THE LEADER of the council has praised the way his team has come together with the voluntary sector to help launch the borough’s response to the coronavirus crisis.
From the last week of March, charities and council teams have been working hand-in-hand to help protect some of the most vulnerable residents through its community hub.
Known as One Front Door, the approach has seen residents able to call one number to access everything from advice to emergency food parcels.
It has now helped more than 1,000 residents from a base set up in the council-owned Crispin’s Leisure Centre, while members of Wokingham Citizen Advice answer phone calls from their homes.
“My team has down a superb job,” he said. “The strategy has been to harness the voluntary sector – and they have been absolutely marvellous. It has worked so well, everyone working together rather than against each other.
“We’ve just got on with it. It’s fabulous.
“We have deployed a load of staff into the hub, and we will have to do more that, as the economy starts to go back to work, we will still need to maintain the service, and find different types of volunteers.”
He added: “In this unprecedented crisis, everyone in the council has risen up to the challenge in ways I couldn’t possibly have imagined.
“I’m extremely proud of them.”
And Cllr Halsall also wanted residents to let them know of any vulnerable residents so they can get help.
“We have been ringing around our vulnerable residents every week, but we are not a police state and we can’t be sure we’ve got everyone on our lists.
“If anyone is missed, my apologies, but we also need to know so we can intervene and help.”
