Community Praises Partnership Covid-19 Response

A number of initiatives undertaken by the Uppingham Community Emergency Plan team and its supporting partners Uppingham First and the Uppingham Neighbourhood Forum have attracted very positive feedback from the community they serve. Their efforts are to feature in a number of Covid -19 case studies.

In support of families educating at home, Uppingham company ClockedIn supported by Uppingham First has delivered 13 tablets to families whose children’s work was suffering though the lack of a suitable device. Typical of the feedback received is the following from a recipient mother. “The tablets are perfect. They have helped my children massively. Home schooling will always be a challenge but your help has made it so much easier. I can’t thank you all enough.” ClockedIn proprietors Mark and Amanda Shaw are both members of the town’s Emergency Plan team.

Janet Thompson, Chair of the Uppingham Neighbourhood Forum and a member of the community Emergency Plan team, along with husband and High Sheriff in Nomination Geoff Thompson, were also very pleased to receive positive feedback on the recent Valentine’s Evening online event organised with the help of the Forum led by Executive member Margaret Simpson BEM. This featured local band The Roamantics. The evening offered lockdown relief via Zoom to around 30 households which had many of the audience singing along and few dancing in their lounge or dining room. One couple said, “Just to say thank you very much for inviting us to the Valentine’s Night music event. It was good to see performers and hear live music once again. We really enjoyed it – all from the comfort of our own home.”

The Uppingham Hopper Community Bus founder and former Town Mayor David Ainslie BEM and his wife Sheena are also members of the Uppingham Emergency Plan team. The Hopper and its supporting volunteers regularly attract praise for continuing to operate a timetabled bus service to Uppingham Surgery while still delivering medicines and food boxes.

More live events and activities are to be organised by the Emergency Plan team and its partners in the coming months. More information from mjs@clara.co.uk