A scheme to ensure volunteers can help those in need during the outbreak of coronavirus Covid-19 has been launched by Enfield Council.

The project, Enfield Stands Together, will see the council work alongside the charity Enfield Voluntary Action to co-ordinate efforts to organise volunteers and provide essential services to people who need them.

Individuals and community groups can register to volunteer or ask for help using online forms.

The council has pledged an initial sum of £100,000 to support groups providing help to residents, which will be allocated through a new Community Resilience Board.

Council leader Cllr Nesil Caliskan (Labour, Jubilee) said work to support the voluntary sector had to be done “in a co-ordinated way and through the framework of guidance from Public Health England”.

She explained the Community Resilience Board would include key partners such as hospitals, food banks, the Citizens Advice Bureau and other organisations.

Cllr Caliskan said: “I have just signed off £100,000 so the board has got that money to allocate across the community to support residents. The allocation will be decided through the board, which will meet regularly.

“Right now, the number one priority is to keep the residents of Enfield safe and healthy. That means making sure we have good community resilience.”

Jo Ikhelef, chief executive of Enfield Voluntary Action, said: “What we do is promote positive, local social action. That means people who are coming forward who want to help, but also community groups and activities that are already there and need to be supported in different ways.

“We are trying to co-ordinate these groups. We are anticipating lots of people coming forward to offer themselves to support local people.

“But what we need to do is ensure it is done in an environment that is safe, and with people following the right guidance.”

Ms Ikhelef said Enfield Voluntary Action had been “fighting for a long time to get people to be less isolated and more connected with each other”.

She added: “Our challenge now is trying to support voluntary and community organisations to still connect with people and in a way that is done safely.

“We have to think very differently about how we make that connection – for example, is it by telephone, or can we do activities online? We are doing a survey to find out.”

Ms Ikhelef said her group would try to support food banks and other organisations that may face staff shortages in the coming months.

People can volunteer and register for extra help here.