Vicky Walker spoke with volunteer shift leader Mike at the Downham Vaccination Hub on September, 25, 2021.
TRANSCRIPT:
Vicky Walker: This is Vicky Walker for Lewisham Vaccination Stories. I’m up at the Downham Vaccination Hub on a cloudy September day. And I’m here talking with…
Mike: Mike.
Vicky Walker: So, Mike, I think you’ve been here since the very beginning in January, with me. What were you thinking when you first arrived here for your first volunteer shift?
Mike: My goodness, what was I thinking?
Back in January, it was very, very quiet and I think we were encouraged not to go out at all. So it’s a little bit exciting just going out and meeting all these people and being surrounded by hundreds of people for the first time, in a long time. I wasn’t quite sure what to expect.
I also thought there was a lot of people all floundering around and not quite sure what we were going to do. And I remember one gentleman trying to teach me–
Vicky: The patients were floundering or the–
Mike: No, no, the volunteers.
Vicky: Oh, the volunteers.
Mike: I wasn’t talking about the patients, the patients were fine really, it was the volunteers. We seemed to be making it up as we went along, although we weren’t really.
I remember being shown by somebody how to do a lateral flow test who was reading the instructions, with the piece of paper and then he got stuck and–
Vicky: Yes, me too.
Mike: And then he passed me the– in fact, I think that’s where we met each other.
Vicky: Yes, yes.
Mike: And we worked out how to do a lateral flow test together, and then we were teaching other people. What was really nice, even from the very first shift, is that everyone was so cheerful and willing to help each other.
Vicky: Definitely, definitely.
Mike: And I could count on the fingers of one hand, the number of people who have been difficult as volunteers, and I’ve known probably several hundred now, in terms of the numbers I’ve actually worked with, because I’ve volunteered every week since January, and it’s now September, right?
Vicky: You have, you have.
Mike: So quite a few. And I think that almost everybody I’ve met has been really lovely and very willing to help and very, very positive. And those who haven’t been have left quite quickly.
Vicky: They’ve disappeared, yes.
Mike: Very quickly.
Vicky: Now, I know you’re probably going to be modest about this, but you’ve been a shift leader for quite a few shifts, on occasion. And I think that’s because you’re very well organised and a very calm presence in the area. How do you feel about that? Being treated as someone that people can come to with answers, or need answers?
Mike: I think it’s quite a difficult thing. I’m fortunate in the fact that I’m now retired. I retired early, so I’ve actually got lots of time so I can actually come in and do multiple shifts a week.
I’m also fortunate in the fact that I’ve managed people in the past. So I’m not as scared of being out there as being the front person, telling them what to do.
Vicky: “Go over there.”
Mike: Even when I don’t know myself and I’m making it up! So either it’s been — and it’s been a pleasure, really, managing people because again — and it’s difficult, but it is quite difficult to get the balance right from being bossy and throwing your weight around a little bit and being tactful, because I have no authority!
Vicky: Well, you have a tabard and–
Mike: I have a tabard and a badge. That’s it, really.
Vicky: Yes. (Laughter)
Mike: And, really, you are totally reliant on the other volunteers and the fact that — and they show their initiative. If you can persuade them to do tasks, they will do the tasks, et cetera, but they can easily turn around and say, “No.”
Vicky: Oh, yes. And certainly you can express your preferences for things you want to do. But I think everybody, the spirit has been, “We’re all mucking in together and we’re all just here. Get as many jabs in arms as possible for the good people of Lewisham.” I mean, did you turn up knowing you were going to get your first vaccination on your first volunteer day?
Mike: I suspected I might, right, simply just the logic of it, because we were actually mixing with vulnerable people, which were the over eighties, when we first started. It was seen as madness for us not to be vaccinated as well.
So I was very appreciative in getting the vaccine, which was good, but that wasn’t a primary motivator for me to come along. It was really about wanting to help out.
And I would actually say when mentioning the patients is that they’ve been marvellous, all the different age groups, almost universally marvellous and you and I have probably seen several thousand.
Vicky: Oh, definitely. Well, we’ve done-
Mike: Over the last few months,
Vicky: 38,000, something like that. So we’ve probably seen a good share of them.
Mike: A good share of that. I’ve seen quite a few needles going into arms and sometimes people are worried and nervous or frightened even, sometimes. But everyone’s been great, really, and there have been exceptions, some awkward customers, but usually it’s out of fear more than anything else. And I would really say that people have been marvellous and very tolerant when things have gone wrong – and they have gone wrong from time to time.
Vicky: Yes, we won’t dwell on the times that have gone wrong.
Mike: No, no.
Vicky: But you were just saying before we started recording about how you’ve been on outreach ,and obviously people who volunteer come from all walks of life and all ages, and they could be retired, they could be working, they could be in school, but just say what you were saying about the mayor.
Mike: Oh, repeat the story about the mayor, the Mayor of Lewisham?
Vicky: Yes, yes.
