Following the confinement rules established in Osmangazi, Turkey, people above 65 years and below 20 years old are prohibited to go out, apart from emergencies. To provide people at home with food and other essential items, the municipality offers a delivery service. More than 30,000 families have ordered goods via email or telephone, while the … Continue reading Osmangazi – Food distribution
The city council, third sector organisation EVOC and the volunteering community have come together to provide vulnerable groups food in these difficult circumstances. 3000 areas are targeted at first and further actions will adapt to the citizens’ demand. Volunteers will receive training and schools are acting as logistic centers. Read more here
Budapest’s chimney sweepers are carrying out social duties since the suspension of chimney checks due to the pandemic. Chimney sweepers are delivering food and medicine for vulnerable and elderly residents. More information here.
Nice is extending the childcare which it has been providing for health workers and other providers of necessary services to include the children of those involved in the food industry. The city already organises daycare for the children of many types essential personnel whom the national education system does not provide any service for. Read … Continue reading Nice – Childcare for food workers
The municipal markets will start to sell vouchers to give the consumers the opportunity to support the action made by district associations to provide food to those in need. The Economy, Innovation and Employment Area has doubled the amount of subsidies for the expansion of municipal markets, as well as their digitalization, which has been … Continue reading Madrid – Vouchers to support food solidarity
The Madrid City Council has established public-private partnerships to provide families in need with prepaid cards to buy food and basic necessities in the corona crisis. CaixaBank, through its Social Action and in collaboration with Obra Social La Caixa, has made a grant of €200,000 available to the City Council to assist 2,000 families in … Continue reading Madrid – Prepaid food cards for families
The city of Osmangazi provides nutrition for stray animals in the city. While street cats in Turkey usually are fed and caressed by the people, this is possible only to a limited extend in the corona lockdown. Therefore the municipality deposits animal food at designated areas and collects sick and needy animals for further treatment.
The City of Leipzig has expanded its facilities for homeless people. Emergency shelters are now open day and night and provide free breakfast, lunch and supper. A new facility with 50 extra places has been set up to answer to the growing demand due to the current exit restrictions. Read more here
“10,000 bed spaces to 730 unique individuals over the last 200 nights” is the outcome reached together by Edinburgh’s city council and Bethany Christian Trust. The volunteers and the Council staff receive now help from the Old Waverley Hotel, where they can have temporary accomodation while receiving support and advices. The hotel is also offering … Continue reading Edinburgh – Triple shelter partnership
Homeless people in Leipzig are not any more able to sell street newspapers or to collect bottles. Public toilets and lavatories are closed. To help them, an initiative of Leipzig`s citizens has established a ‘Garden fence for homeless people’ where food, used clothes and sanitary products can be donated. Instructions for using are visible for … Continue reading Leipzig – Garden fence with homeless donations
In the Turkish city of Pendik, the municipal police goes shopping for people aged 65 and older who have to stay at home due to the coronavirus. Residents can ring the police and the goods will be delivered to their homes. The service is also available for people with disabilities and chronic diseases, and people … Continue reading Pendik – Police goes shopping for the elderly
Bordeaux is expanding the range of support it offers to the elderly. New measures include: The Senior Citizen Independence Service (0800 62 58 85) remains open every day to support over 1000 isolated people. The meal delivery service for the most vulnerable senior citizens has been expanded (1,800 meals delivered to people’s homes by the council every day, compared … Continue reading Bordeaux – Support to the elderly
‘Helping you at home’ is an initiative involving most of the personnel of the social services, targeting the most vulnerable groups to provide them with groceries, medication and material help. The project has three pillars: the helpline, the research unit and the field group. They all work together to assess the applicants’ situations and provide … Continue reading Athens – ‘Helping you at home’
Homeless people are housed in different locations in the French city of Nice, from night shelters and schools to hotels and youth hostels. In all places, meals are offered. The central kitchen of the city of Nice provides meals for people staying in hotels. Between 1,000 and 1,400 meals or picnics are distributed per day. … Continue reading Nice – Over thousand meals a day for the homeless
Düsseldorf is providing food packages and is arranging more shelters in the city. As of Monday, the municipal canteen at will serve as a distribution point for the Streetwork association. Düsseldorf catering establishments will take care of the delivery of groceries. The party service Fröhlich will supply the day care centers and some emergency accommodation … Continue reading Dusseldorf – More homeless shelters
