Anstey Village Update - January 2021
Happy New Year! We hope you all managed to spend some time with family and friends safely over the short Christmas break. We are writing this report early in December, so it is not too long since our last report was written, so this will be a fairly short report.
We are hoping that you all have managed to keep social contact to a minimum and maintain our reducing level of Covid-19 infection cases; they were dropping before Christmas. At the time of writing this report, we were still waiting for the review of the tier levels on 16th December.
The vaccination program started in December 2020, with NHS workers and the over 80s selected for treatment in the first cohort. In early 2021, we expect other types of the Covid-19 vaccine to be licenced and rolled out to the wider population. We are hoping that 2021 will be a better year for us all and we can get back to some sort of ‘normality’, whatever that is.
Lighthouse Lab
The UK’s newest Lighthouse Lab opened at the end of November 2020 at the Charnwood Campus in Loughborough. The lab is not only a boost for the country’s Covid-19 testing capacity and the battle against the pandemic but also the local economy, thanks to the jobs created there. The advanced lab began processing samples straight away and its 400-strong team will be testing up to 50,000 samples daily by early 2021.
The Lighthouse Lab at Charnwood Campus is the result of a partnership between the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) and multinational diagnostics specialists at PerkinElmer Genomics, which has been engaged to equip, staff, and manage the facility.
The facility will operate 24 hours per day with a team of experienced scientists, researchers, technicians and warehousing personnel whilst also creating opportunities for graduates and those who are pursuing careers in the life sciences to start their careers at the forefront of delivering the UK’s national testing strategy.
Shop Safe, Shop Local
Charnwood Borough Council has launched a campaign to encourage people to support our local high street shops in Charnwood and to reassure residents that significant steps have been taken to ensure visitors are safe when shopping in the borough.
High streets now have extra signage to remind people to maintain a 2m social distance and barriers have been installed around Loughborough town centre to help with queuing. Local businesses have introduced their own measures to ensure they are complying with the government’s latest Covid-19 guidance. Extra cleaning is also taking place in some areas and pubs, cafes and restaurants have introduced a range of measures including test and trace (when they are allowed to re-open).
As part of the Shop Safe, Shop Local campaign, Charnwood Council will be adding more signage to the shopping areas, highlighting what businesses are doing to look after customers and staff and reminding people of the latest advice and guidance on shopping safely. The campaign is borough-wide as Charnwood has many shopping areas including in Loughborough, Shepshed, Thurmaston, Syston, Birstall, Anstey, Quorn, Mountsorrel, Barrow upon Soar and Newtown Linford. All will feature in the Shop Safe, Shop Local spotlight.
The Shop Safe, Shop Local campaign is funded thanks to the ‘Reopening High Streets Safely Fund’ which is supported by the European Regional Development Fund. The campaign is also being supported by Love Loughborough.
The Council and Love Loughborough have also worked together to issue guidance and support to local businesses for both safeguarding their staff and ensuring customer safety. Please keep an eye on this website and on the council’s social media channels for the latest updates. Follow @CharnwoodBC on Twitter or ‘like’ or follow us on Facebook www.facebook.com/charnwoodbc.
Nationwide Building Society
We have been notified that the Anstey Branch of the Nationwide Building Society is due to close on 25th February 2021. On receiving this disappointing news, we - along with Councillor Snartt (representing Newtown Linford) - met with Nationwide's Regional Director, Andrew Westhead and Lead Policy and Public Affairs Manager, Guy Bilgorri on the 9th December 2020. Mr Westhead explained that the building society had taken the decision to close the branch for several reasons, including the following:
1) the building society doesn't own the Anstey branch building and the lease has come up for renewal this financial year.
2) the business isn't viable because there is not sufficient business flowing through the Anstey branch and that there are a number of other branches within 7 miles including in Birstall, Leicester, Coalville, and Wigston.
3) of the business that is flowing through the branch, 60% of the Anstey branch's customers visit other Nationwide branches elsewhere in the city and county.
They explained that customers will still be able to interact with the building society via the telephone on 0800 30 20 11. Those who are digitally savvy can use the Nationwide website (nationwide.co.uk) or the Nationwide app available on Google Play via your smartphone. For those not able to switch to digital and telephone channels, debit card holders can use the Post Office or an ATM for cash withdrawal. To pay in cheques, you will need to use the postal system or visit one of the other nearby branches. We suggest you ring the telephone number above to get the necessary paying-in envelopes or the address should you wish to use the post. Nationwide has explained that they are committed to helping customers manage the change including providing technology support where necessary, so you can ring them and request this. Ask for the 'tea & tech' service.
In the interim, we continue to engage with the Nationwide’s management and will encourage them to reverse their closure decision.
