News and information from Jane Gould, Babergh District Councillor. To the Parish Councils and residents in Orwell Ward February 2021
Money matters I am pleased to be able to report that all of my Locality Fund has been allocated for the last financial year with the Shotley Peninsula Cricket Club having the last payment. SPCC is based in Tattingstone and serves the whole peninsula. If any local clubs or projects would like to be considered for some funds from this year’s allocation please get in touch with me in the first instance and we can have a conversation about it. Business owners in Babergh and Mid Suffolk are being urged to explore the range of Covid-19 support grants open to supporting them through the current national lockdown. The Covid-19 business support grants cover different periods of national and local lockdown restrictions and are available to businesses with a rateable property that has been mandated to close as part of the national restrictions as well as those who have been significantly financially impacted by lockdown measures. Babergh and Mid Suffolk District Councils have also opened phase two of the Additional Restrictions Grant, which unlike the other business grants, is a discretionary grant with criteria and eligibility set by the local authority. The Additional Restrictions Grant is open to non-business rate-paying businesses that are required to close such as mobile businesses or those who operate in a shared space as well as other businesses not required to close but who have seen a significant loss of earnings as a result of lockdown restrictions. Businesses who received the national lockdown grant in November will automatically receive payments for the Tier 4 and current lockdown restrictions as long are their circumstances haven’t changed. Any business owner who believes they are eligible but have not been contacted, or who are yet to claim a
business support grant, should submit an application form. Grants that cover the November 2020 lockdown are still open for applications and business owners are being encouraged to check the criteria for all grants as they may be eligible for more than one grant. Applications for the Local Restrictions Support Grants and the Additional Restrictions Grant must be submitted by 31 March 2021. Babergh and Mid Suffolk District Council have paid out Local Restriction Support Grants worth over £10 million since November and are continuing to make payments to eligible businesses in the districts. For more information about the Covid-19 business grants or to apply for a grant, please visit www.babergh.gov.uk Food and activities for families during the school holidays. Food parcels, containing ingredients for five meals for a family of four, will be distributed throughout Babergh and Mid Suffolk in the February half-term. The box also includes recipe cards and links to online cooking tutorials, to help families prepare filling, tasty, and healthy meals. In addition to this, a bird box making kit and other activities to encourage families to get outdoors will be provided. The initiative aims to help ensure that no child goes hungry when free school meals are paused during the school holidays, and also seeks to promote getting fit while having fun. Families in need are identified by local schools and must be in receipt of free school meals, or facing hardship because of Covid, to be eligible. Last Christmas, parcels including ingredients for a Christmas dinner, and other meals, were distributed in Great Cornard and Stowmarket to bring festive cheer to low-income families. Covid, and the subsequent lockdown restrictions, has required the programme to adapt accordingly. Previously, food parcels, cookery lessons and outdoor activities were provided in person at events which took place across Babergh and Mid Suffolk last summer. The councils funded 200 free child places in each district for these sessions, and it is hoped that this face-to-face programme will be repeated later this year.
Please don’t hesitate to contact me if you have any issues that you think I can help with and all the very best to you all. Jane Gould Babergh District Councillor Orwell ward Jane.gould@babergh.gov.uk 07548 153777 01473 780777