Notices

Mother’s Day

Please remember to celebrate Mother’s Day on Sunday safely within the current ‘Stay Home’ COVID guidelines. COVID rates are not yet as low as had been hoped, so we need to make further progress in reducing the case rate before restrictions are further eased at the end of the month.

Vaccines for people over the age of 56

The National Booking Service is now open to all those aged 56+. Book a Covid-19 vaccination now via www.nhs.uk/coronavirus or call 119.

Vaccine transport update

Community transport schemes and taxi firms are available to support people with transport to Covid-19 vaccination appointments. Residents needing help can access details online or call 0345 045 5219 Monday to Friday, 9am -5pm. All transport providers are DBS checked and most require a minimum 24 hours’ notice.

Census 2021: Beware of scams

Ahead of Census Day (Sunday 21 March) please be aware of the following to help prevent scams:

• This is the first ‘digital Census’, with most people being asked to complete the census online
• The Census team will not call households for information about their census, unless they have made an appointment with the Census Contact Centre, or they have raised a query or made a complaint. There will be no cold calls.
• If you complete the census form online, there will be no home visits by Census Officers.
• If you don’t complete form, Census Officers may visit your home to offer help to complete it. They will carry official ID cards with their photo and name. They will never ask to enter the property.
• Census Officers will never ask for national insurance numbers, passwords, bank account details, or credit or debit card numbers.

Vaccine update

People aged 60 or over, clinically extremely vulnerable people, anyone in receipt of Carer’s Allowance, and frontline Health or Social Care workers are now invited to book a Covid-19 vaccination online via www.nhs.uk/coronavirus, or by calling 119.

Self-isolation support scheme extended

Financial help for people to self-isolate has been extended until the end of June and expanded to include parents who need to have time off work to look after a child who is self-isolating.

People needing to self-isolate can make a bid for funding from The Test and Trace Support Payment Scheme. Those who don’t meet the criteria are also able to apply for a £500 discretionary payment. Full details of the scheme  can be found on our website.

Testing update

Households with primary school, secondary school and college aged children, including childcare and support bubbles, will now be able to test themselves for coronavirus twice a week. The guidance provides information on who can be tested and how people can get a test.

Action for Happiness: Mindful March

Action for Happiness is focusing on staying mindful through the month of March with tips and resources, such as a downloadable calendar with prompts and webinars. The next webinar takes place on Thursday 11 March, from 7pm to 8pm, and has a focus on ‘Practical hope’, with Oren Jay Sofer.

Mental health database by postcode

The Hub of Hope offers a database of mental health support which co-ordinates national, local, community, peer, private and NHS mental health support services in one place.

Coronavirus Roadmap

read the publication and the summary version.

Vaccination briefing

1. Anyone aged 65 and over, or Clinically Extremely Vulnerable (previously on the shielding list), who haven’t yet had their first dose should now make an appointment at www.nhs.uk/covidvaccination or by phoning 119
2. Carers are included in Cohort 6 for vaccination if they fit the definition of “adult carers”, ( “Those who are eligible for a carer’s allowance, or those who are the sole or primary carer of an elderly or disabled person who is at increased risk of COVID-19 mortality and therefore clinically vulnerable.” ) Eligible carers will be contacted via the National Booking System (NBS) to receive an invitation to book a vaccination.
3. Individuals added to the Shielded Patient List as part of the new QCovid model will be contacted by the NHS by text  letter, or a phone call to offer them the vaccine.

Winter Support: Direct Award Scheme

Small one-off payments (£25 for an individual, up to £50 for a couple or family) are available to help South Cambridgeshire individuals and families in acute need with food and fuel as direct payments under the Winter Support Family Fund.  Recipients receive an email with a food retail voucher or a unique code to credit their fuel account at a pay-point or a text/email code to take to a pay-point to cash out the money from their text code to purchase what they need. The scheme closes at the end of March 2021. Residents wishing to apply can do so by emailing duty.communities@scambs.gov.uk. A S Cambs team member will then get in touch with applicants.

