Community support continues as more households seek help from borough council
Almost 200 households have asked Stafford Borough Council for support in recent weeks as the country has gone into its third lockdown.
The authority is continuing to assist vulnerable and desperate residents during the second wave of the coronavirus pandemic, just as it did from last spring when the first lockdown came into force, through measures such as providing links to food.
On Thursday the council’s cabinet received a report on community work in the borough and the steps towards recovery from the pandemic.
Councillor Jeremy Pert, cabinet member for community and health, said: “It won’t be a happy new year for some of our residents due to being caught up in the direct and indirect aftermath of the Covid-19 pandemic.
“We live in difficult times for some and whilst we are all in the same storm together, we are definitely not in the same boat in that storm – some don’t even have a boat. Here at Stafford Borough Council we’re aligning resources to support some of those people who have been inadvertently caught up in that storm.
“The borough council continues to call nearly 50 households every week or two. We have nearly 200 new referrals that have come in since Christmas to look for support and help. Some of those people are extremely desperate.
“We’ve continued to support financially both Rising Brook Baptist Church and Stone Community Hub so that they can continue to support people in our communities with food. New people – people we’ve never seen before – are accessing our services.”
A cabinet report said lessons had been learned from the response to the first lockdown, following issues such as identifying vulnerable residents and a lack of local knowledge on what help and support was available.
The report stated: “There were some gaps in support highlighted by community groups which related to mental health, someone to talk to, resources, support with benefits, gardening and volunteering. These have been incorporated into the recovery plans.
“Overall, the evaluation was very positive and highlighted the success of the model of support that was implemented. The learning from the evaluation has been very beneficial in planning the response during the second lockdown in supporting clinically extremely vulnerable residents.”
Councillor Pert said that webinars had been created to help council staff and partner organisations to signpost residents to the support they needed.
The council has also redesigned some of its online material, in a section called Talk To Us (www.staffordbc.gov.uk/talk-to-us), to help residents find assistance with issues such as paying bills, rent or mortgage, unemployment, access to food and mental wellbeing.
Councillor Pert said: “We have looked at the impact on our people and of people being home for prolonged periods doing things like home schooling whilst their households are cold. We’ve also recently invoked the cold weather provision during the recent cold spell.
“This report was written at a time we were coming out of national lockdowns, so we were beginning to look forwards as part of community recovery. But today, after a new strain of the virus has swept the country, we are in a very different place, as we are back having to respond simultaneously with looking forward to recovery.
“As we look into 2021 this new wave probably makes it all the more imperative to say thank you to our communities for following the rules – those of hands, face, space – while urging people to continue with every sinew and ounce of energy to continue to do so, difficult as that is.
“The vaccine is not far away and I would urge residents, if they are offered an appointment, please take that. Please also don’t call GP surgeries to check that you are on the list, please wait to be called.
“In the deepest and darkest of days it is still worth remembering that with the vaccine, there are brighter and lighter days ahead.”
