Health partners and providers, local authorities and emergency services across Kent and Medway are working together to provide information on local support services to help people’s mental wellbeing during the ongoing Coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic crisis.
Information is available at www.kent.gov.uk/wellbeing for people experiencing bereavement and loss, debt and financial difficulties, pregnant women and new mums needing extra support, families looking for help with young children or teenagers.
There is support for those who might already have pre-existing mental health conditions, are victims of domestic abuse or are people in the shielded community.
The site also offers help for people with learning disabilities, people who don’t use English as a first language, carers and NHS staff, care staff and other key workers.
Kent County Council Director of Public Health, Andrew Scott-Clark said:
“The challenging reality of lockdown is creating uncertainty and anxiety for many. The constant news can feel overwhelming and you may be adjusting to a different way of life, with children off school, many people not working or working from home, as well as not seeing family, friends and colleagues.
This anxiety is natural, and we are all feeling it. Fortunately, there are things that we can do to protect our mental health and to support the wellbeing of our friends and family. At www.kent.gov.uk/wellbeing you can find information, advice and signposting to other great sites which can help, whatever your situation and need. This is #kenttogether.”
Kent and Medway NHS and Social Care Partnership Trust
Live Well Kent
Healthwatch Kent
Kent Community Foundation
Headstart Kent
Carers UK
Kent’s Integrated Domestic Abuse Support Services
KCC Children’s Centres
Citizen’s Advice
Age Concern.
As part of the Release the Pressure campaign, a new text service is now available - by texting the word “Kent” or “Medway” to 85258, you will start a conversation with one of the many trained and experienced volunteers who can give support at any time, wherever you are. It’s a place to go if you’re struggling to cope and you need immediate help. Texts are free on all major mobile networks and the service is provided by SHOUT and the Crisis Text Line.
The service will run in addition to the current 24/7 freephone helpline and is funded by the Kent and Medway Sustainability and Transformation Partnership (STP) which is a collaboration between Kent County Council, Medway Council, Kent and Medway NHS and Social Care Partnership Trust and all the NHS organisations across Kent and Medway.
Vulnerable people in Kent who need urgent help, supplies or medication are also reminded of the helpline - called Kent Together - which provides a single, convenient point of contact for anyone in the county who is in urgent need of help during the Coronavirus outbreak. It is a collaboration between KCC, central Government, District, Borough and local councils, the voluntary and community sector, the NHS and other partners to ensure help is at hand for vulnerable people.
If you are vulnerable and have an urgent need that cannot be met through existing support networks, you can contact the Kent Together helpline at www.kent.gov.uk/kenttogether or by calling on 03000 41 92 92. It is a 24-hour service.
While working onsite in Keycol Hill, our contractor has encountered some engineering difficulties. In close consultation with Kent County Council we need to extend our work at this location until Tuesday 5th May.
Upon completion of our engineering work we’ll begin our process of reinstatement. For everyone’s safety, the A2/Keycol Hill westbound lane will remain reduced and restricted to access only for smaller vehicles and deliveries. All other motorists will need to follow the signed diversion route in place.
We’re continuing to plan further phases of our work in consultation with Kent County Council. For our next phase we’ll be working in between No.102 High Street and Boyces Hill. We’ll provide details of our plans once confirmed.
I apologise for any inconvenience these changes may cause and we will be doing everything we can to minimise disruption and complete our replacement as safely and quickly as possible.
If you have any further queries please let me know.
Members of Medway Council’s Planning Committee have this evening granted outline planning permission by 5 to 2 for up to 202 new homes in Rainham North Ward, on land known locally as Woolley's Orchard - the former Boot Fair field on the Lower Rainham Road, Rainham - subject to section 106 agreement and conditions.
In June 2018, landowners Peel Investments North Limited submitted outline planning application: MC/18/1796 (all matters reserved except access) for the development of up to 202 residential dwellings (Use Class C3), open space, landscaping (including Sustainable Urban Drainage), access, up to 455 car parking spaces and associated works. Land South of Lower Rainham Road, Rainham, Gillingham Medway ME8 7UD.
