Dates for

your Diary June & July 2020

Parish Council

Meeting

The next meeting is scheduled for the 6th July 2020. The Parish Council is currently making a decision as to how this meeting will be held and whether it will be public.

The decision will be communicated via an email, Facebook and the village website.

Longney & Epney

Parish Newsletter June & July 2020

We are still living in very strange times, restrictions are beginning to be lifted, but the advice is to Stay Alert to control the virus and continue to save lives and see the number of cases reduce further.

Below is the latest statement from Stroud District Council

Do the right thing - protect your community and keep Stroud District safe

Stroud District Council leaders are uniting in calling for everyone to keep doing the right thing and protect our communities from the Coronavirus, as some aspects of lockdown ease.

“Although some elements of the lockdown are easing, the threat posed by this deadly virus remains very real,” said Stroud District Council Leader Doina Cornell. “Most people have observed all the guidelines and rules, and communities have come together so well to make sure our most vulnerable residents are protected.

“As the leaders of all four main political groups at SDC, we are united in thanking everyone who has done the right thing and continues to do so - but now we are at a key point. Although we can now get out more, we still need to do as much as we can to prevent the spread of the Coronavirus.”

She urged everyone to follow the new Government guidelines:

✔️Stay at home as much as possible

✔️Work from home if you can

✔️Limit contact with other people

✔️Keep your distance if you go out (2 metres apart where possible)

✔️Wash your hands regularly

✔️Do not leave home if you or anyone in your household has symptoms.

❌Changes have been introduced but we still cannot visit friends and family

inside their homes. Also we cannot stay away overnight except for a limited set of circumstances, nor use outdoor gyms or playgrounds; nor gather outdoors in a group of more than six (excluding members of your own household).

A new regional COVID-19 testing centre is set to open at Hempsted Meadow, Gloucester from 5 June – anyone who has symptoms should book a test straightaway.

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Dog Fouling

This is still an ongoing issue in the village, possibly exasperated by the number of visitors from other areas. It appears to be a particular problem on the footpath along from the Anchor towards Longney.

Lots of litter is also being collected from the river bank during the warm weather from what looks like picnics and social gatherings. Beer bottles and boxes, food wrappers etc!

Also, it can be hard to know what to do if you're not well due to a non-Corona-virus illness, but NHS services still want and expect to be contacted. These are the best ways:

👩‍⚕‍ If you have an illness that won’t go away, contact your family doctor – use

your GP surgery's website, the NHS app, or call the surgery

👨‍⚕‍ If you need urgent help, when your GP surgery is closed, call NHS 111

👩‍⚕‍ For life-threatening emergencies – call 999 for an ambulance.

👨‍⚕‍ If you are not sure where to turn, you can use the www.nhs.uk website,

NHS app or the local www.asapglos.nhs.uk website, or ASAP Glos NHS app.

The NHS in Gloucestershire has also developed a new on-line portal to pro-vide advice to the public during the Covid-19 pan-demic: https://covid19.glos.nhs.uk/

Stroud District Council will continue to support local residents, community groups, and businesses with advice, grants and support, and will be working closely with the County Council and Town Councils to ensure high streets can reopen safely as restrictions ease in the coming weeks.

Stroud District Council continues to support people who have been identified as vulnerable and has a publicly available database of organisations in towns and villages across the district. All of them are listed on an interactive map set up and run by SDC to make it easier to find help

The new national test and trace program could mean some people who were not expecting to self-isolate may have to stay in their homes for up to 14 days.

“While family members and neighbours look out for each other, some people don’t have those networks, so the map can help those who cannot or must not leave the house,” said Councillor Cornell. “People who can’t access the map online can still call the council on 01453 766321.”

We know that many community groups which are supporting residents need support too – the Stroud District Resilience Fund is a £100,000 pot of SDC and Gloucestershire County Council money which has paid out more than £40,000 to groups which are making a difference to peoples’ everyday lives.

For local updates, please visit www.stroud.gov.uk/coronavirus

➡️ Lockdown changes:

https://www.gov.uk/…/coronavirus-outbreak-faqs-what-you-can…

➡️ COVID-19 testing centre:

https://www.gloucestershire.gov.uk/…/breaking-news-new-reg…/

➡️ Booking a test:

https://www.nhs.uk/…/ask-for-a-test-to-check-if-you-have-c…/

➡️ Support services map:

https://www.stroud.gov.uk/…/coron…/find-support-services-map

➡️Test and trace:

https://www.gov.uk/guidance/nhs-test-and-trace-how-it-works

➡️ Community Resilience Fund:

https://www.stroud.gov.uk/…/stroud-district-community-resil…

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VE Day

VE Day in Longney & Epney Sadly, the plans for a village VE Day celebration had to be cancelled but lots of you got into the spirit of the day whilst socially distancing! We were treated to a lovely ride past with music and dressing up to get us in the mood by Kate & Dean on their beautiful carriage, everyone really appreciated this so a big thank you to you guys!

