Tag Archives: Horley Coronavirus Support Group

Give a laptop/tablet to support education at home

 

Last summer local BBC radio stations helped people donate old laptops and tablets for schoolchildren to use across England.  This made a huge difference to pupils that had to share equipment.

With schools closed again, BBC local radio is once more asking you to help those pupils still in need by sharing details of companies and charities who can help to get devices to pupils who need help.

Some charities can collect, wipe and share the laptops all in one; some can help take your devices off your hands to fix them ready for distribution; some are collecting donations to help fund devices for pupils.

How to donate a device

Please DO NOT take donations to BBC sites as they are unable to accept them.

If you have something you’d like to donate – and that could be a laptop; computer; mobile phone or tablet – please click on the link below to find out more about how to donate in our area.

Laptops 4 Learners Appeal – Secret Santa 365

Coronavirus in Horley

The Horley Coronavirus Support Group is aware that there have been a number of cases of the virus in the village, so please take care and stay at home where possible.

On a brighter note, several Horley residents have received their first vaccine jab.  Hopefully the rest of the village will follow before too long.

In the meantime, stay safe, and remember the support group is here if you need any help.  We can be contacted by email horleycsg@gmail.com or phone 01295 738334 .

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Horley Coronavirus Support Group is still here!

The Horley Coronavirus Support Group was set up in March 2020 to provide help with shopping,  prescription collection, dog walking and friendly phone calls to anyone in the village who needed it.  We know that many of you now have your own support networks in place, but as we have recently moved into Tier 4 and cases are rising in our area, if you do need any help, please get in touch as our volunteers are still available.  Email horleycsg@gmail.com or call 01295 738334 to contact us.

We’d also love to hear about anyone in the village who has had the vaccine – please let us know if and when you have and tell us how it went.  We are hoping that once enough people have been vaccinated, the village activities that had to be put on hold in 2020 will be able to resume.

In the meantime, whilst we are spending more time at home, the Ladies Guild have a selection of jigsaws available for loan.  Please email horleyladiesguild@gmail.com for more details.

 

 

 

 

Horley’s Coronavirus Support Group Update

Track and Trace Scam – Be Aware

Warning From the ‘Oxfordshire All In’ Coronavirus Support Team

Oxfordshire All In reports a new scam that tries to convince people that they have been in contact with someone who has been tested positive, pretending to be NHS Track and Trace. They then either ask for money to send them a test, or try to get hold of their personal details.

Real contact tracers will:

  • Call you from 0300 013 5000
  • Send you text messages from ‘NHS’
  • Ask you to sign into the NHS test and trace contact-tracing website

Real contact tracers will never:

  • Ask you to dial a premium rate number (for example, those starting 09 or 087)
  • Ask you to make any form of payment or purchase a product or any kind
  • Ask for any details about your bank account
  • Ask for your social media identities or login details, or those of your contacts

We still believe that no-one in the village is suffering from Covid 19. Please do let us know if your personal situation changes, and remember, our volunteers are here to help those in need and self isolating. Here are the contact details for the group:

email: horleycsg@gmail.com, or call 01295 738334 or 07872 930030. 

Stay safe, alert and, as ever, keep washing your hands!

Di Marriott

Horley’s Coronavirus Support Group Update

Thank you letter from Local GPs Practices

Your Weekly Update

It’s time for ‘thank you’s this week.

Some of you may have heard Alison Tite’s radio recording on Radio Oxford on Wednesday morning thanking all our fantastic volunteers and sewing bees. If you missed it missed it listen here.

This letter was received from the West bar Group of GP Practices and Clinics thanking Horley for the scrub bags made and donated by the village.

Thanks have also been received from Katherine House Hospice saying how grateful they are for the scrubs sent last week.

Caroline’s Plant Stall

Thanks to the generosity of villagers buying and donating plants Caroline has now taken over £640. Apart from St Etheldreda’s, some of the money is going to Warwick Hospital and Katherine House Hospice. The proceeds taken over the next couple of weeks will go the the Cricket Club.

There are still lots of plants still available so don’t miss out!

Horley’s Gardens

Here are a couple of pictures of the roses at Park House. They are beautiful and fragrant at this time. If you would like to share your garden – please send photos to horleyviews@outlook.com.

Walking for Health and Mental Wellbeing

We are so fortunate here in Horley to be able to appreciate the great outdoors right on our doorstep so, if you can, get those walking boots on! Apart from being great for your physical health it is also does wonders for your mental health which can be suffering in these lockdown days. Get you maps out, or download the Horley Circular or if you would like to venture out to other local villages look at Walking in Oxfordshire a website with hundreds of free walks to download and print plus details of all the walking clubs in the country and loads more information.

