BURY is now able to benefit from a new app set up to help match volunteers with vulnerable people in need of support during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The app has been developed in response to the ongoing need for volunteers to support our most vulnerable citizens in essential tasks including food shopping and collecting medicines.

As the increase in humanitarian need across our communities continues, there has been a heightened requirement to simplify the process of coordinating volunteer activity for councils and community hubs allocating tasks.

The application helps understand need and demand more clearly and appropriately and helps effectively match volunteers with requests received.

The Community Hub Application which is now being used in Bury and Rochdale, provides a platform that all parties involved in logging, assigning and volunteering can access, helping to coordinate contact between centres, Hub Managers and volunteers.

The application also helps to collect the required information to match appropriate support to citizens and their needs.

Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham said: “Across Greater Manchester we have been overwhelmed with the community response to this pandemic.

“The number of individuals that continue to volunteer their valuable time to support the most vulnerable amongst us is humbling and demonstrates how our communities rally together in times of need.

"This community hub application has been developed to help manage the increase in volunteering and ensure effective coordination of volunteers to make sure timely support can be provided where it is needed most.”

Programme Manager, Nicky Parker from Bury Council said: “It has replaced the need for manual spreadsheets and lots of pieces of paper and enables the Hub staff to track progress with a job.

"We can see how many jobs are completed or outstanding and look at the volume of requests across Bury.

"It also helps us to match volunteers with residents on a repeat basis so that new relationships can strengthen.

"We are developing new ideas all the time about how we can add more functions to the app as the nature of support from the community hubs changes over time and into the future.”

You can find out more about the Greater Manchester Digital Platform by clicking here.

You can contact your local community hub on 0161 253 5353.