THEY may have come together through sport, but this group of Knutsford Golf Club members have turned themselves into community heroes.

A team of 20 volunteers from the club came together to support Knutsford residents who were shielding during the Covid-19 lockdown.

It proved so popular that the team – under the banner of “KGC Helpers” ended up expanding their operation to cover South Manchester and East Cheshire.

Their service put smiles on the faces of neighbours, with Enid Farley from Knutsford saying: “I don’t know how I could have coped during the lockdown without the support of the team from KGC Helpers, they have been fantastic!”

Chris Whyatt, a semi-retired business consultant from Over Peover, thought up the scheme upon realising many of his fellow Knutsford Golf Club members would have to shield during the pandemic.

After sending out an email to club members asking for volunteers to help out with tasks like shopping, posting items and picking up prescriptions, he was overwhelmed by the response.

“Once we had identified the need for support, it was just a simple job of co-ordination,” the 67-year-old said.

“The interesting thing is that our support activity has fostered real, lasting friendships with many of the people we are supporting in the community.”

“We have also been helped in turn by retail organisations such as Booth’s Supermarket in the town, who have been simply fantastic.

“Once we informed them of our scheme, they have let us shop for our new friends and then once each shopping visit has been completed we have been able to make contact at the checkout so that they can then pay for their own shopping by credit card over the phone.

“It’s worked really well and everyone is very grateful.”

“One interesting benefit for me is seeing the different products and commodities that people buy in their weekly shop, and how healthy people shop and eat.

“I have learned how to shop effectively and I now know where to find everything in Booth’s!”

The KGC Helpers scheme continues to be successful and the club is delighted with the feedback they have received.