Longney & Epney

Dates for Parish Newsletter February & March 2021 your Diary New Year, New Lockdown! Sadly, our year has not begun as expected and February & March if you are feeling lonely or isolated our new Vicar, Rev Richard Martin has 2021 a message for you.

Dear Residents Parish Council Meeting If you are suffering isolation in this cold, dark and damp lockdown period, you are not the only one! I hope you have friends, neighbours and family with whom to be in contact. I am conscious that since I arrived in November I have been able to make contact with only a very few local The next meeting is people. scheduled for the 8th March 2021. We did manage to have a few Christmas services in the church but since January we have been closed, following the advice to stay at home

whenever possible. Due to latest Covid guidelines it will have to We hope we will be able to re-open for public worship by Easter. be via a Zoom meeting. In the meantime, could I invite you to join in our online worship which is If you wish to join this happening on Microsoft Teams each Sunday at 11am. To receive the email that contains the link to this as well as the weekly notice sheet please email please visit https://church.us7.list-manage.com/sub- clerk@longneyandepney- scribe?u=0197c053c6e61cdeba0b6a1c8&id=01231a06b1 parish.co.uk We also have a Facebook page https://www.face- for the password. book.com/search/top?q=st%20nicholas%20church%20hardwicke

And a website https://www.hardwicke-elmore-longney.church/ where up to date information is posted.

If you would just like to chat, on the phone, by email or on Zoom, do feel free to contact me on 01452 720015, or email via the following address: [email protected]

Thank You & God Bless You.

Pic by Brian Everett Rev Richard Martin (Priest in Charge)

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Litter Picking Litter

We are keen to continue the good efforts of the litter picking but obviously we cannot gather as a group currently. If you feel you are able to help independently the Parish Council are 118 empty Strongbow cans!!!!!! willing to provide bags and hopefully, we will Shocking……… these were collected very kindly by Jonathan & Trish Harvie have some litter along a short space of road in Longney. Sadly, our verges seem to be grabbers available very littered with a vast amount of alcohol cans. We feel it must be someone soon. Even if you feel working locally that throws them out of their vehicle on the way home…… you can keep the area hopefully not on the way to work! Local residents have also witnessed people throwing a dirty nappy out of their car and a coffee cup! outside your property clear of litter that would Councillor Newman has been on a litter mission collecting a trailer load of mean an enormous rubbish (kindly disposed of by Dean Lambert) from Castle Lane along with amount to our village. numerous bin bags full of rubbish which he has kindly sorted for We also know that there re-cycling where possible along with a bicycle! Councillor Newman was are people doing this joined by a few parishioners to help with the litter along Castle Lane, socially distanced at all times, so we owe a big thank you to them too! regularly and have been for a long time including the riverbank and for that we are extremely grateful as a Parish.

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Stroud & Cotswold Districts Wanted Citizens Advice If you are having a clear out of any of the following items:

We have a member of the parish who is happy to News from Citizens Advice – Help needed with employment problems take them for the benefit during Covid pandemic. of our local pet charities. Please let anyone with difficulties know that we are able to offer advice Old towels, duvets, by Freephone and email, but sadly as yet, not face to face contact. blankets (no pillows thank Unfortunately, the number of enquiries about Employment problems has you) or you have any soared over the last 10 months. Many people have needed advice on unwanted dog & cat food whether they are entitled to furlough pay, how this is calculated, and whether they might be able to claim Universal Credit in addition. (open dry food is ok), pet bowls, collars, leads, Redundancy is also a big issue and many have concerns about how they coats, toys etc will get a redundancy payment if their employer is unable to pay it. The reason so many people need further help to understand the system is You can either contact shown in the following example.

Claire Barker via our Mrs D was managing by having 2 jobs, this meant that in lockdown her in- village Facebook page or come came from a mixture of paid work and furlough payments. It got leave the items inside her further confused by a change in the National Minimum Wage during this gate, 4 Post Office time which gave her a small increase. She was then offered redundancy Cottages, Longney. from one job, and again it was important to be aware of the calculation of her redundancy pay, and any other payments which she might be due. Fi- Claire will also take old nally, she needed to know if she had any entitlement to Universal Credit newspapers for Wildhogs to boost her income.

