Grange-over-Sands vaccine volunteer 'doing his bit' for Covid fight

Rob Martin volunteered in honour of friends who died as a result of "this horrible disease"

A volunteer vaccine steward has paid tribute to others like him "just doing their bit" to help fight Covid.

Rob Martin began giving his time at a health centre in Grange-over-Sands, Cumbria, in January.

He said he wanted to do something to fight this "horrible disease" after watching his wife go to work in the surgery "day after day" last year.

Mr Martin, 62, described the operation as "like Dad's Army" with volunteers "making it up as we went along".

Snow cakes

The retired hotel worker told BBC Radio 4's Today programme how farmers came to supervise the car park, a local shop and girl's football team donated high-visibility jackets and the area's MP Tim Farron sourced cones to mark out parking bays.

"That doesn't sound a lot but there are no lines on the car park so we could use the cones to keep the cars in rows which made our life a lot easier," Mr Martin said.

About 80 people from charities, churches and rotary clubs have volunteered at the centre since the vaccination roll-out with a core of about 30 regulars, he said.

The volunteers have been described as "like Dad's Army"

People would shout out thanks from their cars, while a donation of cakes brought a tear to Mr Martin's eye.

"It was a snowy, cold, dark day and the volunteers saw this elderly gentleman coming over," he said.

"He had brought a tub of cakes his wife had made as a special treat for him.

"They lived overlooking the car park and they could see the volunteers through the snow and she sent him out to bring us the cakes."

'Honouring friends'

Mr Martin, who retired weeks before the first lockdown, started volunteering because of his wife, who works as a receptionist at the surgery,

"All the way through 2020 she would go each day to the surgery," he said.

"The only way I could fight the pandemic was to sit at home, decorate and tidy up.

"When the chance came to do something to fight, I just knew I had to do it.

"I had sat there watching her go day after day, it was my turn to try and help."

Mr Martin said he had lost 10 friends to Covid-19, adding: "I'm doing it to honour them and to make sure none of my other friends die from this horrible disease.

"It's only a little thing I am doing but it's all I can.

"The community came together and we got the job done without any resources, relying on the people to help us.

"We did it and that's the good thing because after each shift, we had done another 1,200 people."