It is impossible to keep all important Coronavirus information at the top of the page. Findan online edition of the Observerfurther down the page.
Registration with the Parish Council
73 Volunteershave now registered which is a brilliant result for the village. Keep registering and please stand by because some people are okay for now but may need help later on. Thank you all.
57 People/Households Living Alone / Potentially Vulnerable registered so far. All but three have confirmed, regular contact with volunteers/neighbours, are not living alone, or have advised that they are okay for now.
14 People have asked for prescriptions to be collectedby volunteers. Many others have confirmed as receiving support from neighbours.
Some volunteers, due to their own vulnerabilities and need to self-isolate, are not able to shop or collect prescriptions but have offered to keep in touch with people by telephone. So please do ask if you would like someone to support you in that way, particularly if you are living alone.
And thank you to everyone who came out in Walsham to show appreciation for our NHS and everyone who works in it.
Please don’t forget to say thank you to all the other essential workers who are keeping things going for us all.
If you would like to volunteer to assist your community in any way, as well as registering with the Parish Council, you can register with Suffolk County Council for their recently launched Home But Not Alone Service
If you needsupport, including help with shopping Call0800 876 6926. This line is open from 09:00 to 17:00, seven days a week, with staff from both Babergh and Mid Suffolk District Councils working through their weekends to support this service.
“It’s important to remember that
no matter how healthy and active you are, your risk for getting
pneumonia increases with age. This is because our immune system
naturally weakens with age, making it harder for our bodies to fight
off infections and diseases.”
From article in The Guardian
quoting respiratory physician John Wilson, president-elect of the Royal
Australasian College of Physicians.
This means following the Government’s new measures to fight the spread of the coronavirus by staying at home. You are only allowed to leave your house in these circumstances:
Shopping for basic necessities, for example food and medicine, which must be as infrequent as possible.
One form of exercise a day, for example a run, walk, or cycle – alone or with members of your household.
Any medical need, or to provide care or to help a vulnerable person.
Travelling to and from work, but only where this absolutely cannot be done from home.
Making non-essential journeys risks lives. Please only travel if your journey is absolutely essential.
If you do travel, follow the expert advice on hand washing and other health measures.
The Parish Council are building confidential registers of vulnerable people in the village and of volunteers who will make themselves available to assist where required. Obviously information from these registers will need to be shared appropriately but with due regard to data protection law.
The aim is simply to ensure that no-one in the village is left alone without support as evolving government advice (or orders) are put into practice. Priority may have to be given to those older people who are living alone (or elderly couples) without nearby family support.
Some volunteers, due to their own vulnerabilities and need to self-isolate, are not able to shop or collect prescriptions but have offered to keep in touch with people by telephone. So please do ask if you would like someone to support you in that way, particularly if you are living alone.
Please contact the Parish Clerk (preferably by email) to advise any of the following:
If you need support
If you know someone who needs support
If you are willing to volunteer to support someone
If you are already supporting someone
If you and/or family are already self-isolatingdue to illness
This information will greatly assist the Parish Council with co-ordination of responses and is especially important if someone is living alone, even if the only requirement is to keep a close eye.
It is everyone’s responsibility to do what they can to stop Covid 19 from spreading if particlularly vulnerable members of the community are to be protected. Particularly vulnerable people are those who meet one or more of the following criteria:
are 70 or over
have a long-term condition
are pregnant
have a weakened immune system
The Parish Council is duty bound to ask if anyone volunteering falls into any of the vulnerable groups listed above. It would be inadvisable, and somewhat counterproductive, to ask anyone falling into these groups to volunteer for anything that contravenes advice on social distancing. However, all forms of support may be needed, telephone contact included, so please do not let this stop you from registering a volunteer.
email the Parish Clerk | or call on 01359 259 794 (please leave a message with name and number)
If you do not have an email account, or need help, do ask someone to make contact on your behalf.
There have been reports of callers on elderly and vulnerable people in Suffolk from people claiming to be from the Red Cross, offering to do shopping but taking cash and never returning.
Sometimes cards are dropped through doors with the Red Cross branding in advance of someone knocking. There have also been reports of callers pretending to be youth offenders trying to mend their ways by helping out and the usual telephone scams again asking for money in return for something that is bogus related to Coronavirus.
Don’t give money to anyone for shopping or accept help from anyone if you do not know them. The Parish Council is organising a list of trusted volunteers who can assist you. Please register with the Parish Clerk
The new Observer Online. Producing the hard copy of the Observer over the next few months may prove difficult if not impossible. So here it is online to make sure you have access to it. We are working on the process to improve the quality of the text for screen and may at some replace it with a fancy ‘pageflip’ version, hopefully with a splash of colour. References to page numbers are slightly out as we need to exclude the front and back cover in the page count.
Use the navigation bar at the bottom of the page to expand to full screen and flick through page by page. There is also a scroll bar to the right of the page but sometimes the best way to read online is to use the up/down arrow keys on your keyboard.
The best way to read is by downloading to display in your browser. This currently displays the magazine at the best quality. Click the download button in the navigation bar to read in your browser. If your browser is having problems displaying the content download from there and save as pdf to your PC.
There are new meeting dates planned. Some of these may be held in the Priory Room but in the light of the Coronavirus outbreak, some may be conducted online. Suzi Steer has past experience of holding meetings this way using Zoom. Get your webcams at the ready!
