Update Posted 17th March 2020 – Thank you to everyone who has responded to our post about the Coronavirus and offered help within our community. It is good to see that people are looking out for the vulnerable and elderly people in the Village and are taking action to contact their neighbours who might need assistance.
Many residents are not online so we are talking to St Andrews Church, our Councillors and local media about a joint notice that can be delivered to all households as soon as possible. This will advise residents who they can contact if they need support either practically or just need someone to talk to over the phone because of self-isolation.
Printing and distributing information takes some time since there are 1500 households within the EVRA area and even more within the Parish and Ward boundaries. We may need your assistance with distribution since many of our regular distributors may also be isolating.
Our local community groups are not able to provide social care nor do they have the skills or resources for this. So the key thing is that residents look out for each other and help their neighbours where they can.
Thank you to all that offered help – we have noted your details and will contact you when the need arises. We can just hope that the virus will have a significantly lower impact than Government advisors are forecasting.
Chris Stebbing – EVRA Chairman
PS: An NR4 Covid-19 community response WhatsApp group has been set up and quite a few people in Eaton are on there. Here’s the link — https://chat.whatsapp.com/KbbxHcB91Yx4yDvvIwEIQ9
Posted 15th March 2020 – Several Residents have contacted EVRA asking what arrangements are in place to assist vulnerable people in our community and how can they help. The EVRA Committee discussed the possible impact of the Coronavirus at our recent meeting in relation to our upcoming events but things have since moved apace with Government advice evolving daily.
It is important that residents heed the advice of Public Health England and other authorities at this time. We do not know how this virus will affect our community but we have many residents over 70 and those who fall into the high-risk category. We also have many residents who do not have online access and rely on other sources to keep in touch. News from the Government today indicates that those over 70 may be required to self-isolate for possibly up to four months which will have a significant impact on us all.
If residents are aware of people who may be vulnerable or need assistance then please contact them to see what support they require. If you can help with shopping and other tasks then please do so but keep yourself safe. If they need assistance from social services or other organisations you may be able to make contact on their behalf.
The EVRA Committee will do what it can to help but given that most of our members are over 70 we might not be in a position to offer more than advice since we might ourselves be in isolation. We may therefore call on our younger and lower risk residents to assist with things in the meantime. Please let us know if you can help.
You can contact EVRA through me, Chris Stebbing – EVRA Chairman, via email: evra.vc@live.co.uk or by telephone on Norwich 503301
Here is a form that is circulating online that you could use to make contact with neighbours.
