They heard the call and didn’t hesitate to answer.
These are just a few of the selfless hundreds of thousands who have signed up as NHS volunteers.
They are ordinary people with their own worries but they are desperate to play their part in a world-wide crisis brought so close to home.
From next week they will help deliver vital supplies such as food and essential medicine to the vulnerable, drive them home from hospital and make regular phone calls to those struggling in self-isolation.
Here they tell compelling stories of why they have joined the fight.
"I'm honouring my murdered daughter"
Andy McHugh is driven to help due to the pain of losing his daughter.
Lucy, 13, was stabbed 30 times by her mum’s lodger after she threatened to expose him as an abuser.
Since her death, Andy has found solace in community work and, when the plea was made for NHS volunteers, he applied immediately.
He said: “I’m doing this in honour of Lucy.
“She was a caring girl, she wanted to help and was always there to help her two siblings.
"She’d have been so happy to see how everyone is pulling together to fight this.”
The teenager was killed by paedophile Stephen Nicholson, 25, who had been a lodger with her mum and stepdad at their Southampton home.
He lured her to woodland before stabbing her in July 2018 after she threatened to reveal he had been abusing her for a year.
Nicholson was jailed for a minimum of 33 years last July.
Andy, 37, gave up his vaping business and started work as a community liaison officer after seeing the outpouring of grief for Lucy.
He said: “I thought about how my mum used to sit on the doorstep with the neighbours and how things might have been different for Lucy if we still had that sense of community and people knew what was going on in their street.
“You do have to come to terms with your grief and try and move on.
“Working in community has given me a bigger picture on life and when this virus has been beaten, I hope we will remember the way people came together.
“Losing Lucy was the worst but sometimes you have to focus on the task in hand, and it’s all those vulnerable people in need.”
Inspired by grandad who fought in World War 2
Emma Maslin was inspired to sign up by the example of her grandfather who fought on the beaches of Normandy in the Second World War.
Her 95-year-old grandad is one of Britain’s 1.5 million vulnerable people self-isolating at home.
Emma, 39, a money coach from Milton Keynes, said: “He fought in Germany and France so it seems minimal that we are being asked to stay at home bored and, even then, some people are still going out.
“He’s been reading all about Covid-19 but I wonder how much people of his age are really worrying about it after all they’ve been through.
“My mum sees him every day and stands far from his doorstep to check he’s OK but he seems to be doing reasonably well.”
Emma has volunteered to talk to those who are stuck at home, saying: “It’s important we recognise the emotional toll this will have.
“I’m in a fortunate position that I work from home and can phone people around my two girls who are six and eight.
"I’ve told them what volunteering is and why it’s important.”
"I refuse to sit and wallow in self pity"
Mum-of-two Jo Jordan had just opened a new hair salon when the virus struck, forcing her to close.
She is a single mum who lives in rented property.
But rather than sit at home worrying, she has signed up as a volunteer to deliver essential medicine and food.
Jo, who lives in Brough, East Yorks, said: “I know I’m not in a great position because I only opened my salon in February.
“But I also know there are people a lot worse off.
“I realise that somewhere down the line I will get some help, so I want to give something back.
"I can sit wallowing in self-pity or I can take action and think ‘Where can I help here?’.”
The 44-year-old says she hopes the world will be a kinder place once the crisis is over.
And she wants to set an example to daughters Isabelle, 13, and twelve-year-old Evie.
“The girls have already noticed how things are changing,” she said.
“We’ve been going out for a walk every day and suddenly people are taking time to say hello to each other.
“I just hope it will last.”
Helping lonely people during the lockdown
Andrew Ward and wife Kate worry about how the lonely will cope.
They were thinking about volunteering when the call went out for people to support the NHS.
As a mental first-aider at his job in financial services, Andrew is qualified to help those struggling at home.
Andrew, 38, of Beckenham, South London, said: “Listening to people is critical.
"I can recognise someone in distress and signpost them to the right places for help.”
Kate added: “We are both well. Making calls to people who could benefit is something that comes naturally to both of us.”
"I'm scared for my intensive care nurse sister"
Denise Mickle is fully aware of the dangers of Covid-19.
Her sister Lorraine is an intensive care nurse at the University Hospital of North Durham while their parents – Nora, 79, and Denis, 78 – are self-isolating.
Mum-of-three Denise, right, said: “I’m naturally scared for Lorraine and have lots of friends in the medical profession who will face this.
“There are all these stories in the media about the lack of personal protection equipment and it adds to the worry.
"The least I can do is pick up medicines or transport people discharged from hospitals and make a few phone calls.”
Denise, 51, a social media manager, lives on a farm and jokes she is always shielded from society.
But she reveals the silence that has enveloped Britain is evident even in the countryside.
“There’s no one out walking and the cars we normally hear in the distance have gone. It’s surreal, like some sci-fi movie,” she says.
