Royal Voluntary Service's £5million COVID-19 Emergency Appeal

Help Royal Voluntary Service to support vulnerable people throughout Great Britain as our NHS and communities recover from the coronavirus pandemic.

Our national emergency appeal to raise £5million will allow us to provide a lifeline to tens of thousands of vulnerable people during this crisis. The pandemic has been an unprecedented event in our lifetime, and we have mobilised to support Britain as we did during WW2, when we helped communities cope with the hardships of war.

Working together with NHS England, we set up and coordinated NHS Volunteer Responders to support those most at risk from COVID-19. Since the programme launched, 360,000 amazing people have stepped forward and been ‘on duty’ to help. Our inspirational volunteers are currently undertaking a number of roles and providing vital support to people in need. They will continue to provide a safety net of support as many people still need to self-isolate to protect themselves and others.

As we move into the winter months, the situation for many vulnerable people in our communities will become even more desperate. The all-familiar struggles that come with this colder time of year will almost certainly be complicated further by the ongoing pandemic.

Right now, vulnerable people in our communities are at risk

Our services provide a lifeline to people in hospitals and in the community – to those who find themselves in a vulnerable situation and in need of some support. Now, due to the pandemic, the NHS is facing a significant backlog of appointments, and so the demand for our services is going to increase significantly in order to help reduce the strain.

Every day we are carrying out 4,600 tasks, which equates to 1 every 19 seconds. This winter we will:

• Make hundreds of thousands of calls offering companionship, support and advice
• Support people returning home from hospital and help them to get back on their feet
• Deliver essential food, toiletries and prescriptions to people unable to leave their homes
• Transport people to important medical appointments
• Deliver thousands Personal Emergency Plans to vulnerable people
• Address loneliness by delivering in-home activities through our ‘virtual village hall’ to help tackle the issues arising from isolation and help protect physical and mental health
• Help people to stay safe, warm and well through a targeted information campaign aimed towards older and vulnerable people who struggle at this time of year.

We urgently need funding to help support our new ways of delivering these essential life-saving services. We have proven through the rapid mobilisation of NHS Volunteer Responders what is possible to achieve, and we must continue to be there when our NHS and communities need our help and support to recover.

Please donate today and help us continue to support vulnerable people across Great Britain.

Give help. Give hope.