Llangollen and Dee Valley businesses thank residents for shopping local during lockdown

At times during lockdown, some Llangollen businesses were doing a week’s worth of business in a day with no or few extra staff and little notice to stock up. 

An exhausting, but welcome, change following years of our independent retailers losing sales to supermarkets and national chains. Some had to change their business models overnight shifting from shopfronts to delivery, and some from wholesale to selling direct to customers.

Through the member group Llangollen & Dee Valley Food & Drink (formerly the Good Grub Club) local businesses have released a thank you to everyone who has shopped locally during lockdown, and to explain why it is so important to keep doing so as lockdown eases.

It launches today linked to the Welsh Government’s #CaruCymruCaruBlas / LoveWalesLoveTaste campaign in partnership with Taste North East Wales under the hashtag #KeepLocalAlive / #CadwchLleolynFuw

Robyn Lovelock, from the group’s committee, explained: “When supermarkets couldn’t deliver back in March, our local food and drink shops stepped up. They recruitedextra staff and volunteers to ensure everyone was able to access essentials and more, and worked so many overtime hours. Many local businesses worked together for the first time and generally moved mountains to deliver up and down the valley.”

Tracey Hughes, from Porters Delicatessen in Llangollen, said: “Expanding our home delivery service has been crucial in supplying our regular customers and has helped us find new ones too. And working with other local shops, particularly Dee Valley Produce, has also helped us reach more customers than we would have been able to on our own.”

Rachel Burns, from Rachels Vegan Cakes in Bwlchgwyn, has been overwhelmed with the demand and said: “I never expected to be so busy! People wanted to surprise or cheer up friends, people with birthdays and all sorts. I've loved writing little notes to people from their loved ones. I feel so grateful that people have trusted me to make their friend or relatives day.” 

This experience in Llangollen and the Dee Valley are in line with national trends which,according to research from Barclaycard, has found that food and drink specialist stores – off-licences, greengrocers, independent convenience stores, butchers and bakeries – saw 38%increase in consumer spending while overall spending fell by 37%.

But as we head out of lockdown, the local business group wants to emphasise how much local businesses will be reliant on their new-found support. 

Jo Edwards, from Aballu Artisan Chocolates in Rossett, describes the ways she has adapted and investments she has made in new systems “We’ve offered free local deliveries, invested in a payment system that enables our customers to pay using contactless or paying over-the-phone, and have worked long hours to compensate for furloughed staff. It’s been a steep learning curve for us, but I appreciate the support that people have given Aballu by choosing to buy from us rather than a big online company, and hope they will continue to do so."

Robyn says “We have to appreciate that spending our money with these local businesses, perhaps buying less but buying locally, means we are investing in our own community. These businesses have proven through lockdown they are here for us, - for essentials, for treats, for gifts.

"Our #KeepLocalAlive message thanks them for what they’ve done, as well as emphasises all the other benefits that shopping locally can providesuch aspersonalisedcare and attention, ability to order from a distance, quality of products, convenience of delivery, and more.”

June Lister, a Dee Valley Produce customer from Llandrillo, said: “Being in the vulnerable category and living in a remote village, I was worried how I would access regular supplies. Dee Valley Produce delivered to my door without fail throughout lockdown, with payments over the phone, and have kept me healthy throughout. It’s the personal attention that makes the difference, they know who I am and care about my order. Supermarkets failed to provide that service when I needed them most, and certainly cannot provide that level of customer service”

The research from Barclaycard suggests that over half of shoppers want to increase their support of non-essential local businesses, and the group is hoping this is the case.

As people start to return to shops and high streets, Robyn Lovelock says the message from the group is: “Customers have seen they can trust local businesses to deliver what they want, safely and reliably, even in a crisis.

"Let’s thank them for their support during lockdown by continuing to shop with them as the new normal emerges."

* For more information on the #KeepLocalAlive and the #CaruCymruCaruBlas campaigns and local food and drink businesses, please follow Llangollen & Dee Valley Food & Drink on social media @TasteDeeValley

Welsh Government lifts travel restrictions from Monday

* First Minister Mark Drakeford at today's press conference.

Travel restrictions to stop the spread of coronavirus will be lifted in Wales from Monday (July 6), First Minister Mark Drakeford has announced.

Speaking at the Welsh Government press briefing this afternoon, Mr Drakeford said people will no longer be bound by the 'stay local' rule, which suggested as a rule of thumb people should not travel more than five miles from their home address.

