Hemel rugby players volunteer to help people in need during coronavirus outbreak

Rugby players from Hemel Hempstead (Camelot) RUFC are volunteering their time to help people in need during the coronavirus outbreak.

The players have some spare time on their hands after their rugby games were suspended - following government advice around the coronavirus outbreak the RFU decided to suspend all rugby activity in England, both at professional and community level, from March 17, until April 14, - subject to continued review

The club decided to help the community in any way they could, they decided to offer their services to collect or deliver essentials for vulnerable people, whether they were elderly, self-isolating or had underlying health issues.

Adam Whyatt, from the club's first team, said: "Most of us will be able to fight off the virus in a fairly short amount of time, whilst some people are extremely vulnerable.

"We are the rugby union club in Hemel Hempstead and we have three senior teams and a lot of junior teams, a lot of players now available to help.

"Following the recent decision by the RFU, there are a lot of energetic rugby players with nothing to do on several evenings of the week.

"We decided that we could put our energy and time to good use and see if anyone in the community needs help, it could be anything from helping with groceries, deliveries or anything.

"We have spoken to Age UK and the first hurdle is the DBS check which is essential for when you are helping the elderly and vulnerable, but for us, there are 100's of people who want to help so getting them all DBS checked could take a while.

"We are happy to help members of the public, NHS workers, or charities and organisations with anything they need, for example we could even help the volunteers for one of the charities, if that is needed.

"If anyone needs help or support, they can get in touch with us through the Facebook page."