News Corona kindness – help offered, help needed 20 March 2020 by Visit Blackpool In the midst of what is possibly the worst emergency we will ever face humbling things are happening right across the country. Blackpool Council are setting up a community corona kindness helpline for those who want to help and for those that need help. The kind of services that people are asking for help with are: food shopping, dog walking, medical supplies, social isolation and loneliness. If you need to access any of those things or you feel you can help in anyway, please email helpneeded@blackpoolcouncil.gov.uk or helpoffered@blackpoolcouncil.gov.uk. Over the next few days we will also have a web page www.blackpool.gov.uk/coronakindness where you will be able to find out more information and submit an online form. A telephone line will also be operational shortly for you to be able to call to offer help and also ask for help. Right throughout Blackpool and across the Fylde Coast people are displaying an amazing amount of resilience, spirit and unbelievable kindness towards each other and the most vulnerable. Neighbours are checking in on each other, parents are swapping ideas on entertainment for their children, streets are coordinating shopping runs and deliveries, social media groups are popping up everywhere to share tips, offer advice and just to talk and also listen. It’s humbling. Cllr Simon Blackburn, Leader of Blackpool Council, said: “it has become apparent to me over the last few weeks, and days, what an extraordinary community we really have here in Blackpool. Everyone is doing their very best to support each other. “This new service and helpline will add to the community support already out there and ensure that no one in Blackpool goes short of the help they need. It will also match the need for support with those that can offer it. I would urge anyone who needs support or who can give it to get in touch.” Blackpool is showing its community resilience and resolve and we want to support this as best we can. If you can access your local community support and want to do that, then great, but if you can’t or you want to help then please get in touch. This initiative will respond to what you need and what you can offer. It will develop as we go along so please bear with us as we set up and get our wheels in motion. The corona kindness service will start to run from Monday 23 March using the email addresses only initially. It will run for as long as is needed. #spreadthekindnessnotthevirus #coronakindness