When the first coronavirus lockdown began in the UK in March 2020, the charity Shift recruited 50 observers to examine what was going on in their communities. Shift aims to ‘help prevent and reduce social problems through positive behaviour change’, and this initiative was part of its project to build a better society through better relationships.

After 100 days, the enquiries and interviews of the observers were presented in a report that said local government bodies had tried to help vulnerable citizens during the emergency, but much of the immediate response came from informal mutual aid. Combining its findings with a range of other research, it concluded:

This upsurge in local, often informal, community activity was confirmed by the formation of Covid-19 Mutual Aid UK, which runs a website that lists and supports hundreds of autonomous groups formed by people wanting to help their neighbours. The charity Royal Voluntary Service, in partnership with the health service, also recruited 750,000 ‘NHS Volunteer Responders’ in only four days: they use a mobile phone app to connect them with people who need medical supplies, transport to hospital or someone to ‘check in and chat’ with them.

Some of the COVID-19 mutual aid groups sought help and advice from established local voluntary sector support and development charities, often called councils for voluntary service (CVS), according to Navca, the umbrella body for CVSs. “Our members have good relations with mutual aid groups,” says Clare Mills, head of communications at Navca. “Some groups are very ad hoc – just two or three streets coming together to meet a need. Some will be more long-lasting, and our members can help them form legally constituted groups.”