A COMMUNITY group set up to help residents in Caldicot has been organising free food deliveries and events to help people feel connected during lockdown.
Caldicot Community Working Together, formed in 2018 by Rachel Furmage, has been working with the town council, local restaurants and others to make sure no-one in the town is left feeling isolated.
Among a variety of activities put on by countless volunteers for the group, the team have organised the cooking and delivery of hundreds of meals, an Easter Eggs-elent Adventure for the town's children, as well as virtual music events and quizzes.
Ms Furmage explained: "Once a week we've been delivering meals as well as bread and milk to people in need, and anyone is welcome to ask for help.
"It is completely confidential and we can drop the meals off at the door, and we often deliver to people who are nominated by their neighbours."
The group has been able to deliver the meals thanks to £2,500 worth of donations - with £1,500 of that being donated by Caldicot Town Council.
"We can't thank people enough for the efforts they've gone to and the donations we've received. We're always inundated with messages of goodwill and people wanting to help the community."
A recent offer which was gratefully received was from Caldicot Indian restaurant Curry Mahal, who offered to cook up to 150 meals with the help of volunteers.
Within 24 hours of receiving the message on Facebook, Ms Furmage has mobilised a group of seven volunteers to deliver the meals to households of NHS staff and other key workers across Caldicot in just one hour.
"It has been very tiring, but also very rewarding for us all, and we are so grateful to Curry Mahal for coming on board on their day off," she said.
Every Wednesday evening the group holds a quiz via their Facebook page, and there is also a live music event where acts from the town get the chance to show off their talents. Last Friday, over 5,000 people watched the show.
"People are a little down at the moment so we felt the quizzes and the live music was the perfect way to improve spirits and keep people connected," Ms Furmage added.
As part of the Easter Eggs-elent Adventure, the group have been busy delivering Easter eggs all over the town to children in lockdown over Easter bank holiday weekend, which was funded with the help of Waitrose.
For more information you can join the group's Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/groups/caldicotcommunityworkingtogether/.
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