For the full story, see:  https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/mark-drakeford-coronavirus-live-announcement-18505167

Further Llan businesses announce their unlocking

More Llangollen businesses have taken to Facebook to updates on how they are emerging from the coronavirus lockdown 

Dee Valley Breaks posted: "We are pleased to announce that following an assessment of our risk assessments and policies we are certified "Good to Go" by Visit Britain!

"The "Good to Go" scheme, adopted by Visit Wales, provides a covid safe kite mark to businesses like ours which meet the safety criteria. We hope this will give our guests the confidence and reassurance to book their stay with us.

"We look forward to opening on the 13th July. We are fully booked until 7th October, and our next available weekend is the 7th November."

Tyn Dwr Hall posted: "We are very excited to announce that we are now able to begin private viewings at the hall once again. If you have been waiting to plan your dream day, now is the time!

"We are so happy to be back doing what we love, we've missed our couples and the happiness that weddings bring. The Team have made every effort to ensure the hall is a safe environment for you to visit and start planning your perfect day.

"We have appointments available on Saturday 18th July 2020 & Sunday 19th July 2020, please call the Wedding Team on 01978 884664 to book your exclusive visit.

"Please note that visits are strictly by appointment only."

A date for re-opening is less certain at Llangollen Museum, which posted: "Llangollen Museum has been closed to visitors since March 2020 due to the risk posed by the Coronavirus outbreak.

"We are a totally volunteer run museum and, due to the compact nature of the Museum building and the generally older age bracket of our volunteers, we feel that it is too risky to re-open at this time.

"The Trustees of the Museum will be reviewing the situation later this month and an update will be posted then.

"We are sorry for any inconvenience that this may cause to anyone."

County car parks stay free for rest of July

* Market Street car park is one of those to stay free until the end of July.

Denbighshire County Council has updated its position on car parks across the county.

The majority of the council’s public car parks in the main town centres have remained open during the lockdown period and continue to be free of charge for the remainder of July. 

The council says free parking is there to encourage people to use their town centres for shopping and for doing business.   

The council has also confirmed it will be re-opening a number of car parks in Rhyl and Prestatyn from Monday.

Charges will apply at these car parks and additional signs will be put in place, notifying visitors of the parking charges.

Councillor Brian Jones, Cabinet Lead Member for Waste, Transport and the Environment, said: “As national restrictions on travel are due to be lifted across Wales, we need to be in a position to respond to an increase in demand for car parks. We are therefore pleased to announce that more car parks will be re-opening as part of our on-going efforts to reinstate services and facilities across the county.

“We are also pleased to be able to continue offering free car parking in our main town car parks during July, as we recognise that we need to support town centres through encouraging people to come and shop and spend their money locally.  We made an early decision to drop the charges during the lockdown and that position is under regular review”.

* Details on car parks will be updated on the Council’s website: www.denbighshire.gov.uk when the changes are implemented.

Fringe gives details of its online events programme

Llangollen Fringe has given more details of the online events it has arranged in place of its usual live programme which was cancelled due to the pandemic.

It says: "Forget the TV and tune in to our online events running from July 17-25.

"We have a selection of great stuff for all the family. From Storytelling on top of Dinas Bran to Humorous Antics from a bright room in Leeds (unless Silky forgot to pay his electric bill!), 

“Live Broadcasts from Mal's Llangollen Studio to Recorded Dance from Multinational Performers.

“And guess what... it's all FREE!  All you have to do is go to our website and register your interest, we will forward you a link to the event an hour or so before it is due to start... easy peasy lemon squeezy.”

Some of the events planned are, by venue:

Centenary Square (Tri Square)

The Fringe team says: “Is there a light at the end of the Coronavirus Tunnel?  We think so, but how many corners we have to turn before we get to it is uncertain.  But as soon as we are safe enough to hold a bash, we'll be groovin' on the stage of the Triangular Square... at a safe distance of course.  There will be little warning of this, so get your mask and Pac-a-Mac at the ready!

Town Hall

The team says: “We are still optimistically hoping for Sept 22^nd to be our first of a series of live gigs, but optimism may not be enough.  We will keep you posted on that one.

“For now though, stay safe, stay healthy and enjoy something a little different from the norm, on us.”

A Covid-19 contact Tracer tells her story

 * Emer O'Connor is working as a contact tracer in Denbighshire. 

