All posts by Sarah Richardson

Online teaching activities in Avon Dassett

News

There are a number of trained teachers in Avon Dassett who will be happy to help entertain/educate children who are having to stay at home and are off school. We realise this service may not be needed immediately but please bear us in mind over the coming weeks and months.

We can offer

  • Individual/group one to one sessions online
  • Online video/audio/written resources
  • Quizzes and challenges
  • Virtual book clubs
  • Online story time

At the moment we have expertise in English, Maths, all Science subjects, History, and Music and for all ages from pre-school to 18.

Parents are also getting in touch offering to share resources (books, toys, games etc). Again if you are interested get in touch (details below).

In the meantime, this is an excellent article for parents facing ‘home-schooling’: https://www.theguardian.com/education/2020/mar/21/try-to-minimise-stress-how-to-home-school-your-child

If you are a teacher who would like to offer help, or a parent needing some support with your children, please email: drsarahrichardson@gmail.com

 

HMRC Coronavirus Support for Businesses

News

 

Struggling to pay taxes (whether it’s self assessment, corporation, or PAYE)

HMRC are adding a support helpline with an extra 2000 people to man the phones to assist with anybody worried about paying their taxes.  All useful numbers/web links are listed below.  Contact this helpline for advice.  They will put in place a payment plan and no interest charges will be due as long as you stick to the plan.

VAT

Anybody due to make VAT payments in April, May or June, payment can be delayed if required and will not be due until the end of the 20/21 tax year (So by 5th April 2021).  Anybody that receives a VAT refund will still receive this.  Again, VAT must still be filed on time, but the payment is not required.  Anybody who pays by direct debit usually is advised to cancel it if they intend to make use of the payment holiday.

Self Assessment Payment on Accounts – Due July 2020

Anybody that is due to make a payment on account in July, the payment has been deferred and is not due until January 2021.

Sick Pay for Employees

For businesses that run a payroll for less than 250 employees, the government will pay back statutory sick pay after the first day of sickness instead of the usual 3 up to 2 weeks.  It may take a few months to get this money back though and HMRC have stressed that it is important to keep records of Employee’s sickness due the virus.

For those businesses that have had to close, HMRC will pay 80% of employee wages up to £2500 p/m.

Business Interruption Loan Scheme and Grants

This is a temporary scheme giving businesses access to bank loans and overdrafts to help get through this crisis.  Information will be available over the next couple of weeks from banks.

The grants for businesses that pay rates are available for retail, hospitality and leisure businesses are being issues by local councils and they will be in touch directly in due course.  If you have a rateable value of under £15,000 you will receive a £10,000 grant, a rateable value of bwteen £15,001 and £51,000 will receive £25,000.  These businesses will also receive a business rates holiday and new bills will arrive from your local authority.

Universal Credit

For the self employed for whom the virus will have an impact with regards to income, they can apply for universal credit to help with personal finances.  The government have relaxed the ruling on this for now and have brought down the minimum income floor for self employed.

Contact Details

Covid 19 HMRC tax payment deferrals helpline 0800 0159 559

Universal Credit 0800 3285644 or https://www.gov.uk/universal-credit

Avon Dassett Coronavirus Support Group

News

**** GOVERNMENT ADVICE IS TO STAY AT HOME ****

Our support group is getting up and running. We are delighted with the number of responses from people who are offering to help where they can, and with the community spirit everyone is showing. An initial email has been sent to the volunteers, so if you have volunteered and have not heard from us, apologies. Please let us know and we will make sure you are added going forward.

To date, there have been few requests for help but this is certain to rise as time progresses. The main thing that people have said they might need help with is in collecting prescriptions and we are currently in touch with the surgery at Fenny Compton to sort out how we can best arrange this.  If needed, we will also contact other surgeries.

We have a few properties where people are self-isolating for various reasons. They are generally managing with the help of family and friends, but the offer of support is there for them.

As a start, we are setting up a volunteers Whatsapp group to circulate any requests for help so that one of the volunteers can pick it up.   This seems to be working well in a nearby village, so we will see how it goes and change things as we need to. There are a few volunteers who do not use Whatsapp, and we will find a way to take them up on their offers of assistance.

For any requests for help, or for any other questions or comments, please continue to contact the helpline number (07860 702 749) and the covid19@avondassettparishcouncil.com email address. Or complete the contact form on the Coronavirus page at www.avondassettparishcouncil.com/coronavirus/. Please share these contact details with your family if you feel this is appropriate.

We will try to provide regular updates on what we are doing. We know that there are some people who do not subscribe to the Parish Council email alerts or who do not use email. So, please feel free to share the contents of this email with anyone you know is in this category. Please also encourage people to sign up for these emails by visiting the Parish Council website.

Coronavirus – Support for Benefit Claimants, Employees and Businesses

News

Coronavirus support for employers, benefit claimants and businesses

 

Following announcements in the Budget, we are making temporary arrangements for those impacted by coronavirus.

 

Please share this information with your members, frontline workers and clients.

 

Information about coronavirus and claiming benefits is available on Understanding Universal Credit.

 
For people already claiming support

Special arrangements will be in place for people in receipt of benefits who cannot attend reassessments or jobcentre appointments because they are required to stay at home or are infected by coronavirus.

  • Claimants who cannot attend a reassessment for Personal Independence Payment (PIP), Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) or Universal Credit will continue to receive their payments while their assessment is rearranged.
  • People who need to claim ESA or Universal Credit because of coronavirus will not be required to produce a Fit Note.
  • When claimants tell us in good time that they are staying at home or that they have been diagnosed with coronavirus, they will not be sanctioned. We will review their conditionality requirements in their claimant commitment, to ensure they are reasonable.
  • Claimants who are staying at home as a result of coronavirus will have their mandatory work search and work availability requirements removed to account for a period of sickness.