Municipal kitchens prepare meals for people who cannot go shopping : elderly, isolated, disabled, or single women with dependent children. These meals are delivered by employees of the city of Pau, usually working in municipal departments which are now closed, as swimming pools. The city has also opened a telephone hotline for psychological support where … Continue reading Pau – Home-meal service by the municipality
Students of Tallinn’s schools will be able to continue to get a daily free school lunch under a special arrangement approved by the city’s authorities. Normally, school lunch is free in Tallinn for the students, but due to the emergency situation all schools are closed in Estonia. As for some children the school lunch is … Continue reading Tallinn – School lunch continues
Bordeaux is supporting the most vulnerable in several ways, including telephone support and emergency in-person support at designated locations, including food distribution. The usual support networks are facing major challenges. Volunteers are often older people, who can no longer volunteer due to safety concerns, while the lockdown restrictions make distribution very complex. In addition, unsold … Continue reading Bordeaux – Support for the most vulnerable
Zagreb is opening several new public kitchens to help the poorest members of society to enjoy a hot meal. This is a collaboration between the City of Zagreb Office for Social Welfare and People with Disabilities and the institution Good Home, which caters for the poorest citizens. It is also occurring in cooperation with the … Continue reading Zagreb – Public kitchens
The Zaragoza City Council has converted the ‘Tenerías sports municipal centre’ into a big dormitory for the homeless. This is in addition to 98 places already offered at the ‘Albergue municipal’. The services provided will include health assistance, three meals a day, and social services support in cooperation with the municipal social services. Read more … Continue reading Zaragoza – 198 beds for the homeless
The mayor of Sofia, Yordanka Fandakova, has acknowledged the help received from people and institutions during the corona lockdown. She mentions that a total of €211,000 has been donated in the form of food, medicine, protective masks and clothing, medical equipment and disinfectants. More than 140 people in Sofia have received warm food daily. Furthermore, … Continue reading Sofia – Thank you to volunteers and donors
Beşiktaş has joined ‘blessing box’ programme that can turn online shopping into donations. The programme allows residents to demonstrate solidarity while shopping online by creating a shopping basket to be sent to their neighbours in need, which the municipality then delivers. It is possible to donate all kinds of products, such as foods, hygiene products, … Continue reading Beşiktaş – Online solidarity
Munich’s social department is subsidising food tables with a total of over 30 dispensaries for food and hot meals. The Münchner Tafel is open Monday to Saturday from 1.30 p.m. to 4.30 p.m. on the grounds of the Grossmarkthalle (West Gate). The social department is working on maintaining the social infrastructure together with the agencies … Continue reading Munich – Care for the vulnerable
Volunteers across Cardiff are being celebrated this week, including the 1,200 strong Together for Cardiff force which was set up by the city council at the onset of the COVID-19 emergency. Working with council staff, the volunteers helped preparing and delivering more than 5,000 emergency food and essentials parcels for people experiencing difficulties getting supplies … Continue reading Cardiff – Time to say thanks to volunteers
Munich is providing accommodation for homeless people who, because of their age or the existence of a previous condition, are particularly vulnerable to the coronavirus. Its social services department has also set up quarantine accommodation that houses households that have been quarantined. A separate quarantine object for vulnerable target groups (women at risk of domestic … Continue reading Munich – Homeless services
Beşiktaş Municipality has created an online service providing psychological, nutritional and physiotherapy services, as well as family counselling to all residents who have to stay at home. Read more about this service (in Turkish) here. Support from the municipality is also physical. Beşiktaş, besides its own extensive disinfection procedure, is handing out bags full of … Continue reading Beşiktaş – Aid to residents
The municipality of Milan has set up an operational base to organise the transport of goods (food, medicines or other basic necessities) and provide other support services for the over 65, as well as other people who have other chronic conditions or are immunocompromised that have been ordered to stay at home. A parallel action … Continue reading Milan – Creating a coordination centre for all over 65s services
Normally, families in Nantes pay between 0,84 and 4,62 € per day for the school canteen. Catering at home may cost more when the school canteens are closed during the COVID crisis. 7,459 families with low income will, in two weeks, receive €100 per child from Nantes’ Welfare Centre. Read more (in French) here.
