TENDRING Council has thanked volunteers who have gone above and beyond to help people in need during the pandemic lockdown.

The council has worked with about 70 voluntary groups during the Covid-19 pandemic including Community Voluntary Services Tendring, Tendring Eldercare and Harwich Helps.

Volunteers have stepped up to help from doing shopping and picking up prescriptions, to walking dogs and chatting with those who are lonely or bereaved.

Tendring Eldercare, a Clacton-based day centre which has been running for 38 years, has delivered 800 food parcels as well as collecting prescriptions and other supplies.

Tendring Eldercare has a team of about 20 volunteers and has been working closely with other charities and community groups around the district along with the council’s Shield team.

Chairman Edward Bell, 28, said: “Everyone who has given up their time to help others is incredible and projects like this would not happen without them.

“It is just tremendous what volunteers do and I applaud them all.”

Another group helping people through the pandemic is Harwich Helps, which has an army of 152 volunteers.

In just two months the group has received 2,300 calls, carried out 780 shopping trips, 140 prescription collections, 65 welfare visits, 2,000 meals and almost 1,000 food parcels.

Harwich Helps also supported HomeStart during the school half-term providing meals for families who would usually get free school meals.

Suzanne Howe, one of the Harwich Helps co-ordinators, praised the work of the volunteers.

She said: “I am really proud to be a part of a wonderful group of people. It has been humbling experience.”

Neil Stock, Tendring Council leader, praised the work of Tendring Eldercare, Harwich Helps and all the volunteers.

He said: “We have only highlighted here two organisations doing fantastic work in our community but we could just as easily have picked any of the other 70-odd groups and hundreds of volunteers who are doing an incredible job.

“Their work has been invaluable both supporting our work and plugging any gaps as the fast-moving nature of the pandemic sometimes outpaced the national response.”