I am happy to correspond by email, phone or to visit you. My aim is to create a staged reading to be performed for charity and to introduce this delightful, intelligent and gifted local character to any who may not have heard of her. She contributed greatly to village life, and it is a joy to be discovering more about her. Please do get in touch if you can help. Thank you!

You can find out more about me on my website www.janebower.com
Jane Bower
jane-bower@ntlworld.com
07753435151

Recruitment of part-time Parish Clerk

Eversden Parish Council serves the villages of Great Eversden and Little Eversden, which have a combined population of 850. The Council has 10 Councillors. The annual precept is over £37,000.

There are Council meetings every month. The Council meets to consider planning applications as they arise, at least every month. There is a single annual parish meeting.

The role of Parish Clerk and Responsible Financial Officer is part-time. The Clerk provides administrative support to the Council, including arranging and taking minutes of meetings, general correspondence, document tracking and financial administration. The Clerk is the principal point of contact for the Council. The post involves working from home, and attending all meetings in person.

Applicants should have good communication, IT, social media, and organisational skills. Experience and knowledge of working with local government procedures is required. A Certificate in Local Authority Administration, or ongoing training, or agreement to start training towards the certificate is required. Relevant training will be provided. The Parish Council will pay for time spent training and all training fees.

Hours of work are nominally 10 hours per week including evening meetings, subject to review. The nature of the role means that flexibility is essential as the hours will vary from month to month. It’s desirable for candidates to have a few set office hours where members of the public can contact them. Any additional hours will be paid at normal rates.

Salary will reflect experience e.g. current NJC salary point 26 will apply for an experienced clerk with a CiLCA Certificate

The Council will fund membership of the Society of Local Council Clerks.

The Parish Council welcomes all applicants. Applicants should have an interest upholding the positive reputation of the Council.

For a detailed job description or an informal chat about the role please contact Cllr Steve Dinsdale Chairman at cllr.dinsdale@eversdensparishcouncil.gov.uk.

Closing date for applications: 19^th May 2023

Eversden Parish Council is committed to equal opportunities, to the protection and safety of all its residents and expects all staff and volunteers to share this commitment.

Royston & District Community Transport are a registered charity offering door to door transport for local people who need transport for trips to hospital, GPs, dental appointments and day centres, who are unable to drive themselves or use public transport due to age, frailty, impaired mobility, or do not have the use of a car.

How much does it cost?
For journeys in volunteer drivers’ own vehicles, passengers make a contribution of sixty pence (60p) per mile travelled by the driver, confirmed at the time of booking.  We do our best to allocate a driver close to you to keep the cost as low as possible.  This is paid to the driver at the end of the journey.

The minimum charge is £6.00 per journey of ten miles or fewer.

Journeys in the minibuses and MPVs are charged at a higher rate, confirmed at time of booking.

How can I arrange a journey?

To find out more about the scheme or to arrange a journey, contact the co-ordinator on

01763 245228

between 9am and 3pm, Monday to Friday.
​
When booking a journey we would prefer at least THREE working days’ notice, unless it is an emergency, when we will always try to help. If the telephone is unstaffed a recorded message will ask you to leave your name and telephone number; the co-ordinator will call you back as soon as possible. Please note that a journey is NOT booked until confirmed by a co-ordinator.

We reserve the right to decline any journey request.

Photo by Jan Baborák on Unsplash

There are various forms of help that may be available – from additional payments from the council or discounts on things like your Council Tax, to support from partners such as food vouchers, energy grants and help managing debt.

Cambridge County Council have links to sources of help here:

https://www.cambridge.gov.uk/cost-of-living-help

The Parish Council who own the allotment land have now appointed a Clerk for extra hours so that they can in the future be responsible for the allotments and ensure they are run accordingly.

If you have an allotment, would you please contact the Clerk so that she can re-allocate your allotment to you and have your contact details – the deadline for doing this is 20th December 2022.  If you know of anyone who has an allotment perhaps you could let them know about this just in case they don’t read this.

If allotment holders have not responded to the Clerk by the date above then she will begin allocating allotments to those on the waiting list and past allotment holders will then need to re-apply.

The move over from allotment society tenancy to parish council tenancy will be on 1^st March 2023 and all monies to be paid to the Parish Council.  The Parish Council are seeking to work together with the allotment society for the future benefit of the allotments and the land around them.

