Garioch Community Planning E-Bulletin 4 February 2021
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Garioch Community Planning E-Bulletin 4 February 2021 If you have information which you think we should include in a future bulletin, please e-mail or forward it to [email protected] *PLEASE CHECK EACH SECTION FOR NEW AND UPDATED INFORMATION* (Photo credit: Aberdeenshire Council Image Library) Contents : (click on heading links below to skip to relevant section) Guidance Service Changes Community Resilience Support & Advice Health & Wellbeing Survey & Consultations Funding Guidance Links to national and local guidance *NEW* Latest Update from The Scottish Government From 2 February, mainland Scotland continues with temporary Lockdown measures in place, with guidance to stay at home except for essential purposes (this includes guidance on work within people’s homes - that this should only be taking place where essential) and working from home. In summary, today’s highlights are as below but please also see the video this article: • Nicola Sturgeon says although progress is being made on controlling the virus, restrictions will remain for "at least" the rest of the month • Pupils will begin a phased return to school from 22 February with the youngest going back to the classroom first • Senior pupils who have practical assignments to complete will be allowed to return on a "part-time" basis, with no more than 8% of the school roll attending "at any one time" • A "managed quarantine" requirement is to be introduced for anyone arriving directly into Scotland, regardless of which country they have come from You can view the most up to date information on the main Coronavirus page The latest Lockdown restrictions include further information has been added for guidance on moving home . In the stay at home guidance above, it has been reflected that whilst it is permitted to leave your house for activities in connection with moving home (including viewing a property), or for activities in connection with the essential maintenance, purchase, sale, letting, or rental of residential property that the person owns or is otherwise responsible for, at this time it is advisable to postpone, if possible. The Guidance remains clear that people should do the majority of their property searching online. Initial viewings should be done virtually wherever this is possible. Physical viewings should only be conducted where people are seriously considering making an offer on, or renting, a property, or where a prospective tenant is being offered a rental property and a virtual viewing is not possible. In areas in temporary lockdown, it is advisable to postpone physical viewings of properties, where this is possible. The Scottish Government website also includes advice for health, travel, service provision as well as the Scottish Government's action plan and what they are doing. The lockdown measures will next be reviewed in a fortnight. You can watch the full announcement below. *NEW* Self Isolation Support (Click image to view full-size) Vaccination Rollout The vaccine roll out in Scotland is underway. There is no need to do anything until you are invited for a vaccine. Find out more about the priority groups at www.nhsinform.scot/covid19vaccine The vaccine will be given in two doses, and you need both to protect yourself. It isn’t a live vaccine and will not cause the illness. www.nhsinform.scot/covid19vaccine By getting the vaccine you are reducing the risk to you and your loved ones from COVID-19. It is not a live vaccine and cannot give you Coronavirus. www.nhsinform.scot/covid19vaccine SCAM MESSAGING Please help to protect our most vulnerable from being victims of Coronavirus fraud and alert people NHS will never ask for financial details or to pay for the vaccine. If you receive an email, text message or phone call purporting to be from the NHS and you are asked to provide financial details, or pay for the vaccine, this is a scam . Helpful Links The Scottish Government - Protect Scotland App NHS Inform - Website Page (British Sign Language and easy-read advice ) NHS Grampian Covid-19 Website - Staff Page Scottish Community Development Centre - Advice for Community Groups, Organisations and Volunteer Networks Ready Scotland Website - Advice and guidance during the COVID-19 pandemic British Deaf Association - Guidance Back to Top Service Changes A2B Dial a Bus and THInC - Changes to Services As you can imagine there are very few customers still using our services for shopping etc so we are scaling back services to better match residual demand. Here is a summary of the in-house services, for Garioch, that are currently operating and the changes. Inverurie Town Centre : to be advertised as Fri only between 10am and 2.30pm Inverurie Rural (from Kintore & Kemnay) : to be advertised Wed only We will try to accommodate any emergency requests from A2B passengers needing to travel on days other than those advertised. We intend the above