Information from Staffordshire Police

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During lockdown more people are looking to do their Christmas shopping online. To protect yourself from potential scams it’s worth taking a look at the Get Safe Online website, it’s full of tips to help you avoid common scams.  

Here are some examples of their advice:

• Being asked to pay a company or individual you don’t know for goods by bank transfer could be a sign of fraud. Pay by credit card as this gives you more protection.
  
• Make sure shopping websites are authentic by carefully checking the address is spelled correctly. Fraudsters are expert at setting up fake sites with spellings that are almost the same as the real ones.
  
• Make sure payment pages are secure by checking that the address begins with https (s is for secure).
  
• A ‘free’ or ‘low-cost’ trial could mean a subscription trap – luring you into monthly payments that are difficult to get out of. Read the small print before you agree to anything.
  
• Unexpected emails, texts or posts with links or attachments could be phishing – trying to get your confidential details or infecting your computer with malware.

If you think you’ve been a victim of fraud you can report it to Action Fraud UK at www.actionfraud.police.uk or by calling 0300 123 2040.

Message Sent By
Emma Ray (Staffordshire Police, Community Engagement Assistant, Staffordshire)

Issued on behalf of the Community Development team at Staffordshire County Council

Staffordshire County Council: ‘Happy at Home’ Campaign

Please find below and attached information issued by Staffordshire County Council to help them raise awareness for the advice, guidance and information provided about Assistive Technology and Daily Living Equipment, through a campaign called ‘Happy at Home’

The campaign is designed to help and support residents across the county to lead healthier, independent and happier lives and to support them to be able to live well at home for longer by way of making sure they are fully informed and aware of what assistive technology and daily living solutions exist, how to choose the right equipment and where it can be acquired easily.

The introductory information, pre-written promotional info along with some initial promotional images can perhaps be used on parish council webpages, in any newsletters or circulars, and social media, etc..

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Introducing ‘Happy at Home’

A brand new campaign from Staffordshire County Council, designed to help our residents across the county lead healthier, independent and happier lives and to support them to be able to live well at home for longer.

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Introduction

Since summer a significant amount of work has been undertaken by Staffordshire County Council to update our Assistive Technology (AT) offer.

From today (Monday 16^th November) a new interactive online tool has launched as part of a countywide campaign to raise awareness about the massive range of simple and low-cost assistive technology equipment available to people who may be struggling with everyday tasks around the home.

You can find the “Interactive Happy at Home House” at

www.staffordshire.gov.uk/happyathome

The interactive ‘Happy at Home’ house allows users to visually identify rooms and locations around the home where they may need some help with day to day tasks, and then be presented with a range of ideas and solutions that they can then easily compare and acquire.

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Additional information, advice and guidance

As well as the interactive house, the new online service includes a range of independent living gift ideas, a library of video demonstrations of assistive technology products, and an opportunity to compare a wide choice of solutions

We will be updating and adding to the Assistive Technology and Daily Living Equipment webpages over the next few months and would welcome any comments or ideas.

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How you can help

From today. Monday 16 November until January 2021, we will be running an online campaign to promote Assistive Technology to help people stay independent at home, and in the run up to Christmas we’ll be promoting buying Assistive Technology and Daily Living Equipment as a wonderful gift idea and linking this back to our Happy at Home webpages.

We would encourage you all to please interact with the campaign and retweet or re-post so that it reaches as many people as possible.

• Keep an eye out on social media for the #HappyAtHome hashtag
• We also have issued a press release here which you can share on your own websites, newsletters and networks.
• We also have a range of digital graphics, fact sheets, posters and other promotional resources available on request.

To request promotional materials please contact Russel Gethings by email russel.gethings@staffordshire.gov.uk

For more information about the campaign please contact Jonathan Tophamjonathan.topham@staffordshire.gov.uk or Lee Owenlee.owen1@staffordshire.gov.uk

We thank you for your support

This update is brought to you by Staffordshire County Council

Access the Staffordshire ‘Happy at Home’ Interactive House at
www.staffordshire.gov.uk/happyathome

If you have any questions about any aspect of the Staffordshire Happy at Home campaign, or anything about assistive technology or daily living equipment
in the first instance contact: 

Jonathan Topham on 07972 733197
or by email jonathan.topham@staffordshire.gov.uk

or Lee Owen on 07815 827426
or by email lee.owen1@staffordshire.gov.uk

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If you found this update of value then why not check out other updates, alerts
and newsletters relating to Staffordshire that are available

There is a new weekly Children’s dance class in Hilderstone Village Hall from 3rd November. It’s good to see some new events taking place. See details below.

Please see the attached update by clicking here

The Parish Council Annual Accounts are now available on the website at this page

Please contact the Clerk if you have problem accessing these documents.

ADW Milk – The Local Milkman

New villages added to my route.

*Hilderstone
*Milwich
*Gayton
*Fradswell

~Deliveries will commence Monday 15th June~

You can now receive a fresh locally produced milk & produce delivery 3 mornings per week. 😆
Thanks for your patience! Arran 🥛 🍞 🧈 🧀

Please Register Now

https://thelocalmilkman.yourmoo.co.uk/yourmoo/v2/register.php

Sandon Village Stores is an ideal place to buy household essentials during (and after) the current crisis. It is our closest convenience store, just a couple of miles down the road.