Mike: I thought it was very good, actually, because I knew I was doing an outreach session and it was at a home to both protect vulnerable teenagers and young adults. And I thought, “Oh, the mayor is coming. It’s going to be a photo opportunity and all this,” a PR stunt. And I was actually very impressed with the mayor, the Mayor of Lewisham now, because he just seemed to turn up with a genuine desire to help.
And there were no photos taken, there were no journalists: he just turned up. I gave him some instruction about how to fill in the forms and do some admin and he just really wanted to help. And it was just lovely to see him there. And it was one of his colleagues from his office and it was just nice to see a politician, really–
Vicky: Not being a politician?
Mike: Not being a politician and just being a human being. I thought that was really good.
Vicky: Exactly, yes. And of course, one of his staffers is a vaccinator volunteer now, and then Damien and [partner Yossi] are still volunteering every now and then.
Mike: Yes, I know James quite well, actually, now after the vaccination clinics.
Vicky: Yes, me too.
Mike: Yes, we’ve worked together quite a few shifts and stuff.
Vicky: So what would the Mike of September the 25th say to the Mike of January 15th about what’s in store with the vaccination programme?
Mike: Prepare to be adaptable, right, particularly when we were very busy; it’s quite quiet now, but when we were very busy, we had to be very adaptable in terms of our circumstances.
We had various hiccups. It wasn’t every shift, but it was a significant number of shifts, actually, we had problems and trying to work out what to do, for instance, with a waiting room full of a hundred over-eighties and it’s raining or–
Vicky: Or snowing.
Mike: And the doctor is late and we can’t open the clinic, et cetera. Those sorts of things, it was quite a challenge, but I think being adaptable was quite, it was quite a good tip. I think for me, as well, I didn’t expect to be a shift lead. I didn’t think there would be the role. I thought there’d be a professional doing that for us.
Vicky: I did too. I did too.
Mike: And it makes sense to actually have a volunteer and also we’ve got volunteer vaccinators. The volunteers really carry the programme, I feel.
Vicky: It’s a sad truth. Obviously, the funding of the NHS has been so throttled over the years that volunteers are making the vaccination programme really work. But, yes, I was surprised by how much we would end up doing and I’m going to miss it terribly. I don’t know about you.
Mike: Oh, yes.
Vicky: I feel like it’s coming to an end. What are we going to do now?
Mike: Yes, I think– I’ve got other volunteering that I do as well.
Vicky: Yes, me too.
Mike: But I will miss the vaccination centre because it’s different. I must emphasise, as well, it’s not just volunteering at Downham: I’ve also volunteered at the Waldron, I’ve done outreach, and I’ve done a big session at Millwall Football Club as well.
Vicky Walker: Yes, so talk about that, because I didn’t go. I’ve heard a couple of stories, depending when you were there, how busy it was.
Mike: It was a shame because that was just a few days after they introduced a time limit between the first and second vaccine up to that point, it could be anything over three weeks. And then we actually said it had to be at least eight weeks.
And so we were literally– I was working on the gate and we were turning away dozens of people.
Vicky: That’s really sad, because they were there and they made the time to come and it’s quite arbitrary as far as I can see, this time limit.
Mike: Yes.
Vicky: But, yes, Mark told me he was there and at one point they ran out of biros to do the Pinnacle forms and he said, “Literally, the whole vaccine programme held up because we didn’t have any pens because you can’t go anywhere.”
Mike: No. I think it was a large undertaking and there were problems, but I was talking to some of the organisers and they literally put it all together within less than a week, which is an amazing achievement.
And I think sometimes we all focus on, too much, on the bad things or the difficult things or the problems, when in actual fact, there’s been a huge amount of good done through the programme and the UK wouldn’t be anywhere without the vaccine programme that’s actually happened. And the vaccine programme has relied heavily on professionals who work in the programme, obviously, but also the thousands and thousands of volunteers.
Vicky: Yes. And we were all– some people were patients who we twisted their arms into becoming volunteers, and some people signed up through whatever reason and, yes, we’re all here together.
Mike: Yes. It’s been great.
Vicky: It really has. So is there anything you’d like to add about your thoughts?
Mike: I’d just like to say a big thank you to everyone who’s worked-
I’d just like to say a big thank you to everyone who’s helped me out on my shifts, really, because I couldn’t have had led the shift if people hadn’t been cooperative and helpful and everyone’s — you know, taken me aside if I’ve got something wrong or said something out of turn, which is great, but on the whole they’ve been all fantastic.
Vicky: There’s a chance that we’re going to bump into each other in the Co-op or something years from now and go, “I know you from vaccinating.” Yes.
Mike: But only if you recognise their eyes because we wear our masks all the time.
Vicky: Exactly. It’s got to be the eyes. It’s quite strange seeing your whole face!
Mike: Yes!
(Laughter)
Vicky: Well, thank you very much, Mike. I really appreciate it, and keep up the good work.
Mike: No problem, it’s been fun. Thank you.
Vicky: Carry on, cheers.
Mike: Bye.