| Helping others The government have said there are only five reasons why people should leave their homes: to shop for necessities for medical reasons i.e. to go to a hospital to exercise once a day to travel to work if absolutely necessary to care for a vulnerable person You may want to help a neighbour, a family member or a friend who is currently in isolation. You may want to help in your local community, and if you sign up with Gloucestershire County Council’s Community Help Hub, you can tick specific things that you can assist with, such as walking someone’s dog for them, putting their bins out, picking up food or medicine for them or preparing meals for the freezer – https://www.gloucestershire.gov.uk/covid-19/ You can only provide support to people who are in isolation if you fulfil ALL of the conditions below: 1. You are well and have no symptoms like a cough or high temperature and neither does anyone in your household; 2. You are under 70; 3. You are not pregnant; 4. You do not have any long-term health conditions that make you vulnerable to coronavirus. How to help safely: 1. You should not go inside the homes of anyone you do not live with, especially vulnerable people or people who believe they may be infected and are self-isolating. 2. If you are picking essential items up for people, such as prescriptions or groceries, try to limit the amount of time you spend outside of your home by collecting your essential items during the same trip. 3. You should stay 2m or six feet away from anyone you do not live with at all times. Do not share car journeys with people you do not live with. 4. If you have offered to help other people, be mindful of situations where you may feel unsafe, for instance helping late at night. You can find a lot more information on this and other related Covid-19 issues by following the link below. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-guidance-on-social-distancing-and-for-vulnerable-people This is the end of the message – Best Wishes and Stay Safe |
| Message Sent By Simon Bailey (Police, Neighbourhood Watch Officer, Glouce) |
April News Sheet
During the Coronavirus epidemic, this news sheet replaces the Forerunner magazine and recognises the reduced community activity and information need. Further changes are of course likely.
See the April News Sheet here.
An Update from Chief Constable Rod Hansen
Chief Constable Rod Hansen said: “Firstly I want to thank everyone for their continued support through these unprecedented times which we are all facing together.
“The new measures announced by the Prime Minister yesterday to increase social distancing and stay at home have been put in place to save lives and protect the NHS. They are there to protect you and I’d urge you all to please comply with them.
“We’re working around the clock to understand what the legislation will mean, and we’ll share this with you in due course. In the meantime, there will be more visible policing across the county in support of the Prime Minister’s directive, ready to respond when needed, to help keep Gloucestershire safe and, I hope, to provide reassurance.
“Please help us find our way through this – given the extraordinary community spirit we’ve already seen throughout this fast moving situation, I hope we have your cooperation.
“As a police service, we have a duty to protect life and support the Government and our partners in health agencies in the fight against this pandemic.
“The message I have given to my staff is that we will focus on policing by consent, working with people. Enforcement should be a last resort as we hope people will listen and cooperate. I have however let all my staff know that they have my full backing when they do exercise legal authority if the circumstances require and justify it.
“Please do follow the advice, stay at home and help us to help the national effort. I am grateful for your patience and continued support during these times of great uncertainty.
“Please be reassured that we are still here if you need us for an emergency, however overnight we had numerous calls to our Force Control Room asking what these new measures mean.
“I must stress that it is vital our emergency 999 and non-emergency 101 phone lines are kept free to deal with crime related issues.
“When we have the answers, we will share these with you through our numerous channels including social media, on our website and through Your Community Alerts (www.yourcommunityalerts.co.uk) – a free messaging service where you can sign up to receive emails.
“If you are a victim of crime please continue to report it online at www.gloucestershire.police.uk, using 101, or in an emergency, 999 – and we will respond as normal.
“You can also keep up to date with information and advice on www.gov.uk/coronavirus and locally from our partners at Gloucestershire County Council where a community help hub has been set up for those who need support or can offer help
“Once again thank you for your continued support and please help us, cooperate with us and lets all do everything we can to save lives and protect the NHS.”