If anyone is suffering from mental health issues, Oxford Health NHS Foundation Trust – the NHS organisation that provides community and in-patient mental health care for all age groups has launched a 24/7 mental health helpline to provide people with mental health advice during the coronavirus pandemic.

  • The number for adults is 01865 904997
  • For children and young people, the number is 01865 904998

And finally… we still believe that no-one in the village is suffering from Covid 19. Please do let us know if your personal situation changes, and remember, our volunteers are here to help those in need and self isolating. Here are the contact details for the group:

email: horleycsg@gmail.com, or call 01295 738334 or 07872 930030. 

Stay safe (and alert!)  and, as ever, keep washing your hands!

Di Marriott

Horley’s Coronavirus Support Group Update

Your Weekly Update

With the easing of lockdown restrictions this week we welcome the opening of garden centres albeit with appropriate social distancing measures, so now we can all really get on with work in our gardens!

This is being helped by Caroline’s plant stall which has the  raised over £500 now which is a fantastic effort. This money will be going towards the church fund and the local hospitals where our sewing bees have been making the scrubs and knitted hearts which have been so gratefully received.


As we will be unable to hold an ‘Open Gardens’ event this year, maybe people would like to send pictures of their gardens so we can appreciate the beauty of nature at our fingertips. These 2 pictures are of Horley’s Mr McGregor’s garden!

If you would like to share your garden – please send photos to horleyviews@outlook.com.

Upcyling for the NHS!

Diane Raper has made over over 80 scrub bags for local health centres and Tracey Parsons has completed another set 6 sets of scrubs – can anyone identify their bed linen in these pictures!

Masks – the government for England says:

  • People should aim to wear face coverings on public transport and in some shops
  • Also in other “enclosed spaces where social distancing is not always possible and they come into contact with others that they do not normally meet”
  • “Social distancing” means staying more than two metres away from someone
  • Face coverings should be worn and not surgical masks or respirators which should be left for healthcare staff and other workers who need them

You will have seen in a previous post that our industrious sewing bees, Tracey and Sue Ashdown, are still making masks for people in the village – if you would like one please please email Tracey Parsons giving your name and address.

And finally… we still believe that no-one in the village is suffering from Covid 19. Please do let us know if your personal situation changes, and remember, our volunteers are here to help those in need and self isolating. Here are the contact details for the group:

email: horleycsg@gmail.com, or call 01295 738334 or 07872 930030. 

Stay safe (and alert!)  and, as ever, keep washing your hands!

Di Marriott

Horley’s Coronavirus Support Group Update

Your Weekly Update

This lockdown week brought us VE Day commemorations across the UK. Although celebrations could not be as exuberant as we would have wished here in Horley, there were still signs of remembrance on a sunny Friday in the village. Judy Duck was fully kitted out in uniform, including a gas mask (not for Covid 19 this time!) and the Red Lion, (our new favourite takeaway facility!), was bedecked with Union Jacks and bunting.

Scrubs made with 💙

Another fantastic selection of scrubs made by Horley’s NHS sewing bee – Tracey Parsons. They include a very fetching pair of blue gingham bottoms made from a once much cherished sleeping sack which backpacked around Australia with it’s ex owner back in the day!

As well as scrubs there have also been knitted hearts and scrub bags all of which have been packaged up and sent to the Warwick hospital.

If you would like to join the NHS knit and stitch effort please contact Jane Huskisson (text or call 07984 685127) who will be able to give you all the details.

Plants For You

Caroline’s plant stall continues to flourish and will continue to do so for the next few weeks with contributions from neighbours and others in the village of perennials, tomato and courgette plants etc. So far Caroline has received £400, which has included donations from people who have received masks from  our accomplished Horley sewing bees.

And finally… we still believe that no-one in the village is suffering from Covid 19. Please do let us know if your personal situation changes, and remember, our volunteers are here to help those in need and self isolating. Here are the contact details for the group:

email: horleycsg@gmail.com, or call 01295 738334 or 07872 930030. 

Stay safe and, as ever, keep washing your hands!

Di Marriott

Horley’s Coronavirus Support Group Update

Bluebells by a Horley footpath

Your Weekly Update from Alison Tite

As lockdown continues, some of our volunteers have turned their expert hands to sewing and knitting.  Earlier this week, 5 sets of scrubs, 28 scrub bags and 8 knitted hearts were dispatched and more will be made when we know what is most needed.  Many thanks to everyone involved in this initiative.   Shopping and prescription collection for those who need it is continuing too.

Tony Ellis’ musings on Covid-19 from his perspective on the frontline were posted earlier this week and gave us a valuable insight into what life is like for key workers in hospitals.  We would love to hear from any other key workers who would like to share their experiences.

It is good to see people taking their daily exercise round the village and it provides a welcome opportunity to have a brief chat (from a distance!), share information and check whether anyone needs help.  We can also check out the plants available at Caroline’s plant stall as you will have seen from yesterday’s posting.

