Saturday 27 March marked one year since the Royal Greenwich Community Hub went live. The Community Hub is commissioned by the Royal Borough of Greenwich and delivered by Charlton Athletic Community Trust (CACT) in partnership with local organisations to support vulnerable residents during the pandemic.
One year on from the creation of the Hub, a total of 248,819 calls were received. A number of services were made available via the Hub for Royal Greenwich residents in need; including prescription collection, emergency food boxes and special food shopping.
The Royal Greenwich Community Hub was built on the infrastructure of the existing Live Well Greenwich service, which enabled the Hub to provide significant services to support the clinically vulnerable and shielding residents.
Working closely with local organisations and volunteers, 979 emergency food boxes were delivered to residents who were in urgent need.
1,422 prescriptions were collected and delivered by the Hub for residents who were not able to leave the house for reasons such as shielding, isolation and more.
Deb Browne, CACT’s Head of Health Improvement said:
“I know I speak on behalf of the whole team when I say this that it has been a privilege for us to be able to deliver the Hub and I’d like to say a very big thank you to all the staff, volunteers and stakeholders that made it possible.
“It’s impossible to name all the amazing organisations who came together to assist with the delivery of the Community Hub, it was such an amazing team effort and I am so proud that we could be part of it.”
Danny Thorpe, Leader of the Royal Borough of Greenwich said:
“The Royal Greenwich Community Hub is an incredibly valuable resource for residents who need additional support during the pandemic, which has thrown up numerous new challenges for so many.
“Since the Hub launched a year ago, over 2,000 local people volunteered to help others across the borough to access food, receive medicines, experience greater social interaction and much more.
“The Hub had 16,040 referrals in its first year, so I’d like to thank everyone who has shown enormous community spirit by thinking beyond themselves and volunteering to do what they can to support their fellow residents during this extremely difficult time.”
Another service made available via the Community Hub was the Befriending telephone line where staff and volunteers would call residents on a weekly basis just to have a chat, to ensure social isolation was kept to a minimum during lockdown. 473 residents in Royal Greenwich were supported with the Befriending line throughout the pandemic.
If you or anyone you know in Royal Greenwich needs support, please contact the Community Hub:
- Online at royalgreenwich.gov.uk/communityhub
- Call free on 0800 4704831, Monday to Saturday 8.30am to 6pm. Easter Weekend: Open Friday 2 and Saturday 3 April 8.30am – 6pm, closed Sunday 4 and Monday 5 April
- Email covid19support@royalgreenwich.gov.uk