Your Town and Parish Council News September 2021 - Digital Ambassadors wanted and more

Welcome to your latest Town and Parish Council eNewsletter.

We have taken on board some of the suggestions and comments on content and structure you made in the survey we carried out earlier this year.

We will be adding more in the coming months.

Please let us know what you think, and any other suggestions you have by emailing townandparishcouncilnews@westsussex.gov.uk

Cyber volunteers wanted

We need people to sign up to become Digital Ambassadors so they can help educate and support their local communities to stay safe online.

Once accepted on to the scheme, Ambassadors will receive a series of specially tailored training sessions, delivered by experts from Get Safe Online.

When they have been trained, the Ambassadors will give one-to-one advice sessions, give out leaflets or even host a webinar where they can share tips on how people can use the internet safely.

Materials will be provided for the Ambassadors to use, as well as mentoring and support to help them deliver advice effectively and confidently.

The Digital Ambassador scheme is the first to launch in the UK having been run successfully in 19 commonwealth countries.

Prospective volunteers should email communitysafety.wellbeing@westsussex.gov.uk to register their interest by 12pm on Monday 25 October.

Give bees a chance!

Wildflowers and pollinators are making a comeback in Lancing, where our first ‘Pollinator Highway’ is underway.

It’s a joint project between us, Lancing Parish Council and Adur & Worthing councils and is helping to provide crucial food sources and habitat links for a variety of insects via the roadside verges.

Just as we use highways to move from place to place, pollinators in West Sussex will soon be able to do the same. By increasing the biodiversity of plants and wildflowers alongside the A2025's verges, from the sea to The Downs, bees, moths, butterflies, and other pollinators can thrive.

Pollinator Highways will be managed differently to the county council’s other road verges by:

• Reducing grass cutting to once per year
• Collecting grass cuttings to reduce soil fertility and enable wildflowers to compete against dominant grasses
• Monitoring and tracking biodiversity changes
• Not using herbicides to control weed growth. Local residents can help by pulling up and disposing of troublesome weeds on the pavement (although, do not remove noxious weeds, or weeds in the gutter or on the road itself- report these problems online via Love West Sussex).

Signage will be installed at intervals along the route and local people will receive a leaflet communicating the plans for the project with the opportunity to feedback.

This is the first of many potential county council Pollinator Highways.

Contact active.communities@westsussex.gov.uk for more details or opportunities for your area.

Help keep your communities safe

Covid-19 is still with us, so it's important not to let our guard down and do all we can to stop the spread of coronavirus as we head into winter.

Please help us by reminding your communities to:

• Test regularly – order or pick up test kits, or have a supervised test at a local pharmacy. Testing info here.
• Have both doses of the vaccination.
• Remember hands, face, space, let fresh air in.

You can find the latest local Covid-19 data here.

 Vaccination update - Covid-19 vaccinations in schools

Following the Government’s announcement this week, it has been confirmed that all children aged 12-15 years will be offered a dose of the vaccine at their school.

One dose of the Pfizer Covid-19 vaccine will be offered and given by trained NHS staff in the same way vaccines for flu and HPV are administered at school.

The government accepted advice from the four UK Chief Medical Officers in expanding the vaccine programme for healthy 12-15 year olds, previously this age group could be vaccinated if they were especially vulnerable to infection or live with someone who is.  

Parental, guardian or carer consent will be sought by vaccination healthcare staff prior to vaccination and the NHS is due to provide further information for families shortly.

Those aged 16 and 17 are already eligible to get their vaccine and the government says that over half of this age group have come forward for their first dose, with over 4 in 5 UK adults having had both doses.

Information for West Sussex parents and carers will be available on the Sussex Covid-19 Vaccination Programme website.

The Booster Vaccination programme

It was also confirmed that priority groups will be offered a Covid-19 booster vaccine from next week.

The programme will be rolled out to the same priority groups as previously. This means care home residents, health and social care workers, people aged over 50, those aged 16 to 49 years with underlying health conditions that put them at higher risk of severe Covid-19, adult carers, and adult household contacts of immunosuppressed individuals will be prioritised.

Booster vaccinations will begin next week and the NHS will contact people directly to let them know when it’s their turn to get the booster vaccine. Read more here.

If you still haven’t had your first or second vaccination please book now , call 119 or go along to one of the many local walk-in clinics.

Critical support to Afghan nationals arriving in the UK

We are providing critical support to Afghan nationals arriving in the UK from Afghanistan.

The county council is committed to supporting the government’s Afghan Relocation and Assistance Policy and ‘Operation Warm Welcome’ and is working closely with the district and borough councils to identify suitable properties which can be used to provide long-term accommodation for Afghan families who have arrived in the UK.

Please spread the word within your communities that we also encourage anyone who wishes to help those arriving from Afghanistan to visit our website. Here they can find details of local and national organisations accepting financial and practical donations.

Volunteer drivers wanted

Our Young Carers Service is recruiting volunteers to help out one evening a week during school term time by driving a child to a weekly group.

Please spread the word among your local voluntary group contacts and residents.

Email YCFRS.Admin@westsussex.org.uk for more information or to apply (closing date 27 September).

Recycling Centres winter opening times

Winter opening hours at all 11 Recycling Centres in West Sussex start on 1 October 2021.

The opening times for centres will be 9am - 4pm until 31 March 2022.

Most sites will continue to open on the same days with the exception of Burgess Hill, Chichester, Worthing, and Crawley which will open for six days a week during the winter months.

Chichester will close on Tuesdays and Burgess Hill, Worthing, and Crawley will close on Thursdays.

Horsham will close on Tuesday and Wednesday each week.

Online pre-booking remains in place for Recycling Centres in Bognor Regis, Crawley, Horsham, Littlehampton, Shoreham-by-Sea and Worthing.

Householders who drive a commercial-type vehicle are also being reminded to obtain a free permit before arriving.

The permits are designed to help address congestion at the sites and eliminate illegal disposal of commercial waste.

Digital skills training for local businesses

The Recover & Rise training programme started last week. The series is designed to digitally up-skill West Sussex businesses. It consists of over 25 online webinars presented by industry-leading professionals. The programme is free to attend for any small or medium businesses (SMEs) based in West Sussex.

This series is broken down into four sections: Getting Online, Customers & Marketing, Systems & Productivity and Growth & Expansion.

Please spread the word among local businesses in your area.

They can book tickets online for the opportunity to learn how to transform their business, improve their skill set and get access to the latest digital tools, expertise and advice -  delivered by experts and West Sussex Digital Champions.

Solar Together scheme launched

The second round of the Solar Together Sussex scheme has been launched to help residents reduce their carbon emissions and energy costs by fitting solar panels to their home. 

The group buying scheme brings households together to install high quality solar panels and battery systems at a competitive price.

Please pass this information on to as many residents as possible. They can register for free and without obligation.

And if they already have solar panels, they can register to have a battery storage system added so they can get the most out of the clean energy they generate.