Council thanks Sutton’s Vaccine Volunteers!

Sutton is part of the very successful vaccination campaign in South West London, where over one million vaccinations have been delivered across six boroughs. In Sutton we have vaccinated more than 100,000 of our residents.

At Nonsuch Park, tens of thousands of vaccinations were given to local people, with a further 41,000 AstraZeneca vaccinations prepared there and then delivered at sites across the borough, including in care homes, GP Practices and in the homes of housebound residents.

Two hundred volunteers helped support people visiting the vaccine site and ensured that everybody had their vaccination safely. Their work was coordinated by the Council’s partner, Volunteer Centre Sutton. 

The volunteers made sure that both social distancing and infection control measures were maintained at all times, with minimal waiting time outside or inside the building. 

As Covid vaccinations are available at more and more community locations in Sutton, the Nonsuch Park Vaccination site closed at the end of April. To recognise the closure of the site a virtual event was held recently to say a massive thank you to all the staff and volunteers who had worked there.

Anita Maulin, Chief Executive of Volunteer Centre Sutton, said:

“Volunteer Centre Sutton were so pleased to be able to say a huge ‘Thank You’ to all volunteers and everyone who supported and gave up their valuable time to assist in the vaccination delivery to residents of Sutton.
 
“We had nearly 200 volunteers who together gave 10,524 hours of their time to help people out at Nonsuch Park from December 2020. Volunteers worked through rain, snow and dark nights in the winter to sunny spring days in April. 
 
“Thank you as well to Community leaders in Sutton who all attended and supported the event, taking the opportunity to thank volunteers.
 
“The event was an opportunity for everyone to say hello to each other and thank people virtually - to all the amazing volunteers who helped vaccinate over 26,830 people. Volunteer Centre Sutton hopes these amazing people will stay with us and support other health and Sutton based volunteer activities in the future.”

Councillor Ruth Dombey, Leader of Sutton Council, who spoke at the event, said:

“Our volunteers were absolutely extraordinary and I was honoured to be invited to such a special event to be able to thank them for their efforts.
 
“During the winter months, they were often out in the cold, rain and snow. However, from the experiences they shared, this didn’t seem to affect their commitment to providing such an outstanding service for local people. I know how much it meant to everyone to be greeted with a cheery smile and a helping hand as they received their vaccinations. All the GPs agree they couldn't have done it without them.
 
“All of the staff and the volunteers who worked at the Nonsuch Mansion site were a real credit to the borough and the Volunteer Centre Sutton did a great job coordinating and organising it all. I was delighted to be able to say thank you personally to everyone involved.”

Making sure that Sutton maintains a successful roll-out, vaccinations will continue to be delivered from the Community Vaccination Centre in the St Nicholas Shopping Centre in Sutton Town Centre and from Sutton’s GP surgeries - with plans for local pop-up clinics and pharmacies in May.