 

For people who need to make a new claim for financial support

 

We understand people who are required to stay at home or are infected by coronavirus may need financial support.

 

  • Those affected by coronavirus will be able to apply for Universal Credit and can receive an advance without physically attending a jobcentre.
  • The seven waiting days for Employment and Support Allowance for new claimants suffering from coronavirus or required to stay at home will not apply, so it will be payable from day one.

 
Employees and self-employed people

To make sure people in work can take the necessary time off to stay at home if they are suffering from coronavirus or to prevent its spread, changes have been made to Statutory Sick Pay and how Universal Credit supports self-employed claimants.

  • People who cannot work due to coronavirus and are eligible for Statutory Sick Pay will get it from day one, rather than from the fourth day of their illness. We intend this measure to apply retrospectively from 13 March.
  • Statutory Sick Pay will be payable to people who are staying at home on Government advice, not just those who are infected, this measure will apply from 13 March. Employers are urged to use their discretion about what evidence, if any, they ask for.
  • If employees need to provide evidence to their employer that they need to stay at home due to coronavirus, they will be able to get it from NHS 111 Online instead of having to get a Fit Note from their doctor. This is currently under development and will be made available soon.
  • Self-employed claimants on Universal Credit who are required to stay at home or are ill as a result of coronavirus will not have a Minimum Income Floor (an assumed level of income) applied for a period of time while affected.

 

Businesses

The Government wants to ensure businesses are supported to deal with the temporary economic impacts of an outbreak of coronavirus.

Employers with fewer than 250 employees will be able to reclaim Statutory Sick Pay for employees unable to work because of coronavirus. This refund will be for up to two weeks per employee.

For more information visit the following websites:

 

Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA) mandatory face-to-face signing is being suspended from Thursday 19 March.

Previously, JSA customers were required to attend a jobcentre in order to receive their fortnightly payments. From Thursday 19th March this requirement has been suspended,

and payments will be made to customers as normal.

It means that customers can be confident they will continue to be paid during this unprecedented outbreak.

 

Avon Dassett Coronavirus Support

News

Following on from the decision to cancel the village meeting, a leaflet has been put together which has been delivered to all villagers this evening. See copy here:

This gives information on how you the contact details to register a potential need for support during the Coronavirus situation, or volunteer to get involved in supporting fellow residents.

A new phone number has been created – 07860 702749, as well as a new email address covid19@avondassettparishcouncil.com.  Please use these numbers for Coronavirus issues only and not for general Parish Council matters.

A dedicated page has been created on the Avon Dassett Parish Council website which will include a contact form facility. This is available at

http://www.avondassettparishcouncil.com/coronavirus/

The dedicated phone number is now ‘live’ but is currently inside an old Nokia phone.  If anyone is able to lend us an unlocked (or O2 network) ‘smartphone’ for a period of time, we would be very grateful.  This will save the Parish Council from having to buy one and give the support group more functionality than now. Please get in touch using the email or phone details above.

Coronavirus Meeting – 18 March

News

We are all aware of the increasing seriousness of the coronavirus situation. We, as a village community need to support each other through the weeks and months ahead and ensure that practical help is available to those who need it, especially the very elderly and vulnerable amongst us.

A few village residents attended a meeting today hosted by Rev Nikki Chatterton, who is setting up and coordinating a support group covering the villages in her Parish.  This group will provide a means for the villages to share experiences and best practice, as well as providing a mechanism for cross-village support if needed.

Each village is also being asked to put in place a structure for ongoing support that best suits its size and its residents. Councillor Liz Hirst and Michele Gill, who attended the meeting today, are therefore hosting a meeting on Wednesday 18th March at 7pm in the Reading Room to discuss how this might work in Avon Dassett. This will be an opportunity to hear what is currently proposed, share your views, and to offer your help if you are in a position to do so. We apologise for the short notice, but it is in our community’s interest that we get something up and running as soon as possible.

Please share this with your neighbours and friends in the village. If you are unable to attend but would like to offer your help going forward, details of how to do this will be provided shortly after the meeting has taken place.

Gardening Club

News

Next Meeting – “Have a Go – Make it Yourself”

Where –  Farnborough Village Hall
When – Tuesday 17th March 2020
Time – 7:30pm

Following on from last year’s super talk by Kay Taylor on wreath making, it was suggested we had a social evening where we could have a go ourselves. So here it is – come along, and have a go. If you don’t want a wreath, bring along your own container, and make an arrangement of your choice.  We’ll provide the greenery and some flowers. If you’ve got anything in your own garden that you’d like to include, please bring it along.

We’ll provide the refreshments too.

Our Extra feature is a “Seed Swap” so bring along any surplus seeds you have, whether they are commercial packets or seeds from your garden.

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Our gardening club meets monthly throughout the year and annual membership for 2020 is still only £10 each.

This includes four talk/demonstrations at Farnborough Village Hall followed by tea/biscuits. There will also be four social events and four garden visits (additional charges apply).

Membership also gives 10% discount for Harefurlong Nurseries (Farnborough) and The Herb Centre (Warmington).

Become a member and join us for 2020.  Come along on 17th or contact a committee member.

We look forward to welcoming you.

For more details contact Gill Lewis (Chair) Tel 01295 690643 or Michele Gill (Membership Secretary) Tel 01295 690987.

Guests/non-members are welcome to come along to the meetings for £2 each.