Always keep sheds locked, with a good quality close shackle padlock
Ensure sheds are behind a secure perimeter
Use dusk to dawn lighting
Use hasp and staples, a padbar, or coach bolts or non-tamper screws to fasten hinges/hasps
Security mark property, with your house number and post code
Fit anchor points to secure items
Have a monitored alarm fitted (i.e. texting alarm)
Avoid storing high value items
In addition, register serial numbers of tools and equipment via immobilise.com and make a personal record. This will help identify items if they are found, and speed up the process of returning items to the owners.
We have been advised CAB Mid Suffolk will be providing advice via a phone and email service only until further notice to help to delay the spread of the novel coronavirus.
Did you know you can report any highways issue online using the SCC Highways reporting tool. There is a specific link for streetlighting issues as linked in the list below..
Report any of the following:
Blocked drain Bridge or highway structure Cycle lanes or tracks Drain-manhole cover Debris, weeds or mud on the road Flooding on a road or pavement Heavy goods vehicle incident Grass cutting Lit sign or bollard Missing or damaged barriers or guardrails Missing or faded road markings Obscured, missing or damaged sign Pothole Pavement defect Public right of way Street light Traffic signal or pedestrian crossing Tree or hedge affecting the highway
During the Coronavirus emeregncy Rolfes of Walsham are kindly offering a FREE delivery service to local customers BUT the shop is now closed from 2pm every day until furtehr notice for the fulfilment of delivery requests.
Following the Emergency Meeting held at the behest of the Charity Commission on Friday 21st February we are pleased to report that the future management of both the Community Council and Memorial Hall charities has now been resolved to the satisfaction of the Charity Commission.
We would
like to thank the eighty Walsham residents who made the effort to attend this
meeting in Badwell Ash Village Hall in order to register their vote.
The
Honorary Officers who were appointed at the AGM last October were re-elected
unopposed; Amanda Ellis (Chair), Ian Campbell (Vice Chair), Caroline Niall
(Treasurer) and Ian Bartholomew (Secretary).
Every year between March 1st and June 1st inclusive the Parish Council is required to organise an Annual Parish Meeting. This is not a Parish Council meeting although the Chair of the Parish Council will call the meeting and Chair it if present.
There is no prescribed format
but it can include, for example, a presentation of the Parish Council’s annual
report, discussions of ideas for future action, public comment and questions on
Council performance or a celebration of village organisations.
Since I took over as Clerk, and I think for some years prior to my tenure, village organisations have been invited to submit a report and attend to present it.
The Parish Council is thinking about how the format of the meeting could be changed to maybe make it more useful to parishioners as a village meeting. And also maybe a bit more fun!
If you have an idea of how you would like to use this meeting for the good of the village, please contact me before the end of March so that I have some time to collate and gather any more information before reporting back to Council on 14th April.
Signs have been positioned on some footpaths to remind horse riders that these are Public Footpaths rather than Bridleways and as such riders on horseback have no right of way. Problems occur when horses cut up the surface of the paths making it very difficult and unpleasant for walkers.
On Saturday 27th June 2020 the Botesdale Health Centre Patient Participation Group (PPG) will be holding a Community Event for all of its Patients should they wish to attend.
The event will commence at 10.30am running to 3pm at St Botolph’s Primary School. It will taje the form of a ‘pop-up’ cafe with free refreshments and cakes! There will be a number fo charities in attendance.
Our toad population in Walsham le Walsham has sadly severely crashed so we are now helping at Badwell Ash and Stowlangtoft who both still have toads, although they too have seen significant decreases in their numbers.
If you would like to help, click on the image to the left or visit the Toad Watch page.
We would like to take the opportunity to thank all of you
who attended the Special General Meeting on the 28th October in the
Priory Room and for your support in appointing a new Executive Committee of the
Community Council.
As we write we remain in a period of transition but we will
keep you all fully informed of developments via the pages of the Walsham Observer
and the village website.
Many thanks
Amanda Ellis – Chair | Ian Campbell – Vice Chair | Caroline Niall – Treasurer | Ian Bartholomew – Secretary | Honorary Officers, Walsham le Willows Community Council
With Christmas fast approaching, find below the most up to date information about waste collections and recycling over the festive period from The Waste Team at Babergh and Mid-Suffolk District Council.
The Parish Council are now in a position to be able to co-opt to a vacancy and is looking for someone who is enthusiastic about representing their community, likes to be involved and to get things done.
Most Parish Councillors, by agreement, will take on a role around specific area of interest or related to specific activities of the council.
Parish Councillors are summoned to a monthly meeting and are expected to attend. Read The Good Councillors Guide to get a flavour of what’s involved.
Interested? Then please contact the Clerk with a short statement by 6th January 2020 setting out your reasons.
You would be asked to read LTN 8, a briefing note on qualifications and disqualifications with regard to becoming a Parish Councillor, before signing a declaration of eligibility prior to your co-option onto the Council.
If you would like to speak to someone please give the Parish Clerk a call or contact any Parish Councillor. Find contact details on the Parish Council page along with more information about the Parish Council.
Carol Concert – Saturday 4th January 2020 at 7.30pm
This year the Epiphany Singers will give their 50th annual carol concert in St Mary’s Church in Walsham le Willows. The Conductor will be Simon Carrington, Yale Professor emeritus, and the Organist will be David Hill of the London Bach Choir.
If you enjoy beautiful music and the most wonderful singing this is an evening not to be missed. Tickets are not required but there will be a retiring collection.
Epiphany Choral Eucharist Sunday 5th January 2020 at 11.00am
The Epiphany Singers also sing at this service. Drinks will be offered in the church after the service. Everyone is very welcome.
