look for websites built to find volunteering opportunities in your specific industry or area of expertise, for example Not Fur’ Long was set up by advertisers, who have time on their hands to offer strategic and creative advice to SMEs who need it. If you can also help you can sign up on their website.
If you can’t find a specific resource for your industry, you can try a more general one. Reach Volunteering will match people with specialist professional skills, such IT expertise, to charities who need their help. KindLink also has a marketplace of volunteering opportunities that you could dig through. Searching hashtags on LinkedIn could also bring up some opportunities - try #furlunteers or #furlunteering. Furlunteering UK also has some useful tips (and we don’t just say that because we contributed to them!) and links.
At Matchable we source projects with non-profits and impact startups. We source opportunities at not only non-profits but also social enterprises and impact startups, which can be hard to find yourself. We help impact organisations access the skills they urgently need while providing members with a chance to use their skills for good and get access to our exclusive network.
Pick up a new role
If you have been furloughed you might be interested in picking up a new role with your free time - many recruiters have even included a ‘furloughed employees accepted / sought’ filter.
Keep in mind that this may be for a for-profit, rather than a non-profit or other impact organisation, but it is still a way to help organisations survive the crisis. You may also have to check that your existing employer doesn’t prevent you from working for another organisation, as some contracts disallow this.
One option is to look at industries facing shortages of workers due to travel restrictions - there has been an increased demand for fruit pickers, for example, as the seasonal workers that companies rely upon for these roles are unable to travel to the UK.
Alternatively, you could also take a look at job websites with a ‘furlough filter’, such as Work in Startups. Some companies are advertising paid roles, others may be voluntary or paid in other ways such a with company equity.
Conclusion
Using your extra time to volunteer (whether during a crisis or not) is hugely beneficial, both for yourself and the organisation you work with. It may take some time to find the right opportunity, but there are many organisations out there who would be grateful for your skills - they just need to be found!
If you’re interested in signing up to Matchable, where you’ll be able to access a curated database of projects that aren’t available elsewhere, you can find more details here.