A caring army of volunteers has mobilised to bring food, medicine and ‘virtual hugs’ to isolated and elderly residents in rural parts of Northumberland.

20 Warm Hubs – meeting places in local communities where people can go for warm food and company – have had to temporarily close during the Covid 19 pandemic.

However, volunteers from the Warm Hubs programme have mobilised to provide outreach support for their service users, including food and medical prescription deliveries, and local helplines for residents to get practical support, or to simply chat to a friendly voice and avoid loneliness.

The Warm Hubs scheme, established in 2015, is delivered by Community Action Northumberland with funding from Northern Gas Networks (NGN), the region’s gas distributor. NGN has provided an additional £2,600 grant during the current crisis to allow local Warm Hubs volunteers to buy mobile phones so they can set up helplines. The funds are also allowing volunteers to set up food banks, buy board games and jigsaws to deliver to residents, and purchase food containers so that cooked meals can be left on doorsteps.

Christine Nicholls from Community Action Northumberland said: “Our Warm Hubs are based in community centres, church halls and other local meeting places, all of which have had to close due to the pandemic.

“However, our amazing volunteers have continued to provide food, company and support for service users, albeit at a distance. The extra funding from Northern Gas Networks has allowed volunteers across Northumberland to swing into action with a range of new services. It’s been amazing to witness.”

Tom Bell, Northern Gas Networks Head of Social Strategy said: “Warm Hubs is a wonderful initiative to combat social isolation and loneliness in remote, rural areas, by bringing people together. Even though people can’t get together at the moment, volunteers are still finding ways to provide a friendly voice and a warm meal, for people who need these basic things more than ever.

“It’s a privilege to support such a great initiative, especially during such a challenging time for many of our customers.”

Support being offered by local Warm Hubs during the Covid 19 crisis includes:

Coquetdale lunch club volunteers who run the Warm Hub at Thropton are shopping for over 100 households, with the grant from NGN enabling them to deliver food to doorsteps.

Seahouses Warm Hub have used their NGN grant to buy mobile phones for volunteers who are out and about supporting local residents as well as extending their support to include Bamburgh and Beadnell.

Embleton Warm Hub has bought phones with their grant and paid for printed flyers to every household, as well as seting up a helpline.

Longhoughton Warm Hub’s grant is being used to buy board games and jigsaws for residents which will eventually be brought back to the Hub for everyone to enjoy.

One resident who received a food parcel told a volunteer: “I close my eyes when I eat my meal and imagine I’m back at my Warm Hub surrounded by my friends.”