Your Neighbours Need You – helping each other in Coronavirus crisis
The Council is re-launching its Your Neighbours Need You campaign to provide advice and encouragement that will help residents look after one another during the Coronavirus health emergency.
Your Neighbours Needs You launched in 2018 as an initiative to encourage residents to help others during periods of severe winter weather. It was aimed at ensuring the elderly and vulnerable received help from the community, during times when services are reduced and people may be isolated at home.
The Coronavirus crisis presents similar issues – on a far greater scale and with the potential to be over a much longer period of time. It presents the added consideration that people and families who are self-isolating are unable to allow visitors into their homes, in order to prevent the spread of the virus.
On Thursday, March 26, the Councilre-launched its Your Neighbours Need You campaign with a clear message – ‘let’s all help each other through this health emergency’. The campaign will present the following messages:
- Advice for the elderly and vulnerable – about keeping in touch, staying acting and ensuring secure help is received, including avoiding scams. We’ll signpost residents to important advice from Age Cymru.
- Help to self-isolate – encouraging friends, family and neighbours to stay in touch and run errands for those who can’t leave the house, while promoting responsibilities like avoiding face-to-face contact.
- Keep up with the news – promoting important and trusted avenues to get accurate news such as the Council, news outlets and Public Health Wales, while signposting to advice for looking after your mental health.
- Wash your hands – promoting everyday good practice in relation to stopping the spread of the virus, including washing your hands properly and regularly, while also avoiding touching your face with your hands.
- Council appeal for help – during the health emergency the Council has appealed for former social care workers to consider returning to work, while volunteers are sought for our Community Resilience Team.
A dedicated webpage will shortly be available on the Council’s website – at www.rctcbc.gov.uk/NeighboursNeedYou with relevant information about the above themes. The Council will also use its social media (@RCTCouncil on Twitter, ‘Rhondda Cynon Taf Council’ on Facebook) to promote the campaign.
Councillor Andrew Morgan, Leader of Rhondda Cynon Taf Council, said: “The Council is doing everything it can to help people, especially those most vulnerable within our communities, during this unprecedented emergency – stretching our resources as far as possible to reach those of us in need.
“Another important aspect of our response is to promote the ways in which individuals can safely provide important help to friends, families and – perhaps most importantly – people within their community who may be vulnerable and don’t have anyone they can turn to for help.
“The Council has now re-launched its Your Neighbours Need You campaign, which was first used to encourage people to help one another when severe winter weather strikes. The current Coronavirus crisis brings the same issues of isolation – but with the potential to be over a much longer period of time, and while people are unwell and resources are stretched to the limit.
"I’d therefore ask local residents to take on board the campaign’s advice, and consider how they can do a small thing to help someone vulnerable or in need, as we all pull together to make a big difference over the coming weeks.”
