Residents in Kingston have set up local Facebook groups to help each other out during the coronavirus outbreak.

A New Malden resident, who only wished to be known as Nicky, told the Local Democracy Reporting Service that she set up a local chat after hearing news reports that more and more people might need to stay at home in the coming weeks.

“Over the weekend watching all the news coverage I started thinking about people in the neighborhood who would potentially need support, in particular it struck me that for some elderly residents (who potentially don’t get out and about as much as the rest of us) sitting at home watching the news would be downright terrifying at the moment,” she said.

“I get scared watching the constant coverage and breaking news updates myself, and I am young and fit. For those over 70, they might be watching all this coverage and be absolutely terrified to go out in case they contract the disease as they are constantly being referred to as high risk groups by the media.

“That is what got me thinking about how we could organise local support – I put a message in the local Facebook group and then saw an article in the Guardian about specific Covid-19 Mutual Aid Groups being set up. I saw there was a Kingston one, but not a New Malden one so I set it up and shared the link and membership has mushroomed to over 400 members.”

The New Malden Covid-19 Mutual Aid group can be found here. 

Norbiton councillor Olly Wehring has set up a similar group on WhatsApp for his constituents.

It will allow residents in Norbiton to offer and ask for help as more people have to stay at home due to coronavirus and can be accessed here