Swale Borough Council - Community Support Line

People with no-one to help them get food or essential items while they are self-isolating can get support from Swale Borough Council.

The council has set up a community support line to help people who don’t have friends or family around to help whilst they keep themselves, or others, safe from coronavirus.

The support line can help these people with things like collecting their food shopping, or other essential items, so they can stay safe in their homes.

To keep people safe from coronavirus, the government have also asked certain groups to self-isolate, either because they are in high risk groups or because they, or someone they live with, has symptoms of coronavirus.

Most of these people will have a network of support - family, friends and neighbours – who can help them whilst they’re self-isolating, but there will be some who don’t.

There is support from the government for the clinically vulnerable, but this can take time to arrive, and isn’t available to those who are self-isolating because they or someone in their household is displaying symptoms.

This is where the council is stepping in, by working with local volunteers to help these people who have no-one else to turn to for support.

Cllr Roger Truelove, leader of the council, said:

“We all need to be doing the right thing and staying at home unless we have a good reason such as going out for food or essential supplies.

We can also try to help each other by keeping in touch with family, friends and neighbours who may be self-isolating. It might be that you can help them with things like picking up their shopping, or even just being a friendly voice on the end of the phone whilst they’re staying safe at home.

For those who don’t have this kind of support network around them, we have been working with community partners for more than a week to help with things like shopping pick-ups.

Since the county-wide #KentTogether line opened on Wednesday, they’ve sent us more referrals for help than any other Kent district.

This shows how vital it is for us to work together and support each other during this pandemic, and we ask that people only contact us if they don’t have someone to help.

Demand on the service is high and we need to make sure we prioritise those that are most vulnerable and are in greatest need.”

Cllr Richard Palmer, cabinet member for communities at the council, said:

“We are getting regular updates from the government with details of the clinically vulnerable in our area. Over the last 10 days we’ve contacted around 500 people in this group, to make sure they have support in place, and if not, we’ll step in to help.

As this is a fast-changing situation there will be people we don’t yet know about, which is why we’re asking them to call us so they can stay safe and well at home.

We’ve had a fantastic support from the local community – from local groups, organisations, and volunteers – and it heart-warming to see how people from all walks of life are willing to roll up their sleeves and help people they’ve never met before.”

The community support line is available on 01795 417525 and can offer help to people who are:

• over 70

• under 70 with underlying health conditions

• self-isolating because they, or someone they live with, have symptoms of coronavirus

and have no friends or family nearby who can help with things like food shopping or topping up prepay meters.

The line is open from:

• 9:00am to 5:00pm Monday to Thursday

• 9:00am to 4:30pm Friday

• 10:00am to 2:00pm Saturday and Sunday, and bank holidays.

Outside these times people can contact the Kent Together helpline on 03000 41 92 92 or at www.kent.gov.uk/KentTogether

For more information, visit www.swale.gov.uk/community-response

Swale Borough Council

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Four Seasons of a Tree

“There was a man who had four sons. He wanted his sons to learn not to judge things too quickly. So, he sent them each on a quest, in turn, to go and look at a pear tree that was a great distance away. The first son went in the winter, the second in the spring, the third in summer, and the youngest son in the autumn.

When they had all gone and come back, he called them together to describe what they had seen. The first son said that the tree was ugly, bent, and twisted. The second son said no it was covered with green buds and full of promise. The third son disagreed; he said it was laden with blossoms that smelled so sweet and looked so beautiful, it was the most graceful thing he had ever seen. The last son disagreed with all of them; he said it was ripe and drooping with fruit, full of life and fulfilment.

The man then explained to his sons that they were all right, because they had each seen but only one season in the tree's life. He told them that you cannot judge a tree, or a pe
rson, by only one season, and that the essence of who they are and the pleasure, joy, and love that come from that life can only be measured at the end, when all the seasons are up.

If you give up when it's winter, you will miss the promise of your spring, the beauty of your summer, fulfilment of your autumn.”

William J. Little

Editor - The Gabriel Church Supplement

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Service Update: Swale Borough Council - Garden Waste Collections

We’re incredibly grateful for people’s understanding of the cancellation of our garden waste service last week.

This helped our contractors focus on making sure that general waste, recycling and food waste bins are being collected.

