MORE than 100 volunteers have come forward to help those isolating or shielding in Wilton during the Covid-19 pandemic.

They have been helping with shopping, prescriptions, transport, running errands and reassurance calls.

The Mayor of Wilton, Ivan Seviour, said: "As Mayor of Wilton during this difficult time, I have been totally humbled by the enthusiastic community response to help our neighbours. The town council was aware of a group of volunteers who were helping the vulnerable in our community and we wanted to offer support. The town clerk, his assistant and a couple of founding volunteers; one highly skilled in the health sector and another with amazing IT skills devised a system that uses phones, mobile devices, tablets and PCs. This enabled help to be given to the vulnerable in our community in a very efficient way.

"The Covid-19 Wilton Help scheme now has well over 100 registered volunteers who respond to calls. To have that many volunteers willing to help the more vulnerable in our community is amazing and the commitment, resilience, perseverance and dedication of those volunteers and councillors should be applauded.”

Larissa Tonkin, one of the original band of volunteers, added: "After discussion at two council meetings and five days of intense work, Wilton HELP was born. The Council’s assistance has been invaluable in developing from a purely volunteer lead group to an infrastructure capable of supporting the whole town.”

The group introduced a system for collecting prescriptions to relieve pressure on local chemists.

Larissa added: "There was a lot of pressure on the chemists in Wilton, so, in consultation with the GPs and Lloyds we have introduced a batch system for collecting prescriptions. This has really helped cut the queues and keep people safe. On busy days we are collecting and delivering over 20 prescriptions”

The new Wilton Covid-19 Helpline was launched on March 30

The latest weekly update on May 3 says it has taken 1,220 calls, delivered 333 prescriptions, carried out 274 shopping trips and 76 errands.

Residents of Wilton can access the support service by calling the Wilton COVID-19 Helpline on 01722 695331. The helpline is open from 9am to 1pm everyday.