Football club rises to the challenge of supporting elderly neighbours during coronavirus

After days as key workers, providing vital services for the city, volunteers from Slatyford based Montagu and North Fenham FC are helping neighbours with deliveries of food and essential items.

Club director Gary Arkley, a Newcastle City Council bin wagon driver, said: “We’re just trying to do the right thing.

“I’ve parents at home with COPD, and while I know they are OK, we’ve elderly residents nearby, who we see regularly, who as a club we can help to look after.

“I’m a key worker, driving a bin wagon during the day, and there’s other frontline staff among our parents and volunteers, but we then want to do our little bit more for the community. That’s just the sort of people we have at the club.

“We just want to try and support local people through these difficult times and are going to continue until there’s some light at the end of the Coronavirus tunnel.

Who is receiving the support?

“There’s three sets of bungalows around our playing fields, with about 30 homes in total, and we’ve been giving out about 23 to 24 bags of food and essentials each week for three to four weeks now – things like bread, milk, butter, coffee and tea, and tins of beans.

“Some of the residents have been in tears at the gesture, we’ve had thank you cards, and messages on our website and Facebook saying, ‘Thank you for looking out for my grandad and grandma.’

“But for us it’s not about that - It’s just a small sacrifice we can make to try and keep these people happy and safe.”

Appreciation for bin crews

As well as the positive response from the residents he is helping, Gary, who has worked for the city council for 27 years, said the current outbreak has seen an outpouring of support for his day to day work too.

“It’s been really positive,” he said. “My rounds go around Gosforth, through Jesmond, Walkerville, and Byker, including the Byker Wall, and it’s been touching  to see people putting notes on bins saying thank you for the work we’re doing, or how people we wouldn’t ordinarily see are coming to the windows to wave.

“It’s nice to feel that appreciation.”

Bin collections continue as normal

All of Newcastle City Council’s bin collections are continuing as normal during the pandemic.

Green general waste, blue recycling and brown garden waste pick-ups are scheduled to take place on their usual days, with the exceptions of the Good Friday (April 10) and May Day (May 8) bank holidays, when collections will take place one day later (on Saturday).

Families are reminded to “clean, clean, clean” and store used cloths and tissues separately for 72 hours prior to placing them in their general waste bins to help fight coronavirus (COVID-19).

If you need to check your bin day use our online My Neighbourhood system at community.newcastle.gov.uk/my-neighbourhood