Author: Sarah

Local support available during National Grief Awareness Week 2 – 8 December 2020

Families and individuals in Shropshire who have lost loved ones are being offered free bereavement counselling.

The reminder comes during National Grief Awareness Week (Wednesday 2 December – Tuesday 8 December 2020), which aims to get people talking about this typically uncomfortable subject.

Run by Shropshire Council with support from Samaritans, Severn Hospice, Cruse Bereavement Care and Crane Quality Counselling, the Bereavement Support Service offers one to one personalised counselling for people across the county.

Free bereavement counselling is available to everyone in Shropshire. People will be able to talk to a trained professional about how they are feeling and to seek advice. Experts from the charities can also suggest helpful ways to remember and pay tribute to loved ones.

You can access the free bereavement service by calling the Shropshire Council COVID-19 Helpline number on 0345 678 9028.

The line is available for anyone with questions or queries or looking for support and guidance. By ringing you can find out about the free and confidential bereavement services available, and you will receive support to arrange an appointment or get in touch directly.

Shropshire residents urged to ‘Think Local’ this Christmas

Shropshire residents are being urged to ‘think local’ to give the county’s economy a £4 million pre-Christmas boost.

After a difficult year for the county’s businesses, Shropshire Council has launched a campaign to encourage people to ‘Think. Shop. Buy Local’ in the run up to Christmas.

Research shows that if every adult in Shropshire spent £3.80 a week in local shops rather than with international retailers online, it would boost the county’s economy by £1 million a week, or nearly £4 million before Christmas.

The campaign will ask people to ‘think local’ when doing their Christmas shopping, and also promote and highlight – via a new website and through social media – some of the special activities and promotions the county’s towns are putting on in the run up to Christmas.

Shropshire towns, villages and traders who are offering special events, later opening hours or other promotions are being encouraged to contact the council – on epuadmin@shropshire.gov.uk – so that these can be promoted via the Shropshire Council website and social media.

For more information about the Think. Shop. Buy Local promotion, visit www.shropshire.gov.uk/thinklocal.

Fuel Poverty Awareness Day – Support on hand for those suffering from fuel poverty

Shropshire Council are today (Friday 28 November 2020) taking part in a national campaign to raise awareness and highlight the support available to those who are struggling to heat their homes.

Fuel Poverty Awareness Day led by national charity National Energy Action (NEA), aims to highlight the issues around fuel poverty and encourage people to seek support to help them keep safe and warm at home.

Shropshire Council, along with its partners, offer a range of support and advice to help those in fuel poverty or facing other financial worries. These include:

  • Keep Shropshire Warm – a programme run for the council and Marches Energy Agency (MEA) that offers free and impartial energy advice to anyone in need in Shropshire.  Local advisors can support residents with a range of energy concerns, from accessing grant funding to switching supplier or resolving fuel debt issues. A new Smarten Up, Power Down project has recently launched, offering practical support to householders who are finding it harder to afford energy bills due to the impact of Covid-19. Residents who require help and support can contact the Keep Shropshire Warm team for free on 0800 112 3743 or via email at advice@mea.org.uk.
  • Warmer Homes Shropshire – launched in May this year, this initiative run in partnership with E. On, offers free grants to eligible households for first time central heating. The scheme is open to homeowners, as well as private tenants and their landlords. For more information and to apply visit http://www.shropshire.gov.uk/warmer-homes-shropshireor call 0333 202 4481.
  • Financial assistance – The council now has a range of funding available to help the most vulnerable of Shropshire’s households to manage over the winter months. This includes financial help for those eligible and who have been affected by the pandemic and who may be struggling to pay for food or other essential outgoings. Please note this is limited funding and will only be offered for a limited time until it is spent. To find out more call 0345 678 9078.
  • The Shropshire Rural Communities Charity (RCC) – offer grants for emergency fuel and energy-saving improvements in people’s homes. The RCC work with the council and other organisations to find people most in need and provide them with insulation, draft exclusion and other energy saving measures. The RCC are currently running their annual Warmer Winter Appeal to help support local people living in fuel poverty. To find out more and to donate visit. https://www.shropshire-rcc.org.uk/support-our-work/warmer-winter-appeal

To support the campaign follow us @shropcouncil hashtag #FuelPovertyAwarenessDay #WarmSafeHomes or on Facebook. You can also follow the Keep Shropshire Warm team on Facebook @KeepShropshireWarm

To find out more about the support available during the pandemic, call the council’s Covid community helpline on 0345 678 028. 

You can find out more about Fuel Poverty Awareness Day at  https://www.nea.org.uk/nea-campaigns/fpad/?parent=what-we-do

If you know someone who is struggling to keep their home heated, please make them aware of the help that is available.

Coronavirus: Shropshire to go into Tier 2 (High Alert) next week

Shropshire will be placed in the Tier 2 (High) local COVID alert when the four-week lockdown in England ends next week.

New restrictions in Shropshire will come into force on Wednesday 2 December as the county moves into the Tier 2 (High) local COVID alert.

Despite a reduction in the number of positive cases in the past week, Shropshire’s current 7-day infection rate sits at 168.7 per 100,000 of the population.

Under Tier 2 restrictions, people must not meet socially with friends and family indoors in any setting – including homes, pubs and restaurants – unless they live with them or have formed a support bubble with them.

