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* Officer Delia at North Wales Police with
donations from local businesses.
Picture by Llangollen Coronavirus Help Group. |
As demand
grows for its services in the area the online appeal set up by Llangollen Coronavirus
Help Group currently stands at £1,375 of its £2,000 target.
Yesterday, in
her latest update on Facebook, group co-ordinator Cat Meade said: “This group
is run by volunteers, the majority of us are all doing our own jobs working
from home and assisting the community, may I ask for your patience in
responding to calls, newspaper deliveries, shopping request etc.. We are all
working as hard as we can to support you and your requests.
“I shall be
revisiting our methods over the weekend and putting rotas in place for
volunteers as the demand is growing by the hour of each day, if you wish to
volunteer (mainly drivers) please email catherine@wingetts.co.uk.
“Thank you Llangollen for the
incredible donations to date, today’s funds went to Llangollen Fechan Nursing
Home, a box of male & female toiletries , hair curlers, brushes, sprays,
tissues, sweets, crisps, puzzle books, pens tissues and cakes were delivered by
our lovely Delia at North Wales Police with a beautiful donation of flowers
from Stans on Berwyn St.
“Mike Connolly has
been a huge support to this group from day 1 and to me personally, he works
daily advising, supporting, delivering and checks in daily.
Our daily volunteers, too many to name
but I will do a post on them soon, I fire out requests, they jump to the task.
You are much appreciated.
“SHOPS - I have spoken with every
store and will commend those that are supporting. Williams, Dee Valley fruit & veg, all
takeaways.
.
“Heart warming applause last night at
8pm, let’s keep the NHS in our thoughts.
“Next post
will be Monday as I review this past week and a way forward, you will all be
updated. Keep safe, stay home #llangollenfamily
Work has been carried out over the last week by
Denbighshire County Council officers with input from County Councillors and
City, Town and Community Councils, to pull together and map out a list of
resources available during the Covid-19 outbreak across Denbighshire.
The list contains information about local emerging groups
and businesses across Denbighshire offering support across including
information about food deliveries, grocery services and support services. As
well as community based information it also contains links to a variety of
support agencies and networks which operate locally, regionally and nationally.
The county council says: “Please share this widely with
your friends, relatives, neighbours and community.
“We are aware that the Excel spreadsheet may not be
accessible to all and not easy to access by mobile devices. Officers are
exploring alternative ways of sharing this information with our communities and
this will be updated and shared soon.
“This list of key information will be updated on a
regular basis and should you have any information or links that you feel would
be useful to residents please email community.development@denbighshire.gov.uk.
New
police enforcement powers have been granted by the UK and Welsh Government
yesterday (Thursday 26 March), to help reduce the spread of coronavirus,
protect the NHS and save lives.
From now on if members of
the public do not comply with government advice to stay at home and avoid
non-essential travel, North Wales Police officers may:
·
Directed
to return home or removed from where they are and returned home
·
Issue
a fixed penalty notice of £30, which if not paid within 14 days will double to
£60
·
If
they are issued with a second or subsequent notice the charge will be £120
Individuals who do not pay
a fixed penalty notice under the regulations could be taken to court, with
magistrates able to impose unlimited fines.
If an individual continues
to refuse to comply, they will be acting unlawfully, and the police may arrest
them where deemed proportionate and necessary.
However, in the first
instance the police will always apply their common sense and discretion and
seek to Engage, Explain and Encourage. Where individuals refuse to comply, or
repeatedly breach the legislation, our officers are ready to enforce the
regulations as the public would expect us to do.
North Wales Chief Constable
Carl Foulkes said: “This is a public health emergency and compliance with these
measures is considered necessary to achieve the objective of effective social
distancing.
“We have all heard the scientific advice which clearly states this will slow
the spread of the virus and save people’s lives.
“These new powers will
support my officers in dealing with those that have not yet fully understood
the gravity of the situation. The Government has been clear that it expects
people to do the right thing in order to protect the NHS and save lives.
“Disappointingly we saw a
large influx of visitors to North Wales last weekend, however with the caravan
and camping sites now closed we hope people will continue to adhere to the
messages and stay away. We urge anyone who may be considering visiting North
Wales to think again.
“Maintaining the best
service to the public, protecting our officers and staff, and supporting the
nationwide response are our top priorities.
“We urge self-compliance
within all of North Wales’ communities. Officers and staff will encourage
everyone to do so, remind those who we see in public who we believe may not be
following them to do so, and only resort to enforcement action as a last
resort.
“We’re in this together and
each and every one of us has a role to play by following government advice. The
vast majority are following the advice, and we thank them for listening.
“It’s at times like this we
see the very best of community spirit and partnership working and I’d like to
thank all those, including our officers and staff going above and beyond the
call of duty, who are working as one to respond to this situation.”
Individuals will only be
allowed to leave their home for the following very limited purposes:
·
Shopping
for basic necessities and supplies, which should be as infrequently as possible
·
One
form of exercise a day - for example, a run, walk or cycle - alone or with
members of their household
·
Any
medical need, to provide care or to help a vulnerable person, and
·
Travelling
to and from work, but only where they cannot reasonably practicably work from
home.
Members of the public
should continue to call 999 in an emergency where a crime is in progress or
there is a threat to life.
If your call is not urgent, we would urge people to make use of our online reporting service or webchat facility wherever
possible, in order to release the pressure on our emergency lines and
resources.
If you are seeking advice
around COVID-19 and what it means for you, please visit the UK Government or Welsh Government website in
the first instance. This will enable our call takers and officers to focus
purely on policing matters and ensure resources are being utilised effectively.
On Facebook yesterday
Clwyd South MP Simon Baynes posted a message urging people to act responsibly
if they are able to leave the house to exercise or walk their dog.
He said: “Remember it is lambing season,
avoid farms wherever possible, especially fields with livestock and keep your
dog under control.”
And he posted a copy of the leaflet below to
illustrate his point:
Denbighshire
Countryside Service and the Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty posted a message
which said: “Following the UK Government’s most recent announcements and
followed up with new powers from Welsh Government, Denbighshire County Council
have taken the following Action.
“The
busiest sites in the Clwydian Range and Dee Valley AONB will be closed to the
public. There will be no access to these areas until further notice, this
includes Moel Famau Country Park and Coed Moel Famau, Loggerheads Country Park,
Llangwyfan Forest and Pen y Cloddiau, Coed Nercwys and Horseshoe Falls.
“In
co-operation with Natural Resources Wales we have closed all our main
countryside car parks.
There will be no parking available for access to the most popular sites in the
AONB. Please only walk in areas close to your home.
“We have
taken these steps to help reduce the spread of the virus, to protect the NHS
and to save lives. Please help by staying at home.
“Our
Information Centre at Loggerheads Country Park is closed until further notice.
We have set up a remote enquiry system – the public can contact 01824 712757 or
email loggerheads.countrypark@denbighshire.gov.uk with visitor enquiries for
all areas.”
Locally, Davies Brothers builders posted yesterday: “Due
to the unprecedented situation regarding COVID-19, Davies Brothers have been
forced into the decision of suspending all of our works as of the 27th of March
2020, as of now our current target date to resume works is Monday 20th of April
2020, although we realise there is a lot of uncertainty at this time.
“This decision comes with deep regret as we realise the
implications this will have on both our employees and our subcontractors."
