MORE than 700 people signed up to Bolton’s urgent response volunteer scheme to help communities combat the coronavirus crisis earlier this year.

In addition to this, more than 2,000 people from the borough became NHS volunteer responders, a national scheme offering help to people in need of support or who are avoiding public places during the COVID-19 pandemic.

All of this is on top of the 40,000 regular volunteers already in Bolton.

The figures were revealed by Darren Knight, chief executive officer of Bolton Community and Voluntary Services (CVS), at the first meeting of the borough’s Active, Connected and Prosperous Board on Tuesday morning.

He said: “When you add that to the contribution of local businesses who have provided equipment to help with the humanitarian response, as well as donating goods and money to support the borough’s wider efforts, and all the work in the public sector, you can begin to see social value in action in Bolton.”

Mr Knight also revealed that 59 groups and organisations in Bolton received nearly £50,000 in grants from the COVID-19 resilience fund set up in April.

This includes a sewing group who used the money to purchase materials to make scrubs for NHS staff and care workers.

Caritas Diocese of Salford also applied for funding to purchase toys for vulnerable and isolated children.

And the Friends of Moorgate Primary School provided “hugs in a box” which were care packages for local elderly and vulnerable people, with the funding.

Mr Knight explained: “In response to COVID we established very, very rapidly a COVID-19 resilience fund, set up in early April 2020, to support voluntary and community groups and organisations to be able to work remotely and reach the most vulnerable, particularly at the height of the pandemic.

“With regards to the resilience fund, there were actually 86 applications to the fund and a success rate of 69 per cent so we managed to invest £49,943, specifically supporting 59 groups and organisations.

“But what’s important is that when we invest in the voluntary sector, a little goes a long way, so that enabled 856 volunteers to be mobilised through that investment and contributed over 50,000 volunteering hours from those organisations.

“When we invest in our voluntary and community sector, we get a lot of social value.”

The money is part of the newly-create Bolton’s Fund which has committed around £270,000 for children-specific grants distributed at Christmas, cohesion work to bring communities together and COVID resilience grants.

Bolton NHS clinical commissioning group has also committed to adding to the fund on a recurrent basis and has allocated £200,000 as its investment.