The Leader of Swale Borough Council has today welcomed the announcement of improved funding from Government to meet the Council’s extra costs in dealing with the coronavirus (COVID-19) crisis.
Cllr Roger Truelove said:
“The first time round we got only £75K support and this was instantly swallowed up in meeting the costs of increased homelessness and in funding the Community Support Hub in the way the Government demanded.
This time there is a much better settlement for district councils, and we are due to receive £1.5 million, the third highest for a district council in Kent.
I am pleased that the Government has listened to district council leaders across the country and recognised the serious challenges to our level of local government.
But we mustn’t delude ourselves, this will only reduce the extent to which we have to raid our reserves.
So far, and we do not know how long this will last, we are set to be £4 million down on our adopted budget for this year. We are losing very significant areas of income and incurring unexpected increases in expenditure.
“The voluntary groups that are doing such a fine job in supporting the community support hub are running short of funds and that is why we are asking generous local people to back our crowd funding project.”
Swale Borough Council has launched an appeal to raise money for the voluntary and community groups helping support local people during the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak.
The Swale Community Response is crowdfunding to support the many local groups working to make sure vulnerable local people can stay safe at home to keep themselves safe.
Cllr Richard Palmer, cabinet member for community, said:
“There are thousands of people across the borough who have been told they need to isolate at home for 12 weeks because they are more likely to need hospital treatment if they catch coronavirus.
Most have a network of support who can help with delivering food and essential supplies.
Unfortunately, many don’t, which is where we, and a small army of volunteers, are stepping in to help.
The voluntary and community groups helping us with food parcels, collecting shopping, and picking up prescriptions, are under huge pressure and need all of our support.
If you are able to, even a small donation will help them continue their work.”
The council has been working with local voluntary and community groups to help with food, prescriptions and other essential supplies.
All money raised will go directly to the voluntary groups that are helping us keep local vulnerable people safe.
Spacehive, the funding platform being used, have waived their fees to host the appeal.
While we’re currently unable to explore Medway’s riverside and rural areas, a team dedicated to protecting the wildlife in the Thames, Medway and Swale estuaries has been bringing residents the sights and sounds across north Kent.
Bird Wise, a partnership of local authorities - including Medway Council - as well as environmental organisations, is helping residents stay in touch with Medway’s magnificent settings.
Using its social media channels, Bird Wise has been posting photos and videos of spectacular scenes across Medway during their one piece of daily exercise.
Cllr Howard Doe, Medway Council’s Portfolio Holder for Community Services, said:
“Although residents and visitors are currently unable to visit the North Kent marshes I am pleased that Bird Wise are sharing the sights and sounds of spring. I would encourage residents to visit their social media pages and find out more about their valuable work.”
For more information visit: www.birdwise.org.uk or follow the team on social media,
Frontline staff from across Kent and Medway are leading this weekend’s stay-at-home appeal to residents during the ongoing lockdown, as part of potentially life-saving measures against the spread of Coronavirus (Covid-19).
A short video of key workers from across the county is aiming to flood social media channels today as emergency services, local councils, health partners and essential service providers from across the Kent Resilience Forum are again uniting to remind everyone to follow the Government’s advice by staying safe at home and only going out for essentials trips.
Those taking part in the #KentTogether campaign include a Kent Police officer, an NHS nurse, a doctor, a KCC community warden, local council workers, search and rescue and coastguard volunteers, water and power company employees, and many staff who are contributing to keeping vital services running during the Covid-19 lockdown.
A spokesman at Swale Borough Council said:
“We have our teams out every day working hard to keep beaches, country parks, play areas and all of your favourite places maintained ready for when the social distancing restrictions are gradually reduced.
We want to thank everyone who has been following the rules carefully and staying home.
Unfortunately, there’s a small minority who think these rules don’t apply to them. We would all love to get back to some form of normality and enjoy going out to these public places, but unless everyone stays at home now, it will be longer until we can all enjoy them again.
We want to remind everyone that heading to the beach, parks or play areas to relax this weekend is not an essential journey.
Help keep key workers safe and stay at home this weekend.”
