Published 19 March 2020

Joint Statement from Alison Navarro, CEO Community Action Sutton, Anita Maullin CEO, Volunteer Centre Sutton, and Nicola Upton, CEO Age UK Sutton

In response to the ongoing and developing impact of the COVID-19 Coronavirus outbreak, we are making this joint statement to inform people in the Borough of Sutton what your local charities and community and volunteer groups are doing, and how you can help.

As a community, the situation we are facing with regard to Coronavirus is unprecedented. This needs an unprecedented response, and Age UK Sutton, Community Action Sutton and Volunteer Centre Sutton have come together to lead and coordinate the response across the voluntary and community sector (VCS) which includes staff and volunteers from charities, community groups, and social enterprises. We are all facing challenges and changes to how we operate. We are working to bring partners together to make a difference.

Cllr Ruth Dombey, Leader of Sutton Council said: 

“In Sutton we are fortunate to have a vibrant, well-connected group of voluntary and community organisations and we are very grateful to them for their hard work and response to the crisis. We already work well together to keep Sutton a great place to live, work and raise a family. Over the coming months we can all have a role to play in addressing the challenges we face. I encourage everyone to support these coordinated efforts. Together we will do all we can to help keep the residents of our borough, our local volunteers and colleagues safe and well.”

It is amazing how many community members and businesses have contacted local charities to offer their support. From all of us, THANK YOU.

To make it easier for the public and businesses to offer help, we’ve developed a way you can offer help easily, and be directed to a local organization that needs what you can offer:

• Volunteer Centre Sutton will take offers of volunteer support, and direct you to a local charity.
• Community Action Sutton will support local charities, grassroots groups, and the newly formed neighborhood groups to work effectively together and to develop new ways of working. They will also support businesses that want to help, to find ways to do so.
• Age UK Sutton will coordinate and deploy volunteers to support older people who are vulnerable or struggling in self-isolation, and to reduce pressure on the NHS and Social Care
• The wider charity and community sector will also make use of new volunteers and other offers of help to ensure that other particularly vulnerable groups, including carers, pregnant women, and people with serious health conditions get extra support when they need it.

We will be posting frequent updates to our joint Facebook Group, Sutton Coronavirus Support and Action, where members of the public can receive updates, news and information about how they can help. We have also set up a webpage if you want to help as a volunteer or if you are an organisation who needs help from volunteers. 

We are proud to be working closely with the local NHS and Council to coordinate efforts, and to ensure the most vulnerable people in our community are supported and protected. We want our friends across the voluntary and community sector, our colleagues in the NHS and Social Care, and our partners in the wider community to know that we’ve got your back, and as a coalition, we will keep doing everything we can across Sutton’s communities. 

Thank you,

Alison Navarro, Anita Maullin, and Nicola Upton.

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