Vet staff and Animal Rescue staff didn't really have much option to not work - their clients need them and cant manage without them. Apparently there was a big spike in abandoned pets at the beginning of lockdown, and other people who have relied on support in walking their dogs etc have struggled during lockdown. Thank you to vets, vet staff and staff at animal rescue charities
Vicars and Priests couldn't carry out their usual pastoral duties but many of them knuckled down and taught themselves how to deliver on-line services and daily reflections while keeping in touch with their flocks by email and phone, and shouted conversations through closed windows. The gradual re-opening of churches first for private prayers, then socially distanced services and then weddings has involved a great amount of reading guidelines and creating risk assessments, all while dealing with an increased number of funerals and mourners who want to send off their loved ones with a service that has not been possible. Thank you for all that you do
Waste Collection crew
These guys were a relatively new contract when lockdown hit: they were still learning their routes, were supposed to keep away from each other but share a cab on the waste truck, had staff off due to illness and self isolation but still appeared each week with a smile to take the bins. This was the first Ginger I made! I think they do a great job - thank you!
Wraysbury & Horton Voluntary Care has existed in the villages since the early 1990s. Generally it ticks along helping a few people who need meals provided or a lift to the Doctors, but in times of crisis it steps up and supports a large number of the residents. They have been the glue that held our villages together during the pandemic! You may not have needed deliveries of food, or pharmacy orders, may not have needed someone to call you once or twice a week just to hear a friendly voice, may not have been struggling with homeschooling, may not have reached out when the stress of the lockdown got too much, but plenty of people in the two villages have needed these and more, and have received the help they needed.
A huge number of residents volunteers to help with the cooking or delivering of food, shopping for the self isolating, delivering medical supplies and having something to do was, in many cases, what they volunteers need to be able to cope too! Thank you to all the Volunteers and to the WHVC team who organised everything
Wraysbury Primary School: Gingers were normally my idea or someone’s suggestion - this is one of the only “request” gingers, but when Dianne Cranmer messaged me with this request it felt absolutely right.
Towards the end of lowdown, Wraysbury Primary School, along with others up and down the country, opened their doors to the Year 6 children. But do you know that WPS didn’t close! Not for lockdown and not even for Easter holidays. Every weekday the school has been open for the children of Key Workers and other eligible families. From the newsletters shared on FB it is clear the staff scheduled to be at school have taken a huge sideways step from the “old normal days” of teaching - arranging fun activities (for groups with big differences in age and ability) throughout the day while school staff at home have been keeping in regular contact with all “their” families.
So this is a Thank You to all the staff at WPS who have watched the rest of us go into lockdown and hide away while they carried on with what they do best... unquestioningly and unfailing putting the children first!
Thank you from your Chair of Governments, from me at the Ginger Factory, and, I’m sure, from every parent in our villages (I know you don’t wear the uniform T-shirts but it was my best shot at identifying you all
Wraysbury World Tour: This Ginger is to thank Natalie for all the great activities she has organised during lockdown. We had the Great Safari Trail where lots of us put out soft toy animals and information sheets during the first weeks of lockdown for the children who were going on daily walks . She then organised us to put out displays of a country (hence the World Tour) and this was followed by Sammi the caring snake who has (as I write this) well over 600 painted stones to form his tail. Children of all ages have loved these activities: as have a great number of adults. Thank you Natalie
Wraysbury Matters was set up two years ago in order to improve mental health awareness in Wraysbury. The organisers quickly realised that mental health would take a dip for many people having to isolate themselves during lockdown and they wanted people to be aware there was some one they could talk to. They sent out suggestions on how to cope, and how to help others who were not coping well. They put regular positive posts on Facebook and put 'happiness' posters around the village.
They worked with WHVC - the two groups quietly organised letter drops to almost every house in the two villages, manned phone lines, organised and trained volunteers and got on with helping wherever and however they could. Thank you WM team
And we finally reach the end of the alphabet: Z is for zoo keepers! This was requested by several children who were very concerned as to whether the animals were being looked after. We assured them they were, but they might be missing their visitors! The Zoos are also seriously missing the income the visitors bring in: the animals have to eat even if there are no ticket sales. Thank you to all the Zoo staff
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