Following Government guidelines around COVID-19, the centre closed its doors on the 21st of March. However even though the building was closed, the Trust and its organisations have been working hard behind the scenes to support the local community during this immensely challenging time.
Here are just some of the things the Selby Centre have been doing over the last few months:
Provided varied COVID-19 related support to the 38 licensees including help with bids, funding applications and risk assessments.
Encouraged furloughed staff to take part in volunteering and provided skills development opportunities.
Adapted to remote working arrangements for all staff to ensure that they can continue to provide vital services to the community.
Throughout this period, the centre has also supported the hardest hit in Tottenham through the Selby Food Hub. Coronavirus has had a huge impact on vulnerable people and to help, in line with social distancing and government guidelines, the Selby Food Hub has been providing local people with food, sanitary items, cleaning products and baby items throughout the pandemic.
Here are some of the achievements of the Food Hub so far:
Distributed over 7,000 food packages with each parcel feeding 1-2 people for 3 days.
Provided volunteering opportunities to 17 motivated individuals.
Raised over £32,000 through the community lottery fund, London Futures fund, crowdfunding and corporate donations.
Lastly, the Selby Trust have been working closely with the NHS to provide space at the centre to carry out vital health services in the community in response to the pandemic with blood testing taking place in the large meeting room. In such challenging times, the importance of the Selby Centre within the community has been magnified and to find out more about what they have been up to, please visit the Selby Trust website.