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May 2020 May 2020

PARISH RESPONSE TEAM

On Monday the 16th of March 2020 a small meeting was convened under the
auspices of the Parish Council to consider what measures this parish could put in
place to help our residents cope with the impact of Covid19 and any restrictions
or advice given by the Government. Representatives were invited from each of
the organisations which operate within the parish and joined by an experienced
emergency planner.
From these initial discussions the Parish Council COVID-19 Response Group was
formed and started to take action.
This group immediately set to work and within 48 hours had:

 Set up a helpline for residents to use to request support either by telephone
or email.
 A dedicated Coronavirus page on the Community website.

 A Facebook Group for parish residents to share information and ideas.
 Prepared and distributed a leaflet to all homes within the parish.
Following an appeal for volunteers 46 residents have so far come forward to offer
their support with requests for food deliveries and the collection of prescriptions.
The Village Shop and Post Office remains open, with the committee agreeing
some changes to the way it operates to help prevent the spread of
Covid19. Measures have been taken to comply with social distancing rules and
a number of the existing volunteers have taken a step back to comply with
Government guidelines, whilst new volunteers have been found to keep the shop
and post office running and stocked.
The shop has also added new services in response to identified needs. A free
delivery service to distribute daily newspapers has been introduced as has a free
food shopping delivery service for those residents who are either unwell or self
isolating.
Work on the Community Website www.briantspuddle.info to make it easier to use
has been completed months ahead of schedule and the site has been
orientated towards information and advice on the Coronavirus issue with a new
page and two subpages.
A local software company ‘Big Yellow Design’ loaned the group the use of its
volunteer management software to deal more efficiently with the taking of
support requests and matching them to available volunteers.
Some of the COVID-19 Response Group are now formulating plans to stay in

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