A number of organisations have banded together to create Helpout.im, which supports those in need across the island.

The initiative aims to support members of the community who may be isolated or require assistance due to the coronavirus or measures that work on reducing its impact.

Its website gives options to request help or volunteer for both business and community purposes, including the delivery of shopping, delivery of daily or weekly newspapers and dog walking.

As of yesterday (Monday) 347 volunteers signed up, 227 of whom have gone through a vetting process.

A total of 64 people have asked for help.

Sitting on the board is Wendy Smith of Compassionate Isle of Man, David Gawne MBE, vice chairman of the Council Voluntary Organisations, Joe Hughes, chief executive officer of Manx Technology Group, a representative of the police, Carol Glover as representative of the trustees of the Manx Solidarity Fund and Francesca Signorio-Hooper, who launched Isle of Man Coronavirus Community Support (IOMCCS).

Mrs Signorio-Hooper said: ’We could see a real need to get an infrastructure up and running that was scalable that could support those who were unable to leave their homes.

’We wanted to ensure all the appropriate measures were taken under the circumstances to protect the vulnerable as sometimes the desire to help can result in real risk materialising.’

Mrs Signorio-Hooper formed IOMCCS to create a network of volunteers who could assist those self-isolating.

It was the first community Facebook page of its kind for island residents dealing with Covid-19 related issues.

She later joined forces with Mr Gawne and rebranded as Helpout.im to establish a coordinated response using charities and volunteers.

The website and database was established by Manx Technology Group. Mr Hughes paid for it.

Hospice Isle of Man’s Compassionate Isle of Man initiative has provided Helpout.im with wellbeing resources from clinical psychologists, bereavement counsellors and children’s psychotherapists at Hospice’s Scholl Academic Centre.

Requests for help are processed through a secure portal so sensitive information is not publicly shared.

The team tries to ensure that payment is undertaken electronically or by cheque to see full trails of the exchange of payment and asks volunteers and those being helped to retain copies of the receipts.

Those who wish to volunteer should complete a form on the website. To contact Helpout.im, email [email protected]. A phone number is coming soon.