Coronavirus: Council leader David Tutt explains what Eastbourne council is doing for residents during the pandemic

I, like many of you, am entering my fourth week of working from home and am truly grateful to everyone who is abiding by the lockdown, as this is the best way to reduce the spread of CV-19.

This is a dangerous virus and my thoughts are with everyone who is suffering from it or has lost a loved one as a result of it.

It is often said that we are at our best when under pressure and this is clearly true at present.

I have been so impressed by the way that so many are selflessly working to protect others.

There are so many who deserve our gratitude. The emergency services; especially those working for the NHS and looking after those in care homes and those who support the elderly and vulnerable in their own homes.

I am concerned to hear that in some places there has been shortage of PPE for these essential workers. It must be a priority to ensure that this issue is resolved.

As a council we are doing all that we can to protect and support our community at this difficult time.

We have established a CV-19 Helpline on 679722; our finance team has pulled out all of the stops to ensure that government money to support local businesses has been passed to them as quickly as possible and that support is there for those struggling to pay council tax.

Many council staff are away from their normal duties and are doing such things as making up food parcels to go out to those in need and our refuse collectors have been doing an amazing job emptying our refuse, recycling and green waste bins. I would like to thank them all.

Every Wednesday morning, I chair a video conference which is attended by statutory business and voluntary organisations, the media and Eastbourne MP Caroline Ansell. This group considers the key issues related to the CV-19 outbreak and ensure that they are addressed.

Many people locally have volunteered their help and this is being coordinated by 3VA. If you have volunteered to help but not been contacted yet, please bear with us. 3VA is marrying up volunteers with local groups and we

believe that volunteers will be needed for some time to come.

Finally, I would like to mention the appeal launched last week by our mayor Steve Wallis. Named Kick-out Covid, it aims to raise money to support efforts to care for the elderly and vulnerable and help local groups working to provide PPE locally.

If you are able to make a donation this can be done at www.gofundme.com/f/kickout-covid-eastbourne

Thank you.

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