A day in the life: Blesma Support Officer Paul Findlay

The support Blesma has been able to offer its Members has changed dramatically because of lockdown.

We’ve not been able to do home visits, but technology has allowed us to engage with Members and connect them to one another. I spent the first few weeks with Outreach Officer Jess Linge trying to phone every Member in our area to identify who was high-risk and who felt vulnerable because of their medical situation, mobility, or lack of a support network. We also looked at how we could get those who didn’t have access to technology connected in line with Blesma’s Digital Inclusion Programme.

"It’s been very sad to hear how lockdown hasn’t changed for some Members. One person told me he has been in training for lockdown for seven years! The only people he speaks to are Blesma, another charity, and a carer who comes once a day."

I’ve heard other stories from Members who are making the most of this time by doing DIY, taking up new hobbies, and volunteering. One Afghanistan veteran has been helping a Widow Member with her weekly food shop. Members are keeping one another’s morale up, and also doing welfare checks on each other too, which is great.

I’m fortunate that I’m fit and don’t need support. I know how difficult it can be for isolated people, so in the evenings and weekends, I’ve been volunteering in my local community. I’ve been helping out with the Essex Welfare Service, delivering food and medicine, and doing home checks. I’ve also volunteered with Op RE:ACT – working closely with the NHS in hospitals, making phones calls, driving, and putting hospital beds together. On top of that, I’m a member of the local Round Table. Twice a week we collect food donations which we give to our local food banks.

I’ve also been working with Health Watch Essex, have become a Trustee for Haig Housing Trust and, with a friend, have set up the COVID-19 response Facebook page for my local area. It’s brought a sense of community spirit.

My military career and Blesma experience have given me the knowledge, ability, and drive to help. In the military you learn how to plan and keep calm in a crisis. Blesma has given me the experience of working with vulnerable people. If you have that ability, why wouldn’t you do something for the good?

The sooner we can get back to visiting Members the better; being able to support Members in their environment is what sets Blesma apart. I know all the Support Officers are itching to get out and see their Members. That’s why we do the job. Blesma has proven it can adapt to crisis and I’m in no doubt that, going forward, we will carve out a way we can support our Members even more effectively than we did before.