Liann took over the shop shortly before the crisis took hold and is now open 7 days a week to serve the local community so make sure you support her in her new venture!

Full details of opening hours etc. can be found on the website or by clicking here

Good Luck Liann.

The latest announcement on business closures excludes Post Offices and banks. Therefore Milwich Post Office is not affected.

The wet and stormy weather so far this year has prevented any footpath work. It has also created additional work.

The team had a new and somewhat more technical challenge this week. The footbridge over the Brook below the Church has been inundated during the rains. This has resulted in the foundation on the south side of the bridge to be severely eroded. Fortunately the bridge is still secure and is sitting on the sleepers that support the bank.

So on a dry Sunday morning a group of volunteers set out to repair the damage and prevent a worse situation in the future. Unfortunately, vehicular access was out of the question so we had to carry our tools and materials from the Church car park.

Four men and a dog cleared the debris off the bridge, jacked up the bridge 12cm (5 inches in our language, none of us were born after 1953 except the dog) and inserted an additional sleeper under the end of the bridge. The hole was then filled with gravel from the bed of the Brook.

The finished job should keep the bridge safe for a while, at least until the next bad storm.

Also as a result of the storms, there is a dead tree blocking the Bridleway at the Coton end.

This is a job that the volunteers are not qualified or insured to undertake and so it has been reported to the Council and it is hoped that they will be able to remove it soon although they are inundated at present following the storms.

We could do with some new younger members of the group if anyone feels like helping out occasionally. Please advise us if there are other problems with the Rights of Way network in or around the Parish. We can be contacted at mac@milwich.com.

Milwich and Sandon Parish Councils

Community Shopper Bus Service to Stafford

Wednesday    5th February

Wednesday    4th March

Starting from Milwich Village Hall 10.00am.

Picking up in Sandon and Burston from 10.10am.

Returning from Stafford at 1.30pm.

Return Fare  £2.50.

Contact the Parish Clerk, Brian Boughey, 01889 502757 for further details and to book a place on the minibus if you have not travelled on the service before.

The route could be extended to Fradswell should anyone be interested.

 

Milwich & District Produce Guild

In November, we welcomed Steve Booth who gave us a fascinating talk (with slides) on “The Staffordshire Hoards,” from 1831 to 2012. Members were told that in Staffordshire had been found many treasures which had been buried and never retrieved. They were found all over the county, not just in the Lichfield area. They had been found in such places as Lightwood,(who would have thought it?) and Cocknage. Places we’d known for years. If each county listed the number of treasures found, Staffordshire would be third from the top.

We started our new programme in December with our Christmas party in the village hall. With good food, good company and a few little games and diversions, we all had a great time.

Our meeting on February 27^th is the Annual Bulb Show and Social Evening. Members are reminded to stage their exhibits at 7pm, ready for the judging at 7.30pm

On March 26^th, we welcome back Ruth Williams who will talk on “Living Churchyards.”

Our programme has changed a little, and we have visits planned for June and July: to Tanglewood in Colwich in June, and The Beeches at Rocester in July.

Our normal meetings are usually held in All Saints’ Village Hall on the fourth Thursday in the month, beginning at 8pm. For further information please contact Mike Baggaley on 01889 270161 or m_baggaley@btinternet.com

 

The Mobile Library visits Milwich on Mondays – Feb 10th and 24^th

Change your library books at the library from 1.45 – 2.05pm

Coffee/tea shop has had to be suspended for the time beingas Mondays are not ideal for many people to visit the Library.

Milwich All Saints’ Village Hall Hire – Please contact 07805 569014 for rates and booking. Email sharonlhodson@gmail.com

Green Lea Nursery and wraparound care

Firstly I would like to wish everyone a very happy new year, it’s been lovely seeing everybody back after our Christmas break, and it seems everyone had been good as I believe Santa visited the whole school (including me!) It’s been great hearing all about the adventures everyone had and all the gifts they received.

On behalf of myself and Claire, I must say a huge thank you for all the beautiful, thoughtful gifts and cards we received, we truly are grateful.

We had a fantastic end of term, with a brilliant performance in school of Aladdin, Christmas lunch, Christmas party and disco. We must say a big thank you to the church community who provided yummy food for the party, to FOGL who made a donation to buy the food for the disco, Vaughan Hodson who gave up his time to provide the music and all the staff who stayed late to help out, the disco was a roaring success and everybody danced til their feet were sore (even the teachers!)

This term our theme is Inspector Gadget, and we will be looking at and learning  about all the inventions and gadgets that make our lives easier and more fun, we have lots of fun things planned which will hopefully be really engaging for the children.

Green Lea Nursery offers the 30 hours funding (subject to criteria) we are also signed up to the tax free child care scheme, please see a member of staff for more information.

Green Lea Nursery runs Monday-Friday, sessions are 9.00am-1.30pm or 9.00am-3.00pm. Green Lea wraparound care sessions are 7.30am-9.00am and/or 3.00pm-5.45pm (term time only) for any further information please contact 01889505309.