Recognising the Work of Community Reserve Volunteers

That the Parliament recognises the work of over 25,000 members of the public who have signed up as Community Reserve Volunteers with the British Red Cross to provide essential support to communities across Scotland in response to COVID-19; acknowledges that their efforts are part of the Scotland Cares campaign, which encourages people who are healthy and not at risk to volunteer to provide practical or emotional support in their communities; recognises that 14 Community Reserve Volunteers have been working with the British Red Cross in Orkney to support out-of-hours GP services and, in May 2020 alone, provided 461 hours of voluntary support to NHS Orkney as on-call drivers to transport GPs to calls and help them with the application and removal of their PPE; believes that the contribution of volunteers in a number of essential roles across Scotland is a vital part of the overall response to COVID-19, including for keeping communities safe and protecting the most vulnerable; thanks all Community Reserve Volunteers for their exceptional acts of kindness and willingness to go above and beyond in order to put the needs of others first during this challenging time; pays tribute to these efforts as part of Volunteers Week 2020, which celebrates the invaluable role that volunteers play in all aspects of daily life, and wishes all volunteers the very best as they continue to make a real difference to the lives of others.