PEOPLE are finding their own ways of coping with the coronavirus outbreak as Dianne Lyle, one of the team leaders at ‘Pulling Together Ludlow’ has been discovering.

She takes all kinds of calls in her role with the community group.

“Most of the calls are routine, if anything can be considered that, in these crazy times – but some can be inspirational,” said Ms Lyle.

“One of my team took a call from a lady in her 80s who keeps going by ‘dressing-up’ each morning as if she were going out, wearing a different outfit each day – which includes earrings!

“Another young mum called to tell us she had stopped to offer to help an elderly man she didn’t know get his shopping home – and she’s carried on doing his shopping regularly even though she didn’t know him previously.

“I volunteered for Pulling Together Ludlow because it offered an immediate opportunity to do something proactive and positive and on-the-ground for people who live in and around Ludlow; many of whom had already been pole-axed by the floods which hit the town in February.”

The Ludlow town councillor and organiser of the Repair Cafes said that it was a way of giving something back to the town.

“It welcomed me when I moved here 10 years ago and being part of Pulling Together is a way of recognising that welcome and giving something back,” added Ms Lyle.

“And that ‘welcome’ is part of what the call handlers on my team (indeed, on every team) offer.

“A friendly voice at the end the phone and, to quote Barrack Obama, a ‘yes we can’ response. And if we can’t offer an immediate ‘yes we can’ that’s where the Team Leaders step in.”

Ms Lyle said that being part of the team also gives a lot to the volunteers.

“I think we get as much out of taking the calls as do those who call us and will certainly take more care how I dress each morning and there will be earrings, although perhaps not every day,” she added.