DOZENS of volunteers who have helped support vulnerable Fareham residents during the coronavirus pandemic have been officially thanked by the council.

Community volunteer group, Acts of Kindness have been running the food bank at a temporary depot at Daedalus, Fareham, delivering food parcels and other essential supplies, making regular phone calls to the lonely and collecting donations, all in a bid to support people during the crisis.

Now, the Mayor of Fareham Cllr Pamela Bryant, and Executive Leader, Cllr Seán Woodward, have started hand-delivering batches of thank you letters to the volunteers to show the borough's appreciation for all their hard work.

The Mayor of Fareham said: "Thank you all very much from the bottom of our hearts for the time that you give up to help some of the disadvantaged people in our Borough. I am sure it is appreciated by all of them. It is amazing to see how much is going on here to help people through this crisis. I am delighted to present Acts of Kindness with a certificate from the Rotary Club of Fareham in recognition of their fantastic efforts during the Lockdown.”

As previously reported, Kerry Snuggs, who set up Acts of Kindness, was also recognised by Boris Johnson, after she received a Points of Light award, and letter for her "exceptional service to the community", which was presented to her by Fareham MP Suella Braverman.

Kerry said: "We have had about 200 volunteers over the past 15 weeks and this is a nice way of recognising them for what they have done to help others. We have helped more than 3,000 people in that time - people who are generally on the poverty line or relying on benefits, they may be on reduced income because of furlough, elderly people who are feeling isolated or people sheltering because of illness.”