Please see the following update from Uttlesford District Council regarding service availability:

UDC has:

• Reinstated and promoted the return of the bulky waste collections and online booking process:

www.uttlesford.gov.uk/bulkywaste

• Put together a resource page of information for self-employed people:

www.uttlesford.gov.uk/article/6657/Self-employed-support-during-the-coronavirus-outbreak

• From resources supplied by Essex County Council, signposted and built a section for bereavement support and local contacts specifically targeted at resources in the West Essex CC area (covering Uttlesford):

www.uttlesford.gov.uk/article/6668/Bereavement-support-during-the-coronavirus-outbreak

• Put together and promoted a page for Essex Youth Service to promote their daily ‘Zoom’ activities for young people in lockdown:

www.uttlesford.gov.uk/article/6660/Activities-for-young-people

• Added a page on grants information for charities and other sectors:

www.uttlesford.gov.uk/article/6645/Coronavirus-COVID-19-sports-and-arts-organisations-grant-funds

• Compiled a resource area of links, maps and information promoting local walking and cycling in Uttlesford during the outbreak:

www.uttlesford.gov.uk/article/6658/Walking-and-cycling-during-the-coronavirus-outbreak

• Put up an online version of ‘Taxi Chat’ to provide up to date and topical information for the local taxi and private hire trades:

www.uttlesford.gov.uk/taxi-chat

Community hub

See email and infographic attached.

Support for businesses

As of 24 April, we have given out £14.1m in cash grants to 1,150 local businesses. There are currently about 470 grants to process.

However, about 300 businesses spread across the district which are eligible to receive a business support grant have not yet registered. We are therefore urging all businesses to check the eligibility criteria and to register for the grant funding. Our team is keen to process all the submitted forms as quickly as possible. Details of the grants and the criteria can be found at www.uttlesford.gov.uk/covid19-business-grants-fund. The online application form is available at www.uttlesford.gov.uk/business-grant-fund-application-form.

It would be appreciated if you could help to spread the details of the grant funding schemes as widely as possible within your parish. If you have any questions or suggestions, please contact business@uttlesford.gov.uk.

State of Life survey

We have been asked to share the details of a tracker survey being conducted by Active Essex and the University of Essex. The survey aims to find out how life has changed during the Covid-19 pandemic, who is most affected and why. The results will be compared to other national surveys and used to figure out what support is needed in communities during and after lockdown. The project organisers would like as many people as possible, over the age of 16, to sign up and complete it regularly.

The survey can be accessed here: www.stateoflife.org/2020tracker.