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2.1 Community Support Helpline
Sligo Local Community Development Committee Annual Report
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Pictured above a screen shot of the Community Response Forum meeting in June 2020 with Ciarán Hayes, CE as Chair, and the staff of the section who acted as leads in manning the Helpline.
2.1 Community Support Helpline
In tandem with the establishment of the COVID Community Response Forum, the Community Support Helpline was critically needed to provide a one stop shop to take calls, emails and texts from people in the community who were impacted due to restrictions imposed. The Corporate, IT and Community sections worked hand in hand and in haste to achieve this goal which was delivered largely from working remotely. The PPN developed a useful databank of community groups mapped geographically to easily identify
Sligo Local Community Development Committee Annual Report
community and voluntary groups on the ground who were willing to assist callers to the support line from food deliveries, requests for hot food, pharmacy collections and many more queries. Services covered were:
• Collection & Delivery • Transport – later removed • Social isolation and supports • Meals and their delivery • Garda related matters • Other medical and health needs
The help desk built an information bank, carried out a mapping exercise in consultation with the PPN and the BID assisted in the co ordination of the volunteer groups on the ground, developed responses around services open and available and ultimately matched need with the appropriate response.
Above, details of the COVID Community Support helpline and a sample trend graph of daily calls to the helpline.
At its peak the desk was handling up to 40 calls per day and identifying the main emerging issues on the ground ranging across food poverty, isolation and loneliness, information gaps on Covid or health matters generally, wellbeing and need for physical exercise, transport issues, Income support, gaps where locations didn’t have a volunteer and practical issues such as waste management and grass cutting.
