Welsh Ambulance Service put out a call for volunteers – 1500 people responded in just 24 hours

More than 1,500 members of the public stepped forward in just 24 hours following call for volunteers and by Welsh Ambulance Service as it manages its response to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Members of the public from across Wales, including past and retired staff, have registered their interest in a variety of roles across the service following an appeal by the Trust last week.

Applications are now closed and the sifting process has begun.

Claire Vaughan, the Trust’s Executive Director of Workforce and Organisational Development, said: “We are absolutely delighted by the response we received to our online appeal.

“This fantastic response will help us to boost capacity within our workforce during this most challenging of times.

“Our workforce team is working really hard to sift the applications, skill-matching, seeking relevant checks and pairing them geographically to our needs – and so we ask for everyone’s patience now as this work is done.

We sincerely thank everyone who put themselves forward in this most testing of times, and will seek to contact them soon with an update in response to their kind offer.”

A number of Welsh firefighters will also shortly begin training to drive ambulances to help increase the capacity of the Ambulance Service.

Welsh Voluntary Sector

A £24m fund to support Wales’ voluntary sector in response to the Coronavirus pandemic has been launched last week by Welsh Government. 

The funding will provide immediate support for Wales’ most vulnerable and help coordinate the thousands of willing volunteers wanting to help others during the current crisis.

A further £15m will ensure people in Wales who not able to leave their home are able to get direct deliveries of food and other essential items to their door.

The Welsh Government is urging people to register their interest in volunteer scheme Volunteering-wales.net  – thousands of inquiries. 

There will also be opportunities for people who are self-isolating to get involved, for example taking part in phone and social media befriending schemes.