During the current pandemic, the Parish Office has been working closely with others to help arrange support for the vulnerable and/or older members of the community and others who may also be self-isolating and/or shielding.
The Parish Council is grateful to the organisers and volunteers associated with the Rowlands Castle Coronavirus Help Group, which is now winding down with the last day of operation being 26 July 2020. Until then, the Group can be contacted on RCcoronahelp@gmail.com or Telephone 07895 368589. If you get an answerphone, please leave a message and your enquiry will be dealt with promptly. Don’t forget, if you’re feeling low, the Group can also offer a friendly telephone chat as well as help with more practical tasks like shopping, dog-walking etc.
The plan is to keep the Group infrastructure in place until the risk of any second wave of infection has passed, so it can gear up again quickly if needed.
Info on Scrub Hubs The Parish Office has received several enquiries from volunteers wanting to assist in the making up of ‘scrubs’ for NHS and other care staff, and the delivery of these items. The following may be of interest, all of which are in contact with various branches of the NHS:
- Sew Creative: Based in Petersfield, serving the A3 corridor from Bordon southwards and beyond. See https://sewcreative.org.uk/ (scroll down Home page) for more info.
- Portsmouth Area: All enquiries to be directed to helpourheroes@portshosp.nhs.uk
- Chichester/Southbourne Scrub Hubs: There are 2, serving Chichester extending towards Havant and beyond to QA Hospital, Cosham. To volunteer, see https://www.facebook.com/ChichesterScrubs or scrubhubsouthbourne@gmail.com
- Fareham Scrub Hub: To volunteer, see https://www.facebook.com/Scrub-Hub-Fareham-101272864883277/
Beware of Scams: We’ve already had reports of telephone calls reportedly from the UK Govt/NHS, offering face masks etc. If you get an unexpected call or email and you’re not sure what to do, hang up or contact the email sender by another method to verify its contents. See here for more guidelines on spotting a scam: https://www.hants.gov.uk/business/tradingstandards/consumeradvice/scams/whatarescams
Following the partial lifting of some ‘lockdown’ restrictions, here is some information on local amenities:
1. The Recreation Ground is open, including the publicly-accessible WCs, the Play Area and other equipment. The Tennis Courts are open to RC Tennis Club members, and to public bookings on Tuesdays and Thursday, bookable via Rowlands Home Hardware. The Pavilion remains out of bounds.
2. The Parish Hall is still closed to all users, though the Montessori Nursery is open on Tuesdays and Thursdays to children of key-workers
3. The Parish Office remains closed to members of the public at present – residents are welcome to call or email instead – see here for more details.
These closures will last as long as Government instructions require.
Thank you for your understanding and we wish the Parish of Rowlands Castle well in these difficult times.