arrangements to apply until the end of February but we will continue to monitor demand for services, and take into account the prevailing Government guidance, so they may continue for longer if appropriate. By reducing the number of advertised A2B dial-a-bus days we hope to be able to redeploy Council vehicles to assist with transport to health-related appointments, including vaccinations, managed through THInC. Live Life Aberdeenshire - Latest Covid-19 Update All our sports and leisure facilities and most of our services will be closed until further notice as required by the latest Covid-19 lockdown. For more information on the services being suspended and details for requesting a refund, please click here . Aberdeenshire Council - Volunteer Snow Wardens We introduced the Volunteer Snow Warden Scheme to actively support members of the local community who wish to offer their spare time to manually clear snow from publicly-adopted footways and footpaths. The scheme runs from approximately 1st November to 31st March. It requires groups of volunteers to nominate a snow warden leader who is responsible for carrying out duties assigned to them by the scheme. To find out more about becoming a volunteer snow warden team member or leader, view our Snow Warden Scheme - welcome pack (pdf 380KB) . It also includes instructions on how to apply. Part of the application process includes taking council-approved Snow Warden Scheme - training (pdf 229KB) . View Snow Wardens Scheme privacy notice (pdf 82.2KB) . Snow warden leaders can return their application form to their local Roads office by email [email protected] Alternatively, you can post it to the addresses listed here . Helpful Links Aberdeenshire Council - parentsportal.scot Aberdeenshire Council - myAberdeenshire Aberdeenshire Council - Gritting Update , Grit Bins , Gritting Routes Aberdeenshire Council Waste Services - Coronavirus Information Update and Booking a Slot to a Recycling Centre Stagecoach - Timetable Changes Back to Top Community Resilience *NEW* Volunteering Opportunity - THInC *NEW* Inverurie Community Larder The Grampian Assistance Hub If you are told you need to self-isolate and need some support there is help available through the Grampian COVID-19 Assistance Hub. Launched back in late March, it remains open and offering advice to people across the area. Go onto the website www.GCAH.org.uk or call freephone 0808 196 3384 weekdays between 9am and 5pm. Please be aware that if you'd like to offer to volunteer, you need to register on the hub. Garioch Know Where to Turn Leaflet (click to open full size) Live Life Aberdeenshire - Knit a Cosy Bosie Do you or your friends like to knit? You could help some of the most vulnerable in our society this winter by contributing knitted garments to help keep them warm. Live Life Aberdeenshire has teamed up with colleagues in Aberdeenshire Community Planning to launch the initiative. It's a chance for people to be kind to others in a time of need, with donations of knitted or crocheted items such as hats, scarves, lap blankets, pairs of socks or gloves in any colours or sizes being sought. The items will then be gifted to someone who would benefit from a Cosy Bosie to help them get through the colder months ahead. Community groups who can help co-ordinate the distribution of Cosy Bosies in Aberdeenshire are also encouraged to get in touch. Donations of knitted items can be made by booking a time slot at one of the library service’s Click and Collect locations. See: https://bit.ly/CnCLLA If you’re a community group who would like to get involved please email [email protected] and a member of the project team will be in touch. For further details about how to get involved see: http://bit.ly/CosyBosie The Garioch Partnership - Interactive Map The Garioch Partnership have launched a new interactive map to help you find out about support organisations and resilience groups operating in the Garioch area. It includes the areas which each group covers and contact details if you would like to get in touch with the groups. Aberdeenshire Support Map - Click here to view The Aberdeenshire Rural Partnership Federation have published an Aberdeenshire-wide map compiling the 6 local maps together, including TGP's map above. If you click on your area, it will take you to your local map. By clicking on your area in the local map, you will find a list of the resilience groups near you who can provide support and help. Community Councils There are 9 Community Councils which cover the Garioch area of Aberdeenshire. You can find contact details for each Community Council here . Back to Top Support & Advice *NEW* Housing - Choice Based Lettings (CBL) launch - 5 April Aberdeenshire Council has reviewed their housing allocation policy and is due to launch a new Choice Based Lettings (CBL) system from the 5 April . CBL allows applicants to have more choice in where they are allocated a property by adverting all vacant properties on the website.