As the temperature drops the leader of the Southend-on-Sea City Council, Cllr Stephen George, is talking about staying warm and staying healthy this winter.
Well, I think it’s fair to say that winter has most certainly arrived. Aside from needing a hat, scarf and gloves to leave the house, at the council we have the gritting teams out at night making our roads safe community snow wardens are voluntarily helping out their neighbourhoods by salting pathways.
Feeling cold indoors or outdoors is not a nice feeling and with the rising cost-of-living and the ongoing struggles some households are having with their energy bills and other costs, we have set up warm hubs. These are local public spaces where you can keep warm this winter, access free wi-fi and take part in other activities for free. These spaces are open to everyone and you can view a map of the locations on the One Southend website.
If you need a little bit of extra support now, because of the cost-of-living crisis, you can find a wealth of information on our cost-of-living support pages.
The other element of staying warm is to keep well. There are several unpleasant bugs and germs doing the rounds, but most noticeably, Strep A which is effecting children. Sometimes Strep A can develop into scarlet fever. The symptoms for both illnesses and how to treat them can be found on Livewell Southend.
Because of the freezing temperatures and risks to health and wellbeing, we have enacted the Severe Weather Emergency Protocol for people who are sleeping rough in Southend. Working with our partners at HARP and other agencies, outreach workers will check in on all reports of people seen to be sleeping rough and offer them emergency accommodation so they can escape the freezing temperatures and icy conditions. You can help; if you see someone sleeping rough, please visit www.streetlink.org.uk and log a report with as much information about the person and their location as possible. This will help our outreach workers get to all those who need our help.
There are also children who need to our help to feel the joy of Christmas and as the big day fast approaches, please donate to the Toy Drive if you can. You can do this via Argosy Toys and Toys ‘n’ Tuck, or by dropping donations off at the Civic Centre.
The council is offering free parking in its car parks on Sundays in the run up to Christmas and following on from last weekend’s supporting Small Businesses events, I would encourage everyone to please take advantage and shop local. The Mayor Cllr Kevin Robinson, is holding a Civic Carol Service on Monday from 6pm at St Andrew’s Church, in Southview Drive, Westcliff, as an opportunity for the community to come together and celebrate what Christmas is all about.
Finally, it’s worth mentioning as we approach Christmas that there will be changes to council services over the festive period. Amended opening times and services can be found on our Christmas 2022 page.
Please take care and check in on your neighbours this weekend.