Liverpool’s Mayor has issued an unprecedented rallying cry to the city’s residents and businesses in a bid to mobilise a “community army” to tackle the Coronavirus challenge.
Mayor Joe Anderson has instructed the city council to set up two hotlines – one to recruit a volunteer army, the other to identify and help the city’s most vulnerable.
He is also calling on the city’s businesses community and voluntary organisations to register their support to assist communities overcome the pandemic over the coming weeks and months.
The two telephone hotlines go live at 2pm today, just as the Mayor begins chairing Liverpool’s Health and Wellbeing Board which will discuss the city’s latest plans to contain the Covid-19 pandemic.
The volunteer hotline is 0151 233 3068. Key tasks identified will be for people to help deliver medication to those in self-isolation, or check in with neighbours. This phone line can also be used to volunteer for Liverpool Foodbanks who require lots of volunteers across the city.
The support hotline is 0151 233 3066. This has been established for anyone to call who feels they need support with a range of basic tasks because they don’t have a support network – friends and family – in place.
Both hotlines will be manned from 8am to 6pm, seven days a week. People can also sign up online via Liverpool City Council’s website: www.liverpool.gov.uk/coronavirus
Mayor of Liverpool Joe Anderson said: “Liverpool is famous for its community spirit, and we will need to call on it now – more than ever before.
“Life for everyone is changing in a way few could ever have imagined. Only by working together will we steer our way through this.
“The council has been implementing our own well-rehearsed contingency plans to cope with a pandemic, and is already using its network of contacts to mobilise so we can protect the most vulnerable.
“But it is not enough. We simply don’t have the volume of staff to fully respond to this crisis.
“If you are healthy and fit, and are not living with someone with Covid-19 – Liverpool needs you.
“There is a vast number of roles for people to perform over the coming weeks and months – and we need to begin the process of assessing the needs and deploying those who can help.
“It goes without saying – these are unprecedented times. It is impossible to overstate the seriousness of the situation, but I know this city will emerge on the other side all the stronger for it. Our unity and spirit are famous the world over – and we are going to need every ounce of it to get through the coming months.
“And we all have a crucial part to play, which first and foremost is to do everything possible to protect ourselves, to protect others, and protect our NHS. We need to take care not to spread the disease and take care of each other.”
For the latest information and advice, Liverpool City Council has also set up an online portal – www.liverpool.gov.uk/coronavirus
It has also established dedicated social media feeds at www.facebook.com/covidliverpool and www.twitter.com/covidliverpool
