Last updated: 30th July 2020
North Somerset Together is helping residents who have no support from family or friends and who are socially isolated access the support they need during the COVID-19 pandemic.
www.n-somerset.gov.uk/together
01934 427 437
North Somerset Together is working directly with 27 local community volunteer networks – including Yatton & Claverham Community Support – which between them have over 2,200 volunteers supporting vulnerable people right across North Somerset.
Network partners include town and parish councils, mutual aid groups, local churches, schools and others.
We have received 1,581 direct referrals since the North Somerset Together service went live. Of these calls, over 95% have been passed onto volunteer response networks, with the remainder being passed immediately to Care Connect for assessment as possibly needing adult social care involvement.
The vast majority of referrals are for people needing help with shopping or the collection of prescriptions.
A further 5,026 people identified as being in the ‘shielded’ vulnerable group and who registered with the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) have been passed onto their local community network to establish their needs and put support in place.
Within this group the Council has distributed urgent food parcels on top of just over 1,000 people who are receiving government food parcels.
The Council is now also linking the wider voluntary sector to the community networks to ensure that they have access to more specialist support – e.g. around household finances, benefits or mental health.
Within the local networks a wide range of other responses are being developed including community meals, food bank collections and PPE production for care homes.
The Council is also working to join up support from community health services and for people being discharged from hospital.