I HAVE always known Sun readers are the most kind-hearted people in Britain.
When the pandemic struck you responded — as you always do — with generosity, energy and, above all, compassion.
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It was in this spirit that, on New Year’s Day, we launched The Sun’s Jabs Army.
Along with our partners, the NHS and the Royal Voluntary Service, we asked for 50,000 people to step forward and volunteer to help the vaccine roll-out.
Just 18 days later and you’ve done it.
Today, I am pleased to report, on these pages, that as of last night an astonishing 51,019 of you have now signed up and are standing by to be called up in the coming days and weeks.
It is a fantastic achievement for which I thank each and every one of you wholeheartedly.
No newspaper had ever before recruited so many of its readers to help Britain in its hour of need.
At a time when thousands of you have lost loved ones and millions more have lost money and jobs, Sun readers still give up their time for others.
I, and everyone at the paper, are proud of every single one of you.
Our Jabs Army will be on duty at centres all over the country, playing a vital part of the incredible vaccination programme — the biggest in NHS history.
Today we feature Sun volunteers in North London, one of whom, Susan Jones, summed up our campaign in a sentence: “I’d rather be here helping defeat this virus than sitting at home.”
Hear hear! And we are not finished with our campaign.
Our volunteers will be needed until everyone in Britain has had a jab.
But before that day comes we may need more volunteers as part of a Reserve Army, ready and waiting to be called up if need be — so it is not too late for you to sign up. We’ll let you know how to do that very soon.
With our Jabs Army working tirelessly with the hard-working NHS and support staff to deliver the vaccine, the day will come soon when we can get Britain back to the way we were before coronavirus turned our lives upside down.
You have been so caring since the first wave of coronavirus struck last spring and hospitals were swamped with cases.
You helped raise £1million for NHS charities through our Who Cares Wins Appeal, to bring comfort to hard-pressed medical staff.
Then, when the coronavirus crisis affected supplies of tiny blankets for sick and premature babies in hospitals, you came to the rescue.
After we printed a pattern in The Sun on Sunday, our readers knitted 10,000 baby blankets, which the charity Bliss will deliver to hospitals all over Britain.
At Christmas we teamed up with the Royal Voluntary Service, Together coalition and NHS to ask you to call on neighbours, make check and chat calls to the lonely and run errands for people shielding.
You signed up in droves — causing a 70 per cent spike in volunteer numbers — to provide comfort when it was needed most.
The Sun is proud to be part of your lives, bringing out a paper or producing news stories online to keep you up to date with every twist and turn of the battle to beat the virus.
Together we can help beat this.
Thank you,
Victoria Newton, Editor-in-chief
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