Following the pause in garden waste collections, we are now looking to reinstate the brown bin service from Tuesday 7th April.

Unfortunately we will not be able to catch up on the brown bins that have been missed up to this point, and we will be starting fresh on the usual schedule from Tuesday (7th April 2020). The fortnight that has been missed will be added to the end of your current subscription.

We would appreciate it if people could share this message with friends and neighbours who use the service but may not see this update.

We will continue to prioritise general waste, recycling and food waste, so there may continue to be disruptions to garden waste collections, but if you leave your bin out we will try to collect it as soon as possible. The crews will work hard to try and deliver the brown bin service over the coming weeks, and there will be a number of new employees to help with this task, so please bear with us if the service is intermittent.

We want to thank everyone for their patience and understanding during these difficult times. We will continue to update you with any service disruptions on social media and our website.

Swale Borough Council
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KCC - Pandemic Forces Changes to Registering a Death

The process for registering a death in Kent has changed, due to the current Coronavirus pandemic. These changes are as a result of the Government’s legislative changes to support the fight against Coronavirus and will be coming in across the country.

It is no longer possible to book an appointment to register a death in person; instead this will now be carried out by telephone.

The process begins by making an online application here: www.kent.gov.uk/births-ceremonies-and-deaths/deaths/register-a-death. A registrar will then contact you by telephone to complete the process.

You must have a Medical Cause of Death Certificate (MCCD) from the doctor before you can register a death. With this new approach your GP surgery, hospital or hospice will have already sent KCC a copy of the MCCD, along with your details, which then the registration service will use to contact you to complete the registration. If anyone has received the MCCD form and not registered the death, then they will need to go to the website or call KCC’s contact centre and the procedure will be explained.

KCC’s registration service is working to complete registrations as quickly as possible and apologises for any delays anyone experiences due to the current circumstance.

The people who can register a death are: a relative of the deceased; a person who was present at the death; an administrator from the hospital where the person died; a person arranging the funeral; or the funeral director.

The registration service is free of charge, although there is a charge for buying copies of the death certificate, which can be discussed on the phone with the registrar.

After the registration entry is complete, the registrar will send by Email a certificate for burial or cremation (form 9) a green form to the funeral director or the crematorium. If the death has been referred to the Coroner and the funeral is a cremation, the equivalent form will be sent by the Coroner to your funeral director.

Birth registrations are currently on hold until further notice due to the current Coronavirus pandemic.

Murray Evans
Kent County Council

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KCC - Concern over Increased Use of Rights of Way

The number of people visiting the Kent countryside to get their exercise walking the county’s rural footpaths has shown a big increase since the Covid-19 restrictions were put in place.

However, KCC’s Public Rights of Way service says some landowners are concerned about an increased risk to livestock, such as instances of gates being left open and dogs not being controlled.

There are also concerns that the use of public rights of way through gardens, farmyards and schools is increasing the risk of exposure to the coronavirus to residents and farm workers, but this risk is considered to be very low, as long as people follow the Government’s instructions to maintain social distancing.

Landowners do not have the legal right to block or obstruct public rights of way. However, in very limited circumstances where large numbers of people are using such routes, landowners may consider the following measures:

• Tying gates open if it is safe to do so, so that walkers do not need to touch them;

• Temporarily displaying polite notices that encourage users to respect local residents and workers by following social distancing guidelines and consider using alternative routes that do not pass through gardens, farmyards or schools; and

• Offering an alternative route around gardens and farmyards only where it is safe to do so.

Murray Evans
Kent County Council

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UPDATE - Some Helping Hands for Upchurch

With the news that some villagers have gone into self-isolation, I just wanted to update everyone on our work in the community so far.

We have delivered over 30 bags of shopping now and collected over 25 prescriptions and medications.

We are also supporting the local Foodbank by supplementing their parcels for those who need it.

We are still here if you know someone who is running low on food or needs medication collected from the Doctors Surgery in Oak Lane.

Please let me know if you know of anyone who may be on their own and needs some support, a phone call or a care package.

We can be reached on: 07916 151299

We will be continuing to run as community support for anyone who needs us alongside the Swale Borough Council scheme to support those residents who are shielded.

Many thanks to those who have already donated.

Please take care of everyone.

Thank you

Cia Merrall

15 Forge Lane, Upchurch

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