Hedgehog Rescue. Being uncertain of how she would be able to manage and what action she should consider, understandably caused Mrs D great anxiety.

By having these payments calculated and explained to her by our adviser Also if you are able to save meant that she was able to make informed decisions and became able to any used postage stamps cope with her situation. these can be given to We also advise on a whole range of other employment issues. The knock- Sarah Batt, 2 School Lane on effects of job loss can cause financial as well as relationship and hous- Cottages, Longney. ing difficulties.

Please post these through For help with any of these issues contact Stroud Citizens Advice on the letterbox. Freephone: 0808 800 0510 or 0808 800 0511 Monday to Friday 10 am to 4 pm.

or Email:

https://www.citizensadvice-stroudandcotswold.org.uk/stroud-cab-email- advice.php 4

Stroud District Road Closure Community Lottery

Severn Vale Drive, Quedgeley. A new online community lottery to benefit good causes will be launched by Stroud District Council this year. Resurfacing work is due to start on Severn Vale Drive Tickets for the Lucky Severn Community Lottery will cost £1 with 60p nd going towards local good causes, compared to just 28p in the pound for from the 22 February for the National Lottery. approximately 17 days, excluding weekends. The draw will be weekly with a jackpot of £25,000 for a matching sequence of six numbers, other prizes being £2,000, £250, £25 or three

free tickets. The road will be closed from 9.30am to 3.30pm. There are two ways to take part in the Lucky Severn Community Lottery scheme. Stroud district good causes will be able to set up their own lottery page and will receive 50p in every pound spent by players using The works are planned to this method. A further 10p in every pound will go into a general Stroud district good causes fund, with the remainder being put towards prizes, be completed in several operating costs and VAT. phases in an attempt to minimize the impact. Players who do not wish to support a specific cause can still take part in the Lucky Severn Community Lottery, with 60p of their ticket price going into the general Stroud district good causes fund, which will be Reporting a distributed by the council. Highways Issue Stroud District Council leader, Councillor Doina Cornell, said: “With our If you notice an issue with budgets under increasing pressure, and local good causes also needing the highway you can a boost, the Lucky Severn Community Lottery provides a great report it by following the opportunity to help local good causes to raise additional money. We are committed to continuing our support to local community groups, but link below. this will be a way of spreading the benefit to many more groups."

Around 80 councils across the country are now running local lotteries https://www.gloucester- including Cheltenham, Gloucester and Forest of Dean councils. shire.gov.uk/high- ways/roads/your-high- Regular updates on the progress of Lucky Severn Community Lottery ways-report-it/ will be posted on the Lucky Severn Lottery Facebook page and Twitter account, and www.luckysevernlottery.co.uk

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Gloucestershire Police Click, Call, Local Crime Connect We have recently had an incident of theft in Elmore of some pony rugs. Our local PCSO’s are asking us to be vigilant and report any crimes no matter how small.

The chart opposite gives options of how to report crimes (sorry it’s a little small you may need to zoom in!). You can also find it online by following this link: https://www.gloucester- shire.police.uk/police- forces/gloucestershire- On average, through our Force Contact Centre, police station receptions constabulary/ar- and Constabulary website, we receive 1,000 reports and calls for help eas/gloucestershire/cam- each day. These can range from reports of missing people and collisions, paigns/cam- to general switchboard requests to speak to officers or make paigns/2021/click.-call.- statements, and it can be challenging to keep up with that demand. We connect/ can respond to some of these promptly, while others – and any subsequent investigations – can take much longer. We believe that around 30% of calls made via 999 are inappropriate and that a similar percentage of 101 calls are too. It’s important for us to let you know which one is appropriate and in what circumstances so that we can make sure you get the help you need.

You may be surprised by the number of channels now available to you to contact officers or to find advice. As you can see from the chart these are straightforward to use and many will save you time and effort. By choosing the right one for the circumstances, you will be able to give our staff the information they need first time, quickly and simply so that we can give you the most appropriate response.

We’re making you aware of these options as part of our ‘Click. Call. Connect.’ public contact campaign. This supports the ‘Every crime matters, every contact counts’ priority, and we ask you to keep this information handy should you need our services in the future, as you never know when that will be.