Everyone must stay at home to help stop the spread of coronavirus.
You must only leave your home:
• To shop for basic essentials – only when you really need to.
• To do one form of exercise a day - such as a run, walk or cycle, alone or with other people you live with.
• For any medical need – for example, to visit a pharmacy or deliver essential supplies to a vulnerable person.
• To travel to and from work – but only where this is absolutely necessary.
•When out to stay two metres (six feet) away from other people.
Are you experiencing any problems with collecting your prescription(s) then I may be able to help you.
My name is Jan Bunting and I am the Clerk to the PPG (Patient Participation Group) at the Doctors Surgery in Oak Lane, Upchurch.
For the past 4 years I have been a driver with Hands & Gillingham Volunteer Centre and assist with transport and on the help desk. I also have a current enhanced DBS certificate through Medway Council. I have been registered with Medway Council for food parcel delivery to homes and also to collect prescriptions from Pharmacies in the Rainham and Gillingham areas.
If you are a patient of either Upchurch or Rainham and would like me to deliver your medication to your home address (with the Doctors permission) then please contact me on the telephone number below.
Superheroes Manager David and his colleagues at Upchurch's Co-op will dress as superheroes to say thank you to our NHS, emergency services and all key workers for the great work they are doing, and to help brilliant local charity My Shining Star raise much needed funds during the Coronavirus pandemic with a collection in-store. Look out for your favourite superhero tomorrow, Thursday 23rd and next Thursday 30th April. Please send in your thank you pictures David would like to decorate his front window display next week, covering it with all the children's lovely "thank you pictures". If you would like your picture put on display, please ask an adult to drop it off to a member of staff for you during their essential shopping trip. Thank you Upchurch Spider-Man is more than welcome to visit too while he is allowed out for his daily run - his one exercise session each day. My Shining Star Children's Cancer Charity
Supporting families through the financial trauma of childhood cancer.
For the benefit, the relief and assistance of the public, specifically families in need of support when their children are diagnosed with cancer, in any part of the UK, who require financial aid and advice, by providing them with medical expenses/advice, housing support, travel expenses, fundraising advice/support and guidance with any other issues that arise as a direct result of their child’s diagnoses.
The long term goal of the charity will be to fund medical treatment currently unavailable in the UK, extending options for life expectancy, and funding future medical research to increase survival rates.
We are continuing to replace our old gas mains with new plastic pipe along the A2, Newington to ensure a safe and reliable gas supply.
I’m pleased to share we have completed our phase of work in the High Street earlier than planned. To minimise future disruptions for the local community we collaborated with Kent County Council allowing them to carry out resurfacing works within our temporary road closure. They’ve now completed their project and we will be able to safely reopen the High Street to local traffic and smaller vehicles by tomorrow afternoon.
Our engineers continue to upgrade our network in Keycol Hill at Key Street roundabout. For everyone’s safety the A2/Keycol Hill westbound lane remains reduced and restricted to access only for smaller vehicles and deliveries. All other motorists will need to follow the signed diversion route in place.
The official diversion route for HGV’s remains in place via A2, A249 > M2 > Hoath Way > A2. We would encourage all commuters to please, plan ahead and allow extra time for your journey.
We continue to plan further phases of our work in consultation with Kent County Council. We’ll provide details of our plans once confirmed. Updates about our project can be found on our dedicated page at sgn.co.uk
We would like to thank residents, businesses and road users for their continued patience and understanding while we carry out this essential work.
If you have any further questions, please let me know.
Because of works on overhead power lines, Kent County Council has made an order to prohibit through traffic on 2 roads in Swale, as per the below:
20/07/20 to 16/08/20 - Boxted Lane, Newington - between Breach Lane and Church View Cottages.
The alternative route is via Breach Lane, The Street, Sheerness Road, Basser Hill, Iwade Road and vice versa.
20/07/20 to 16/08/20 - Wardwell Lane, Lower Halstow - between School Lane and Newington Enterprise Centre.
The alternative route is via Breach Lane, The Street, Sheerness Road, Basser Hill, Iwade Road and vice versa.
