A Mansfield family shielding their son, who has quadriplegic cerebral palsy and is wheelchair dependent, have thanked the Nottinghamshire Coronavirus Community Support Hub.

Andrew and Sharon Norton, who are shielding 20-year-old Kieron, said: “Our first concern was for Kieron’s health and making sure we kept him safe.

“It was only when we had to think about buying food, getting medicines delivered and little errands like buying flowers to put on my mum’s grave that we worried about how we would cope.”

An exchange of emails ensued between their local MP and local councillor, which made them aware of the Nottinghamshire Coronavirus Community Support Hub, run by Nottinghamshire County Council.

Andrew said: “It was such a smooth process, we put our request to the hub for help with food and medicine deliveries and within days we were matched to someone in our local area.”

The Nortons were matched with Tracey Shaw, who lives at the end of their road and knew the family.

Andrew added: “Tracey has been our lifeline to the outside world, our very own knight in shining armour.

“She has gone above and beyond what we needed her to do for us and as a result has become a great friend to the whole family. We want to thank her from the bottom of our hearts for being on the end of a phone and for helping us get through lockdown with a smile on our faces.”

Since its launch at the end of March the hub has successfully resolved more than 1,000 requests for help from vulnerable people, families and residents who couldn’t leave their homes or who were self-isolating at home.

Working alongside the seven district and borough councils, the council signposted residents to the hub for help with essential services such as:
•Food supplies and delivery
•Collecting and delivering medicines
•Personal and social support – dog walking, collecting newspapers
•Advice on physical, mental and emotional health
•Transport needs

To date, a total of 1,008 requests have been resolved across Nottinghamshire with access to food (57%) being the most popular request, followed by access to medicine (26%), befriending/ social wellbeing (10%) and others like dog walking and transport needs (7%). The table below shows the number of people supported in each district.

The leader of the council, Coun Kay Cutts, said the spirit of the hub has been reflected in many areas during the last few months with human kindness and support coming to the fore.

She added: “I’m delighted that the Hub has been a lifeline for so many vulnerable Nottinghamshire residents when they needed help most.

“During these challenging times it is heart-warming to see people react with such kindness and neighbourly spirit and I would like to say thank you to all the volunteers for their efforts to date, it is very much appreciated.”

For more information on getting help or to register as a volunteer,visit www.nottinghamshire.gov.uk/coronaviruscommunityhub