Corona Virus Concerns
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I wondered myself Wherenext 🤐. It can cause some interesting conversation swerves with our great friends who live in Scotland. Glad our kids have finished uni 😉
Now are you 15 minutes inside or outside 'the border'? Walking or driving? With or without a caravan? 😂😂
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Bakers, the info I copied for you, came from my DIL who lives in England, I assume it was one of her friends that had posted it.
However my BIL (who lives in Scotland) is on the vulnerable list (he has cancer) he got his letter a week ago, he has not bothered asking for a food parcel as they have no problem getting food, or the cost of it. They have managed to get a supermarket delivery every week, not always everything on the list arrives but I manage to get the missing items at other shops, I also get her milk and bread in between the supermarket deliveries.
The food collections/deposits set up in phone boxes and other types of places are very popular up here, there seems to be quiet a few in the town, haven't seen one in the village but we do have a very good group of volunteers who are distributing food parcels to any that ask or are known to be in need.
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I had to drive about 8 miles yesterday to go and get my "Click and Collect" order. I was amazed at the amount of traffic and people who were out and about. I cannot believe all were out shopping for food! I was impressed with the organisation and the service received from Tesco to keep contact to next to nothing. Now if only it was easier to get slots of any description from any of the supermarkets.
peedee
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Very different here today peedee. Picked up a few essentials in town this morning and quietest yet with few around and virtually no queues.
Just had our daily walk crossing M6 and thought it must closed! Then 3 cars came south and a car and a couple of lorries north with only one HGV. That's the M6 at 3.00pm on a Saturday afternoon feels like we have stepped into a different world. We can see at least two miles in each direction.
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Tammygirl I did investigate a bit more, but not on government webpages, my friend Google 😉.
It seems there a free boxes, at present, there may be a charge but it's for simplicity for now, enough to feed 1, includes toilet paper 😉, for a week.
On the government website it asked "can you get food?", I wonder if you clicked no this would appear?? If on the opening page you said you lived in Scotland a different start page came up and there on the left hand side were links to such things.
As I've said before were OK at the moment and hopefully that will continue. 🤞I just hope those that do need it know how to find it!! Mind you the GP social prescriber gave me a phone number if we need help so hopefully they can point them in the right direction. Our city council did a leaflet drop with the same phone number and other useful info last week, so things are slowly getting out there.
The ones I feel really sorry for are the children who got free school meals - their help seems very slow and 3 weeks of hunger is hard on them and their carers 😢. We have, I've not seen it in the flesh, a community bench outside a very nice chaps house, he keeps an eye and only on a couple of occasions has it been abused. Someone had put a large sack of potatoes there and 1 person removed what was left rather than take a few 😤😤😤. Folk that have surplus food toiletries etc can add it and folks are putting books, DVDs, toys etc that can help and be recycled the same way now. I've got some bits and need to find a neighbour going that way on their exercise!
This morning is beautiful and for the first time , day 31,I really wanted a walk it's a beautiful day. I've left it a bit late now - got sidetracked over breakfast 😀. Might go tomorrow as soon as I get up.
Stay safe.
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We live in a very built up area in the West Midlands, and l have noticed lately the amount of face masks and plastic and latex gloves that are being discarded anywhere when finished with. A place that seems to be popular is when waiting at traffic lights and on the edges of supermarket carparks. At times like this some members of the human race never surprise.
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Disgusting behaviour by a small percentage. I have noticed one or two such items, but not on the scale you are indicating. ☹️
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Noticed a few gloves but no masks discarded at traffic lights on M6 junction at top of our street. Must admit I was expecting it and I suppose it makes a change from the large number of cans and bottles thrown onto the grass verges a number filled with "yellow liquid" and I am sure you can guess what that is. Highways England do try to clean up fairly frequently in normal times.
Have any of you read this morning's reports that one suggestion to lift the lockdown is to start by opening the schools in May and progressively let out the rest by age group with the 70+ being kept at home until a vaccine is developed! Would probably mean no advancing this year then.
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Oh, ecky thump, ForestR, will that mean yet another injection day to sit alongside Flu, pneumonia etc and all to be done at the same visit to surgery ?? I can just imagine it now --> Hello A B M , Left arm, right arm and now ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, OUCH
That smarts !!One thing is certain I won't be having that done at the supermarkets chemists counter
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We don't, as yet have to pay for the garden bins, but I am just wondering why, if some councils can keep collecting the other recycling, ours cannot? Even once a month would be a help. The present situation will lead to fly tipping.
It seems our whole council operation is now on an emergency service only basis, you can only deal with them by phone or sometimes e mail, and getting through on the phone is said to be almost impossible.
I reckon they will be getting a lot of complaints, especially over the refuse situation, once things start getting back to normal, right now they are not allowing any complaints!!
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Our council is the same,one of the local councilors is quite local to us, , she advises .,there is a problem with staffing some services at this time,so the teams are being "cobbled together" which means some less "urgent?"tasks are being "prioritised"
It could well be the same UK wide
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The ones I feel really sorry for are the children who got free school meals - their help seems very slow and 3 weeks of hunger is hard on them and their carers 😢.
From what I've seen on TV here, the children are still getting their lunches even during the Easter holidays. Lots of helpers making up packed lunch bags, some are collected from a centre. some delivered. I think I'm right in say up here all first and second year primary are given free school lunches. Its something the government up here are talking about rolling out to all primary ages.
We don't, as yet have to pay for the garden bins, but I am just wondering why, if some councils can keep collecting the other recycling, ours cannot? Even once a month would be a help. The present situation will lead to fly tipping.
Could it be to do with amount of folk in Glasgow that have the virus, maybe the council are very stretched due to absentees and redeployment to other services during this crisis. I agree that it will only encourage fly tipping.
