The Keele Students’ Union is appealing for local charities and organisations that may need support to help vulnerable people in Staffordshire and Cheshire during the coronavirus outbreak to get in touch.

Keele has over 40 students on-hand who have volunteered to support local charities and organisations in helping vulnerable people in the community. Student volunteers will not be in direct face-to-face contact with vulnerable people, but can support charities with running errands, delivering medical provisions, collecting prescriptions and filling roles for charities.

Keele Students’ Union will help arrange placements, match students to suitable opportunities and offer support to charities with arranging volunteers.

The union is appealing to those looking for volunteers to get in touch with them by emailing su.volunteering@keele.ac.uk.

Sarah Giannnakopoulos from Keele Students’ Union Student Opportunities, Activities and Volunteering said: “We have been humbled by the number of students approaching us to offer assistance during the current situation. Keele students have a proud history supporting the local area. They've contributed 20,000 volunteering hours this year towards neighbourhood projects, however, the response to Covid-19 has been overwhelming. Additional students, who consider themselves in low risk groups, are putting the needs of others before their own and wanting to help in any way they can to keep local services running.”