Pictures: Procession in Chard to thank Covid volunteers

There was a procession from the Guildhall in Chard to St Mary’s Church, followed by a reception at the Guildhall where Mayor, Cllr Jason Baker, presented medals.

“It was so nice to see so many people at the service,” he said.

“I remember the evening where it all started when a small group of us met in St Mary's Church to talk about what we could do to help those that would be in need in our town.

“That night we hatched a plan. I thought this would be about 10 or 20 of us answering a phone on a rota and offering advice - how wrong I was.

“The poor mobile phone we had could not keep up with the demand and we soon opened what can only be called a call centre in the guildhall with eight telephone lines.

“I was amazed that when the call for volunteers went out, we had over 300 people giving up their time, answering telephones, delivering medication, delivering food, cooking meals and some becoming phone buddies working five days a week from the Guildhall.”