Category: News

On 19 March, the Government updated its guidance for educational settings, which now asks that parents should keep their children at home, wherever possible. It also asks that schools remain open only for those children who absolutely need to attend.

West Sussex schools are being asked to continue to provide care for a limited number of children – children who are vulnerable, whose parents are key workers and critical to the COVID-19 response, and children who cannot be safely cared for at home. Definitions of ‘vulnerable children’ and ‘key workers’ are provided in the guidance.

The Government has also published further information for parents and carers about the closure of schools and other educational settings, which will continue to be regularly updated.

West Sussex County Council’s Public Health team is working closely with Public Health England (PHE), which is leading the national COVID-19 response and providing messaging for the public.

The latest Department of Health & Social Care and Public Health England information on COVID-19 is available to read on the Government website.

Public Health England has a regularly updated blog to answer many frequently asked questions.

You can help prevent the spread of germs and infection by following NHS advice:

• wash your hands with soap and water often – do this for at least 20 seconds
• always wash your hands when you get home or into work
• use hand sanitiser gel if soap and water are not available
• cover your mouth and nose with a tissue or your sleeve (not your hands) when you cough or sneeze
• put used tissues in the bin straight away and wash your hands afterwards
• try to avoid close contact with people who are unwell

Find out about how the coronavirus is affecting West Sussex on our website.

We remain concerned about the elderly and those with underlying conditions which make them more vulnerable to the Covid-19 virus and are living in the East Grinstead.

From Monday 24th September our helpline which began back in March is no longer collecting and delivering shopping, but there are local groups who can help if you cannot get an online or telephone order from the supermarkets. We are continuing to collect ad hoc prescriptions, for those who are isolating and have no one to collect for them. If you have a regular prescription we ask that you arrange delivery from your pharmacy (there may be an annual charge). Please note that we may not be able to go the collect the same day, it might be the following working day.   

The number to dial will be 01342 323636 and press 1 if you are in one of the vulnerable groups.  This help line will be operating from 9am–4pm Monday to Friday. If we can help or direct you to the right people we will.

All our volunteers who deliver are coming from established organisations and will have ID.

The initiative (East Grinstead Emergency Action Group) has been being coordinated by several groups and businesses in the town including the Mug Tree and the Town Council.

The council website will also include a list of restaurants and food businesses who are now offering a delivery service.

There will be a gradual reduction in train services from the 23 March to culminate in a fully amended timetable from Monday 30 March.

To manage and protect train services for key workers, the UK rail industry is introducing a revised train timetable that is expected to be sustainable in this scenario. Our staff will keep people moving.

This timetable will be introduced gradually from Monday 23 March 2020 and will culminate in a revised timetable from Monday 30 March 2020. The timetable will remain in effect until further notice.

Information for customers to plan their journeys will be available on the homepage of any of our websites:

• www.southernrailway.com
• www.thameslinkrailway.com
• www.greatnorthernrail.com
• www.gatwickexpress.com

To provide a sense of what to anticipate, the fully revised timetable from the 30 March onwards will be an adaption of the existing Sunday timetable, with earlier start and later finish times to provide extra services for key workers.

This timetable provides existing customer familiarity and enables GTR to introduce a timetable with known driver planning, routes, train timings and interactions at sections of constrained infrastructure such as the Thameslink core between St Pancras International and London Blackfriars. It also means that interactions and connections with other non-GTR operated train services are known, robust, understood and stress-tested plans exist.

Tickets and refunds

Information on tickets and refunds is available on our websites, such as this link on the Southern webpage: https://www.southernrailway.com/travel-information/plan-your-journey/coronavirus-information

GTR are working closely with the Department for Transport to deliver our approach and have agreed the following changes:

Day tickets such as Anytime, Off-Peak or Super Off-Peak fares can be refunded in full without any administration charges if purchased directly from GTR (e.g. at a ticket office, via our websites etc). Third-party retailers such as trainline.com may have different policies.

Advance fares such as Southern £5 advance fares (purchased for specific dates and times) can be exchanged for an alternative journey free of charge.

Under current policy, the customer relations team is ensuring that annual season ticket holders that expect to travel more than forty weeks per calendar year in future are making as informed a choice as possible in the circumstances before opting for a refund.

This is because annual season tickets are priced on the value of forty weeks of weekly season tickets, with twelve weeks free. This means that for a refund, our customer services team will work out how much it would have cost a customer to travel up to the point when they stopped using their season ticket using weekly season tickets. We will then refund the difference between that amount and how much a customer paid for their season ticket. Employer season ticket loan schemes are usually paid in ten, rather than twelve instalments to account for how the system works.

The England Illegal Money Lending Team (IMLT) recognise that this period may be one of increased financial pressure for some people. The Team is fully committed to ensuring that illegal money lenders (loan sharks) do not take advantage and profit from other people’s hardship.

The Stop Loan Sharks helpline service (0300 555 2222) remains open and fully operational during the COVID-19 pandemic. We encourage not only victims but friends, family members and the wider community to come forward if they suspect someone is suffering at the hands of a loan shark.