Changes to Swale Borough Council Christmas and New Year Recycling and Refuse Collection Dates

Check your collection dates at: www.swale.gov.uk/my-collection-day

Upchurch Matters

Upchurch Parish Council - December 2020 Monthly Meeting Agenda

Upchurch Parish Council will be holding the above meeting via Zoom on Thursday 3rd December 2020 at 7:30pm.

Virtual meetings are open to members of the public.

Anyone wishing to join should contact the Clerk for the login details, they will also be allowed to raise questions or comments to Councillors during public time.

Wendy Licence - Clerk to the Parish Council
Tel: 01622 739324

Email: clerkupc@outlook.com

Website: www.upchurchpc.kentparishes.gov.uk

NHS Kent and Medway CCG - Community Bulletin

Flu vaccines for children 

Doctors in Kent and Medway are urging parents and guardians to make sure their children have a flu vaccine.

This year, two and three year olds, all primary school children, and children in school year 7 will be offered the flu vaccination on the NHS.

For most children the vaccine is a quick and easy spray up the nose, which is quick, painless and simple.

Dr Navin Kumta, Clinical Chair for NHS Kent and Medway Clinical Commissioning Group, said: 

“It is important that parents make sure children are protected as they can easily spread the illness among their friends and family. Flu can be a very unpleasant illness in children causing fever, stuffy nose, dry cough, sore throat, aching muscles and joints, and extreme tiredness. This can last several days or more."

Find out more

Have your say on improving dementia services

Kent and Medway Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) is working with its partners and people living with dementia and their carers to develop a proposal for a new model of dementia care.

We are seeking the views of:

• People living with dementia and their carers so the proposal will be informed by the lived experience of people with dementia.

• Families and carers so we can better understand what the effect can be on their physical and mental health.

• NHS and social care staff, domiciliary carers, care home staff and voluntary organisations to understand how our health care system is working, and to help identify any gaps and improvements.

• The public about how to improve the quality of care provided for people living with dementia.

Find more information and how to give your views

If you have any ideas about how we could gather views, or any other questions about this project, please Email kmccg.engage@nhs.net

Share your cancer treatment experience

NHS England and NHS Improvement are funding research to understand how patients with cancer feel about the care and treatment they receive.

Picker, an independent healthcare research charity based in Oxford carrying out this research, is looking for people aged 16 or older, who had a cancer diagnosis and treatment from the NHS for cancer in the past six months, to take part in a phone or online interview.

If you are interested, find out more on Picker’s website, Email them or phone: 0800 1975 273.

It's good to talk...

This month sees the launch of a new NHS campaign encouraging anyone suffering from anxiety, depression or other issues to come forward for assessment and treatment.

NHS talking therapies, also known as Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT), is a confidential service run by fully trained experts. People can access the service by contacting their GP or refer themselves online.

Claire Murdoch, NHS National Director for Mental Health, said:

“Whether you are a new mum, an older person or struggling with work, please speak to your GP or self-refer online so we can get you the mental health support you need."

To find out more about talking therapies, visit the NHS website: nhs.uk/talk

Read the full bulletin at: https://bit.ly/37v5cF5

NHS Kent and Medway Clinical Commissioning Group

Win a Christmas Stocking Sweetie Cake at Upchurch’s Co-op - Raising Money for MIND

Upchurch’s Co-op is fundraising again for their chosen charity partner this year, MIND - the mental health and support charity.

Win a Christmas Stocking Sweetie Cake*

*All sweeties no actual cake.

Enter in store for £1 per raffle strip - Please ask a member of staff at the till.

The winner will be drawn on Friday the 18th of December.

Good luck 🤞🏼

Read more about MIND at: www.mind.org.uk

Thank you 

Nik - Upchurch’s Co-op

Children’s Christmas Stockings from Father Christmas - Thank You

Thank you so much, everyone.

I have 36 children to provide stockings for. 

Thanks to your generosity, I can provide each child with a Christmas Stocking filled with small toys and treats, at least one larger present and a parcel of books.

I am also able to provide some pamper parcels for the parents who have had a really tough year.

The photo was taken after one carload of presents had already been delivered.

I can no longer accept any more donations as I have plenty now but I just wanted to thank you all for making such a difference to families this Christmas.

Thank you all again!

Cia Merrall

15 Forge Lane, Upchurch

Telephone: 07916 151299

Email: ciamerrall@hotmail.com

KCC Food Vouchers for Eligible Families this Christmas

Kent County Council is developing proposals to provide food vouchers to the families of children who are eligible to receive benefits-related Free School Meals ahead of the December school holidays.

The scheme would be part of a wider range of measures to help the lowest income households with food and fuel costs over winter.

Following on from the council’s half-term holiday food voucher scheme, families with children who are in receipt of benefits-related Free School Meals will receive vouchers to spend in supermarkets without the need to apply for them.

As part of the proposals, the council aims to have all vouchers distributed well in advance of schools breaking up for the festive period.

Leader of Kent County Council, Roger Gough said:

“No child should go hungry at any time of the year but Christmas can put additional financial pressure on families and make it even harder to afford the basics such as food.

“As the half-term voucher scheme was drawing to a close, colleagues and I were already looking towards the December holidays and discussing ways we could improve the offer even further to ensure the families of every child who receives benefits-related Free School Meals during term-time would benefit.

“The half-term scheme was launched, at very short notice, on the first day of the school holidays, after the Parliamentary debate on Free School Meals. The message about the dedicated webpage and helpline was widely shared, the uptake was good, and we distributed more than 20,000 vouchers. However, we have had more time to prepare for the December holidays and I am pleased to say the scheme we now have in place will allow all eligible families to receive their vouchers without having to fill out an application form or make a phone call.

“We hope that by providing these food vouchers we will be easing the pressure on some of Kent’s most vulnerable families at Christmastime, at the end of what has been an extremely difficult year for us all.” 

The food voucher scheme would be funded by part of KCC’s £4.5m share of the Government’s £170m Covid Winter Grant Scheme, which aims to help Local Authorities support children, families, and their most vulnerable residents over the winter.

Families will receive one £15 voucher per eligible child per week of the two-week December holiday, which can be spent online or instore at Asda or instore at Tesco. These are the UK’s two largest supermarket chains that have the biggest distribution of stores across Kent. 

Any family that has not received a voucher by Wednesday, December 9th, and believes their children are eligible, should contact their school in the first instance.

The final proposals, covering the full £4.5m Covid Winter Grant Scheme, will be considered by the Leader of the Council as part of the usual Executive Decision-making process shortly. It is currently intended that over half of the £4.5m will be used to support the Free School Meals voucher scheme. Details of the additional schemes, which will help other residents including families with pre-school aged children, as well as families without children, are still being finalised and will be published as part of the formal decision. The Council continues to move at pace to plan and deliver support where it is most needed as quickly as possible.

KCC plans to launch a similar scheme to provide food vouchers for eligible families during the February half-term break and details will be available in the New Year. 

Meanwhile, the Kent Together helpline and webpage remain open for anyone in the county who is struggling during the pandemic. Any Kent resident who requires support with accessing food, or who has any other urgent needs, can call 03000 41 92 92 or visit www.kent.gov.uk/kenttogether 24 hours a day.

Kent County Council