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This bulletin is designed to keep you up-to-date with how Havering Council and our borough is responding to COVID-19
 Yesterday, I was pleased to join the country in applauding our brave NHS workers and carers.
Here in Havering we were proud to light up the Town Hall blue to show our support.
Next Thursday, I would like you to join me in clapping for not just our health service, but also for the hidden heroes in Havering. Let’s show our love to those fantastic frontline staff and the ones behind the scenes making sure your council is there for you during this crisis.
I hope we are reassuring you that we are doing all we can to get us through this unprecedented time. But we can’t do it alone. We need to do it together.
I would like to thank everyone who continues to follow the government advice for social distancing. I know it is not easy to be apart from family, loved ones and friends this Easter weekend. It will be tempting to break the rules. I plead with everyone, don’t do it. We must be resolute and we must all do our bit to stay at home, protect the NHS and save lives.
Cllr Damian White
Leader, Havering Council
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For all the latest information see our website or follow us via our facebook and twitter channels if you can.
You can find details of any confirmed changes to Council services, as a consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic, on the service disruption pages on our website.
Over this long Easter weekend we will be delivering a printed information booklet called"Good to know" to all homes in the borough. This is to ensure everyone is kept informed of changes to Council services and who to contact for help, if required.
A telephone number given for the Collier Row Foodbank on page 9 of the booklet is incorrect. The correct number for the Collier Row & Romford Foodbank is 07548 674958. You can also email them or visit their website.
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 Havering Council is running a free-to-call helpline for residents with urgent needs because of coronavirus. If you are experiencing a crisis such as no prospect of obtaining food or medicine, call us.
The helpline - 0800 368 5201 - is for emergencies only and will be answered by staff redeployed from other Council services. You can call between 8.30am and 6pm on weekdays and 11am and 4pm at the weekend.
You can also email: covid19support@havering.gov.uk.
Havering Council has plans in place to keep vital frontline services running.
Other services will be subject to change.
Grounds Maintenance Service
The grass cutting service has been suspended but we will maintain enough resources to enable us to respond to any emergencies, manage line of sight issues caused by roadside grass verges and shrubs, and continue to clear litter in our parks.
Our enforcement team will continue to make sure people are behaving responsibly in our parks.
School places
Despite the COVID-19 crisis, parents with children can be reassured that the offer of Reception and Junior places for the September 2020 intake will still go ahead as planned this coming Thursday,16 April.
School outcomes will be sent by eAdmissions via email that evening.
In the past Yahoo, AOL, Hotmail and BT internet email providers have not always delivered the outcome emails to parents.
To make sure you can receive notifications and your outcome, parents can download the free ParentComms app via the Apple AppStore, Google Play or Windows Phone Store and register using your eAdmissions username and password.
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 From tattoo artists to pre-schools, businesses across the borough have responded to Havering Council’s urgent request for personal protective equipment (PPE) to help tackle the COVID-19 crisis.
Thousands of items such as plastic aprons, bottles of hand sanitizer and latex gloves are amongst the equipment generously donated to the Council to support volunteers.
 We have a team of officers patrolling our parks this Bank Holiday weekend to encourage compliance with social distancing measures.
Stencils have also been added to path and roadways in many of our parks to remind everyone to keep 2 metres away from anyone who is not living in your household.
We are keeping parks open for those who don’t have their own personal outside space in which to take exercise. We encourage those who don’t need to use our parks to remain at home.
Businesses in Havering have already received £2.3 million in grant money, as part of the government’s unprecedented support for businesses during the COVID-19 crisis.
The Business Support Grants, available to businesses in receipt of either Small Business Rate Relief (SBRR) or Retail Discount Relief, are designed to help businesses that are struggling due to loss of earnings.
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It's really important that we all understand the advice on isolation to protect vulnerable people, and limit the chance of spreading the COVID-19 virus.
The graphic below shows you what should happen in a four person household if a person develops the symptoms of having the coroanavirus such as a high temperature or a new, continuous cough.
Havering Volunteer Centre is co-ordinating the work of our volunteers and requests for support in the borough, working tirelessly to match volunteers with suitable roles to help the most vulnerable residents in our community.
Havering Council is supporting these efforts with a £500,000 financial package to help adult social care providers, personal assistants and voluntary sector care providers to ‘keep caring’ as they provide a front line response to coronavirus.
If you are lonely, or just in need of a chat with a friendly voice, the Volunteer Centre have Befriending Volunteers that will give you a call. Call 01708 922214 to be connected with a Befriender.
If you have new toiletries, books, quiz books or magazines to support our loneliest vulnerable residents then the Centre would love to receive them.
You can donate these, following safety guidelines around social distancing, at the Havering Volunteer Centre, Community Reach House, 32-34 The High Street, Romford RM1 1HR.
Please call 01708 922214 before you go to the office, so they can advise you when the best time would be to deliver.
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With the lovely spring weather you may be tempted to have a bonfire but a few words of warning.
You must never burn household rubbish, rubber tyres or anything containing plastic, foam or paint. If you burn rubbish that causes a nuisance, we may issue an ‘abatement notice’ and ask you to pay a fine.
Under the Environmental Protection Act 1990, smoke emitted from a bonfire may be prejudicial to health or a nuisance. Please see our web page on what would constitute a statutory nuisance, and how to report it. www.havering.gov.uk/pollution.
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Local residents have been sending us their tips on how to beat boredom during the COVID-19 lockdown.
Julie emailed living@havering.gov.uk to say:
"I have Parkinson's, amongst other health conditions. During the lockdown, one thing I have taken up doing, to keep myself busy, is making soap, using essential oils."
And very fine they look too Julie.
Jay from Romford wrote:
"I am writing a fiction magic based book and am half way through it which I will upload to Amazon Kindle. I am also doing digital art so will design the front cover of my book.
"There is an App on Google play Store where you all have virtual dinner together something to consider this very not-feeling-like-Easter Sunday.
"How about having a national "Thank goodness it is over" public holiday once the Coronavirus is done? Imagine a party in every park across Britain to celebrate. We can hug each other again."
How are you beating the coronavirus blues? Let us, and Havering, know. Send your tips, with your name, to living@havering.gov.uk.
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Join us for our first Facebook Q&A session for businesses this coming Tuesday,14 April.
As part of our support for local businesses during the COVID-19 outbreak, Cllr Damian White, Leader of Havering Council, will be answering questions via Havering's Facebook page, joined by colleagues from the Economic Development and Business Rates teams.
This is your chance to speak directly with the Council and get answers to any questions or concerns you have during this unprecedented time.
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Do you want to say thank you to our frontline worker and heroes?
We have five £10 Amazon gift vouchers to giveaway to children who send us their best thank you card designs.
To enter, all you need to do is send us your drawings saying thank you to our Heroes and include our hashtag #HaveringHeroes, by this Monday,13 April.
Members of our various frontline teams will choose the top five and each winner will receive a £10 voucher.
The winners' thank you cards will be published on all of our social media platforms and in this Living in Havering bulletin.
To take part please email your design to: events@havering.gov.uk by Monday.
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We have a face painting class on Saturday lunchtime, and Poppy, our Arts and Crafts tutor, will be online this Sunday,12 April, to show you how to make bird decorations and a flower collage for Easter.
There are other activities that you can join in with online taking place on each day of the long Easter weekend.
Due to the Easter holidays, collections of your black and orange sacks will be one day later than usual next week.
There will be no collections on Easter Monday.
So if your black and orange sacks are usually collected on a Monday, please make sure you put them out by 7am on Tuesday morning.
Please see page 8 of the Good to Know booklet, that will be dropping through your letterbox over the long weekend, for full details.
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