All posts by Martin Cooke

TEA, CAKE & CHAT

How wonderful it was to see so many villagers joining us at the Post-Covid morning on the 7th AUGUST 2021 ~ 10:00am to 12:30pm.

We had over 50 people visit the hall over the morning to chat and share the vast selection of cakes, many of which had been made by members of the community and children in the village.

Thank you so much to everyone who supported the morning, everyone who made cakes and especially everyone who helped make it happen.

Let’s Build a School Fund Raising

Many thanks to all who helped raise money for the “Let’s Build a School” in Kanungu Uganda campaign.

The two fundraising events which raised in excess of £1,250 were supported exceptionally well by the community, friends and family.

Well done to all concerned especially Mary a great achievement

Village Bench Project – Update

The Parish Council are pleased to confirm work has been completed on the installation of the first four benches as part of the village bench project (two in the conked field & two on the playing field).

Following installation plaques will be fitted to certain benches, details of further planned bench sites around the village can be found in the Scene or on previous correspondence on the website.

Bench in the Conker Field
Conker Field

Tea, Cake & Chat!

Hi everyone, further to my notes in the Scene and on the village website, I just wanted to remind you about the Post-covid coffee morning on the 7th August (10am to 12.30pm) that the Parish Council is hosting in the village hall to encourage people in the community to get out, mix and have a chat over tea & cake.
It would be great to see you there, bring a neighbour, better still bring two!
Looking forward to seeing everyone.

Electric bikes

Leicestershire County Council E-Bike Scheme
Leicestershire County Council are working in partnership with the Department for Transport to offer Leicestershire residents training and discounts on electric bikes.
Throughout summer 2021 the county council’s safe and sustainable travel team, Choose How You Move, will be hosting events and training to those interested in purchasing an electric bike using one of the government’s discount vouchers.
These vouchers are for £300 off the cost on an electric bike

NHS ~ GP Practice Survey

On Monday we have launched a GP practice survey exploring views and experiences of GP-led (primary care) services during the Covid-19 pandemic to help us build on the things that people in Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland like about the service and to identify areas of care that could be improved.

Over the last year, Coronavirus has placed enormous strain on all areas of the NHS, including your General Practice. Despite that, General Practices have remained ‘open’ providing more than 6 million appointments over the last 12 months, with the majority still providing face-to-face. Some changes have been made to keep both patients and staff safe though, including increased use of both telephone assessment and, in some cases, online consultation where appropriate. Right now, your GP and GP practice is handling more appointments than ever before. 

We would love to hear your opinion and about your experiences that will help us to plan for service delivery in the future. Even if you haven’t visited your General Practice recently it’s still really important that we hear from you so that we can understand the way care needs to be provided to you in the future. The gathered feedback will inform a series of discussions going forward to help create a shared vision for modern, sustainable primary care.

The survey closes on Monday 12th July 2021.

Link to survey: www.bit.ly/PrimaryCareLLR

We would be most grateful if you could share this survey with your communities and networks to enable us to collect the views of a wide range of local people.

LCC ~ Have a say on Bus Services

The county council is working closely with local bus operators to come up with bold plans to improve public transport – and encouraging more people to use it.

The Government has pledged £3 billion to help progress these plans across the country – and Leicestershire is aiming to secure a fair share of the funding.

However, to secure this funding, the council must develop a Bus Service Improvement Plan (BSIP).  The council needs input to help it develop the plan.

It wants to find out what people think would improve local bus services and what would encourage them to use local buses more.

It would like to hear from people who already use buses, those who currently don’t, as well as from public, private and voluntary organisations.

There’s a questionnaire at www.leicestershire.gov.uk/bus-strategy-survey for people to have their say. The closing date is Friday, 30th July.

URGENT Message from our Vicar Mary

Good evening everyone, some of you will be aware that the Church within the local communities and at wider national level is in need of change. With a reducing congregation, reducing income and increased costs to maintain property and staff the church has to change to survive. this could potentially see some churches only for special occasions and others possibly even closing.

Attached there is an invitation to a Zoom meeting tomorrow evening (8th June 2021) at 7.30pm to discuss the suggested plans for the future of the diocese.

This is a conversation which we are asked by Bishop Martyn to take our part. During the meeting it is hoped there will be opportunities to share our views in groups and feed them back so that they can be passed onto the Mission and Ministry Team as we pray our way through the tough times spiritually and financially for the church.

Whether you are a regular church goer or a seasonal one, your opinion is valued. The more people we can get involved and join in the better because afterwards we will not be able to complain about the changes that will occur and major changes they will be, including the potential closure of church buildings – absolutely nothing is off the table in terms of discussing how we will manage to bring our expenditures in line with our income.

Changes often worry us and that is when we need to remember that God is with us most of all.

Borough & County Councillor Update ~ June 2021

I hope you are having a great summer.  As I write this at the start of June its not yet clear when restrictions will end and if foreign holidays without having to self-isolate on return will be possible (I for one certainly hope so after the year and a half we’ve all had), but being able to once again see friends and family (almost) like we did before has been fantastic.  Thank you to everyone involved in the vaccination programme – as well as everyone who has received the vaccine – for getting us this far.       

Please find attached a link to the Work + scheme for more information on the programme: New scheme launches to boost skills, training and employment | Leicestershire County Council