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Fife is just above 'emergency only' level of service. Contact Centre staff are reduced to allow safe social distancing and there are Covid absences. Bin collections need 2 lorries for transport of the staff, so the normal 2 bins each week collection is suspended.
Phone contact discouraged to allow staff to be deployed where needed to keep essential services running.
BUT, Paper/Cardboard recycling returns tomorrow [but not our week!] so we can begin getting rid of all the COVID 19 letters those caring, sharing Banks keep sending us, announcing that they care so much they have reduced savings interest to 0.01% following the reduction in MLR. They conveniently sidestep their previously published proposals to charge overdrafts at 39.9% ... Usurers? Nope; just plain parasites.
Steve
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TG........but we are not in Glasgow! They, according to DD, ARE getting their recycling collected! We are in East Dunbartonshire.
We have spare space in our general bin, so it will be getting filled up with as much other stuff as possible.
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That is understandable, but to go from 2 bins per week collected to 1 bin every 2 weeks is a huge reduction, I do not think they have organised it well, especially as all the tips are shut too.
The cost of, and the manpower that will be needed, clearing up the mess that will result would make it more sensible to have done as Fife seem to be doing, collect one bin each week, alternate the recycling ones, and never mind the garden waste at present.
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There’s no trouble at all with our refuse or recycling collections. It’s outsourced to a contractor and all working as normal. 👍🏻
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Exactly! They will, presumably be working within the rules on distancing, and so could the council employees, it just needs some thought and organisation.
We are fortunate to have some garden space to store bagged recycling, but there are lots of apartment blocks where this is just not possible.
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On our local news, I only watch national headlines and local TV News, too much regurgitating of covid19, families are to get supermarket vouchers £15 per week for each child that qualifies, but there's a glitch in the system 😤 so few families have received them at present. They really have no idea how folk on very low incomes have to live - nothing behind them to dip into to tide them over. So so sad as many actually work 🤐.
So glad other folks getting letters reducing interest rates 😱😱😱. One of our banks wrote and said interest rate dropping, sort if halving, on overdrafts - doesn't change t&c's 😉
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I was born in Stourbridge and worked in 6or so locations before moving to Peterborough area in 1983. Where are you based?
Steve
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Scottish Council Tax is generally lower than England's and Scotland has kept more services in the public sector.
I'll keep clear of any political elements, so will say no more than it's pretty much inevitable that the post COVID bill will involve higher national and local authority taxes for probably lower levels of service, because the billions that are being spent to keep UK going will have to be financed by us taxpayers.
There will,I hope, be a discussion about what UK needs in terms of food supply chain infrastructure, because the present 53% production is too low; in terms of UK manufacturing, especially for Health PPE,because hanging around hoping that the next plane has the next supply is dangerous; and in terms of the levels of funding that the NHS needs.
It looks as though we might have 'got away with it' this time, thanks in no small measure to some very dedicated and skilled medics, but there will be another pandemic [I think WHO has a category 'X' in its risk assessment box, i.e. 'we don't know what it is,or when it will arrive, but something untoward will happen within the next few years'].
If we are to be better prepared for the next problem, we will need to pay for the protection, whilst also paying for the COVID Bill. Better that than seeing 20,000+ lives lost in such a distressing fashion.
Sorry, this post grew arms and legs, as things bubbled into my consciousness!
Steve
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It does not feel lower from where I am sitting Steve!
If we add on the water charges in England, we get a better comparison, but at least down there a couple or single person can save quite a bit by getting a water meter. Try doing that up here, they really do not want you to, make it very complicated, and even if you did, the savings are minimal if any.
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As I've posted before all our refuge is collected as usual. 4 sorts a week 😱. I looked last week, seems it was as always crew wise. Still retained in house. All included in our council tax 😀.
Water and sewage paid separately here, 2 different companies, amounts to a pretty penny, compared to council tax and what that actually covers. No politics just saying.
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Fair point, Kjell!
I am very much aware of the care that I have received from NHS Scotland, both quality and quantity, so I am more than happy with the taxes that are necessary to support that level of service.
The last time I checked, NHS England was having to limit hip replacements to 1 per patient. I had both replaced in Scotland, at around £9,000 per side ['discount for cash and having both done at the same time, gov?'] because of chronic arthritis that led to the hips locking without warning and my having to pick a safe landing site on which to fall and then wait for the hip to free itself. The thought that I may have been left to cope with a walking stick and/or crutches and much reduced mobility plus a fair degree of pain, is not attractive!
On a lighter note, I have just seen a lovely video on Twitter.In a nice reversal of approach, the NHS Staff stood and applauded all the building contractors, sparkies, chippies and allied trades out of the newly built Louisa Jordan Hospital in Glasgow. Quite nice to see a 6 feet+ builder blush at such treatment!
.Compassion and kindness are much underrated.
Steve
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Sorry forgot you come under East Dunbartonshire
The brown garden bins get emptied once a fortnight on a Monday, the normal bin gets emptied on a Thursday also once a fortnight, the recycled bin also Thursday once a fortnight (alternate weeks) so one week 2 bins, next week 1 bin. All still being done as normal, just the centres that are closed.
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Ours was like that 2 years ago, then they introduced a license for garden waste at £25, this year its now £35.
Food can still be put in the brown bin and collected for free, only they don't.
We have twice now not had our food bin emptied, as they say it has garden waste in it. Photo taken and sent to council as evidence, what they are seeing is things like cabbage leaves, cauliflower leaves etc
fed up trying to get it emptied we have now gone back to putting food waste in the general bin.Don't like doing that but I can't have the food waste stinking to high heaven while we have the argument as to it being food or garden waste.
We also have stopped paying for the garden waste to be emptied as 1 bin a fortnight isn't enough, so still have to take clippings to the skip.
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