From 00.01am on Wednesday 2nd December 2020, the new local alert level 2 restrictions for Shropshire will mean:

  • People must not socialise indoors with anyone who is not part of their household or support bubble, whether at home or in a public space
  • People can meet family and friends not in their household or support bubble in outdoor settings. When they do so, they must not meet in a group of more than six people
  • You should aim to reduce the number of journeys you make where possible
  • Pubs and bars must close unless operating as restaurants and can only serve alcohol with a substantial meal
  • Hospitality businesses and venues selling food and drink for consumption off the premises can continue to do so after 10pm as long as this is through delivery service, click-and-collect or drive-through
  • Shops, personal care, gyms and the wider leisure sector will reopen
  • Schools, colleges, universities and places of worship will remain open
  • Weddings and funerals can go ahead with restrictions on the number of attendees
  • Public attendance at outdoor and indoor events (performances and shows) and spectator sport and business events, is permitted, limited to whichever is lower: 50% capacity, or either 2,000 people outdoors or 1,000 people indoors.
  • Organised grassroots sport will be able to resume

The Government has also announced that up to three households will be able to form bubbles to meet up during a five-day Christmas period of 23 to 27 December. When a bubble is formed it is fixed and must not be changed or extended further at any point.

Each Christmas bubble can meet at home, at a place of worship or an outdoor public place. The bubbles will be fixed, so you will not be able to mix with two households on Christmas Day and two different ones on Boxing Day. Households you are in a Christmas bubble with can’t be in others.

Coronavirus: Shropshire COVID-19 update 13 – 19 November 2020

During the 7-day period from 13 – 19 November 2020 in Shropshire:

  • 545 new cases reported
  • This was a decrease of 245 cases compared to the previous week
  • The seven-day infection rate for Shropshire was 168.7 cases of Covid-19 per 100,000 of the population.
  • For the West Midlands it was 312.6 per 100,000
  • For England it was 227.1 per 100,000
  • 149 cases relate to people under the age of 30
  • 55 cases relate to people aged 70+
  • During the last week 33% of cases were in the Shrewsbury & Atcham area
  • 29% were in North Shropshire
  • 38% in South Shropshire

Coronavirus: Second phase of business grants launched

A second phase of grants for businesses impacted by coronavirus has been launched by Shropshire Council.

The additional discretionary grant fund has been set up to support firms who have been hit by the second coronavirus lockdown, and has gone live on Shropshire Council’s website.

The scheme will follow the same level of grant payments that the recently launched Local Restrictions Support Grant does, but will also be available to eligible businesses who are not the business rates payer, and those operating from residential premises.

The first phase has already helped hundreds of businesses in the county, with thousands of pounds of grants already being processed.

Businesses within the events and retail, hospitality and leisure supply chain will be treated as priority, and businesses that cannot show losses of more than 30 per cent will not be considered.

The scheme is being limited to a three week period and will close earlier should funds be allocated more quickly.

Grants will be awarded at three levels as follows:

  • A grant of £1,334 for:
    • Properties with a rateable value of £15,000 or under
    • Where businesses are not the business rates payer.
    • Where a business operates from a residential premises.
  • A grant of £2,000 for properties with a rateable value of between £15k-£51k.
  • A grant of £3,000 for properties with a rateable value of £51k or over.

To be eligible through this scheme, details on impact will be required to ensure grants go to those businesses most in need.

To apply, visit: https://shropshire.gov.uk/covid19darg

Funding through the Local Restrictions Support Grant is also available and can be accessed by visiting the following site: https://shropshire.gov.uk/covid19lrsg

Police in Hodnet 2nd December 2020

The mobile police station is starting up again in December. It will be in Hodnet between 1 and 2pm on Wednesday 2nd December, outside Hodnet Stores.

We all pay for the Police – let’s make use of them.

Coronavirus: Shropshire COVID-19 update (6 November -12 November 2020)

This is taken directly from Shropshire Council’s website.

During the 7-day period from 6 November –12 November 2020 in Shropshire:

  • 790 new cases reported
  • This was an increase of 113 cases compared to the previous week
  • The seven-day infection rate for Shropshire was 244.5 cases of COVID-19 per 100,000 of the population.
  • For the West Midlands it was 354.9 per 100,000
  • For England it was 269.5 per 100,000
  • 175 cases relate to 20-29-year olds
  • 80 cases relate to people aged 70+
  • During the last week 39% of cases were in the Shrewsbury & Atcham area
  • 30% were in north Shropshire
  • 31% in south Shropshire

You can find out how many cases are in your local area here


If you are asked to self-isolate, please do. We have come across some people that don’t. If you don’t, you are putting people’s lives at risk, including your own family and friends.

You can be asked to self-isolate by NHS Test and Trace, a nursery, school, college, university, workplace or by any health professional. Even if you have no symptoms, you must follow these rules:

Do not:

Visit family or friends

Go to any shops or supermarkets: instead, order food online or ask for help

Go outside to exercise or walk your dog

Go to work, university, college or school: instead, work or study from home if you can

Use public transport, taxis or share a car

Attend parties or other events, even if these are outside.

Tests can be booked for yourself or any member of your household. All tests must be booked in advance. Residents can register by calling NHS Test and Trace on 119 or by clicking here.

Stay Home, stay safe, look after each other – and thank you for Stepping Up Shropshire.