Local residents who are needing help or support during the Covid-19 pandemic will still be able to turn to Crosspoint and the town’s food fridge at this difficult time.
The group is still very much operating but with understandable changes on how they do things.
“The services will be provided in a different way than usual due to the Government’s advice that there should only be ‘essential contact’ between individuals to lessen the risk of transmission of the virus,” says the group.
“Crosspoint will still be able to issue food boxes, and help with the completion of universal credit and personal independence payment forms, but from Monday 23rd March this will be done by appointment only. Some appointments for counselling and debt advice will continue to be carried out on the premises.
“People wanting to use Crosspoint’s services should phone 01373 824330 and leave a message with their name, phone number, and the service that they are asking about. The answerphone will be checked regularly for messages by volunteers, who will phone the caller back to find out what help is needed.”
Trustee Hilary Fairfield said, “We recognise that the current situation is likely to significantly impact on many people in our community. We realise that we also need to play our part in not transmitting the virus to people who may be vulnerable, and so have had to make a decision to stop most face-to-face contact and to provide help and support in a different way for the foreseeable future.”
In partnership with Westbury Town Council, the Crosspoint premises will still be open at various times during the week to enable local residents specifically so they can access food from the community fridge. The fridge aims to reduce food waste and is filled by volunteers with food left over from supermarkets. A volunteer from the community fridge project will open the centre on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays from 10 – 11am and from 3.30 – 4.30pm so people can collect food if it is available.
Kieran Thorburn from Westbury Town Council said,“We are delighted that we are able to continue our partnership with Crosspoint to ensure that as many people as possible are able to collect surplus supermarket food from the community fridge. We recognise that some people are likely to experience real hardship over the next few weeks and we are keen to play our part in meeting their needs.”
If any members of the public would like to donate food to the food bank, they can bring donations to Crosspoint during the times that the community fridge is open and they will be gratefully received.
It is planned to resume usual services once government advice is that normal social contact can be restarted. Until that point local people should be assured that Crosspoint will do all it can during these exceptional times without putting volunteers or clients at risk.
