Staff at the College of West Anglia have rallied around the local communities they serve during the coronavirus pandemic in a wide range of voluntary positions, from healthcare to transport, policing and aiding the search for missing persons.

Many members of staff currently volunteer alongside full-time work within a range of organisations and others have signed-up to help the NHS, picking up prescriptions and shopping, as well as providing key transport to the community.

CWA’s on-site nursery at the King’s Lynn campus, Applewood Nursery, has also remained open for children of keyworkers during the crisis. The nursery is open on Mondays, Wednesday and Fridays, providing a vital service to enable key workers to continue within their essential roles.

Staff from CWA’s Novus Restaurant have also donated boxes of cakes and pastries to Fridham Rest Home and Summerville Care Home, both located in Heacham.

Helen Sims, Programme Manager for Business, Hospitality and Travel & Tourism at the college, said “The staff and residents were over the moon to receive the donations.”

They also plan to deliver dry goods to support local foodbanks in the coming days, who are seeing a decline in donations at this challenging time.

CWA Principal, David Pomfret, said:

“We give thanks to our staff members who are currently working on-site, remotely and within additional volunteer positions at the moment. They are working tirelessly to serve the communities they live and work within in order to protect essential frontline services during the current pandemic. Although we cannot all be together at this time, it is this sense of community that underpins both our college and the wider community at this time.”

Carl Goodson

CWA commercial trainer, Carl Goodson, is working as a special constable with Norfolk police for over thirty years, averaging around twenty hours per week.  

Within his role he has the same powers as a regular constable, from dealing with domestics to RTCs and public disturbances and provides job training to both special constables and regular officers on different types of policing systems. He has been undertaking the job role, while supporting his students at CWA to continue their studies while at home.

He said of the current situation:

“I have been to jobs where the locals have helped the older members of the street to get food and supplies and have made every effort to make the lockdown as easy as possible for the general public. The team look after each other and are constantly talking about best practice in regard to how to stay safe and how best to deal with the demands of a frontline officer, while staying positive.

My wife is a serving police officer based at Hunstanton and we both understand the problems and consequences of our actions both on and off duty, with this in mind we make every day count and make the most of our home life.”

Carl Bramham

CWA Maths lecturer, Carl Bramham, has devoted his evenings and weekends for the last three years, working as a Search Technician for Norfolk Lowland Search and Rescue (NorlSAR). Carl said:

“We search for vulnerable or high-risk missing people, in support of the police.  In particular the people we search for tend to be despondent, suicidal, suffering from dementia or children.  Each type behaves differently and brings about their own challenges.”

Carl undertakes a variety of roles within his position, including navigation in a team, working quickly to get the team he is in to the correct location, and using GPS software as well as communication to help search for a missing person quickly and effectively. He is also responsible for helping to train search dogs and is part of the water team, having been trained to be able to provide flood response efforts. 

During the COVID19 situation, Carl has continued to work to find missing persons:

“We now have amended our systems so we socially distance on our searches – we would normally be a fair way apart on the search anyway, but now we have our briefings spread out and use only our own vehicles to get about. 

If we were to search for someone known or suspected to have COVID-19, rather than administering first aid ourselves we would follow governmental and Public Health England guidance to avoid contamination risks, and guide in the ambulance service to the location instead.

I don’t think work has changed much for us – we always feel like a big team anyway, especially since we come from all over Norfolk!”

Information on how to donate to NorlSAR, can be found at norlsar.org.uk/

Dave Myring

Dave Myring has worked at the college for the last three years, while volunteering for the West Norfolk CFR (Community First Responder) Response group. The group are entirely self-funded and rely on donations. They are trained by the East of England Ambulance Service Trust (EEAST) to attend 999 calls on their behalf.

He said: “We are a diverse group of individuals that have become a close-knit team who devote their spare time to helping the surrounding local communities in times of need.”

Dave’s roles include attending 999 calls, organising training in first aid, administering CPR and teaching others how to utilise community defibrillators. 

“Due to the current pandemic, my role has changed, and our workload has greatly increased. This has put a lot of pressure on the NHS, but it has also united us all in doing our bit for the country, the community and our families. I am currently working on the CFR group and thus, relieving pressure from frontline emergency services by dealing with more incidents where we can. We in the West Norfolk CFR Response Group have all stepped up and given our complete support to our great Health Service and answered their plea with vigour, enthusiasm and a passion to help!”

“CWA has been kind enough to donate some PPE to the group, including nitrile gloves, as we have experience shortages of these essential pieces of equipment to enable us to carry on responding to emergencies within the local community.  I hasten to add that the search for more PPE continues and will be gratefully received!”

He added: “I have seen a rise in “community spirit” from checking on your neighbours to respecting peoples “personal space!”. I have witnessed and participated in the Thursday evening 8pm applause for the NHS. This is a truly wonderful tribute, but I believe this should be extended to ALL key workers!”

Dave is trying to stay positive during the current crisis. He said:

“My family and friends help to keep me positive and my volunteer role keeps my faith in people and what we can achieve as a nation. I also get a personal warmth in the knowing that myself and all the other volunteers involved with the West Norfolk CFR Response Group are, along with many other volunteer groups and individuals, helping in this time of need and are working together to get through this!”

To help West Norfolk CFR Response to keep responding to 999 emergencies, you can donate at westnorfolkcfrresponse.com/