County Durham villages have been supported through the coronavirus pandemic with the help of local community groups.

East Durham Rural Corridor Area Action Partnership (AAP) was given money as part of Durham County Council’s £1.4m coronavirus support fund to award to organisations that have been helping others during the pandemic.

It awarded almost £5,000 to the Bowburn Youth Project to help it support the most vulnerable in the community or those self-isolating.

The money allowed volunteers to provide food parcels, take-away food and a meals on wheel service, supporting families who were unemployed, elderly or experiencing hardship because of the pandemic.

Volunteers also collected shopping and prescriptions for residents in need and offered friendly phone calls to ensure members of their community didn’t feel isolated or lonely.

Most of the funding was spent on food for families, with the rest going towards utensils, food cartons and PPE for volunteers. Meanwhile, extra money was offered from local members – Cllrs Jan Blakey, Stuart Dunn and Maura McKeon through their Neighbourhood Budgets, to support food provisions for the community.

Another group to receive funding from the East Durham Rural Corridor AAP was Trimdon

Community College Association which was awarded almost £3,000 to support local residents with food parcels and craft and baking packs.

This project worked closely with the Trimdon Foodbank during the pandemic to provide access to basic fresh foods, such as eggs, milk and bread to residents and to supplement the emergency parcels supplied through the foodbank.

 Volunteers also created one-off emergency parcels which featured cleaning materials and toiletries for those who needed temporary support, as well as specific items such as baby food or gluten free products to families in crisis.

Hot lunches were then supplied to those who were alone, older, vulnerable or socially isolating for 12 weeks, thanks to volunteers working alongside their local pub.

The second part of the project supported families who were either home schooling or entertaining children at home through the crisis, with basic craft and baking packs offered and more specific support to those who needed it, for example with books and study materials provided to older children in need.

Cllr Brian Stephens, Cabinet member for neighbourhoods and local partnerships, said: “The support of local groups such as Bowburn Youth Project and Trimdon Community College Association has made a tremendous difference to so many of our vulnerable residents and they really are a credit to the county. Although it has been a difficult year so far for everybody, it has been wonderful to see communities come together to support each other through those difficult times. Hopefully that is something we can continue to develop as restrictions begin to ease and we adjust to a new normal.”