Self-isolation update

Self-isolation payments are expanding. People who need to self-isolate because of Coronavirus and will lose income by doing so may be entitled to a £500 payment that they do not have to pay back. This now also covers one parent or guardian who has to stay off work to look after a child who is self-isolating (where the parent or guardian is not required to self-isolate by NHS Test and Trace but meets all the other eligibility criteria). Anyone who has lost an income due to self-isolation should get in touch with us as help is available.

Coronavirus home testing kits now easier to order

An announcement from Government  was made on 18 February about new accessibility improvements to the home testing programme to make it easier to get tested.

Public Health England launches new Psychological First Aid training

People who care for or work with children and young people aged up to 25 who have been affected by COVID-19 (or other emergencies or individual crises) can access a new free online Psychological First Aid (PFA) training course.

New people added to Clinically Extremely Vulnerable (CEV) list

The Government announced last week that the CEV list will be expanding adding around 1.7 million new people.

Until now the CEV list has been determined by a fixed number of health conditions. Age, ethnicity, medical conditions and BMI have now been added as research has now shown more people are at higher risk from COVID.  All these factors are scored and above a certain threshold an individual is deemed to be CEV.

Anyone added to the CEV list will be sent an advisory letter from Government. This will also include information about local support that can be provided including priority supermarket delivery slots.

The COVID vaccination programme will now prioritise those who have been added to the CEV list as group 4 ,so they will be called quickly.

CEV people should work from home. If they cannot work from home they should not go to work. Advice will be sent about financial support.

South Cambs DC will ensure people on the CEV list are aware of their options to vote in the May elections so they need not go to a polling station.

The date for all people on the CEV list to shield has been extended, from 21 February to 31 March.

Vaccination programme update

Anyone who is over 70 and who has not yet been invited for the vaccine is now being asked to book their vaccination appointment online or by calling 119.

NHS and private sector frontline Health and Social Care Workers are being strongly encouraged to take up the offer of a vaccination. See FAQs on the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Clinical Commissioning Group’s website – the CCG is running the local vaccination programme and refer to this page for advice on how to access the vaccine.

Fore more info on the COVID-19 vaccination programme, see the CCG Twitter, Instagram, and Facebook accounts

Cases numbers in South Cambridgeshire continue to decline, but only slowly, so we all need to keep doing all the right things to keep the numbers going down.

Half term food vouchers

Cambridgeshire County Council will be issuing £15 supermarket vouchers for all children who usually receive Free School Meals for use during February half term by 12 February by email and text message to parents/carers. Families who have not previously applied for Free School Meals, or whose name has recently changed and who think  they now meet the criteria, should visit the County Council’s website to apply.

Vouchers will be provided to families via the government-funded Winter Grant Scheme that we are working on with the County Council. For further information about the Winter Grant Scheme and the other support available during this challenging period, please visit the County Council’s website.

Laptops for Children Appeal by the County Council

Businesses and local residents are asked to donate spare laptops to support young people in Cambridgeshire who do not have access to a computer or the Internet at home for on-line lessons and homework. 8,000 pupils in the county still lack suitable equipment or internet access at home. If you are able to donate a laptop please see

donating any spare or unwanted laptops,  To check technical requirements, or how to make a financial donation see the gofundme portal.

In addition to the appeal above,  South Cambridgeshire District Council has  awarded Cambridge Online a £5,000 grant to help digitally excluded children to get online. To applyemail help@cambridgeonline.org.uk  or ring 01223 300407.

Local testing for people without symptoms who go out to work

There are 6 new rapid testing centres in Cambridgeshire where key workers, or other people who cannot work from home, are invited to book twice-weekly lateral flow tests. These tests are for people who do not have any symptoms of covid-19. For information about testing sites and how to book see the County Council’s website. The nearest site to Shudy is The Hub, High St, Cambourne and is open from 0800-2000 on Monday to Saturday.  The test takes 15 minutes and results are available within an hour

1. People with symptoms will not be tested at the rapid testing sites. Anyone with a high temperature, a new, continuous cough, or a loss or change to sense of smell or taste – should book a test at www.nhs.uk/coronavirus   or call 119.

Practical grief advice

The Good Grief Trust helps those who have lost someone or know someone close to them during the pandemic. The current government rules may clarify some aspects for the bereaved but Good Grief Trust site adds there are a number of useful links and resources.