Blackpool poverty outreach group temporarily closed as founder battles 'long Covid'

Linda McEvilly, 75, founder of Care and Share, was diagnosed with coronavirus in late December.

Her condition deteriorated over the next 10 days, however, she confirmed in an update through Care and Share that she is now improving.

She said: "I'm now past the crisis and thank God I'm still here. I'm very weak and have lost 12lb in weight. The doctor says I have long Covid and has put me on antibiotics to help prevent further infections. I will just have to take one day at a time."

Linda set up Care and Share in 1991, handing out food and clothes to needy locals from her home on Bowness Avenue, which is still used as a drop-off point today. Over the years the group expanded, holding monthly 'swap shops' where people could collect bags full of second hand clothes for free, and handing out hundreds of Christmas gift hampers each year.

While Care and Share is closed, Freedom Church Mereside has stepped up to provide some of the services Linda carried out almost single-handedly each day.

Reverent Linda Tomkinson said: "We wish Linda a very speedy recovery and she's in our thoughts and prayers. She's very ill at the moment and had lost a lot of weight, and Care and Share will be closed for a while while she recovers.

"It just goes to show the great impact one person can have; there's been a huge response from people who would have been helped by Care and Share. We've actually set up a crisis team for picking up and dropping off prescriptions, which is just the tip of the iceberg of all the things Linda does."

Care and Share's treasurer, Paula McKee, will be available in emergencies at Tarnside community centre, Mereside, on Wednesdays and Fridays from 10am until noon. The group is not currently taking donations.

Other people who require help have been asked to get in touch with Freedom Church.