Category: News

Local Prevent Inspector Pete Dommett attended his last Public Service Meeting of the East Grinstead Town Council on 12th March 2020.

The Inspector was presented a certificate of recognition of his work as the Prevent Police Team lead for Mid Sussex over the past 3 years. Insp Dommett retires from the police force on 19th March.

Pictured with Chairman of the Public Services Committee Cllr Julie Mockford. (picture credit: F Visser)

An update for both Volunteers and Clients

In response to the current, and changing, COVID-19 situation in the UK, the Steering Team of the Foodbank wanted to update you on our emerging plans both for support of Clients as well as keeping our Volunteers safe.

We continue to follow advice and guidance issued by HM Government & Public Health England.

For our Volunteers:

If a volunteer has any symptoms – or has been in contact with someone who has symptoms – please do not come into the Jubilee Community Centre (JCC), please review the latest government advice, and if necessary call 111 and follow their advice. If you need to self-isolate, and subsequently need help yourself, please call the Foodbank mobile on 07983 209940 and we will look to support, subject to available resources. If it comes to those over 70 having to self-isolate, please let us know, in confidence, and we will adjust our rotas accordingly. Your safety is paramount.

For our Clients:

Please also follow the advice as above.

For as long as is possible it will be ‘Business as Usual’. However, we are already experiencing shortages of certain items (see below). We may have to revert to Emergency Food Boxes, if shortages persist. There are no current plans to close the Jubilee Centre, but we have to be aware that this could happen. Whatever happens, subject to available food donations and volunteers, we are looking at a range of options, such as collect only from the Jubilee Centre or deliveries to the most vulnerable. Our Facebook page will have the very latest information at

https://en-gb.facebook.com/foodbankEG/

For our Referral Agencies:

In extremis, you can email us with red vouchers or if you have run out of vouchers, a confidential email giving the same information as per the red voucher plus reasons for food crisis.

Hygiene:

We have handwash, paper towels and surface cleaner readily available in both the Distribution Centre and Warehouse for every session.

We have asked our Distribution Centre Volunteers, if they believe a client is unwell, to request them to leave the JCC and we will arrange safe delivery of food to them subsequently.

We will review advice ahead of every session. We are not trying to alarm, but be pragmatic & sensible. This information will be updated as and when more information becomes available.

Stock update:

We currently need:

• Milk – 1ltr long life green
• Fruit juice -1 ltr long life
• Tinned Carrots
• Washing powder – tablets only (so we can share out)
• Toilet rolls
• Shaving Foam
• Deodorant – both ladies and gents
• Bars of soap
• IN ADDITION we are VERY short of good quality strong BAG-FOR-LIFE type bags. PLEASE add one or two to your donation or recycle some of your old ones?

KEEP WELL & THANK YOU!

This is such good news for East Grinstead; the Town Council along with East Grinstead Disability Access have been disappointed so many times. It looks this time like we may finally get the accessibility issues addressed. We will of course watch how this unfolds.

Read more at… https://www.networkrailmediacentre.co.uk/

(HWRS) in West Sussex will change to their summer opening hours.

This means the sites will stay open for longer to cope with the demand for services, which usually increases over the spring and summer months.

The summer opening hours will run until 30 September and can be checked online from 31 March.

Anyone visiting a HWRS needs to take ID with them to prove they live in West Sussex such as a driving licence. 

If you drive a commercial style vehicle you’ll also need to apply for a permit.

This month, libraries will be celebrating all the ways that books, reading and local libraries can help people stay healthy and well.

Special events taking place include Wellbeing MOT’s, NHS health checks, reminiscence taster sessions, story walks for children and games for families.

The libraries will also have their regular events, which are a great way to help improve your wellbeing on a regular basis. These include Knit and Natter, Relax with Colouring and ‘Melody for the Mind’, a singing group for people with dementia and their carers.

All libraries will also have displays of books chosen by library staff to lift your mood and help you feel better. The genres range from uplifting poetry to non-fiction titles with practical advice for difficult times.

All the events during Wellbeing Month (and throughout the rest of the year) are listed on the libraries page of our website.

If you’re interested in how your council tax will be spent over the coming financial year, you can find out more in our online council tax leaflet.  

Our new agreed budget means council tax will rise in April by 1.99% – plus an additional 2% for adult social care – making a total increase of 3.99%.

This puts the County Council element of an average band D council tax bill at £1,438.74 – or just under £4 per day. This is an increase of around £1 per week compared to last year’s bill.

You council tax makes up 32% of our day-to-day revenue spending. For every pound you give us we spend 35p on adults and health, 26p on education and children’s services, and 16p on environment, highways and infrastructure.

If you’re interested in our budget and where we’re investing money you can find out more in our recent news item.

West Sussex Highways continues to take action against potholes, with 2,479 repairs completed across the county in January alone.

Recent, frequent changes between cold temperatures, to mild/wet weather, and back again, have significantly increased the number of potholes on our roads. With the expansion and contraction caused by temperature change, deterioration will occur, resulting in new potholes.

However, pothole repairs are only part of the picture – we also have a pothole prevention strategy, and:

• resurface whole/large sections of roads, removing all the surface and replacing with a new one on top;
• micro-surface, where a layer of asphalt emulsion is blended with finely-crushed stone to seal the road surface;
• use surface dressing, spraying the road with bitumen binder, followed by a layer of stone chippings which are then rolled in.

In 2019 to 2020, we invested a total of £8.9 million treating 806,000m² of carriageway using these three methods. The draft 2020/21 programme is being finalised but will see further investment in West Sussex’s roads.

If you’re interested finding out more, visit our website for the full news story.

East Grinstead & District Lions Club have decided to cancel the diabetes screening event that was to be held on Saturday 14th March at St Swithuns church hall due to the current uncertain medical conditions faced by the nation.

The Club has a responsibility to both the public and its own members.

The club will endeavour to run the event at a future more settled time.