Category Archives: General News

General news & information from the surrounding area.

Covid-19 RCC newsletter 6

Dear resident,

Many of you will have read in the press that calls to national charity helplines for those suffering domestic abuse have increased significantly during our self-isolation period.  The Government has set up help for people suffering such abuse; it’s called The Silent Solution.  Victims dial 999 and when the operator asks which emergency they want the caller taps the ‘phone or coughs.  The operator will then prompt the caller to press 55 and the operator then directs the call to the relevant police force as an emergency.  Please let anyone you know who might benefit from this service; more information on Rutland’s Facebook page (see below).

We all love our pets and they bring many people great comfort in times like these but please remember, when you are out walking your dog clear up its mess.  Sadly we have seen an increase in dog mess in parts of Rutland.  Please do your best to keep our pavements, paths and countryside clean. 

If you are an individual or a business and have any Covid-19 questions and haven’t yet looked at RCC’s web site I would urge you to do so as it is being updated regularly. https://www.rutland.gov.uk/my-services/health-and-family/health-and-nhs/health-and-support-services/coronavirus/  You might also want to have a look at the Council’s Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/pg/RutlandCountyCouncil/posts/?ref=page_internal for up to the minute information.

Finally today I have a message from Alicia Kearns our MP. 

Dear Residents,

Thank you for all you are doing to keep our communities safe. I’m enormously grateful to you all for adhering to the Government guidance. In this pandemic each of us can save lives, simply by staying home.

Over the coming months our communities will lose people we love, people we used to wave at on the street, and those we hadn’t yet had the chance to get to know. We’re already mourning people this virus has taken from us.

Thank you for all you are doing to support each other. In particular an enormous thanks to all our keyworkers, from NHS Staff and Carers, to our Council Workers, Teachers, Refuse Men and Women, Delivery Drivers, and Shop Workers.

If someone is giving their all to support our local communities, please write to me and nominate them for a Rutland and Melton Unsung Hero Award. I’ve launched these awards to say thank you to those working tirelessly to protect our communities, and have already recognised Oakham School and Rutland Plastics for their substantial and heroic efforts.

Following Government advice my office’s ways of working are changing. I am working to come back to you as quickly as possible, but ask that you make all contact via email as I cannot guarantee that we will be able to respond to telephone calls or letters in a timely manner.

For frequent updates on new Government support for individuals and businesses to defeat COVID-19, and to sign up to my newsletter please email alicia.kearns.mp@parliament.uk <mailto:alicia.kearns.mp@parliament.uk> .

I remain completely committed to supporting every single one of you, together we can save lives and protect our communities.

Stay safe,

Alicia

Gale Waller

County Councillor, Normanton Ward

gwaller@rutland.gov.uk 01780 722169

Local Milk Deliveries from the Ahimsa Dairy, Manton

Due to the current COVID-19 pandemic Ahimsa Dairy is running free weekly deliveries of fresh milk in the villages of Manton, Wing and North Luffenham.  Whole organic pasteurised or raw milk is available at a special subsidised price of £1.50 a litre throughout the lockdown period. 

For more details please contact:

Nikki mobile 07958 347629 or email nikkisemail2002@gmail.com

About Us

The Ahimsa Dairy Foundation is a not-for-profit company that was set up to provide entirely slaughter-free milk. At present our girls, who all have names, produce 23,000 of litres of milk a year. We distribute to the door in North West London and parts of Hertfordshire. We have drop-off points in other areas of London and the South-East and can distribute milk and other products when available nationally by mail. We also go to Queens Park and Islington London Farmers’ markets on Sundays and Stamford market on Fridays. Cows are retired to join their friends in the non-milking herd when they are past milking age where they spend their days eating grass and chewing the cud.

We are looking at a variety of ways of working with bulls. These range from ploughing the land to producing electricity and milling flour.

Our mission is to make slaughter-free milk a reality and establish sustainable dairy farms in Britain, which give people a real ethical choice.

Ready Meals and Grocery Packs that can be delivered

A range of tasty meals to fill your freezer, home made in Morcott, delivered to
your door, available for one, two or four persons.

Please click on the link below for details.

Covid-19 RCC Newsletter 4

Dear resident,

It is now official, there has been a recorded case of Coronavirus in a Rutland resident.  We in Rutland are not immune from this disease so I would urge you to take self-isolation and social distancing seriously.    This means restricting visiting a shop to not more than once a week, having shopping delivered if possible, using your village’s prescription collection service to reduce the numbers going to the surgeries and pharmacies, and staying indoors.  Some people have to go out to work, of course, and we are all allowed out for daily exercise but one session of daily exercise is just that.  It’s not a bike ride/jog in the morning and a walk with the family or dog in the afternoon; it is one or the other and walking your dog is your daily exercise as well as the dog’s!  It has been reported that young people have been seen playing football on our village open spaces.  This is not acceptable because it is impossible to play football and maintain the 2 meter social distance required by Government and it is enabling cross family mixing, again not recommended.  Don’t let your children and grandchildren out to play with other families till all this is over and if you see any football or other games going on, feel free to challenge the players.  The latest modelling suggests the death toll in the UK from Covid-19 will be lower that first feared, largely because of the success of self-isolation and social distancing but we all need to keep it up.  Look after yourself and if you need to contact me, or just want a chat, the details are below.

