Over the last ten weeks, we’ve been getting used to hearing all sorts of stories of support for our community, but I don’t think we’ve heard anything like this one. Our very own Mary, a Carer Support worker for the last 14 years supporting unpaid carers and their families found herself suddenly turned to community keyworker; shopping for vulnerable and or at-risk people during Covid-19.
Mary, took time out to talk to us about her lockdown experiences supporting her community, including shopping for 17 retired and self-isolating nuns from St Raphael’s Hospice in North Cheam. Mary says:
“The retired Nuns used to receive their cooked meals from a nearby hospital on their grounds of their hospice accommodation, but as it was adapted to be a Covid-19 hospital so the Nuns needed to do their own cooking. I helped by taking a note of all their shopping requirements over the phone and I used my keyworker letter and ID to visit Sainsbury’s Kiln Lane once a week. The funny bit was delivering the food and receipt. I rang ahead to tell them what I spent so they would have it ready in an envelope. Some of the nuns were hard of hearing and I would say: ‘I spent £147’, and the reply came, ‘yes that’s lovely, so we’ll have £47 ready for you’. It took 3 attempts before I could make myself understood!”
