Local staff and students at the University of Warwick are being encouraged to volunteer in their communities during the COVID19 pandemic – to support food banks, deliver essentials and provide essential assistance in the region’s NHS hospitals.

The University is also encouraging local organisations that require volunteers to get in touch to see whether members of the Warwick community can help – with people already involved in delivering vital support to local organisations, including using Warwick vehicles to transport supplies for local food banks.

All members of the University of Warwick community are being signposted to a newly created website that brings together in one place details of the volunteer opportunities available in Coventry and Warwickshire and contact information for the local organisations.

Warwick is also providing administrative assistance to the NHS to help ensure those with key skills - including cooks, cleaners, and maintenance staff - are matched with the right volunteer roles by having members of our community declare their suitability and interest to the University who will then work with the hospitals to ensure that the appropriate skillsets are matched with the volunteer roles.

Members of the Warwick community are already currently undertaking a range of volunteering roles in the region, including:

· Using Warwick’s electric vehicles to deliver food parcels to people’s homes, with food supplies being stored in university fridges to aid the supply network.

· Collecting and posting out parcels of protective visors produced by researchers from the School of Engineering for the NHS to hospitals, medical centres and pharmacies.

· Delivering samples to NHS researchers.

Commenting on the scheme Professor Stuart Croft, Vice Chancellor of the University of Warwick, said:

“At times such as this, it is more important than ever for us to work together with our regional neighbours and partners as a single community. All of our staff are working differently now and for some of us, this may present the opportunity to volunteer amongst our community.

“On the new page, you can find links to formal voluntary positions – please take a look through the opportunities available to you and follow the instructions regarding applications. Thank you for supporting our community by considering becoming a volunteer.”

Those organisations who wish to find out whether the Warwick community can help them can email ccsg@warwick.ac.uk and staff and students can learn more by visiting: https://warwick.ac.uk/about/community/internal/volunteering.

The new volunteering website is just one of many ways in which members of the University of Warwick community have helping the local region during the pandemic, including:

· WMG researchers helping a consortium of scientists and companies to develop an alternative model of ventilator.

· WMS students providing vital support to existing medical and other clinical staff in NHS hospitals.

· Engineering researchers helping the World Health Organisation to safely manufacture PPE and medical devices to combat COVID-19.

· Warwick Conferences donating food and toiletries to local charities.

· Donating Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) to Warwickshire NHS

ENDS.

21 April 2020