The city of Helsinki has teamed up with local parishes and charity organisations for reaching out to the self-isolating elderly population. In the ‘Helsinki Helpline’ campaign, volunteers are calling the elderly by phone to ask if they need help – or just want to talk about how they are coping with the coronavirus lockdown. The … Continue reading Helsinki – Calling everyone over 80
Munich is working with its social department and municipal libraries to deliver a shopping service for older residents and those with disabilities. The association “Münchner Freiwillige”, which is sponsored by the social department, also helps with shopping, as well as everyday challenges, such as caring for pets (going for a walk, etc.). Read more (in … Continue reading Munich – Care for the elderly
During the corona containment period, the communal centre for social action (CCAS) in Angers has been offering a home shopping service to help the most vulnerable people, such as the elderly or those with low incomes. The service is available for every household in need once or twice a week, and is carried out not … Continue reading Angers – Traffic wardens go shopping for the elderly
The district municipality in Sultanbeyli, Istanbul, is feeding stray animals during the corona lockdown. While shops are closed, the local veterinary service units leave animal food at central places. In Istanbul, there are thought to be 130,000 dogs and 125,000 cats roaming free. Other measures of the municipality aim to prevent the spread of the … Continue reading Istanbul – Feeding stray cats and dogs
In the Turkish city of Kadikoy, people in need get morale support and healthy food during the corona crisis through the initiative ‘You stay safe’. Meals are prepared by the popular nutrition expert Dilara Koçak and cooked by famous chefs, with ingredients sponsored by restaurants and companies. The municipality delivers the meals. “Balanced nutrition, drinking … Continue reading Kadikoy – Healthy meals from famous chefs
The Mayor of Sofia, Yordanka Fandakova (in the picture with volunteers), has called on the Bulgarian capital’s citizens to volunteer time and energy to help those at risk – the elderly, people with long-term health problems, socially isolated. For a week, over 100 residents joined as volunteers, serving over 3,000 citizens who need assistance with … Continue reading Sofia – Volunteer Platform
The city has concentrated efforts to help the most vulnerable and to reach out to people at risk of domestic violence.
Health workers, bus drivers, volunteers for social services and others working in relevant functional areas in Dusseldorf can get free use of public transport and taxis as well as permission to buy bigger amounts of foods and goods than stated in the regulations against panic buying. The city is handing out badges to those people, … Continue reading Dusseldorf – Priority badge for nurses
Volunteers in the city of Poznan, Poland, go shopping for the elderly who have to stay at home during the COVID-19 confinement. Seniors over 60 years old who live alone and people with disabilities can get food, hygiene products and medicines through this service. The city has also established the ‘kindness line’ where elderly citizens … Continue reading Poznan – Shopping for seniors
Zaragoza City Council’s new digital platform aims to organise all the citizen solidarity actions in one place and connect people in need of help with those offering their help. Initiatives are focussed on how to help the most vulnerable citizens in their daily lives, such as going to the food store, calling elderly people living … Continue reading Zaragoza – Citizen solidarity platform
Together with the Leeds Street Support Delivery Team and partners out on the streets in the day and night, outreach work is continuing across the city directly engaging with those in need. The city council is continuing to offer people that are sleeping rough or homeless a variety of help which includes access to permanent … Continue reading Leeds – Support for rough sleepers and homeless
Florence is using a digital approach to adjusting to the covid landscape. The city has organised the following initiatives: Web Portal for the promotion of open and home delivery shops – http://www.lebotteghedifirenze.it – more than 500 shops registered since lockdown Asking for an economic contribution in tickets to buy food for people having businesses affected … Continue reading Florence – Digital solutions
Bristol is repurposing the campaign #WeAreBristol, launched in 2019 to challenge people to overcome their differences and focus on what they have in common. Now, during and after the Covid-19 crisis, the campaign is being used and expanded to increase community collaboration and resilience. This includes the setting up the ‘We are Bristol’ Coronavirus hotline … Continue reading Bristol – Campaign to support community
With music in the streets, the municipality of Kartal, a district of Istanbul, entertains and supports people at home during the corona crisis. A marching band played a series of concerts in ten neighbourhoods and was greeted with flags and applause. The municipality also developed a video programme for kindergarten kids. You can read more … Continue reading Kartal / Istanbul – Marching band for the morale
Istanbul Metropolitan Municipality has created a summary of the policy responses to the corona pandemic and the plans for recovery. You can download the document here. More information (in Turkish) is available here
The city of Nicosia, Cyprus, has compiled a summary of the municipality’s measures in the corona crisis, from confinement regulations over ‘solidarity baskets’ for the elderly to creative activities for kids, painting their vision of ‘Nicosia 2030’ while at home. The document also provides contact names for further information. You can download it here
To protect the vulnerable group of homeless people in the corona pandemic, Athens has created a shelter with more than 400 beds. The three-buildings complex of seven floors was opened in April and is run by the City of Athens’ Reception and Solidarity Center. It offers accommodation in dormitories as immediate help and apartments for … Continue reading Athens – Shelter for 400 homeless
In order to further relieve clinics, ensure good medical care and improve the situation of isolated patients, the city of Stuttgart is creating over 300 places for accommodation and care as a precautionary measure. The rented buildings are spread over several city districts and are operated by various emergency services on behalf of the city. … Continue reading Stuttgart – Shelter for quarantine patients
