A coronavirus support group whose food parcel operation had outgrown a front room has now moved into the vacant hall above St Denys Boat Club, making a “huge difference” to how it operates. And the Boat Club itself has recently reopened after its last closure – during World War II.

 

The hall is usually hired out by the club for everything from martial arts to yoga and dancing.

But because of the pandemic, renters running groups had been released from their contracts and it wasn’t being used.

Meanwhile the Southampton Coronavirus Mutual Aid Group (SCMAG), which organises and distributes food parcels for people who are vulnerable, elderly, and those isolating or shielding, had outgrown someone’s front room that had been its base.

“One of the boat club members knew someone who was [involved with the group] and suggested they contact us and we said yes, you’re welcome to have the upstairs hall at no cost until the world rights itself and you’re no longer needed and people can do yoga inside again,” explained St Denys Boat Club captain James Wardle.

“They create food parcels each week and they get distributed to people who need them around the city. And that’s all based on donations... And they were running out of someone’s front room, which must have been quite cramped, because... there’s an awful lot of food and they’re putting together a lot of food parcels every week.”

Ben Parkin, one of SCMAG’s organisers, said that the current scale of its operations far exceeds original expectations.

‘The emergency foodbank was operating out of someone’s front room'

It now has around 600 active volunteers, the Facebook group has 6,500 members, and every household in the city was leafleted with the helpline number “quite near the beginning”.

“Since then we’ve been very busy,” he said.

“We set it up thinking, oh well maybe we’ll help 100 people who were shielding, and I think at one point we were getting 120 phone calls a day looking for help.”

“The emergency foodbank was operating out of someone’s front room, and it was doing about fifty food parcels a week. And they were becoming overwhelmed – understandably because that’s a huge commitment – and we talked to the Boat Club and they, incredibly generously, offered us their upstairs room. “

He said the extra space away from anyone’s home has made a big difference.

“It has enabled the people who have been volunteering doing the foodbank to have a bit of separation from it. It has enabled us to take larger deliveries of food from Fairshare [which collects surplus food from supermarkets and distributes it to foodbanks], and that means we’ve got more food to distribute.

“So our food parcels are quite substantial because we’ve got a lot of space to store, and now we’ve got space to prepare them and not have them sitting outside someone’s door between being packed and being picked up.”

While SCMAG gets some food from Fairshare, the vast majority comes from contributions from around the city, donated to a co-ordinator in each ward. But while donations are welcome they shouldn’t be dropped off at the Boat Club itself: see the end of the piece for more information about volunteering, donating and contacting the group.

Social distancing in place

Downstairs, St Denys Boat Club itself recently reopened “in a slightly different fashion”, with social distancing measures in place.

‘We’re spending a ridiculous amount on cleaning...'

“You’ve got a time slot to come and launch so you don’t meet anyone else,” said James Wardle.

“And we’re spending a ridiculous amount on cleaning at the moment: we have the entire boat house chemically fogged twice a week [that disinfects all of the boats] which is basically the same cleaning regime they use for intensive care wards. So hopefully we’re doing what we can to operate safely.”

Library shot before social distancing

But the club itself has taken “two big hits”, losing around £6,000 on rentals of the hall, and suffering a fall in memberships because it had to close during the lockdown. Reminders went out on March 24, but not everyone was willing or able to renew - especially without knowing when it could reopen.

“So we basically said in the email, ‘Hey guys, we’re shut for the foreseeable future: would you mind renewing your membership’. We lost about half of our membership this year.

“But it’s creeping back up. People are realising that we’re open; realising they’re not going to be going on a summer holiday and they’re looking for something to do.”

‘We’re very positive about the future, both on the water and the events. We’re just temporarily adapting to the times...’

“Over the last two weeks since we’ve been open we’ve had over 300 bookings and over 1,000 people out on the water, which is about as many as we can manage with social distancing. That’s people getting out from six in the morning to about nine at night.”

For the future James is optimistic. He said all their ‘tenants’ who rent hall space are continuing their businesses mainly by going online, “and I’m sure once things return to some semblance of normality they’ll all come back and it will all go well. So we’re very positive about the future, both on the water and the events. We’re just temporarily adapting to the times."

The only time the club had closed before the lockdown was apparently during the Second World War when the upstairs hall was let to the Home Guard to store the possessions of people who had been bombed out.

“It’s not quite as severe as last time round, but it’s certainly the first time we’ve had to shut since then,” said James.

• To get involved with Southampton Coronavirus Mutual Aid Group you can join their Facebook group, and from there join one of its WhatsApp groups.

If you need help you can phone the helpline on 07923 353 365 between 8am and 8pm.

If you wish to donate food you can message the group via Facebook. They also hold regular food drives usually at the Quaker Hall, off London Road. Alternatively there is a donations box outside St Denys Church in the porch.

St Denys Boat Club is at www.stdenysboats.co.uk