|
3 April 2020
Message from Steve Curran, Leader of Hounslow Council
I’ll keep my message brief this week, as this is a bit of a bumper edition e-newsletter!
I hope you and your families are well, and I just wanted to thank all of you who have been following the Government’s direction to stay home, protect the NHS and save lives.
It’s so important that we all take seriously our responsibility to look out for ourselves and each other and protect our most vulnerable by not spreading the disease. Public Health England’s latest phrase – Act like you’ve got it, anyone can spread it - is an excellent way of looking at it.
I’m also extremely grateful to the hundreds of Council staff who really are going above and beyond to keep delivering services and protect our most vulnerable and isolated residents. I know many of you are too, and it’s heart-warming to hear about the nice messages, and even rounds of applause, our frontline staff have been receiving. They really appreciate it, and there are some nice examples of that below.
Finally, with the weekend bringing some warmer weather, I know many of you will want to enjoy our parks. That is understandable, and that’s why we’ve kept them open, but please be responsible and follow the social distancing guidelines, detailed below. If some irresponsible people ignore this, we may have to close them, which would be a real shame for everybody.
Stay safe and have a good weekend.
|
Hounslow’s Community Support Hub update
Last week we launched the Hounslow Community Support Hub to ensure our most vulnerable and isolated residents – those identified by the NHS as needing ‘shielding’ and others who need urgent help – get the vital support they need. Since then it’s been a hive of activity, taking calls, distributing food and providing other essential support, which may range from befriending to more complex care.
The Hub comprises teams from across the Council and networks to local community groups, businesses and volunteers. There’s a webpage with directions on how to get help and support, a call centre which has handled over 1,000 phone calls and phoned hundreds of people identified as needing shielding, and a distribution centre to receive food and supplies, get them packed and delivered to the homes of the vulnerable.
The call centre staff, who are working from home, speak to each caller to see how they’re coping, enquire about their needs and understand how our Hub can help. If they need help from the Hub with food, the team shares the request with the distribution centre who deliver packages to the resident’s front door. Working with local groups and businesses, every day we’re sourcing more items to increase the variety of food.
The Hub operates seven days a week and we’ve made almost 250 deliveries so far. The Hub also directs residents and businesses to other online information and support.
This has all been made possible by Council staff volunteering to be redeployed from different teams to help. And our staff aren't the only ones offering to help - over 350 residents have registered to volunteer as we look to expand what the Hub can offer. You can find out how to volunteer here.
Appreciation for Hounslow's waste and recycling collection crews
With most of us spending a lot more time at home at present, the volume of waste produced and the demand on services is similar to Christmas level volumes every day! Lampton360’s waste teams, which manage waste and recycling collection on behalf of Hounslow Council, are working harder than ever to keep collecting your rubbish and make sure your recycling bins continue to be emptied as often as possible, while protecting the health of all their workers – designated as essential frontline workers during the crisis – as well as the general public.
The crews have begun to notice that many of you have been leaving notes with your waste and recycling, to let them know how much you appreciate their hard work, during this crisis. It is very gratifying for the frontline crews to be met with a wave of appreciation on practically every street in the borough and has given the collection crews a great boost. Below are just a few pictures of these wonderful tributes.
 We continue to run all of our refuse and recycling collections, but we have closed SpaceWaye, our civic amenity site, to the public. Our bulky waste service will remain in place. If we experience high levels of staff shortages due to sickness, we will need to change our approach, but we will inform you if and when this happens.
Following Government advice this weekend
As the weather is set to get warmer this weekend, we remind residents that the single most important action we can all take is to stay at home in order to protect the NHS and save lives.
You should only leave the house for very limited purposes:
-
shopping for basic necessities, for example food and medicine, which must be as infrequent as possible.
-
one form of exercise a day, for example a run, walk, or cycle - alone or with members of your household.
-
any medical need, including to donate blood, avoid or escape risk of injury or harm, or to provide care or to help a vulnerable person.
-
travelling for work purposes, but only where you cannot work from home.
