1. Mutual Aid
    1. 700 new mutual aid groups had been set up in London by the end of March 2020 (Covid Mutual Aid UK 2020)
      1. 1,500 MAGs set up during the first week of lockdown (Novora Media 2020)
        1. 4000 mutual aid groups set up across the country during the first lockdown (Kruger 2020:8)
      2. GLA study of 32 london based mags found "around 22% of the people signed up to these groups were actively volunteering (8,623 people.)" (GLA 2020:5)
      3. around 280,000 people signed up to Mutual Aid Groups with around 70,000 active, but the number could be far higher. GLA 2020 6
    2. Peter Kroptopkin; mutual aid and collective solidarity as evolutionary factors observed in the natural world.
      1. It is the conscience—be it only at the stage of an instinct—of human solidarity. It is the unconscious recognition of the force that is borrowed by each man from the practice of mutual aid; of the close dependency of every one's happiness upon the happiness of all; and of the sense of justice, or equity, which brings the individual to consider the rights of every other individual as equal to his own. Upon this broad and necessary foundation the still higher moral feelings are developed. (Kropotkin, 1902: p4)
        1. "mutual aid is rooted in anarchist thought, which underscores the necessity of mutually beneficial reciprocity and independence from formal structures such as the police or local government. " (LSE 2020)
        2. "decentralised mutual aid efforts are part of an anarchist tradition that seeks to shine a light on state neglect and embolden communities as forces for structural change from below. " Novara Media 2020
          1. “In some places we’ve seen councils and councillors trying to take control of groups or even shut them down,” says Res Arnott-Davies, “but we’ve also seen places where they’ve genuinely offered help and support without any ulterior motive”.
    3. Predominantly used Whatsapp and Facebook to mobilise, although these groups are not always called "mutual aid" - sometimes neighbourhood support etc (NGLN 2020:14)
      1. Some groups used the sparehand app and Google Docs (GLA 2020:9) https://www.spare-hand.org/
      2. Digital infrastructure and wide usage of web-based social media have been a central component of many groups’ ability to function during the lockdown. The ‘standard pattern’ of such groups is of a dedicated group on Facebook, with or without supplementary instant messaging via WhatsApp. (NLGN 2020:14)
        1. HOWEVER, Nine million people are estimated to be ‘digitally excluded’, without the basic skills to get online. (Kruger 2020:19)
    4. Functions of MAGs (GLA 2020: 6-7)
      1. 1) Food
        1. This ranged from volunteers shopping for people who were isolating, to large scale organisation of local foodbanks.
      2. 2) Prescription pick up and delivery
      3. 3) Signposting
        1. 32% of respondents highlighted the role they play in signposting to appropriate help. [...] This is an important indication of the role that groups can play in the local support ecosystem and connecting people to specialist services. (GLA 2020:7)
          1. supportive networks crucial for the success of MAGs (p7)
          2. A strong sense of community and common purpose was important in this context. p 7
          3. One of the key challenges for mutual aid groups was building trust with statutory authorities. Where this relationship didn’t work well the group’s ability to reach people in need was hampered, their validity as a source of support in the local area was undermined and their effectiveness in being able to connect people to other help was diminished. Where relationships worked well, groups felt valued, were able to reach more people to offer support to in their community and were able to help people access the support most appropriate to their needs. The same goes for relationships with the voluntary and business sector. (GLA P25)
      4. These groups are not a ‘nice-to-have’- they are of decisive importance to the health and welfare of thousands of people. [...] councils nor the conventional voluntary sector was agile enough to get the right help to the right people straight away. Only the community could respond with the flexibility and immediacy required, and this informal effort has proved to be vital. (NGLN 2020:28-29)
    5. Recommendations to support MAGs
      1. NLGN (p32-p33)
        1. 1. COUNCILS SHOULD PLAY A FACILITATING ROLE AS MUTUAL AID GROUPS EVOLVE
        2. 2. THE CREATION OF A COMMUNITY SUPPORT FINANCIAL PACKAGE FOR LOCAL GOVERNMENT
        3. 3. EMPLOYMENT POLICY AND PRACTICE THAT SUPPORTS FLEXIBLE WORKING, GIVING WORKING-AGED PEOPLE MORE TIME TO VOLUNTEER
      2. GLA
        1. 1) Funding: Funders in London should have conversations about how accessible and flexible funding can meet some of the needs of mutual aid groups around tech, food support, and core resource
        2. 2) Relationships: The GLA and London Councils should work together to gather examples of where the relationship between local authorities and mutual aid groups has worked well and develop toolkits to enable stronger relationships
        3. 3) Recognition: The suggestions around recognition of mutual aid groups should be further explored with the Mayor of London, the GLA and local authorities in particular. Volunteering as a whole, not just in mutual aid groups has been vital in bringing communities through the Covid Crisis, and public recognition of this will be important in valuing and sustaining a culture of volunteering in London.
