VOLUNTARY groups and charities are springing into action to support families and individuals in lockdown three as Wiltshire Community Foundation relaunches its Coronavirus Response Fund.

The community foundation has already raised more than £1.2 million and distributed more than £1 million through 220 grants. Now it is appealing for more donations as the groups it funds face the new challenge.

Charities providing counselling, youth mentoring, food distribution, shopping for the elderly and befriending are switching services online, reactivating volunteers and reforming partnerships to cope with the lockdown announced on Monday.

Pewsey Community Coronavirus Assistance is maintaining the services it has been running since March but switching some to delivery and adding shopping and prescription collection to those who need it.

Founder Phil Brady said: “We are re-introducing our Buddy Crew who will be there for anyone who needs to talk to someone. We’ll continue delivering around 40 hot meals a week to people who need them.

“We are changing our library service to delivery so people can order books online and we will also be delivering food from the community market, which we’ve had to close along with the community café.”

He said the experiences of the previous lockdowns will help get the services up and running quickly. “We know it is badly needed but we have volunteers signing up and 100 on our books already working so we will cope.”

The Youth Adventure Trust, which works with struggling young people across the county, had been looking forward to getting them back together on activity weeks at half-term.

Louise Balaam, the trust’s director of fundraising, said: “Our mentoring scheme will switch online and we are hoping our half-term activity days will go ahead. If they can’t, we’ll would expect to run something virtually for the young people do some additional days later in the year.

“We are just so keen to get these young people back outdoors again and we know this is something that just stops in lockdown. It has such a negative impact on their mental health and the situations they are dealing with.”

The Rise Trust, which runs youth activities across north Wiltshire, will have youth workers out talking to young people in Chippenham, Calne, Malmesbury, Royal Wootton Bassett and Cricklade.

Project leader Danielle Blake said: “It’s important that we are out to meet the people we have supported previously and to deliver the Covid message.”

Help Counselling Services, which provides low cost or free counselling to hundreds of people across the county, including Salisbury, expects the lockdown to trigger a new surge of inquiries.

Chief executive Amanda Wilkes said: “In the second lockdown we saw people feeling so much worse than the first one because of the cumulative effect of going back there again.“Over Christmas we saw 12 or 13 applications for counselling come in and that’s not normal, it is usually quiet.

"We have seen a really big rise in people accessing our services over the last year and we have more counsellors than we’ve ever had.

“We are seeing families falling to pieces, people unable to cope with the stress and anxiety about family, money and a general lack of spontaneity in life.

"There’s a real lack of hope. My expectations are that we are going to see that rise.”

Wiltshire Community Foundation joint chief executive Fiona Oliver said the 46-year-old community foundation will continue to be there for small charities who need support and guidance.

“We have been constantly amazed and inspired by the resilience and determination of the grass roots groups we fund as they adapt their services to ensure they are there for those who need them,” she said.

“Our Coronavirus Response Fund has been a vital resource for them and we hope with the support of the public it will be again as we all rise to the challenges of this third lockdown.”

To donate to the Wiltshire and Swindon Coronavirus Response Fund or to find out how to apply for a grant, go to wiltshirecf.org.uk.