Today (Saturday 17th April) sees Stone Helpline celebrate its one year anniversary, having handled over 1,000 calls and carrying out more than than that in volunteering tasks!
When the Covid-19 pandemic hit last March, A Little Bit of Stone and Stone Town Council came together to create a helpline aimed at targeting the people who would be hit hardest by restrictions. It was agreed that the helpline would offer assistance with shopping, prescription collecting, transport to medical appointments, and friendly chats to make shielding & isolation less lonely.
We were astounded by the response to our request for volunteers when over 200 people registered to be available to help our community. Leaflets were delivered to every area of Stone, and we put a team in place to take the calls. Stone Helpline was GO!
In 2020, the main request was for assistance with was shopping, with requests for someone to chat to coming in next. Through our team of volunteers, both frontline and our amazing call handlers we managed to supply volunteers to every task that came in! Since the vaccine rollout began in December 2020, calls for transport to vaccine centres have been our main requests, though shopping assistance is still in high demand with people still self-isolating or shielding. Our team have always been on hand to match requests with volunteers but we’ve had a few calls for services we don’t provide too, including one for ear syringing and one for chiropody!
Our core team of three call handlers, Jo, Harriet, & Libby, have been in place since week one, and continue to go the extra mile despite going back to work and one even had a lockdown baby! Our amazing frontline volunteers have also been fantastic too, going over and above on many occasions, including celebrating birthdays of helpline users and keeping the spirits of our most vulnerable community members up through such a dark time.
Councillor Rob Kenney told A Little Bit of Stone:
“Some quick thinking from myself and Cllr Jill Hood, then a phone call to Jon Cook (A Little Bit of Stone), some initial funding from Stone Town council and a couple of weeks to have the system set up and ‘hey presto’.
It’s been a year since the Stone Help Line was launched and what an invaluable resource it has proven to be. It’s a shame that it is still needed but once we are through these testing times it has been set up so that it could be used for other purposes eventually.
It has been expertly run by A Little Bit of Stone, with confidentially a must at all times and it’s exactly what was needed to offer help and sometimes a lifeline to local residents through the Covid pandemic. A huge thank you must go to all involved in the running of the helpline and all its volunteers.”
We’ve previously shared feedback from the people using our service but here’s some feedback from our amazing volunteers.
Libby B: “When I volunteered to answer the phones for the helpline it was originally a request for one or two days – little did I know that months and months later I’d be on the phones full time and loving every minute. I have made friends for life with the helpline, and I’m so proud of Jon & Lauren for all the hard work they have put in. I can’t wait to meet our regular customers face to face when life returns to normal. Stone is a beautiful community and I’ve loved being part of it”
Glen D: “It has and continues to be a pleasure to have helped our local community in some small way during these challenging times.”
Jo B: “It has been an absolute pleasure to volunteer for the Stone Helpline during the past year. We have an amazing group of volunteers who have helped countless people in the local area who otherwise would have struggled to cope during this difficult time. I’m really proud of what we have achieved and have made some wonderful friends both with the other volunteers who run the helpline and with the lovely people who call in for help. The Stone helpline is a truly fantastic example of what can be achieved in times of crisis to help other people.”
Richard W: “It’s been a good awakening to how people in Stone live. There are people that needed help even before the pandemic, and the Helpline has been a lifeline for them.”
Harriet W: “I originally signed up to help out with the helpline as I had just found out I was pregnant and wasn’t sure that frontline volunteering would be safe at that point for myself and little one – little did I know that 12 months later I’d have a 5 month old beautiful baby girl helping keep me busy whilst I answer the phones. I’ve met some wonderful people through my fellow volunteers and the lovely residents of Stone who have needed our assistance. We are so lucky to live in our community with so many people willing to take time out of their day to help someone in need. Well done to everyone involved with a special thanks to Lauren & Jon, as without them none of it would have been possible.”
Thanks to funding from Stone Town Council the helpline isn’t going anywhere just yet and we will continue on whilst our community still needs us!
Happy birthday Stone Helpline, and thank you to everyone that has supported it! A special thanks to Emma Tilley, the Stone based graphic designer who provided our helpline logo – est-design.co.uk
The helpline can be reached on 0333 230 0112 and is available between 8am and 6pm – 7 Days a Week! if you’d like to sign up to volunteer then please complete your details on this form – https://stonehelpline.co.uk/volunteer/