Gale Waller

County Councillor, Normanton Ward

gwaller@rutland.gov.uk 01780 722169

Prescription Collection: Uppingham Surgery

For patients of Uppingham Surgery who need their medications to be collected and delivered to them please note the following.

The dispensary team at the surgery are operating the following system:

1: Please order directly with dispensary as usual (phone, online etc) – in the morning

2: Email nlgns2020@gmail.com or phone 07825 697841 (a message can be left) the medicines that you require. Please do this the same day by the afternoon.

3:  The surgery currently requires 72 working hours from time of ordering to dispensing turnaround: please see table below

4. A volunteer will deliver the medicines by first ringing your doorbell, leaving the the medicines on the doorstep and wait at least 2 metres (6 Feet) away to see that you collect them.

Order Monday-ready for collecting Thursday

”     Tuesday       ”             ”         Friday

”     Wednesday    ”        ”          Monday                               

 ”      Thursday        ”       ”         Tuesday

”       Friday        ”          ”          Wednesday 

Arthurs Mobile Fish & Chips – Delivery Service

Arthur’s Mobile Fish & Chips24 March at 18:06

COVID-19 UPDATE

We will not be running this week (23rd-27th March) after this weeks announcement.

Next week we will be running but on a DELIVERY ONLY basis.
We will NOT be taking any orders at the van. If you come to the van you will be sent away.

Please understand that we can only deliver in the villages that we park in.. if you come to us regularly but don’t live in any of the villages please contact us on 07702318625 to see what we can do.

If you can call before 2pm if possible to place your order on the day please do. We will be taking orders over the phone while the van is out but it makes our job harder. We want this to run as smoothly as possible for everyone.

Payment can be made via BACS, PayPal or at the door via contactless card payment (our card reader will be on a stick to minimise contact) if you are only able to pay by cash please state while ordering and we will call you when we are on our way with your order to leave the money outside your door, and we will leave food with your change (we are disinfecting all cash handled)

If you are unable to pay by BACS or PayPal at Barrowden, Nassington or Elton you will have to pay by cash as we get no signal to use the card reader.

We will be unable to give you a time that your order will be with you, but it will be roughly within the time slot we are in your village.

There will be a £1.20 charge per order for delivery to cover the cost of the extra car and fuel used.

Kerrie-Ann will be delivering your food wearing clean gloves for each delivery and a face mask. She will knock on your door and leave the food on your door step and wait at the end of your drive way to insure you get your food unless payment is needed.

We will not be selling some items on our menu to keep things simple. We will post a menu by the end of the week.

The number to order on is

07702318625. If we don’t answer the phone please DO NOT leave a voice mail, either call again later or send us a text.

Art Easel Loan Required

From Alison Woods – My daughter Erin has her GCSE art exam that she is expected to complete at home on Monday and Tuesday next week. I was wondering if anybody in the village has an easel that they would be willing to lend her to help her to complete this exam?  Apparently a table top easel would be best but anything/suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Please reply to this message if you can help

Covid-19 RCC Newsletter 3

Dear resident,

This is my third note during these difficult times and this time it is a plea.  Many people, understandably, are taking this period of forced isolation to have a good clear out.  That’s great but please store what you want to dispose of until the municipal waste sites and charity shops re-open.  Both were closed partly because of the need for social distancing but mainly because of the risk of staff becoming infected from the virus being on the goods disposed of/donated.  DO NOT leave goods outside the closed charity shops.  The charities will not be collecting these donations and their removal will be the responsibility of refuse collectors/street cleaners, both of whom will be at risk if the bags are contaminated.  Thank you for your co-operation.

We have all witnessed the courage of NHS staff, albeit for most of us through the medium of our TV screens.  We recognise their dedication and the risks to their own health this brings.  Can we also remember the dedication of staff working for Rutland County Council and give them a “thank you” too.  Like all employers Rutland Council has adopted home working where possible but not all staff can work from home nor follow safe working practices such as social distancing.  Staff answering your calls are in the office, refuse collectors cannot keep a safe distance from each other as they dispose of our waste and social workers, RCC’s Admiral Nurses and so on still visit people in their homes and like health service colleagues do not always have sufficient personal protective equipment.  So, if you see any of these folk going about their work give them a cheery wave –from a safe distance, of course!