Message Sent By
Communications Team WWDW (Police, Communications Team, Gloucestershire)
Matara – Garden Open Day – Rescheduled to Sunday 28th June
Matara’s Garden Open Day takes place as follows:
Sunday 28th June from 11am to 3pm
The admission costs as well as tea and cake sales (after costs) will go towards the charities that are being supported on that particular day.
This year, we will be supporting both Charlie’s Cancer Support and our local Kingscote Church.
Everyone is very welcome.
Thanks
Holly Roberts
Wedding & Event Coordinator
Matara
01453 861050
Our Churches
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
Following the government instructions, our benefice churches will be kept locked during the day until further notice.
I know that some of you have been coming to church to pray, but for now we will need to pray from our homes. I will be praying each day at 9am and 6pm at home and invite you to either join me at that time from wherever you are, or find a pattern/time of prayer that fits with your day.
Information about live streaming of prayers can be found here.
With all my prayers,
Caroline
The Rev’d Caroline Bland
Vicar
The Benefice of Nailsworth with Shortwood, Horsley, and Newington Bagpath with Kingscote.
Tel: 01453 836536
Coronavirus Symptoms
This information has been shared by a contact and could be important:
“I started getting symptoms of the Coronavirus on Monday afternoon, after unfortunately, having been shopping in Waitrose in the morning before any symptoms appeared.
I had terrible aching all over my body and a sudden onset of a temperature which completely floored me. The thing that I noticed after two days of illness was I realised I had lost 100% of my sense of taste and smell.
I have since found out that my mother and step-father, who became ill a couple of days before me, also have lost all their sense of taste and smell as well.
It is now emerging that this is a very common symptom in Coronavirus sufferers.
This is EXTREMELY important!
EVEN IF YOU DO NOT HAVE ANY OTHER SYMPTOMS AT ALL APART FROM THE LOSS OF TASTE AND SMELL, YOU ARE ALMOST CERTAINLY LIKELY TO HAVE CORONAVIRUS.
PLEASE BE REALLY AWARE OF SYMPTOMS, EVEN IF YOU ARE FEELING FINE, AS KNOWING THIS WILL UNDOUBTEDLY SAVE LIVES.
PLEASE PLEASE SHARE THIS INFORMATION WITH EVERYONE YOU KNOW.”
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Newspaper Delivery
Need a newspaper delivery? J&C News will deliver from Mondays to Saturdays in Kingscote. They only operate through an answerphone on 01666 502398 which they check once a day at 7.30 am, so please be patient.


Facebook Group – Kingscote & Bagpath
We have started a private Facebook Group for Kingscote & Bagpath to support the community through Coronavirus/Covid-19 and the isolation many people may face.
If you have a Facebook account, click here and ask to join.
If you don’t yet have a Facebook account but would like one, register here and then search for https://www.facebook.com/groups/kingscoteandbagpath/.
If you don’t want to join the group, email with any requests.
Help through the Isolation Period
From Monday 23 March, the NHS will contact anyone who is at particularly high risk of getting seriously ill with coronavirus. They will give specific advice about what to do.
If you have a neighbour or nearby villager who is 70+ or who has been asked to isolate for health reasons, do keep an eye out for them.
- Are they willing to give you a phone no. or email address in order to keep in touch during this period of isolation?
- Would they appreciate a chat through the window or on the phone while it’s not possible to talk face-to-face?
- Do they need any medications collected/groceries delivered?
- Ask what you can do for your neighbours in these unusual circumstances.
Home Delivery of Goods
If you are 70+ or vulnerable and need assistance with a small supply of groceries, please email Alice and I will do what I can to help. Anyone who wishes to offer similar assistance should email me and I will coordinate.
During these unusual times, if you wish to have grocery orders prepared for collection or, in some cases delivered, the list of suppliers below may help.
Please email me with others you know are offering a collection and/or delivery service and I will update this list.
Takeaway Food
Don’t forget to try and support your local takeaways if you need a break from cooking; there are plenty in the area who could do with our help.
Supermarkets
