Bampton Aid Network BAN
On 10ᵗʰ March 2020, a fortnight before the first COVID lockdown, Jess Egerton, a Bampton
resident, emailed Trevor Milne-Day, Chair of The Society for the Protection of Bampton, “We
should make up a bunch of volunteers who would do shopping, run errands, or pick up
prescriptions”. Within a week the infrastructure was in place with a cohort of 60+ helpers, a
mobile phone with a dedicated number, and protocols drafted. All those things and more began
to be performed by the willing team.
Piers Foster created a website over a week-end with links to government and medical advice,
details of services BAN offer, and local shops and services that are open for business.
Two other residents, Annie and Robin Jenkin, formed a brigade of home-cookers to provide
free meals to all in need of a lift, no matter what age.
Volunteer dog-walkers and people with the time to chat (a service called TalktoBAN) stood
ready to help and soon Adam Lethbridge and Sue Greenwood gathered together and edited the
first of an intended weekly newsletter “Lockdown Lowdown” to more than 1,500 people.
If you lived in Bampton and needed help then you were invited to call 07946 192638 or go to
www.bampton-network.co.uk (website and number no longer active)
The support group was “put into hibernation” on Friday 18ᵗʰ September 2020, with the home-
cooked meals service continuing. BAN was temporarily resurrected with the second national
lockdown on 5ᵗʰ November 2020. By the end well over 700 jobs had been undertaken.
Thanks to the kind generosity of Ben and Manja Uglow a drinks party for all the volunteers
was held on Friday 23ʳᵈ July 2021 to say thank-you and celebrate the substantial lifting of all
restrictions.
Out of the cohort of volunteers was formed a separate group who assisted the Surgery at the
mass vaccinations which started in January 2021 when the Pfizer/BioNTech and AstraZeneca
vaccines became available. These vaccinations have continued to Spring 2023.
TMD 30/07/23