PEOPLE from Coventry in need of food, medicine and social contact are being urged to contact the City Council for assistance.
The authority is aware there will be residents not covered by the national shielding programme and is contacting those to see if they need any support.
The lockdown has had a daunting effect on many people who may not be aware of support agencies and community groups.
The city council has been investigating who this situation may apply to by cross-referencing its data to the lists which have come from the Government.
Although Coventry people identified on the Government’s national shielding programme are being contacted to offer help with food, medicine and social contact – there are other residents who may need help but, as yet, may not been in contact with support agencies/community groups since the lockdown has been in place.
Coun Abdul Salam Khan, Coventry City Council deputy leader, said: “There has been such a big effort by the council, partner agencies and the community to support people who are particularly struggling and in need of help, we now need to do further checks to identify anyone in the city who – as yet – hasn’t had the support they need.”
Among those who could be included in the help are those over 70 and living alone, those who need assisted bin collections because of a mobility issues; or people who may be struggling with finances and recent applicants for Universal Credit.
“It may be that when we get in touch some people are absolutely fine and have a network of help from neighbours, friends or family but we want to check just to be on the safe side.”
The team has linked up with utility services to identify where people need support with their energy or water bills as this again identifies people who may be struggling financially.
The work to identify people has been undertaken by the council’s Insight team and has been carried out following data protection standards to ensure that we operate within statutory and regulatory guidelines.
Staff from the Council’s Customer Services team will be contacting people in the coming days.
When the customer services officer makes contact they will explain who they are – and why the resident has been identified, this is to avoid concerns that the call may be a Coronavirus related scam.
Anyone in need of support – food, social contact or medical supplies for example – can contact Coventry City Council on 08085 834 333.
