As we enter the third week of lockdown at a time when many would usually be looking forward to seeing family and taking a break over the Easter weekend, please spare a thought for those who this year may be alone and those who will continue to work throughout Easter supporting others in their time of need.
When I was elected Leader of Huntingdonshire District Council (HDC), my first speech to the council focused on my belief in the strength of our Huntingdonshire community, and what we can achieve when we all pull together. Recently I wrote about how proud I am of the response from local people stepping forward to help others during this crisis, and I am equally proud of the inspiring efforts of council staff, who are doing their utmost to get help and support to our residents.
I am seeing daily examples of innovation and flexibility in how our officers not only keep frontline services running in difficult circumstances, but also put in place unprecedented measures to provide financial assistance, identify vulnerable people and then deliver food, medicine and support to them.
With our leisure centres closed, some One Leisure staff have been willingly redeployed to areas such as waste collection and street cleaning to ensure that we can continue to maintain services.
Others have helped by making 1,600 telephone calls to vulnerable residents in the last week alone, sourcing donations of food, packing and delivering food parcels, as well as delivering prescriptions. One Leisure has also launched a YouTube channel with a variety of staff members filming and posting free home workouts to help maintain health and wellbeing.
Last week we introduced a two-month Council Tax deferral scheme, with officers devising, designing and implementing an entirely new system to manage deferrals in just one day! We’ve now received applications for this scheme from 1,500 households, all of whom will be grateful for the breathing space that this provides.
Businesses are also crying out for help, and HDC has been tasked by the government to deliver £32 million of grants. My cabinet and I were so keen to get this money to businesses as quickly as possible that we agreed to start paying grants before we received the funding from government. Again, this has not been a simple process, but Council Tax and economic development officers worked around the clock to get the necessary information and start making payments. The first £5 million was sent to businesses last week with further payments going out daily.
These efforts and those of a whole range of other council officers are mostly unseen but are making a significant difference to people’s lives during this crisis. I am grateful to each and every officer of HDC who is going well above and beyond usual duties to support our community.
But what’s been heartening to see is the incredible gratitude that residents are showing our staff. For example, our binmen have been overwhelmed by the kindness and generosity that they are receiving as they undertake their rounds. More and more people are taking the time to thank them, children are drawing pictures for them - and they’re certainly enjoying the Easter eggs, sweets and other treats that some residents are leaving for them!
Seemingly small gestures can go a long way in the current circumstances and a small amount - or even a single act - of help for someone in our community can make a tremendous difference to them. HDC will continue to do everything it can and the volunteer response from our community has already been admirable.
However, we are finding more and more residents without family or other support who are struggling as a result. Volunteering to do something as simple as picking up some shopping for someone or telephoning them a couple of times a week for a chat could be that person’s lifeline. If you can help, please let us know via We Are Huntingdonshire.
Across Huntingdonshire, we truly are seeing the very best examples of community spirit and resilience. As the Queen so strikingly stated in her address to the nation on Sunday: "We should take comfort that while we may have more still to endure, better days will return: we will be with our friends again; we will be with our families again; we will meet again." And when we do it will be as a community that has so readily demonstrated just how strong we are, and what we are capable of when we pull together.
Cllr Ryan Fuller
Executive Leader
Huntingdonshire District Council