Southend Labour Welcome to the Southend Labour Group Website
Published 8th July 2020
People who have been shielding are being advised to register for priority delivery slots with major supermarkets before 17 July.
This follows central Government announcing that, after 31 July, their food parcels will no longer be delivered to the most vulnerable, and those shielding will need to either make alternative arrangements or visit the shops to buy groceries. Where people have had their medications delivered by the national support service, this will also stop on 31st July and alternative arrangements will need to be made.
Residents who have been shielding should go to the GOV.UK website or call 0800 028 8327 and register as a clinically extremely vulnerable person if they have not already done so. This will give access to priority delivery slots with supermarkets after 31 July when the food parcels will stop.
Registering as a clinically extremely vulnerable person will ensure you have access to priority slots from the major supermarkets. Ian Gilbert, Labour Leader of Southend Council says: “I urge anyone who has been receiving central Government food parcels to go online and do this if they have not already done so. You can register for yourself, or on behalf of someone else. It takes a couple of minutes and will ensure you’re set up for August and beyond when the Government’s food deliveries will end. Please check on shielded family, friends and neighbours and make sure they’ve registered.”
“We will still be here if anyone urgently needs help, but in the meantime please make sure you have set yourself up to be able to shop online if you can. The Southend Coronavirus Action helpline has taken thousands of calls since the start of lockdown, and the staff and volunteers running this have done a phenomenal job to keep our most vulnerable safe. We now need to make sure those who are shielding have access to delivery slots, so we can continue to keep everyone safe and well. Please point anyone you know who needs to register to https://www.gov.uk/coronavirus-extremely-vulnerable or to 0800 028 8327 if they are unable to access the internet. The local action helpline will also be able to support people to register if they need help to do that.”
If you aren’t classed among the ‘extremely vulnerable’ but need help with shopping, collecting prescriptions or need errands run you can still access assistance from Southend Council and our Southend Labour Volunteer Helpline – please click here for the contact details and other information.
In addition to the central Government support, the Council and our own volunteers on the helplines have so far helped over 1100 households (and walked several dogs).