The Club is delighted to learn that our Matchday Events Manager, Joanne Cameron, has been awarded The Mayor’s Award, in recognition of her voluntary work with Darlington Support, in assisting the residents of Darlington during the COVID-19 pandemic. Joanne received her award from the Mayor Of Darlington, Chris McEwan. Well Done Jo!!

Also, in support of our community partner Darlington Support, below is an update of their activity.

Darlington Support have started a new collaboration with Healthwatch Darlington to help with their project: #BecauseWeAllCare

The aim of this initiative is to gather feedback from residents about their experience of health and care services during the COVID-19 pandemic.  The information will then be used to understand how the response can be improved in the future.  This is particularly important to better prepare the local services in Darlington should a second wave of the Coronavirus occur in the winter.

Joanne Cameron has been in contact with Jemma Austin Senior Volunteer and Outreach Co-ordinator to discuss how we can help and here is what Jemma had to say:

“The Healthwatch Darlington campaign #BecauseWeAllCare was launched in collaboration of all 152 Healthwatch organisations across England and the CQC in an effort to encourage people to share their experiences during COVID-19. It’s our job to ensure local commissioners and providers of health & care services know what patients think so they can plan for the future and take into account what service users need. You can find out more about our national campaign here: www.healthwatchdarlington.co.uk

We are offering individuals with a chance to take part in online, but we know this option isn’t right for everyone. So, we are also offering telephone appointments to those who would like one. This would be with one of our trained staff or volunteers. All they need to do is call 01325 380145 to make an appointment.

Alternatively, if anyone would like to help us gather views on our behalf then this can be done by using our PDF survey as the questions are standardised and used for every person who wishes to take part. It’s important to point out that our survey is anonymous, and we do not ask for any personal information. The PDF version can be printed then be completed whilst on the phone and sent to us directly by scanning an attaching in email or by posting to Jubilee House, 1 Chancery Lane, Darlington, DL1 5QP.

The survey is a chance for service users to tell us about any support they have received for their health & care and we have a special ‘thank you’ option at the end for individuals to leave messages of thanks. If anyone would like to specifically mention your befriending call line or the Covid group, then they can within this section”.

https://www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/HWDCovid

If anyone would like a copy of the survey printing or needs any assistance completing the survey please don’t hesitate to contact Joanne on joanne.cameron@darlingtonfc.org. Don’t forget to provide any feedback you have on the ‘buddy’ calls made in the survey