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Volunteering at Riverbank Medical Centre

Riverbank Medical Centre has vaccinated over 5,500 people and is now moving into the next priority groups. Those between 60 and 70 are now being called for appointments.

The team of 50 volunteers braved the “Beast from the East” last week and are regularly giving up their free time to smooth the process. For many patients arriving from outside Midhurst, this includes introducing them to the Healthcentre.

So, what drives this disparate gang of retirees, furloughed staff and home schooling parents to wave at and greet strangers during a pandemic period. There are three fundamental strands – a community spirit, being with people and delivering a solution.

The volunteers are team players used to working with people – coaches, teachers, healthcare practitioners, Rotarians, air and cabin crew and sports players. This concept of being part of a team to fight a common cause is very strong.

There is a genuine sense of fulfilment as there is a new sense of hope. Zannie Priest, a school secretary, captured this “It has been a most rewarding experience witnessing first hand so many elderly and vulnerable people receiving the hope of a vaccine. It is so impressive and I'm blown away by how slick the operation is.”

Victoria Curwood typifies the emotional side “I haven’t hugged my mum since last March and she lives on her own and desperately needs social contact.” The vaccination is giving hope back to our community by combating the adverse effects on mental wellbeing. “I really feel it is vital to get us all ‘back on our feet’ as soon as possible so that we can start living and enjoying our beautiful lives in Midhurst – and not just existing,” says working mum Sarah Stanley.

Author, Roger Morgan-Grenville, has a different motivation “I didn’t want to get to the end of the pandemic and only be able to say that I had only learned on-line banking and how to cook a passable lamb biryani.”

Simon Flint