Kirklees Council staff put jobs on hold and join volunteers in helping communities

Members of council staff are putting their day jobs on hold until further notice, to focus on supporting vulnerable residents to deal with the spread of coronavirus.

The Kirklees Community Response Team will see council staff working alongside local volunteers already supporting local people.

Kirklees Council has worked together with The Welcome Centre, Fusion Foodbank and Batley Foodbank in order to enable these vital services to remain open.

Councillor Shabir Pandor, Leader of Kirklees Council, offered support at Dewsbury's Fusion Foodbank helping local people to access food.

Based within libraries, foodbanks and other community buildings, they will be on hand to give advice, information, offer support, links to other services, help people access food and emergency cash/grants. Social distancing measures will be in place.

The council is carrying out a review of all its staff to assess which roles are not currently business critical (due to the coronavirus response) and where people’s skills could be used to help communities and residents.

The council has put together a pack to support people and communities during the ongoing outbreak of Coronavirus. Download it here.

Councillor Pandor said: “We are working hard and doing everything we can to keep people as safe as possible. Public health and the wellbeing of all our residents is our top priority.

“We are encouraging everyone to follow the social distancing guidance from Government, but we have a duty of care to support our most vulnerable and will take all measures to ensure people who are offering their time to help others, are kept safe.

“The usual day-to-day roles of our staff are all an important part in delivering services to residents. However, with the current challenges we face, we are rightly assessing which roles need to continue as normal and which can be put on hold to offer the extra support our communities desperately need.

“The challenge we all face is much bigger than Kirklees Council, it’s a real community effort. As I have said before, our strength is in our togetherness and that is more important now than ever.

“The community spirit we are already seeing is truly inspiring with local people volunteering their time to help others. We will continue to do what we do best – work together and help those that need us most.”