Please contact the Clerk on parishclerk@eversdensparishcouncil.gov.uk or telephone on: 07716370694

July’s Highlights 

Newmarket Races July Festival 7^th, 8^th and 9^th July. The ever popular 3 day racing festival returns at the July race course.

Commonwealth Games Baton Relay, 9^th July. The baton for the Commonwealth Games being held in Birmingham, passes through the county this Saturday.

Kimbolton Country Fayre, 10^th July. The annual fayre returns to Kimbolton Caste.

Newmarket Nights, throughout July the events take place combining horse racing and music at the July race course.

Secret Garden Party, 21^st – 25^th July. The party returns to Grange Farm Abbotts Ripton after a 5 year break with a reduce attendance compare with previous events.

*Please remember details of all highway events can be found on https://www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/residents/travel-roads-and-parking/roads-and-pathways/highway-events/

Future key event dates

We Out Here festival – 25^th – 28^th August 2022

Duxford Battle of Britain Air show – 10^th and 11^th September 2022

Gransden Agricultural Show – 24^TH September 2022

Cambridge Bonfire Night – 5^th November 2022

Mill Road, Cambridge Winter Fair – 3^rd December 2022

Highway events diary July 2022

Photo by Call Me Fred on Unsplash

Children in receipt of income rated free school meals are eligible to attend a participating holiday scheme for up to 64 hours.

All refugee families welcome Email HAF for further information.

HAF@cambridgeshire.gov.uk

Further information click on this link;

https://www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/council/communities-localism/support-with-the-cost-of-living/holiday-activities-and-food-programme

The online information hub is our equivalent of a ‘Welcome pack’ for guests (we are sharing information digitally so that we are able to keep our information regularly updated, and guests should be able to switch to view in their own language if they wish).

Please note that in addition to these emails, all hosts will receive information from us directly relating to DBS checks, accommodation checks, £350 monthly host and £350 one-off guest payments; hosts should already have received information from us about this through our welcome email.

For any questions not covered in this e-newsletter or on our Support for Ukraine webpages, please email duty.communities@scambs.gov.uk

Updates to our Support for Ukraine pages since our last email

A reminder that all of the information we have published so far is on our Support for Ukraine webpages and in this email you will only find the latest updates that have become available since our last email. If you have not previously visited our webpages, we would suggest that is the best place to start for information for guests.

Guest arrival payment being increased from £200 to £350 per guest

As you are probably aware, the Government scheme provides an initial £200 payment per guest to help them with essential costs. However, Government guidance allows local authorities to have flexibility in deciding whether more is needed in the first few weeks after a guest arrives. Hosts and guests in South Cambridgeshire have told us that guests are running out of money in the first month and before longer-term arrangements have been established (both Universal Credit and payment from employment can take a number of weeks before an initial payment is made).

In response to this, South Cambridgeshire District Council is adding a further £150 payment to each guest in our district. This means that guests who are already living here and have received a £200 payment will be contacted to confirm arrangements for a £150 top-up payment. Hosts should have received an email from colleagues yesterday and please note that we need guests to complete a short form before we are able to process these payments. Guests who are yet to arrive will be paid the new amount of £350 per guest. If you are a host who has received a link to our application form for the £150 top-up payments, please do not forward this on to others. We are only able to make these payments to eligible guests living in the district of South Cambridgeshire.

Using pre-payment cards

Many guests have received, or will soon receive, a pre-paid card from us with the initial one-off payment to help with essential costs. Please note that we are asking guests to activate their card in a situation where a PIN is needed – for instance in a supermarket – so that it can be used thereafter for contactless payments in places such as on public transport where PIN verification is not always available. We are now sending a letter to all guests who are sent a pre-paid card that sets this out, along with details about how to set up their card, how to access their PIN, and how to check the balance in their account. The letter will be sent in the language guests have indicated is preferred as well as in English. But if hosts could help remind guests to make sure their first transaction is somewhere where PIN verification is available, this would be very helpful.

Update on bus travel for guests form Ukraine

We have been working with Cambridgeshire County Council and bus operator Stagecoach to agree further support for Ukrainian guests. A countywide scheme has been agreed that will see all new arrivals provided with 10 free bus tickets. Each ticket will allow unlimited journeys within Cambridgeshire for one day and are not time limited. We have agreement from the bus operator for the scheme to run until December but the County Council is working through the details with Stagecoach, so please bear with us as this may take a couple of weeks to finalise. Once the scheme is ready, we will contact hosts to ask for help in ensuring that guests are aware of it. The information we send will include how the tickets are accessed. We will be backdating the scheme so any guests who arrived before the scheme launched will still be provided with this support. The tickets are being provided to Cambridgeshire councils at a discounted rate by Stagecoach who are keen to support guests and we are grateful for their support.

