We have all been devastated by news of the impacts of the increasing spread of COVID-19. The succession of government announcements in recent days will place major restrictions on our ‘normal’ lives for weeks and possibly months ahead.
In
particular, the government has announced a wide range of so called ‘social
distancing’ measures, details of which can be found on various government
information publications including this link:
The Parish Council has put in place a number of measures to
help the community of Chearsley, as we tackle the challenges posed by the
spread of the COVID19 virus.
Chearsley ‘Good
Neighbour’ Scheme
To help
support our individual efforts where this is needed, we are announcing the
launch of the Chearsley ‘Good Neighbour’ Volunteer Assistance Scheme.
Susan
Olding has kindly agreed to co-ordinate the work of a team of volunteers and
the remit of the scheme will include providing any help or support needed in
the wake of the new COVID-19 measures.
For
example, this might include collection of shopping, picking up prescription
medicines from the local surgery or chemists, dog-walking and so on – routine
tasks which will suddenly become impossible for those unable to leave their
homes for a prolonged or even a short period of time…..or maybe it’s just a
friendly chat from time to time – either on the telephone or at home.
Susan has
already recruited a team of volunteers and if you are able to offer your own
services, please get in touch with her:
Home: 01844
201134
Mobile:
07960 275920
Anyone requiring any help or support, please contact Susan.
It would help us if you could either submit one of our assistance request
forms:
‘Good Neighbour Chearsley’s COVID-19 Volunteer Assistance Scheme’
A copy is available on this link
Alternatively, make sure you have the information available when you telephone.
Village
organisations
We also
need to do all we can to support our local businesses in the village during
these difficult times and the Parish Council will assist wherever possible,
including with communication.
The Bell
Despite the
inevitable decline in visitors to The Bell, Sharon and her team will be
developing a new ‘take-away’ and ‘home delivery’ meal service and and have made
arrangements for us to continue buying beer and our favourite drinks from the
pub.
Sharon can
be contacted at:
Home: 01844
208077
The Village Shop
Jeyan and Sugi
will be doing their utmost to ensure that the shelves at Chearsley Village
Stores remain as full as possible of all the key grocery items in the weeks
ahead. They’d also be very happy to discuss any individual needs you might
have. So, before you spend countless hours trying to put together an order for
an online grocery delivery, pop in and see whether Jeyan and Sugi can help.
St Nicholas Church
The Vicar, Richard Phillips, has offered his own services and
those of the St Nicholas Church community to provide pastoral care within our
village. As ever, this commitment to listen and offer reassurance extends to
the whole village whether or not you go to church. He has promised his full
support and prayers for all the initiatives undertaken by the Parish Council.
Richard can
be contacted at:
Home: 01844
208987
The Village Hall
The Chearsley Village Hall Committee
has noted the current COVID-19 advice issued by the Government and will ensure
that supplies of soap and/or hand-wash are in place at the hall along with
paper towels and fully working hand driers. The hall is cleaned thoroughly twice a week and
extra care will be taken going forward to ensure all surfaces are
disinfected regularly.
The committee plans to keep the hall
open and available to all those who want to use it but the responsibility lies
with users to ensure that Government advice to stop the spread of COVID-19 is
being followed where needed and appropriate.
NHS First Responder
The NHS Community First Responder for Chearsley Village is
Kevin Dennington.
Kevin supports the work of the South Central Ambulance
Service, supporting medical emergencies and sometimes providing life-saving
first aid to a patient in the crucial minutes before an ambulance arrives. While
Kevin is not permitted to carry out any specific medical interventions, he is
more than happy to share his expertise and understanding with any in our
community.
Kevin can be contacted at:
Mobile: 07748 596642
Parish Council
business
We will not be holding our regular monthly meetings in the
Village Hall for the time being but instead will use video conferencing. It is likely
that will continue for the foreseeable future, subject to any formal guidance
we may receive.
We will advise any change to that arrangement. Regrettably
we are unable to invite public attendance on the video conference but will
provide every opportunity for questions and comments to be submitted by other
means. Advance agendas and minutes are published on the PC website as well as
being displayed on the bus stop noticeboard.
Communications
Most Parish Council communication will be via email distribution,
Chearsley BlogSpot, Village WhatsApp group and the PC website. Additionally the
Chearsley Village and Chearsley PC Facebook sites may be used for major notices.
If you know of anybody who does not receive messages by one
of these methods, please encourage them to sign up. We can provide guidance on how to do that if
required.
We will also display messages on the village notice board and
do occasional door to door mail drops.
Contact the PC at:
Email: chearsleypc@chearsley.com
We face some difficult months ahead, but the Parish Council
is confident that the community of Chearsley will do its utmost to work
together to minimise the hardships which will inevitably be experienced by some
of our families, friends and neighbours.
Our Parish Councillors are very happy to speak to you about
any concerns or if you would like further information:
Nic Brown (Chairman): 07776 161644
John Lewis (Vice-Chairman): 07780 600640
Paul Bown: 07836 270067
Martin Hearmon: 07831 522731
John Howard: 07970 651326
Keith Turnbull: 07785 725177
Julia Witcher: 07905 755995
19th March 2020