  2. NHS Volunteer Responders via GoodSAM Responder app
    1. Over 750,000 people signed up to the NHS’ call for volunteers in just four days when the scheme launched, three times the original target. (NHS Volunteer Response Scheme)
    2. 90,000 volunteers registered in London.
    3. To do this we need an 'army' of volunteers who can support vulnerable people in England who are at most risk from the virus to stay well. Our doctors, nurses, those working in local authorities and other professionals, will be able to refer people in to NHS Volunteer Responders and be confident that they have been matched with a reliable, named volunteer
      1. Referrals can be made by Health and local government professionals and pre-approved VCSE organisations
  3. Demographic
    1. more working age people
      1. 4.Where social capital is more developed and working age people have more time, Mutual Aid Groups function with more ease. (NLGN 8)
      2. the emergence of entirely new Mutual Aid groups seems to have been more concentrated in areas where large numbers of working- age people can participate in them. (p16)
      3. The specific circumstances created by the pandemic crisis – of a great many working-age people being furloughed or otherwise having much less to do if self-employed – has led to a very different age profile among participants.12 Traditionally, voluntary activities and high levels of community engagement are demographically associated with older and retired people. (p15)
    2. inequalities- response in some areas greater than others (bennett institute for public policy 2020)
      1. there is a rather sizeable, positive correlation between the number of mutual aid groups per 10,000 people and measures of socio-economic advantage, such as gross disposable household income per head (2017) or the share of individuals with an undergraduate degree or above (Census 2011 for England and Wales), as well as with median age (2018 estimate).
      2. One possibility is that inequality in social capital follows a similar pattern to more traditional measures of socio-economic status: networks of support are more present where communities are already relatively better off.
      3. Urban/Rural divide? it is salient that the intensity of these support networks correlates with the socioeconomic pro􀃨le of the area. Geographical inequalities seem to reinforce each other- more mags in the south of England than north.,
    3. The London case
      1. Around 34% of Londoners volunteered formally in 2018 – 19, and around 53% of Londoners participated in informal volunteering (Community Life Survey 2018 – 19, Reference Tables)
      2. There are over 270,000 voluntary sector employees, employed in London and the South-East number of people, which equates to 30% of the voluntary sector’s paid workforce. (NCVO https://almanac.fc.production.ncvocloud.net/workforce/)
  4. Cultural
    1. Community Spirit (altruisium)
      1. Neighbourliness
        1. While the expression of social action during lockdown has been local - people helping their neighbours - the spirit of it might be said to be national: everyone has been part of a single collective effort. (Kruger p37-38)
      2. "the case for trying to sustain the community spirit of lockdown is strong. If we get another surge of infections, the more connected our communities are the better they will cope." (Kruger 2020:9)
        1. the Isolation Economy research also reveals that two-thirds (64%) of UK adults feel their communities have ‘come together to help each other’ during the crisis. (Legal & General and Cebr 2020)
      3. Recognition as an important factor in MAGs sustained beyond initial wave (GLA 2020: 19)
        1. Clap for key workers (inc volunteers?)
        2. community spirit and a genuine interest in giving back is a key element of the success of these groups
  5. Proposed changes to public policy
    1. Decision makers begin to recognize the importance of volunteering
      1. Kruger, "the new paradigm"
        1. The experience of the recent crisis - the willingness of local people to step forward and collaborate, the flexibility shown by public services and the social commitment of businesses - shows what is possible. Add the extraordinary new dynamics of data and digital innovation, and a wholly new paradigm is possible in which community power replaces the dominance of remote public and private sector bureaucracies. (Kruger 2020:p7)
      2. Boris Johnson "we have seen tremendous levels of voluntary action by private citizens, and of innovation and partnership between the public, private and social sectors. These are critical elements of the social model we want to see for the recovery, and into the future."
    2. Value of volunteering
      1. 75% of household access charity services Charities Aid Foundation (2018),
      2. The sector contributes more than £18bn to the UK economy
      3. Volunteering is worth in excess of £50billion contribution to the economy (Haldane 2015) https://www.civilsociety.co.uk/news/bank-of-england-chief-economist---even--50bn-could-underestimate-the-value-of-volunteering-.html#sthash.nuZhvuWn.dpuf
      4. "the same ties that bind people and communities together increasing the risk of infection, appear to have protected them in the long term" ( Behavioral Insights Team cited in Kruger 2020: 9-10)
  6. Revival of volunteering as a popular concept