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Isolation Beard

Challenge

The beards are coming along fabulously!

Covid-19 Scams A warning from Gloucestershire Constabulary…..

We're warning people to be on their guard over hoax phone calls claiming to be on behalf of NHS Track and Trace. We've been made aware of fraud attempts aiming to get vulnerable people to hand over payments for a testing kit. NHS Test and Trace helps trace close recent contacts of anyone who tests positive for coronavirus and, if necessary, notifies them that they must self-isolate at home to help stop the spread of the virus. Anyone known to have been in close contact with someone who has tested positive for coronavirus will be contacted by the NHS through either text, email or telephone. The service will be using a single phone number 0300 0135 000. The only website the service will ask you to visit is https://contact-tracing.phe.gov.uk.

Contact tracers will never: • ask you to dial a premium rate number to speak to us (for example, those starting 09 or 087). • ask you to make any form of payment or purchase a product of any kind. • ask for any details about your bank account. • ask for your social media identities or login details, or those of your contacts. • ask you for any passwords or PINs, or ask you to set up any passwords or PINs over the phone. • disclose any of your personal or medical information to your contacts. • provide medical advice on the treatment of any potential coronavirus symptoms. • ask you to download any software to your PC or ask you to hand over control of your PC, smartphone or tablet to anyone else. • ask you to access any website that does not belong to the government or NHS.

More details of the NHS Track and Trace service can be found at www.gov.uk/guidance/nhs-test-and-trace-how-it-works.

Isolation Beard Challenge Pubs are still shut so the challenge is still on….. there are some truly fabulous beards which can be seen on the Facebook group! They are so very close to raising a spectacular £25000 for our amazing Gloucestershire and Cheltenham NHS charity!

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Church Services

Longney & Elmore

Currently all places of worship are closed until further notice.This includes private prayer, bellringing, and meetings.

Longney & Elmore Church Choir have been sharing some of their beautiful singing on the village Facebook page, a great idea to help keep in touch with the Church.

Thanks to all those that have supported the plant sales at the end of our drive. So far we have raised £700 for the Na-tional Garden Scheme charities: Macmillan Cancer Support, Marie Curie, Hospice UK, Carers Trust, Parkinson’s etc.

Gill & Mike Farmer, Perrywood House.

How are you feeling? Below is a poem written by Ibrahim Abdur-Rahman, aged 9. What a strange time it is for our children and we wonder how they really feel? What a great way for them to help express their feelings with a poem, short story or a painting. It would be lovely to share some of the above if you or your children have been busy writing or painting!

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Longney Litter Pick by Amelia

Aged 8 We have been litter picking in Longney today. We picked from Castle End to Patrells House along the roadside of Longney. With only a few days of the fast food drive-ins back operating their wrapping and containers are already thrown out of car windows onto the verges. There are endless amounts of cans which were broken and could easily cut animals. We found a tyre which was too heavy to lift. Somebody had obviously emptied their vehicle’s rubbish onto the grass in a plastic bag which again could suffocate animals. There was also a bottle of vodka buried into the ground as you can see which could be smashed and an animal or human could cut themselves on it. There had also been several nappies on the road with used wet wipes flying everywhere which is unhygienic and could cause disease to wildlife or people. Why do people throw nappies out the window? I am only 8 years old but I still can’t understand why people pick up their dog poo and leave it in a bag on the footpath or roadside, why don’t they take it home?

Litter Prevention

1 Keep a litter bag in your car or pocket and hang on to it until you find a bin. 2 Report litter bugs. 3 Make sure your rubbish bins have tight fitting lids. 4 Share with others the proper way to dispose of rubbish. 5 Put papers in paper bags before putting it in a recycling bin. It is good that people are coming out to the countryside to run or cycle but they need to put their energy sachets in their pocket and take it home. We found many different types just cast on the roadside. We live in beautiful countryside, it is a shame when some people continue to be anti-social individuals and think littering is acceptable because someone else will clean up after them.

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Longney & Epney

Lucy Ladybird Trail Lucy Ladybird has taken up residence outside the Church wall and would love more painted pebbles or stones to join her - she doesn’t mind what is painted on them, flowers, animals, dinosaurs, happy messages - anything really! If you can help make her as long as possible that would be amazing!

Growing!