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Thank You to Councillor Parish Council Commitments Graham Wingrove!

The Parish Council would like to give thanks to Councillor Graham Our Parish Council meets Wingrove who has served our villages for 8 years. every two months, and as Councillor Wingrove resigned his position at the end of the January a councillor you will need meeting. He has been a key part of the team and we thank him for all to make time to attend he has done particularly looking after our highways and helping to these meetings along with co-ordinating planning within the villages. a commitment to respond promptly and efficiently to Graham has always been a great supporter of our village events and parish communication. fundraising and we hope that he will continue to be a part of those in the future (when we are allowed!)

We also look forward to seeing Graham at future Parish Council As a parish councillor, you meetings, but no heckling from the floor Graham! become someone your community will look to for help, guidance and Local Elections support, a community Due to Covid the local elections were cancelled in 2020 so they will now take place on the 6th May 2021 (fingers crossed). leader with the power to influence decisions for the All five seats on our Parish Council will be up for election and should you benefit of the people you wish to stand election forms are available from our parish clerk, Nikki serve. Leach. You can contact Nikki to arrange collection of the forms by email- ing her at [email protected]

You can stand as a candidate to become a Parish/Town Councillor if:

Seeing your community You are over 18 or over on the day you submit your nomination paper change for the better as a and are a British, Commonwealth or European Union Citizen. result of decisions you And at least one of the following qualifications: have helped make, is something that will give Are either a registered local government elector in the electoral area you are wanting to stand as a candidate, or you a sense of Have resided in the area for the whole 12 months preceding the day of achievement and pride. nominations, or Work in the electoral area you are wanting to stand (and have for at least the past 12 months), or Own property in the electoral area you are wanting to stand (and have for at least the past 12 months), or For the whole of the previous 12 months you have lived in the Parish/Town or within 3 miles of the boundary.

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Elections Job Opportunities

Have you ever considered working at one of our Polling Stations?

We are looking to recruit motivated staff to fill a number of important paid roles on election day.

On Thursday May 6th 2021 the Police and Crime Commissioner for Gloucestershire, County, District and Parish Council elections will be taking place.

Planning is already underway, and we would like to reassure you that our highest priority is the safety of our staff and our electorate. We will be adhering to Government Guidelines, so our Polling Station may look a bit different. In order to deliver this plan, we will need extra staff at many of our Polling Stations.

These are paid roles across the whole of the Stroud District, and the Elections Team are keen to hear from you.

More information about the roles and how to apply can be found here:

https://www.stroud.gov.uk/council-and- democracy/elections/elections-job-opportunities

Applicants must be over 18, eligible to work in the UK and not affiliated to any political party.

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In order to vote in the upcoming Police and Crime Commissioner for Gloucestershire, County, District and Parish Council elections taking place on May 6th 2021 you must be registered on the Electoral Roll.

Planning is already underway and we would like to reassure you that our highest priority is the safety of our staff and our electorate. We will be adhering to Government Guidelines, so your Polling Station may look a bit different, please help us to help you keep safe by following the guidelines.

To register to vote, please go to www.gov/register-to-vote

You will need your date of birth and national insurance number and registering only takes a few minutes.

If you are not able to cast your ballot at a polling station or would prefer not to vote in person you can apply for an “Absent Vote”.

Stroud District Council Elections web page has all the information you need:

https://www.stroud.gov.uk/council-and-democracy/elections/how- do-i-vote

From here you can find out all about how to vote including:

Check if you are registered by using a quick link. Register to vote deadline - Midnight, Monday 19 April 2021

Voting by Post –request or download an application form. Postal vote deadline - 5pm, Tuesday 20 April 2021 We must receive your application by post or email by 5pm on Tuesday 20 April to ensure you are able to vote by post. To vote by post, you must complete an application form.

Voting by Proxy – request or download an application form. Proxy vote deadline - 5pm, Tuesday 27 April 2021 We must receive your application by post or email by 5pm on Tuesday 27 April to ensure you are able to vote by proxy. To vote by proxy you must complete an application form.

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Spring Colouring

Spring is coming!

Mums and Dads, Print off this page for some half term colouring entertainment!

Share you colouring on the village Facebook page!