Yorkshire universities combine to help make the most of valiant coronavirus volunteers

Since the outbreak of Covid-19 lockdown volunteers have played their part in responding to the pandemic in a variety of ways, from helping to collect shopping and medication for vulnerable residents, to transporting patients home who have been discharged by the NHS.

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Other volunteers have helped supermarkets keep up with increased demand for deliveries and collections, and helped transport medical equipment and supplies between hospitals.

Researchers from the project, led by the University of Sheffield in collaboration with the University of Leeds and the University of Hull, say it will help maximise the effectiveness of some of these volunteer responses.

Dr Erica Ballantyne, lecturer in operations and supply chain management at the University of Sheffield said: "The research seeks to address the logistical challenges around effective deployment of volunteers, in order to optimise the available support for meeting essential needs in food supply, healthcare and well being."

Technology has played a significant role in the recruitment of volunteers throughout the pandemic so far.

Researchers will use large amounts of data available to examine the changing nature of supply and demand for volunteers across the country.

Dr Silviya Nikolova, lecturer in Health Economics at the University of Leeds, said the project would also work alongside care organisations, charities and industry to assess volunteer response to changing needs in the community and impact on health and wellbeing during COVID-19.

She said: "Understanding determinants of volunteer response is important to addressing problems in the health and care sectors which have been dramatically affected by the current crisis."

Dr Fiona Walkley, from Hull University, said the research will look at how volunteers have been mobilised to meet the needs both nationally and at local level. This includes strategies used by local authorities and their charity partners, and the emergence of micro volunteering initiatives in communities.

She said: "It will create a UK-wide picture of the mobilisation of volunteers, how needs have been accommodated, and the gaps and stress points in the system. "

COVID-19 has seen a surge of people volunteer their time in response to the virus.The 18-month research project, titled ‘Mobilising Volunteers Effectively (MoVE)', has been launched after securing £382,000 of new funding, provided by UK Research & Innovation aims to build on this success.

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