A dedicated task force of volunteers from Slough's Guru Maneyo Granth Gurdwara in Bath Road are coming to the aid of distressed senior citizens as COVID-19 restrictions start to bite.

Among members of the 20 strong team is Sukh Dhillon, a father of one who lives in Datchet.

He said: "My wife went to the supermarket at 7am and there was already a mad rush, pushing and shoving. It is not nice.

"It brought home how difficult it must be for an older person now even if they feel able to go out to shop themselves."

The gurdwara has 200 volunteers who help in the community normally.

But the new team of 15 to 20 fronted by Mr Dhillon and Harpreet Singh is focussing on the elderly who are in Coronavirus isolation or just need support to get food.

Both men work for a local authority - as an officer working with the homeless and as a social worker respectively.

Their task force went live as soon as PM Boris Johnson officially asked people over 70 in stay indoors on Tuesday.

The following morning Mr Dhillon said: "We have had at least 30 to 40 calls from seniors already. We tried to focus on Slough but one of our first calls was from a lady of 80 in Uxbridge. We do not want to turn anyone down - we are putting together packages of food that will keep people going and if needed we can come back next week.

"Getting the food has not been easy. One volunteer spent the whole day going from store to store, so we could stock up on beans, tomato soup, bread, biscuits, Weetabix and foods like that."

They take a professional approach - gloves are worn and safeguards carefully adhered to.

They will help anyone aged 65 or more who calls and the service is provided free.

You can contact the volunteers on 07960 781799 or 07492 383057 or visit www.GMGGurdwara.com