Air Cadets Help Prepare Food Parcels For Vulnerable People Amid Lockdown

Two air cadets are helping to put together emergency food parcels for vulnerable people amid the coronavirus crisis.

Cadets Sam and Neave from 2070 Glenfield Squadron have been volunteering at a community hub in Leicester since the start of the lockdown.

Items in the parcels they are making include food, household products and medical prescriptions.

For Neave, it all started after she saw how a community come together to help her grandparents.

"My grandparents, they live like half an hour away, and they had a lot of people helping them," she said.

"I kind of just thought: 'Well, what if they weren't there? What would I want their community to help with? What would I want their community to do?'

"If I want that for them, then why can't the people in my own village have that?

"I just wanted to help out a bit."

Sam, who was supposed to be sitting his GCSE exams, told Forces News: "I wanted to get involved because I wanted to help out the more vulnerable people who can't help themselves out at the moment."

Once food is donated to the centre, the two air cadets are in charge of disinfecting the parcel before it can be packaged up and sent out for delivery.

The centre has also had other volunteers, including military veterans. 

Chris Boothby, who helped set up the hub, said: "People are scared. They were scared of the coronavirus, they were scared to go out, they were scared of catching it. 

"They didn't understand, especially the elderly, about social distancing.

"What we've found, especially the elderly, they haven't seen anything like this since the Blitz.

"We've had people, when we've delivered food parcels to them, that have come back on the phone after 10 minutes and they are literally crying down the phone because they're so thankful."

The system is set up to ensure local residents get the supplies they need.

Via phone calls, the volunteers at the centre can gather all of the information and dietary requirements of a household.

The centre says it will continue to run as long as it is needed throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.