MORE than 1,400 residents have signed up to support vulnerable people across the borough in response to the coronavirus pandemic.

This comes after Bracknell Forest Council (BFC) teamed up with local voluntary organisations to create the Bracknell Forest Community Response initiative.

These volunteers have already been out and about delivering emergency food parcels to those who need them the most.

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Cllr Paul Bettison, leader of BFC, said: “The community spirit in Bracknell Forest is wonderful and it has really come alive in the past few weeks.

“I’m truly humbled by the huge number of people who have volunteered to help those in need.

Bracknell News:

“The Bracknell Forest Community Response Hub is an important part of the work the council is doing to shield the vulnerable and extremely vulnerable from the risk of contracting coronavirus.

“However, our work doesn’t stop there. The council’s team will soon be contacting people who have registered with the Government’s shielding vulnerable people initiative to find out how we can best support them going forward.

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“For this, we’ll be working with our partners and calling on our network of Community Response Volunteers, so I’d like to thank each and every resident who has signed up to help those in need during this unprecedented time. We couldn’t do this without you.”

Healthwatch Bracknell Forest, Involve and a number of parish and town councils are all behind the scheme, along with BFC.

Organisers received the food parcels at Braybrooke Community Hall before assigning each bundle to a community volunteer, who delivered them to isolated and elderly residents.

Chris Taylor, from Healthwatch, said: “Chris Taylor from Healthwatch said: "We had to move very quickly over the weekend to get these essential food parcels delivered to the people who really needed them.

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“The volunteers responded at short notice and were outstanding.

“One resident and his wife were in tears when they called us to thank the system for the delivery."

A number of local businesses contributed to the initiative, including Waitrose, which provided free-of-charge fresh bread, milk and tea bags, The Range and Morrisons, which provided bags for the parcels, and Savills, which set up a lease on the food distribution centre in Princess Square.

Residents can visit Healthwatch's website for more details on how to sign up to volunteer.

Philip Cook, manager at Involve, said: "Any volunteers that have stepped forward and not yet had the chance to get involved, bear with us as there will be tasks for you as things progress over the coming weeks.

“Don’t forget that simply reaching out to a family member, friend or neighbour is so important at the moment so if there is someone you haven’t checked in on for a while, why not give them a call?”