The Isle of Man Council of Voluntary Organisation and Isle of Man Coronavirus Community Support have joined forces to support third sector organisations and the Manx community to respond to the current pandemic.
Over the past week considerable work has been ongoing to put in place a strategy to support the efforts of individual organisations and promote community cohesion and resilience.
The two organisations are working with all aspects of Island life and will within the next few days unveil a detailed programme of initiatives some of which can be rolled out immediately, others which will require some time to develop but which could have a lasting legacy for the Island.
The Isle of Man Coronavirus Community Support was initially set up by Francesca Signorio-Hooper who said “We have been blown away by the people and businesses of the Isle of Man and their willingness to help. The original concept was to put in place an infrastructure designed to meet the anticipated needs of the community in a way that safeguards the vulnerable. By partnering with the Isle of Man Council of Voluntary Organisations our pool of individual volunteers can work alongside the third sector network so that specialist charitable support continues to be provided where it is needed most.”
David Gawne Vice Chair of the Isle of Man Council of Voluntary Organisations praised the people of the Isle of Man for their ready response ”the Isle of Man is at its best when the chips are down” he said but also encouraged individuals and organisations to join with the combined response in order to achieve so much more. “On Friday of this week, Manx Technology Group volunteered their expertise in helping to deliver our ambitious strategy. The Isle of Man Post Office are also involved. What we are proposing is a comprehensive response which will be developed in an appropriate and proportionate manner.”
Pending the introduction of the package he asked individuals to only respond to offers of help from reputable organisations or individuals who they know and trust.
Volunteers or requests for help can be logged through our dedicated website www.helpout.im.