For information regarding these closures please contact Kent County Council on: 03000 418181, who will be able to assist with the scope of the works. For details of roadworks, see: https://one.network Kent County Council - Highways, Transportation & Waste
Cabinet is being asked to approve Swale Borough Council’s action plan to tackle the climate and ecological emergency around the borough.
The action plan outlines the steps the council will take towards making their operation carbon neutral by 2025, followed by the borough in 2030, in areas including transport, air quality, buildings, ecology and biodiversity, resource consumption and waste.
The decision whether to approve the action plan will be made at the council’s cabinet meeting later this month on Earth Day (22nd Apr).
Earth Day is an international day of action held each year to encourage people to come together and drive transformative change for the people and the planet.
Cllr Tim Valentine, cabinet member for the environment at the council, said:
“We declared a climate emergency last year and committed to draw up an action plan that would take us towards our goal of making our own operations carbon neutral by 2025, and the borough by 2030.
The action plan outlines how we will provide leadership, engage with businesses, organisations and residents, and improve the energy efficiency of our transport system, housing and council properties.
It also outlines how we will work to safeguard our wild places, ancient woodlands and hedgerows.
Since we took office last year, we have planted 2,500 trees, had our air quality action plan approved by the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (DEFRA) and plan to replace our current fleet with new electric vehicles later this year.
If approved, the climate and ecological emergency action plan will give us a clear path forward to lobby for powers, resources and funding from the government to help us reach our targets.
We are committed to reaching our targets but cannot do it alone, and will look to work closely with our partners, Kent County Council, businesses, schools and local community groups to help us deliver the actions in the plan.”
We’ve expanded the support available for customers during the current pandemic. These measures are in addition to the support we already offer. Information about all the support we offer can be found here
We’re continually reviewing the support we offer and urge any customer struggling to pay to get in touch, let us know and find out how we can support them.
Additional support we’re offering
We know the current crisis will have a financial impact on many of our customers so we’ve increased the support we offer to people in vulnerable circumstances.
◼︎Three-month payment breaks for any customer impacted by the virus ◼︎ Automatic renewal of support tariffs so customers don’t need to worry about reapplying ◼︎ Accepting referrals to our priority services register from trusted third-parties, such as councils, emergency services and Citizens Advice, and family members
Registering for support
Given the unusually large volumes of calls we are experiencing, the best way to contact us is:
◼︎ Essentials provides a discount for customers on low incomes or pension credit ◼︎ WaterSure caps bills when a customer on means-tested benefits has a water meter and meets certain criteria, such as having certain medical conditions or 3 children under 19 ◼︎ Water Direct allows Jobcentre Plus to pay Southern Water directly from a customer’s benefits ◼︎ NewStart helps reduce debt for customers who owe money or haven’t made a payment for a while
Customers may be eligible for multiple financial support schemes, depending on their circumstances. More information about all of these, including the criteria for them, is on our website at southernwater.co.uk/account/help-paying-your-bill
We’re providing regular updates through our Twitter and Facebook pages, so please check those regularly for the latest updates.
Medway Libraries are closed but you can still get access to a wide range of resources and downloadable apps. Medway library members have free 24/7 access to 1000's of new and classic titles as eAudio books, eBooks, along with the latest magazines, newspapers and comics, in addition to Oxford Reference Online, Dictionary of National Biography, OED and all 3 Britannicas Online and much more.
You will always have access to all the latest book releases, treasured classics, newspapers, magazines, comics and more from your local Medway Library.
And if you or someone you know aren't already members you can sign up online today, it's a quick and simple process giving you access to all their online materials.
Don’t worry about your library account or any materials you currently have on loan.
Medway Libraries have made the following change to their service to help during the current Coronavirus situation, these changes will be in place until further notice:
• All loans and renewals will be increased to 8 weeks
• You can renew loans up to 15 times
• All cards due to expire will automatically be renewed for another year
• Any overdue charges and fines will be waived • The online reservation service for physical books has been suspended, however, it is still possible to reserve items from the e-Library
• Unfortunately the system for borrowing books from partner libraries has had to be suspended
