A number of new community initiatives have been set up to help people who need extra support at present:

Abingdon Coronavirus Community Response team: voluntary group with “street contacts” who can help with shopping, arranging collection of prescriptions, posting mail – or just a friendly phonecall. Every Abingdon house should have had one of their purple and white cards with a named contact, but if not, they can be reached via abingdoncoronaresponse@gmail.com

AbiMeds: prescription collection and delivery for anyone – not just those who are housebound – in order to reduce the risks caused by the long queues at pharmacies. They can collect from Boots, Jhoots and Lloyds, deliveries (by bicycle) are on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays and can be booked via a dedicated phoneline 01865 818351, available 9.00 – 16.00 Monday-Saturday. More information on their website.

Helplines: the District Council has set up two helplines for people who do not have support from friends or family. Those who are on the NHS “extremely vulnerable” register can ring 01865 897820 or email shield@oxfordshire.gov.uk. Others can call 01235 422600 or email communitysupport@southandvale.gov.uk The lines are open 8.30am to 8pm Monday to Friday and 9am to 5pm on Saturday and Sundays. Helpline staff are able to put put callers in touch with whatever support service is appropriate for their needs.

Other agencies such as Citizens Advice, Carers Oxfordshire, Age UK, the Community Fridge, the foodbank etc are all still operating and Abingdon Carousel is offering lots of support by phone and online to families with babies and young children.

On a slightly lighter note there is a website https://abingdon.help/ which has lots of information about shops, businesses, restaurants offering takeaway meals, garden centres etc to make life a bit more pleasant.

The Civic Society is contributing to the efforts by making the Community FreeSpace available to the Abimeds team who are using it as the Hub for their prescription delivery service.