Letchworth residents who benefited from the Community Response Team – set up to help the vulnerable during lockdown – will continue to receive assistance thanks to Morrisons supermarket.

The CRT was set up by the Letchworth Heritage Foundation to support those experiencing food poverty and isolation during the long lockdown months.

With the project ending after five months, those needing support with shopping have been transferred to Morrisons’ grocery delivery service.

Head of grants, partnerships and community services, Alastair Stewart said: “It’s very rewarding to see that we have been able to help so many people and that the shopping service will continue even though our project has come to an end.

“We are grateful to Morrisons for supporting those who continue to need help.”

Yvette Churchman, community champion at the Letchworth branch of Morrisons, said: “I have increased my hours so that I can do more for the community, this included the work with the Community Response Team.

“The Heritage Foundation came to me and explained that they needed someone to take on their service users. I am proud that they entrusted me with this critical work.”

The CRT was created in late March to assist the community in accessing the support they needed as the pandemic worsened. The foundation worked with local charities, school, churches and groups to create a town-wide approach. Several Heritage Foundation employees were redeployed to help run the CRT at the start of lockdown.

From the end of March until the middle of August the CRT dedicated more than 3,000 hours to supporting the residents of Letchworth during lockdown. They also arranged more than 600 food shopping deliveries to vulnerable residents or those in self isolation, fielded 1,131 enquiries received via email and telephone and awarded £53,866 grant funding to local groups working directly to care for those impacted by COVID-19.

Alastair added: “As well as supporting a large number of people during lockdown, the most notable legacy of this project is the strong partnerships that have emerged across the garden city.”

To find out more about the Foundation’s grants programme visit letchworth.com/for-thecommunity/grants.