I see the NHS are appealing for volunteers, noting that some roles involve transportation of shopping and prescriptions to people who are self-isolating as well as equipment between hospital sites.
In principal I like this idea and would like to help, but also have a lot of doubts / reservations. I can't really afford to keep chucking fuel in the car but wondered if this could be a great way for the cycling community to help out (and get an excuse to be out on the bike all day!).. that said the amount I can carry is limited to a 40-50L rucksack and I'm afraid that my limitations might make it all a bit of a waste of time compared to someone who can just fill their car up with 5 sets of shopping for different people and get done in one hour-long trip what it might 5 trips and a lot more time on the bike. Likewise with equipment - no good turning up on the bike with a rucksack only to discover you can't carry what's required.
I also have a high risk family member that I should of course prioritise over anyone else (and have fairly mild asthma myself), and wonder if it's unfair on them to expose myself to more risk in the form of multiple shop trips etc (although I could isolate from them)..
Finally I also don't have a smart phone (and my bike GPS requires plugging in and lots of buggering about to plot a route) so this might cause me to come unstuck.
The last thing I want to do is waste the NHS' precious time by pressing them for answers then bailing because I don't think I'm up to it, or worse committing to something I'm unable to actually achieve. Does anyone have any experience of this sort of work and could offer some guidance as to what's involved / what's expected of you / the time you're expected to contibute / urgency of deliveries etc..?
I have a romanticised idea of poncing round the city on the bike all day helping the needy, but am aware that the reality might be far from this ideal..
In principal I like this idea and would like to help, but also have a lot of doubts / reservations. I can't really afford to keep chucking fuel in the car but wondered if this could be a great way for the cycling community to help out (and get an excuse to be out on the bike all day!).. that said the amount I can carry is limited to a 40-50L rucksack and I'm afraid that my limitations might make it all a bit of a waste of time compared to someone who can just fill their car up with 5 sets of shopping for different people and get done in one hour-long trip what it might 5 trips and a lot more time on the bike. Likewise with equipment - no good turning up on the bike with a rucksack only to discover you can't carry what's required.
I also have a high risk family member that I should of course prioritise over anyone else (and have fairly mild asthma myself), and wonder if it's unfair on them to expose myself to more risk in the form of multiple shop trips etc (although I could isolate from them)..
Finally I also don't have a smart phone (and my bike GPS requires plugging in and lots of buggering about to plot a route) so this might cause me to come unstuck.
The last thing I want to do is waste the NHS' precious time by pressing them for answers then bailing because I don't think I'm up to it, or worse committing to something I'm unable to actually achieve. Does anyone have any experience of this sort of work and could offer some guidance as to what's involved / what's expected of you / the time you're expected to contibute / urgency of deliveries etc..?
I have a romanticised idea of poncing round the city on the bike all day helping the needy, but am aware that the reality might be far from this ideal..
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