VOLUNTEERS are making a difference and helping people in Ludlow and south Shropshire to get vaccinated.

They have been helping medical teams at vaccination centres in Ludlow at the Mascall Centre, at Ludlow racecourse and also in Church Stretton, where there is a vaccination hub.

Angie Walshaw, 57, lives a stone’s throw away from Church Stretton Medical Practice, which is one of several GP-led vaccination hubs across the county.

She is no stranger to volunteering, even running a local meals-on-wheels service for residents on Christmas Day.

“I have been volunteering throughout the pandemic, I volunteer with the Mayfair Centre next door and have been doing a meals-on-wheels service for residents who need it,” she said.

“I am here as a marshal. The overriding aim to get as many people vaccinated as soon as possible, and I am just happy to play my part here in Church Stretton.

“When I turned up for my first shift, I was immediately impressed by the whole set up and there is a real sense of team spirit.”

There are a wide range of jobs being done by the volunteers.

This includes marshalling and making sure that the process runs as a well-oiled machine.

Some people have also volunteered to be trained to give the jab.

In Ludlow, Portcullis Surgery has been enlisting the support of volunteers to help to speed up the process.

Now most of the people over the age of 70, most front line health care workers and care home residents and staff have been vaccinated, the cohort of people that are especially at risk for health reasons are getting their first inoculation.

After that it will be those between 65 and 69 years and then the over 60’s.

The Government has said that it hopes that everyone over the age of 18 that wants a vaccine will have had one before the autumn.

It is possible that a booster will eventually be needed as the virus changes.