These reasons are exceptions - even when doing these activities, you should be minimising time spent outside of the home and ensuring you are 2 metres apart from anyone outside of your household.
 Attention all dog owners
You are urged to keep your dog on a lead at all times when out in public. We want to be able to keep our parks and green spaces open, but this can only continue if everyone observes the restrictions currently in place and practice social distancing to help stop the spread of the coronavirus.
|
Report contraventions of coronavirus restrictions
Most businesses, other than those selling food and providing necessities, should not be open. If you are concerned about a business continuing to operate despite the current restrictions, please report it here. Please also tell us of any gatherings you are aware of in public places or anyone you consider to be behaving irresponsibly.
The general list of premises / services which are permitted to be open are listed below, though these are updated on the Government’s website:
Food retailers, pharmacies, medical services, hardware, health, car rental, bikes, newsagents, off-licences, petrol stations, post offices, banks, laundrettes, dry cleaners, pets.
EU Settlement Scheme – Service Update
We are pleased to confirm that the Ealing and Hounslow EU Settlement Service has been extended by the Home Office until the end of June 2020. Due to the current COVID-19 situation in-person access to the service has been suspended until further notice. We remain available Monday to Friday via Freephone, Video call, Skype, WhatsApp and will continue to provide telephone advice and support in the current shutdown until normal service can be resumed.
To alleviate the anxiety many EU citizens will have as a result of not being able to access support we are booking appointments three months in advance to ensure anyone who needs to apply, gets the support they need to do so. Please call 0800 0564745 for further information.
|
Covid-19 Business support package
Now that the government's Covid-19 business support packages are live, we are gathering feedback on how they are being utilised and how best to help businesses to access the support.
As such, HMRC are delivering a programme of webinars to support employers, employees and the self-employed through this period of disruption. You can watch the first recorded webinar and register for future webinars using this link: bit.ly/HMRCWebinar
Free school meals over the Easter holidays
The Department for Education (DfE) has agreed to fund the national voucher scheme for children who are eligible for Free School Meals. Prior to this announcement Hounslow Council had already negotiated with a supplier, SODEXHO to work with those Hounslow Schools that wanted to issue vouchers to vulnerable children and many are continuing with this arrangement.
The recent DfE announcement advised that schools would not receive FSM funding for these pupils during the Easter holidays. However, Hounslow Council is pleased to confirm that we will continue to fund the cost of free school meals for pupils, identified as vulnerable over Easter.
|
School opening over Easter
The government has asked parents to keep their children at home, wherever possible, and asked schools to remain open only for those children who absolutely need to attend.
Some schools will be open over the Easter Holidays (including bank holidays) for vulnerable children and children of critical workers only. Further information can be found HERE.
|
We know that it is a worrying time for many, so Healthwatch Hounslow will be running weekly sessions providing information, signposting, guidance and support to residents worried about the current outbreak of the coronavirus by Zoom conference call and WhatsApp.
They will be taking place: Every Monday 10 to 11am, every Wednesday 2 to 3pm
Full details of the login address and access code are available on:https://www.healthwatchhounslow.co.uk/coronavirus/ which is all that is required for anyone to join the group.
For more information on how to download Zoom and to view ‘A Users Guide to Zoom’, please click here.
|
Online resources for health, education and wellbeing
OneYouHounslow - Hints and tips on how you can stay active from home
Our Parks - a range of free workouts to do at home - everything from HiiT to Yoga
thisgirlcan - Exercises to try at home from press ups to living room wall sits – and they’re great for women and men alike! #thisgirlcan @thisgirlcan
The Chiswick Calendar has come up with a brilliant roundup of fun and interesting things to keep you busy during the lockdown. With activities collated into those suitable for adults, older and younger children, there’s something there for everyone.
Latest information and advice
If you think you know someone who’d like to receive this e-newsletter, forward it on and they can subscribe here.
The Council has a coronavirus advice webpage which is updated daily with the latest local information for residents and businesses.
You can also follow us on social media using the links below.
|