Gale Waller

County Councillor, Normanton Ward

gwaller@rutland.gov.uk 01780 722169

Airfield Closed Off

The MoD have closed off the informal access to the airfield area at the top of the lane leading up from Butt Lane, due to Corona virus compliance. I assume they did not have any Royal Engineers available to help install the No Entry sign…

North Luffenham Tip – Closed

Several people have been searching the vilalge web site for information on the status of the North Luffenham Household Waste and Recycling Centre (The Tip..)

This was closed on 20th March by RCC as part of the Coronavirus distancing measures. Its not known when it will open again

Are you self-isolating in North Luffenham and need food & provisions delivered to your door?

Edith Weston Village Store & Post Office are coordinating home deliveries of food & other provisions from their shop, through a team of local volunteers, to people self isolating in the community.

If you cannot leave your home to shop for food because you are self-isolating, you can call the Store on 01780 722164, and place your order over the phone. They will endeavour to deliver your order asap, but if you can order in the morning it will help them deliver it sooner to you.

Please note the new slightly contracted opening hours for the store below. This will allow the store more time to re-stock shelves , coordinate deliveries and maintain employee distancing in the workplace.

Anglian Water Annoucement – Rutland Water

As you may have heard we’ve sadly made the decision to close all of our water parks, including Rutland Water, to the public along with all activities with immediate effect to help limit the spread of coronavirus. None of our car parks will be open and all tracks and gates are closed. Public access will not be permitted in any areas.

All events at our parks will be cancelled until the end of June which sadly means that the Anglian Water Music Festival will be postponed until next year. We’ll be excited to welcome festival goers to the shores of Rutland Water then, but are advising those who have bought tickets for this year’s event to choose whether to defer their booking until next year, or claim a full refund. Refunds can be claimed via Eventbrite, and if we don’t hear from ticket holders by Monday 31st August, tickets will automatically be rolled over to next year’s festival.

We would encourage everybody to follow the Government’s advice to social distance and not travel wherever possible to protect the most vulnerable in our communities.

Another excellent graphic showing how each of us can help stop the spread of the COVID-19

https://twitter.com/i/status/1241430765394518016

Covid-19 / Corona Virus – Official Government Advice

To save everyone from trying to decipher what we all should be doing to minimise our chances of being infected with Covid-19 and trying to filter all the multiple opinions from Facebook, this is the latest HM Government advice on Social Distancing – what they mean by it, and how it should be implemented. It is advice for everyone, but also gives specific details on which groups are at higher risk of complications. https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/covid-19-guidance-on-social-distancing-and-for-vulnerable-people/guidance-on-social-distancing-for-everyone-in-the-uk-and-protecting-older-people-and-vulnerable-adults?fbclid=IwAR2mm003yzkPV6emS4BvxkXgRQnWR06DcGjbPLvm5S9_0jjBOrZxtMt-mFI

Covid-19 / Coronavirus – Post Office deliveries

Update from Royal Mail – Signing for and receiving items

Royal Mail are advising “In order to protect both our people and customers as much as possible, we will not be handing over our hand-held devices to customers to capture signatures. Postmen and women will instead log the name of the person accepting the item. This will apply to all deliveries that require a signature.”

Additionally, for all customers (including those who are self-isolating) where we need to deliver any parcel that won’t fit through your letterbox, we will place your item at your door. Having knocked on your door, we will then step aside to a safe distance while you retrieve your item. This will ensure your item is delivered securely rather than being left outside. 

Full information is here: https://www.royalmail.com/coronavirus?fbclid=IwAR09lE9SLQ2assreaJQYuzp8NmFijA8PAmoM6__cAEir3k_kKe7ipboeZ8I

The Fox North Luffenham Rutland Annual Beer Festival and village VE Day Celebrations. Thursday May 7th to Sunday May 10th 2020

Please see the attached flyer setting out details of the events taking place at the Fox Country Dining Pub over VE Day weekend.

Anglian Water Music Festival – Rutland Water 13-14 June 2020

The first Anglian Water Music Festival taking place on the 13th and 14th June.

The festival is specifically aimed at families – with lots of activities around the theme of “Getting Active” – including water sports, climbing wall and nature reserve walks. We are very keen that it will be a celebration to showcase all that Rutland has to offer.

Headline acts are Scouting for Girls and The Hoosiers, but most of the supporting acts are made up of individuals and groups from across Rutland and Leicestershire. The majority of the food and drink stands will be local businesses too.

The festival will be held at Sykes Lane, so well away from the nature reserve.

Parking will be included in the ticket prices, and everything we’re doing is to try and minimise queues and disruption for the local community – people will be able to drive straight on site without having to wait at barriers to keep traffic flowing.

Our aim is to make the festival as plastic free as possible in line with our plastic pledge as a business and the way our water parks are run all year round.

North Luffenham’s 8th Safari Supper Saturday 13th June 2020

Please find attached a flyer for the above village event