Part 1 - Process Guide to help those setting up groups of volunteers to assist neighbours in isolation. As a community my village has rallied around and come up with a process to mitigate the risks to the vulnerable. Please use/modify for your own community. We're all in this together!

1. Community Volunteer Response to COVID-19 –
Guide to How to Use Facebook Groups to
Coordinate Support
Part 1

2. Introduction
This document outlines the process for setup of a Facebook Group to help coordinate
the activities of community volunteers. This is not an official guidance. Volunteers in a
small village got together and created a process to help mitigate the potential risks to
vulnerable people in isolation due to COVID-19. The risks identified are as follows:
• Disreputable people may use the COVID-19 outbreak as an opportunity to gain entry
to the homes of vulnerable people. The posting of notes offering to help is a great
initiative and brings communities together, however where the receiver of the note
doesn’t know the individual offering help there is always a risk that the intention is
not as stated.
• People with COVID-19 symptoms may resort to running errands if help is not easily
accessible.
• Without a formal structure and clear controls the personally identifiable information
of vulnerable people will be exposed to nefarious individuals.
• The many and varied suggestions on the Internet to make the public aware that you
are in need of help can also highlight vulnerability to those who have bad intentions
eg. Putting a pillow case on your letterbox.

3. Aim
• To ensure that anyone who needs help knows that it is available,
knows how to access it and to make sure that it is provided to
everyone in the most efficient way.
Proposed solution
• By using a Volunteer Contact Group (probably 5 and no more than 10
people), requests can be managed and coordinated, whilst soliciting
support from the wider community which will be needed depending
on availability, the number of demands and their magnitude.

4. Volunteer Contact Group
Volunteer Contact Group’s details will be publicised via the methods
below (see poster for printed contacts list to circulate):
• Posters on notice boards/pubs (suggesting people photo the contacts)
• Posters at Local Shop and Doctor’s Surgery (suggesting people photo
the contacts or take one of the contact numbers sheets provided)
• Flier insert or page in the local Parish Magazine (providing contact
details and the process)
• Facebook Post on the Community Page (page providing contact
details and the process)
• Next Neighbour website (page providing contact details and the
process)
• Door to door fliers to all residents

5. Example Poster
Note: The poster has a list of volunteer contacts and their phone numbers. This allows people who have
no access to the Internet to get help.

6. Volunteer Contact Group – Role of a
GroupMember
• To provide help when they are contacted, if they can’t help directly
• To contact others in the volunteer group to see if they can help, if
none of the volunteers can help
• To post details of the support needed on the Community Facebook
group & Next Neighbour website and to coordinate the support. The
volunteer will ensure the personally identifiable information is not
included in public posts.
• To close out the post once the support has been coordinated

7. Volunteer Contact Group – How this should
operate in practice (1)
• The Volunteer Contact Group will have a ‘closed group’ within the
Community Facebook page.
• Only the Volunteer Contact Group members will see what support is
being requested, which volunteer is ‘assigned’ to ensure that help is
provided and the status of the request.
• Each volunteer will log and update what they are being requested to
do on Volunteer Contact closed Facebook group which will allow the
volunteers to see who has capacity. This will also ensure that in the
event that a volunteer is unable to continue that the other volunteers
can pick up on the outstanding request.

8. Volunteer Contact Group – How this should
operate in practice (2)
• There will be people who want to request help who are on the
Community Facebook page. It would be helpful if they use the
following guidelines:
• Start message with COVID-19
• Be clear on what you need
• Don’t share your address or phone number
• Request people use Messenger (DM/PM you) and not respond
directly to the post
• Once you have been helped, reply so people know no further action is
needed
• This will help to safeguard against vulnerability and ensure that
people are helped in the most efficient way.