Cov Harvest Hub is a new community garden helping to grow more food for foodbanks and deliver fresh local veg; trying to fill the gap for fresh fruit and vegetables in their food provision.

They need some help to get up and running, via their flexible roles, including:

• Odd jobs and light construction - can you help with DIY? (Ad hoc, starting ASAP)
• Horticultural assistants - learn to grow/ weeding/ watering (weekly)
• Garden maintenance - hedge trimming and lawn mowing (monthly)
• Collections and deliveries - in your car, on your bike, however you like (ad hoc / weekly)

For more details and to get involved, visit the Team Springboard website.

(This opportunity was shared with us by a colleague in Warwick Mathematics Institute. If you know of volunteering opportunities that address local needs, please email us some details on community@warwick.ac.uk.)

Time Union is a time bank which aims to help people use their time to build their sense of self through relating to others, connect to Coventry as a community, and enable socially positive changes to come from individual acts of sharing.

A time bank is a system of mutual exchange. Members share their time, assets, and skills on an hour to hour basis – share an hour with one member, and get an hour back from another. Current members exchange language lessons, fitness, DIY, career and life coaching, filmmaking lessons, crafts, Reiki, cinema trips, and more.

Visit the Time Union website to sign up.

Chat Central is a project that aims to help people to find others with similar interests, to have fun, to join in with a hobby, to get involved with their community and to find new friends, tackling loneliness and isolation in all its forms in Coventry. The project is open to anyone aged 18+ experiencing loneliness, social withdrawal, low self-esteem and low self-confidence for any reason and from all across the city.

They are currently running events to try and get people socialising and engaging with the community. They have weekly art and craft sessions, chair yoga, dance, a drop in where people can find out about what is happening in Coventry and a culture club (like a book club but on wider topics).

They also run a telephone befriending service, for which they are looking for volunteers. There are some one-off events that would benefit from some volunteers too. Another important role available is volunteering at events to help keep the conversation flowing.

If you would like to get involved, visit the Chat Central webpage and email chatcentral@vacoventry.org.uk

The Community Resilience Team are currently working closely with members of the local community who may be a ‘Community Leader’ or well networked within Coventry to be part of the Community Messengers Network, helping to spread Public Health COVID19 messages. The role of Community Messengers is to work closely with the team to help spread the most up to date Covid-19 health protection messages, updates within the city on testing, cases and vaccinations and highlight to us incorrect advice. Community Messengers act as a support to their communities by giving up to date guidance and reassurance as and when needed.

If you are someone that lives, works or volunteers in Coventry and well networked within your community and feel that you can help get these messages out to a wider audience they would be pleased for your support. People can commit as little or as much time as they are able to and full support is given.

If you are interested in becoming a Community Messenger or would like to find out more about what’s involved, please get in touch with Ben Hayday on community@warwick.ac.uk and ask for some more information. He can then put you in touch with the team at Coventry City Council.

Warwickshire County Council are offering free training to gain valuable skills in active citizenship to help you support individuals in your community to be safe and well. Places are limited.

There are three sessions, which will help you to:

• understand how to be more active and involved in helping communities and how to contribute effectively to the democratic processes
• learn about the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and what people can do to stay safe and protect others
• ensure vulnerable people have access to information and support and help extend services to groups who may be hard to reach

Find out more or register your interest by calling Mike Slemensek at Warwickshire County Council on 07557 814937.

If you do complete the training, it would be great if you could let Ben and Jo in the University's community engagement team know via community@warwick.ac.uk. We'd love to help you put your training into practice.

Time4Warwickshire timebanking project is open to anyone aged 14 and over who lives or works in Warwickshire. Timebanking is a simple, social way to connect with others, swap and share skills and services as well as strengthening the communities we live in.

Each timebank enables its members to exchange time by helping one another out as well as by being able to request help for themselves. Everyone's hour is worth an hour whatever you do in the hour so everyone has something to offer and much to gain by getting involved.

More information on the Time 4 Warwickshire webpage.

There are various roles that are part of the NHS Volunteer Responders programme. The roles most needed include the simple yet invaluable support of shopping for food and essentials and collecting and delivering prescriptions for someone who is isolating or shielding.

Read more about the roles and register to be an NHS Volunteer Responder here.

The Trussell Trust network of food banks operate across the UK. Find your local food bank and their contact information on this interactive map and offer to volunteer.

Warwickshire County Council have put together some information for people looking to volunteer across the county. They've compiled a list of existing community-led activity that you can join. Have a look here.

A network of community food hubs has been set up across the city to support those who are struggling to afford food. They need volunteers to help pack food parcels and assist with other administrative roles.

For more information about the service, visit the Coventry City Council website. There is an interactive map that you can use to find contact information for your local Food Hub, or you can express an interest to the Community Engagement team via email (community@warwick.ac.uk) to be put in touch with a coordinator.