A football club in Staffordshire has offered its team bus to help members of the community amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Uttoxeter Town, along with providers Angus MacKinnon, has been helping deliver medicines and provide welfare checks to vulnerable locals who are isolating because of Covid-19.
The club’s football season was cancelled by the FA last month due to the outbreak and so now have decided to use their 16-seat minibus for good use in the area.
A Club Development Officer for Uttoxeter Town Jonathan Landells told Sport in Staffs: “Uttoxeter Town value our sponsors and as part of our sponsor packages for the last four years we have been provided a 16-seat minibus by Angus Mackinnon Ltd to transport our First and Reserve teams to away games in the Midland Football League Division 1 and Reserve team fixtures.
“As we considered the minibus as a valuable asset to the club, we made the bus available to the local community and asked the local community if anyone had any ideas to utilise the minibus with a driver.
“Balance Street Health Centre (BSHC) responded to us with the idea to transport needed medical prescriptions to isolated & vulnerable people in the local community.
“We immediately agreed as we can provide a valuable service to the people who need this and be able to observe social distancing by having a member of staff from BSHC on the back of the bus who then delivers the prescriptions upon arrival at various locations in the community.
“We considered that it was a vital service and having a asset that could best serve the local community in such unprecedented times we needed to help.
“Uttoxeter Town Football Club is a community-oriented club who operates with an ethos of community first from our base at Oldfields Sports & Social Club in Uttoxeter and many of the people we are helping are known to us or family members.
“We rely on the local community for their support, so to give something back was a must.”
The bus has covered the local area, travelling to places such as Marchington, Doveridge and Kingstone among many others.
Uttoxeter Town tragically lost manager Dean Arnold earlier this year, after he passed away aged 49.
The club stated: “The loss of Dean has been very hard on us all but we know he would have been the first to offer the local community the minibus in the way we are.”
Managing Director of Angus MacKinnon, Stuart MacKinnon told Sport in Staffs: “As we all know, disaster struck a few weeks ago with the sudden passing of manager Dean Arnold.
“We understand how devastating this must have been for the club and his family. In an attempt to help the club through this tough time, as a company we decided to donate all the running/hire/insurance costs of the mini bus for the entire season.
“Obviously, in these recent unprecedented times the use of the minibus ceased operations. At this point Jonathan , brain waved the idea and personally turning its use to the local community, an extremely successfully bid to help those in need, and the ability to transport people whilst maintaining that ever so important social distancing.
“May I take this opportunity to thank each and every other person out there who is also ‘doing their bit’ whist we all pull together through these uncertain times.”
The business has also given out a van Free of Charge Edmonston Family Butchers in Uttoxeter, so they can deliver fresh produce to the isolated and vulnerable for the duration of the outbreak.
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