Free bicycles for guests from Ukraine

Guests from Ukraine can request a free, good quality, second-hand bicycle as part of a collaboration between the District Council and two local charities – OWL Bikes and Camtrust. Helmets and locks will also be supplied, free of charge. The Council will also provide guests with details of a free Bikeability cycle training course, which will include translation services.

Once a guest applies for a bike and the Council has confirmed that they are eligible, they will be put in touch with the supplier nearest to them so that they can arrange to collect their bicycle. Wherever possible we are asking for hosts to help guests collect bikes, but where no transport is immediately available for hosts to do so, such as if the host family has no car, local volunteers and community groups may be able to assist. The Council can help link hosts and guests with their local community group and District Councillors if needed and guests or hosts can ask for this support. Refer any queries or concerns regarding bicycle collection by emailing: duty.communities@scambs.gov.uk

Additional language support offer

We have previously shared offers of English language tuition from Cambridge Regional College, Workers’ Educational Association and Cambridgeshire Skills. Recently, we have added information on our website about another provider, CamRuss, which is supporting Ukrainian guests and hosts in Cambridge and the surrounding area. On the CamRuss website guests can complete a form to request free English language and cultural adaptation sessions.

Cambridge Regional College are keen for guests to know what opportunities there are for a range of post-16 and adult education programmes available from September onwards which includes English language tuition. There is an open day being held on Wednesday 15 June from 4.30pm to 7pm at the Cambridge Campus, King’s Hedges Road, CB4 2QT. More information can also be found by visiting CRC’s open day webpage

Please let us know if you have further queries or concerns regarding access to English language tuition; we will do all we can to give support.

Free School Meals

Attached to this email is an application form that eligible guest families can use to apply for temporary entitlement to Free School meals and Holiday Vouchers. This is different to application forms that are on Cambridgeshire County Council’s Free School Meals webpages; the attached form allows for parents or carers to apply who have submitted a Universal Credit application but who do not yet have a National Insurance (NI) number.

When your guests arrive

Thank you to a current host who shared some insights with us that may be useful for other hosts whose guests are yet to arrive.

“When your guests arrive they might be traumatised and exhausted so, rather than rush them and organising their lives, we wrote a list of essential ‘to dos’ and said to them that they could tell us what they wanted to do and when. Examples included getting SIM cards, bank accounts, applying for universal credit, registering with doctors etc.

“We had an honest conversation and said from the outset that we came from different cultures and backgrounds and so we should be open with each other so that neither of us ever offended or upset the other … and our bond has just become deeper and deeper.

“We had a ‘build your own pizza’ evening where we all made pizzas, it became a competition and we all tasted each other’s. Even not being able to speak English was not a barrier to communication doing that together. It also helps to have Google translate on during meals.”

Her Majesty the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee

As you will be aware, the UK will have a four day weekend next week to mark Her Majesty the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee. Your guests may not know what to expect over the four day weekend and may appreciate some background information about the weekend, as well as some help to work out how they can join in with activities happening over the weekend.

The best place to find background information about the Queen’s 70-year reign is on the Royal Family’s Jubilee website. There is also a dedicated Jubilee website, where you can find a map of events and information about how to get involved, including street parties, Big Jubilee Lunches, London’s Trooping the Colour, a Service of Thanksgiving, a concert and pageant. There is also an activity pack for children to help them learn about The Queen’s reign, recipes from well-known celebrities, and a Spotify playlist.

Back from 20th June for 5 sessions on Mondays from 4.00pm-6.00pm.

The Youth Club is free. The club is on a modern, well equipped bus which parks in the Recreation Ground car park in Little Eversden on Mondays in term time from 4.00pm-6.00pm. It’s run by the Connections Bus Project.

It’s free to use. It’s for 12 to 18 year olds; 11 year olds can visit the bus at the end of the school year before they move up a year.

The bus is staffed by two experienced Youth Workers and a volunteer.

The bus has a wide selection of resources including internet linked PCs, games consoles, video/DVD, karaoke, sports equipment, craft activities, quizzes, discussion topics and a tuck shop.