I feel like I am giving something back, says volunteer Mark
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Mark Munro is among the many local volunteers helping to make a difference for those needing help during the coronavirus crisis.
Mark (35), of Battery Road, Wick, said: "It is giving me something to do and giving me a purpose. I feel like I am giving something back to the community."
He explained that his work at Norse Stone had come to an end four weeks ago due to the Covid-19 restrictions and when he spotted a Facebook appeal for volunteers by Pulteneytown People's Project (PPP) he applied straight away.
Mark is one of more than 30 local people who have joined PPP's volunteer team helping to deliver hot meals to the elderly and those in isolation, as well as assisting with everyday chores such as walking dogs, picking up prescriptions and collecting vital shopping supplies.
He said: "I have been out walking dogs and doing some shopping for people, sometimes through click and collect. I have a wee blether with some of them because they are not seeing anyone just now."
To start with, Mark and his fiancée Karyse Anderson, an auxiliary nurse at Caithness General Hospital, had been cooking meals in their own house and giving them out to others.
While delivering the hot meals from PPP he takes along his boys – 20-month-old Jack Munro, and Newton Park Primary School pupils Kyle (10) and seven-year-old Alex Shearer.
Mark said: "The boys love volunteering – they get the feeling of goodness. They are delighted with it. I think we delivered 30 meals the other day."
Mark went on to say that as well as helping with the voluntary work the family were enjoying one hour of exercise each day which normally involves a walk round the Trinkie area.
When asked how Kyle and Alex were coping with their schooling from home, he said: "They are really good at their studies – we do one hour in the morning and one-and-a-half hours in the afternoon.
"I get them to call me Mr Munro during the day when I'm the teacher."
Mark and Karyse have their wedding booked for August 29 this year, but they are unsure at this stage whether the coronavirus restrictions may have an impact on this date.
