Essential packs sent out to Wigan's vulnerable

A community group in Wigan has raised thousands of pounds for essentials to help people self-isolating.

Standish Coronavirus Help was set up by residents wanting to help the elderly and other vulnerable groups in quarantine. The group set up a crowdfunding page and raised £2,600 which has partly been used to create “essentials packs.”

It took a few weeks to source a bulk-buy from a supermarket chain, but Aldi stepped in and we were able to order a range of goods regionally for the non-perishable packs, including coffee, tea, hygiene and cleaning products, and tinned goods.

They have been put together as 100 packs before being distributed to those registered with the service which is a collaboration between Standish councillors Adam Marsh, Debbie Parkinson and Ray Whittingham, Standish Voice neighbourhood forum and a network of 150 volunteers.

The group was set up amid concerns that some elderly people self-isolating in Standish may not be able to rely on family, friends or neighbours to help in the situation, by doing shopping, delivering medicine or supporting them with conversations on social media, on the phone or by email.