We still believe that no-one in the village is suffering from Covid 19. Please do let us know if your personal situation changes, so that we can keep abreast of things. And remember, our volunteers are here to help those in need and self-isolating. To remind you, here are the contact details for the group:

email: horleycsg@gmail.com, or call 01295 738334 or 07872 930030. 

Here’s a reminder from Tony Ellis’ article of what we need to do to help us all stay safe:

  • Wash your hands for 30 seconds on returning to your house
  • Use alcohol gel on your hands on getting into your car after your weekly shop
  • Observe distancing guidelines
  • If a member of your household gets CoVid they should isolate themselves away from others in the household.
  • Take vitamin D
  • Take exercise regularly
  • Help shield those around you

Alison Tite

Horley’s Coronavirus Support Group Update

“Designer Scrubs by Tracey at the Smithy

Your Weekly Update

Another week of lockdown goes by (I think it’s week 5!) and we are getting used to a new normal. This week we have been supplied with  ideas to knit, stitch, and forage during exercise whilst local businesses adapt and offer services to keep us busy in our gardens and well supplied with food and drink.

Knit and stitch for our NHS

If you are feeling in creative mood then now’s your chance to get sewing and knitting for our NHS. Tracey Parsons has completed this beautiful designer set of scrubs. These have been made after painstakingly piecing together 48 x A4 sheets paper! and will be sent to a lucky recipient at Warwick Hospital. For more information on patterns and material requirements etc. see here.

If you would like to sew something less intricate then wash bags and masks are also in demand. See here for more information on specifications.

Finished articles can be left with Jane Huskisson who will make sure they are washed and bagged to correct specifications (text or call 07984 685127) and pass them on to her sister who works at Warwick hospital.

If knitting is more your bag then try knitting some hearts which can be given to patients and their families who have lost loved ones to Covid-19. Or if your knitting skills are more basic knit some blankets for the Cats Protection Charity. See here for information

Gardening – Support our local suppliers

We have more time to spend in our gardens now but frustratingly the garden centres are shut! Local Garden Centres are doing their best to supply the public safely and  these include  Quarry Nurseries,  the herb shop at The Herb Centre and Farnborough Nurseries (contact on 01295 690479).

Exercise and Well being

Fiona Taylor, Horley’s very own herbalist has given us plenty of advice on how to stay well and healthy as well as some tips on foraging for when we are out walking. See here. Who knew that the common weed cleavers (or goosegrass as it is commonly called) could be made into a delicious pesto!

On a disappointing note, the mineral railway track footpath by the scout camp has been closed for the time-being. For an explanation see here. However that shouldn’t stop us enjoying the beautiful spring countryside that we are so lucky to live in. Get a map and explore! If you haven’t tried it before try the Horley Circular Walk.

Takeaways

Beer and Food – who needs more in times of crisis?! The Red Lion continue to offer an excellent takeaway service on the real ale, cider and lager front, and the Dun Cow at Hornton providing great pub grub. The visit of the Fish and Chips van provided another treat!

Volunteers and Assistance

We still believe that no-one in the village is suffering from Covid 19. Please do let us know if your personal situation changes, so that we can keep abreast of things. And remember, our volunteers are here to help those in need and self isolating. To remind you, here are the contact details for the group:

email: horleycsg@gmail.com, or call 01295 738334 or 07872 930030. 

Stay safe and, as ever, keep washing your hands!

Di Marriott

Horley’s Coronavirus Support Group Update

Judy’s Easter Outfit

Your Weekly Update

This week is from Glenys Kyle, Group Coordinator:

‘We all had confirmation on Tuesday that lockdown will continue for at least another three weeks. Here in Horley we appear to be coping well. Our bins are still being emptied and our verges cut. Our resourceful volunteers are happy to do shopping, prescription collection and to lend a hand (and an ear) to those in need.  Charles Cozens and his household are keeping the churchyard in exceptionally good order, and with time on our hands, many of our gardens are getting more attention than usual. Then to take the sting out of things, Dave and Tash at the Red Lion are continuing to keep us supplied in fine ale and the like.

 As far as we know, no-one in the village is suffering from Covid 19. A small handful of people have been self-isolating in recent weeks, as they have found themselves displaying one or more of the symptoms, but we know of no confirmed case. Please do let us know if your personal situation changes, so that we can keep abreast of things. And remember, our volunteers are here to help those in need. To remind you, here are the contact details for the group:

email: horleycsg@gmail.com, or call 01295 738334 or 07872 930030. 

It has been lovely to hear the village showing its appreciation for key workers, on Thursday evenings at eight. The usual applause is now being supplemented with bells and whistles, and that means we can more easily hear each other’s appreciation even if we can’t see everyone. Let’s keep it up over the weeks ahead.’

Glenys