How the people of Broughton Astley are uniting together to fight the coronavirus

The leader of Broughton Astley Parish Council has made an impassioned plea for the community to unite as one to fight the coronavirus.

Cllr Clive Grafton-Reed spoke as he said over 60 public-spirited villagers have already volunteered to help and support vulnerable local people.

The chair of Broughton Astley council issued his stirring call to arms on Friday March 20 in a special message on the local authority’s website.

Pulling no punches, Cllr Grafton-Reed said in his passionate address: “We are facing challenging times which will test the strength of our community.

“We have always said there is a strong community spirit in Broughton Astley and now is the time to prove it by supporting one another and being tolerant of other's needs.

“As a parish council we are responding to the situation and government’s direction to support essential workers and services with what limited resources we have.”

He stressed these measures include but are not limited to:

The Parish Office - will remain operational, but contact should be by telephone and email to reduce person to person contact. The council will be using social media to communicate as much as possible.

Village Hall Bookings - all bookings for the Village Hall and Cottage are cancelled until further notice.

Support to essential workers - the Village Hall will focus its resources to ensure the Pre-School childcare group, which provides childcare for essential workers, can remain operational as long as possible.

Recreation Ground toilets - the toilets on the recreation group will be closed to redeploy cleaning materials to the village hall. The council’s struggling to purchase replacement materials at this time so “help in this area would be appreciated”.

Broughton Astley Volunteer Group – the council will be providing staff, equipment and funding to support Broughton Astley Volunteer Group.

“There has already been an overwhelming response and over 60 volunteers have registered.

“They are spread across Broughton Astley and will help those who contact the group,” said Cllr Grafton-Reed.

“We are currently working through the details of how the group will operate and provide a safe service to those who do not have other support networks to fall back on.

“The email address is: [email protected]”.

The local council chief said that if anyone wants to donate food and any other items there is a drop-off point at the front of the village hall.

“Household basics such as cleaning materials would be very welcome.

“We will have to deal with new challenges as they emerge so bear with us as we adapt and try to move as quickly as possible,” insisted Cllr Grafton-Reed.

“Please follow the Government’s guidance on social distancing, working from home and avoiding panic buying so that there is enough to go around.

“Working together we will get through this in the best way possible, we just need that community spirit.”

Meanwhile, the parish council emphasised in a separate appeal it will be coordinating volunteers to “help those who may find themselves in isolation or unable to do day to day things”.

“If you are able to volunteer this could be shopping, collecting prescriptions to dog walking etc, or it could even be a friendly phone call to relieve loneliness or isolation,” states the council’s website.

“We are in unprecedented times and although we have no experience of coordinating such a project we do have the facilities and infrastructure to operate from and so would welcome ideas and suggestions too.

“Please email [email protected] to either register your help or give details of those who may need to receive the help.”