Hat is a volunteer in Lewisham.
I work in photography, and we were very quiet during the lockdowns — the first lockdown I was too busy homeschooling my children and trying to work out what would happen to my business and cooking meal after meal to be able to volunteer. By the time I was ready to help, there was no need for more volunteers. Then in Dec 2020 I saw a request for vaccine marshal volunteers and I signed up. I already had training through my job, in Covid safety in groups, so felt I could be really useful and was delighted when my offer to help was accepted.
I was so pleased to be able to do something tangible to help in a time of international crisis. My parents had both been vaccinated and really well looked after, and I liked the feeling of being able to take care of other people’s parents, in the way that someone had taken care of mine.
My first session was in the early days, when it was the really elderly and immune-compromised people being seen and one of the first sessions as the local surgery. People had to queue outside for about 20 minutes; we had 5 people doing injections at once. We moved people as fast as we could but it barely stopped for the whole shift.
The people waiting were so kind. It was January and cold and no one complained, and in fact they were generous about letting people who looked more frail ahead of them. We heard lots of stories, people were in tears — before and after — and for some we were the most people they had seen for 9 months. One woman had her birthday the next day and said she wished she’d had the vaccine then, as it would have been such a celebration.
I have loved being able to help, reassure, and support both the people being vaccinated and the staff doing the vaccinating. The kindness of fellow volunteers and the gratitude of the patients who have trusted and relied on us. It has been very special doing this work, and I didn’t think I’d feel as affected by it as I have, but I feel like a small part of a huge push towards helping people recover and survive this pandemic. I haven’t been on the sidelines, I’ve been in the fight — and that feels good.