Mutual aid groups are picking up the slack on the U.K.’s coronavirus response.
on March 24, volunteers had already printed and distributed leaflets describing all the types of community-led help on offer, and were picking up requests through phone lines they had set up for those requiring aid. Grocery shopping, dog walking, online pub quizzes, and Zoom exercise classes are just a few of the free services and activities that some have been keen to provide—but others have introduced more unorthodox initiatives through their involvement in mutual aid groups.
The swift growth of mutual aid has also inspired the government itself to harness the strength of communal spirit. More than a week after the first mutual aid network in Lewisham was born, Health and Social Care Secretary Matt Hancock launched an appeal under the slogan “,” exhorting everyone with the means and ability to join a “volunteer army” of up to 250,000. This scheme, Hancock emphasized, is not meant to replace mutual aid or other similar groups.
More than 500,000 people—double the initial figure suggested—enlisted themselves within this volunteer force in just 24 hours. This is perhaps testament to the fact that the single-payer, socialized NHS remains the U.K.’s
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