Shopkeeper Raj Patel, 43, runs the QMS Store in Ferndale Road, and his wife runs the Alexandra Park Convenience Store in Wroughton and he also has an interest in The Smokehouse in Chiseldon. He is known as 'Sunny' to all who know him. He has been on the frontline since the crisis began and has even made it his mission to help as many people as possible through voluntary work. Here's his voice.
For Sunny Patel, who has lived in the town since 2002 managing different stores, when the coronavirus outbreak happened it was impossible for him to sit there and do nothing.
Since 2008 he has run the QMS Store in Ferndale Road, his wife Jaimini Soni has run the Alexandra Park Convenience Store since 2015 and he recently took over with others The Smokehouse, formerly The Patriots Arms, just before it had to close its doors for the lockdown.
During his time in Swindon he has always been heaviily involved in the community, helping out with the Christmas decorations and fireworks in Ferndale Road, as well as being an executive committee member trustee for the Swindon Hindu Temple.
He said: "I've always loved Swindon. It's been so welcoming since I moved here. As a shopkeeper you are at the centre of the community and I've got to know so many people. I've always been involved in helping out as part of the community but it's like I've gone into overdrive once the coronavirus arrived. Helping others has always been my passion."
One of the first things he did was manage to get hold of a buik of facemasks as he saw how lots of other shops had been raising the prices and profiteering through the crisis and he wanted to do the opposite.
He said: "I managed to bulk buy about a 1,000 facemasks from my supplier and we've just been giving them out to whoever needs them coming into the shop. We've done that through all of my businesses. This is a time that we should all be looking out for each other and not just earning a quick buck.
"Covid-19 has completely changed the life of the elderly and vulnerable in my community. They can't even come out of their homes and they are scared to go shopping especially in the big supermarkets which had seen lots of panic buying causing empty shelves. As a local shop we really came into our own and one of the things that we immediately started doing was delivering food and essentials to those that were isolated for free. The idea is to keep them safe and keep the strain off the NHS."
For Sunny, it's been non-stop since the crisis began.
He said: "I never seem to stop. I wouldn't be able to do all of this if it wasn't for my wife and son. They respect that I'm always busy.
"People need to be aware that as shopkeepers we are also out there every day in the community and that is not without risk as we have people coming into our shop all the time.
"It has been very stressful and last week I just felt completely run down with it all so I must admit I did slow things down for a couple of days just to get my breath back."
Sunny is a strong believer in good karma that by doing good things good things will happen to you. As part of Swindon Volunteers, the group founded by Pradeep Bhardwaj of Swindon Hindu Temple, he has been delivering donated food and essentials across the town as well to people who are struggling through the crisis. The Smokehouse has been used as a kitchen to cook up different meals for people too.
Sunny added: "The other day we delivered a lovely cooked curry to the homeless people using the Threshold Housing Project. This is something we're going to be doing on a weekly basis from now on during the crisis. We have plans to deliver to the hospital too.
"We have also been delivering food and other things to people in need across the town. There's an army of us volunteering now but we could always do with more help.
"I don't know what else I would be doing with myself if I wasn't keeping myself so busy. It's a scary time at the moment and none of us know what will happen and when this will be over. We don't even know what the world will be like or how people will act once this is over. All I know is that if I didn't help in some way I would always regret it but this is a time when we should all be working together no matter what walk of life we come from. That's the way we'll get through this."
Swindon Link is calling on its readers to write to us about their experiences for our campaign called 'Voices from The Coronavirus'. The idea is that we can share our experiences underlining that none of us are alone.
We want to hear from you from whatever walk of life you come from to hear how you are dealing with this new reality. Everybody has a story to share from keyworkers to teenagers. It doesn't matter what your writing ability is, the whole point of this is to make sure every voice is heard so that people don't feel that they are battling this alone. We will try to publish your story on our website no matter who you are.
All you have to do is write to us with your experiences to [email protected]. Please make sure that you send a picture of yourself to go with the piece and try and keep it under 500 words. Please also include some basic details about yourself. For more details press here
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