A report on the work of the Team which was formed to support Shropshire people, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Penny Bason - Community Response Lead, Shropshire, Telford & Wrekin STP

The Chair invited Penny Bason, Community Response Lead, and Clare Featherstone, Culture and Heritage Manager, to speak to their report - copy attached to the signed minutes – which described the work of the Team which was formed to support Shropshire people, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

It had been hoped to show a video created by the Community Resilience Team, which demonstrated the way that colleagues across directorates had pulled together to support people, but technological issues had prevented this. It was hoped to share this with Board Members soon after the meeting.

The Community Response Lead highlighted key points from the report including how the Community Response Teams had been pulled together, provided a resource pack on keeping people safe, mapped hundreds of community groups across the county, supplied food and medicine to those shielding or vulnerable, and hot meals for homeless people, and delivered a small grant programme for community groups and town and parish councils. 

The Culture and Leisure Manager said the approach of staff and partners had been amazing.  The learning from working would provide a lasting legacy in going forward.  Staff from the Culture Leisure and Tourism teams involved in the Community Response Team had found it an extremely rewarding experience and now had an understanding of the social care system, public health and vulnerable in the community, which they would not have had otherwise.  She personally recognised the contribution of all and particularly the Community Response Lead who had made it all happen. 

The Chair gave thanks for a superb report which demonstrated the capacity within Shropshire’s communities and the way organisations had risen to the challenge and continued to do so in progressing forward to recovery from the pandemic.  He hoped people would continue to be responsible in their behaviour to prevent any further upsurges. 

He thought it would be useful to consider to what extent a smart solution could be implemented across Shropshire to share resources with the community and voluntary sector an ongoing basis to support vulnerable people, without the need for a formal clinical pathway.

The Director of Public Health went on to express her personal thanks to communities, voluntary sector and the community response teams who had done and continued to do such a crucial job, during which so much had been learnt about collaboration.  The pandemic had highlighted inequalities and vulnerable communities across the county and the role of the voluntary sector had been crucial in addressing this. The Community Response had built well on the work previously undertaken by the Board in its workshops on community resilience. 

Speaking in the capacity of a local Councillor as well as Portfolio Holder for Adult Social Care and Health, Councillor Dean Carroll added his thanks and paid tribute to the excellent work undertaken by the local Community Reassurance Teams.   The Portfolio Holder for Children’s Services added his gratitude for the invaluable work undertaken, often in very rural areas and in recognising the impact on young people across Shropshire. 

RESOLVED:

To note the good work of public sector and voluntary and community sector colleagues to support people during the Covid-19 panic

To endorse the considerations for the next phase of the community response to Covid-19.