A team of staff at Denbighshire County Council are helping the national efforts to tackle covid-19 by working as contact tracers, as part of the Welsh Test, Trace and Protect (TTP) programme.

The team are provided with details of any confirmed or suspected cases locally and then have the role of tracing people who may have come into contact with the individual.

One of the contact tracing team members is Emer O'Connor.  

Emer’s normally works as a planning officer and her role involves evaluating plans for new developments, visiting sites, liaising with consultees and assessing compliance with the Denbighshire Local Development Plan.

Emer’s said: "I volunteered to work on the TTP team at the end of May, as the council were looking to put together a group of people to work on contact tracing for Covid 19. My manager was keen to support the multi-service TTP effort and I felt it would be an interesting and worthy piece of work to help out with. 

“On a daily basis the council are notified of the individuals within the area who have tested positive for Covid 19 by Public Health Wales. 

"The contact tracers’ job is to phone these individuals, going through their Covid 19 symptoms or testing timeline to ascertain when they may have been infectious. We then trace their activities and the people who they have been in close contact with during the infectious period. 

"We record their contacts and note any significant trends in locations or activities. We advise the individuals of their self-isolation time-scale and provide them with general good hygiene advice and ensure they understand and are equipped for self-isolation, signposting to other help and services as required. Once we have uploaded their data onto the TTP system it is passed on to the contact advisors.

“I have been redeployed to TTP full time for a few months so luckily I have not had to juggle two workloads, as that would have been quite a challenge.  

"For me the pressure comes from knowing that contact tracing has to be done promptly and well after testing. We have to try to get people talk fairly openly and reveal as much relevant information at possible. 

"Recording and finding their contacts in order to ask them to self-isolate is the key to limit the spread of the virus in the community by breaking the link in transmission.

“The team have been great to work with, we are lucky that the group has come from a range of backgrounds  across the council so the skill and information base is varied. Communications within the team and our supporters, the experts in in Public Protection has also been fantastic, this has helped tremendously.

“TTP has been in operation for a number of weeks now and the reaction has been resoundingly positive. People seem to understand the importance of TTP in trying to get the virus under control regardless of whether they are quite poorly or completely asymptomatic.

“I have nothing but admiration for the real life-savers working on the frontline through the pandemic. There are so many other key workers, including council staff, who have had to adapt and deal with so many challenges since March. 

"I am pleased to be able to help out in a very small way, knowing TTP is an effective way to reduce the spread of the virus, enabling us all to take another step towards normality. 

"Everyone is probably aware by now if they test positive for Covid 19 they will have to self-isolate for seven days, so my message is if you test positive please prepare for your TTP call.

"Try and think of where you have been and who you have seen, even write it down as we will ask for names and phone numbers. As Wales opens up in the coming weeks you might have quite a few contacts so if you test positive help us out by thinking ahead to our call."

Councillor Mark Young, Cabinet Lead Member for Planning, Public Protection and Safer Communities, said: “Emer is part of a team of contact tracers who are doing a great job working on the Test, Trace and Protect programme in Denbighshire.  

"This is a vital piece of work in the fight against covid-19 in our communities and the effort in Denbighshire is reflected nationally in counties across Wales.

“We all have a role to play in reducing the spread of the virus, protecting people and keeping Wales safe and this is where we need the public’s support. If anyone is contacted by the contact tracing team, they need to follow the advice given and provide the information that’s requested. 

"We’ve had a great response from the general public so far and this ensures we can do all we can to trace those people that have been in contact with suspected or confirmed cases.

“We are so proud of the work of the contact tracing teams, as well as teams right across the council for playing their part in the efforts to tackle Covid-19. Many are working in roles that are very different from their day jobs.  

"The whole team in Denbighshire has pulled together and everyone is providing great support to the local and regional efforts, whatever their role."

Minister lays out timetable for hospitality industry re-opening

The Welsh Government has told bars, restaurants and cafes with outdoor space to prepare to re-open from July 13.

International Relations Minister Eluned Morgan told today's press conference in Cathays Park that the first phase of the hospitality industry reopening was likely to start from Monday, July 13, if the rate of coronavirus infections continued to fall.

She also laid out a revised plan for allowing self-contained holiday accommodation to reopen, bringing forward the proposed date to Saturday, July 11 to enable that weekend's bookings to go ahead.

* For the full story, see: https://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/pubs-bars-restaurants-coronavirus-reopening-18528336