THE kindness of Solihull people, its carers and charities have been praised by its council leader.
Councillor Ian Courts said in his latest newsletter: “One thing that many people have talked about is the outpouring of kindness during these difficult times. Here in Solihull, we have been working with voluntary organisations, small and large, who have done an amazing job to support our vulnerable residents.
“Thousands of people have been helped to access support services, food deliveries and shopping. We’ve also worked together to tackle isolation, providing people to chat with too. We have witnessed a huge surge in people supporting their communities and neighbours with charities reporting increases in membership beyond their expectations and small local groups springing up across the borough.
“I know our community development team has been supporting the many community groups that have been set up by our residents on a voluntary basis. We hope that whatever the future brings, our support groups and expressions of kindness towards each other remain.
“And for any existing or new community groups, we also have Solihull CAVA (Community and Voluntary Action), who we commission to provide independent support to the volunteers, groups, organisations, enterprises and charities, who are working to strengthen communities across the borough. “Although there have been many acts of kindness during the pandemic, sadly we have also seen an increase in cases of domestic abuse.
“Locally, Birmingham and Solihull Women’s Aid have told us that many of the women they are supporting are trying to manage, but that they want to leave their relationships when lockdown ends. To provide more support for women in this situation we are giving an additional £60,000 funding to bolster up our existing specialist domestic abuse team. This will pay for two new members of staff, which will help us to respond quickly and support local women and their families when they are in need.
“Solihull Council has made the decision to provide some financial support for those people working on the frontline, supporting our most vulnerable residents. We have set up a special fund to support care workers who are experiencing financial hardship during the Covid-19 crisis. We are working with the Care Workers’ Charity to ensure that the grants go directly to the people who need them.”
