Thursday, 19 March 2020

Coronavirus (COVID-19) update from Chearsley Parish Council


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:

Village sites: 
Chearsley Blogspot (has an email subscription service also) : 
Chearsley Village Group Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/1096303420498222/
Chearsley PC Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CHEARSLEYPC/


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