COVID Helpline
Local High Life youth worker Yvonne Boa, who will be one of the main local volunteers at the new Highland Council Local Community Hub which started operations this Wednesday, 15th April, has urged everybody who believes they may be entitled to any additional help because they are particularly isolated or vulnerable to register with the Highland Council helpline – 0300 303 1362 – so they can get access to free meals and other food supplies.
Isolated or vulnerable?
The Council-run Local Community Hub is intended in the first instance to ensure that all those who qualify as being isolated or vulnerable – whether through being in 12-week shielding (the highest priority for the service) or otherwise on NHS or Highland Council vulnerable lists – will be able to rely on regular deliveries of food during the COVID-19 lockdown.
If you or one of your friends or relatives believe that you or they may be in particular need for such help, then you are strongly advised to get in touch with the Council and register via the helpline.
Deliveries of frozen meals and dry goods started from the Ullapool Local Community Hub on Wednesday, 15th April, with refrigerated vans and other vehicles already commandeered and ready for this mission. It may take a few days for the service to be fully up-and-running, but the Council and the volunteers who will be responsible for ensuring that deliveries run smoothly and, above all, reach the right people, are hopeful that the Hub will make a difference for those needing its services from the beginning.
The Community Hub will also be working closely with small groups of volunteers in the outlying areas, who may e.g., use freezers to store some of the meals before distributing them to local households in their area.
To start with, the Ullapool Hub is intended to act as a distribution centre for other areas in Lochbroom Parish and, probably, other parts of at least northwest Ross-shire and neighbouring parts of Sutherland – so including Coigach and Dundonnell.