MANY of us can now spend more time outside and safely connect with individual friends or family members, however there are also residents who remain shielding and self isolating. Therefore, our teams continue to adapt their services to ensure they reach and protect those staying at home.

To protect residents, our community safety team has been working with the police and wider partners to monitor changes in local needs and patterns of crime. With more people at home, under financial pressure and using the internet, they have been sharing tips and guidance for internet safety and avoiding scams and fraud. The team has also been promoting the local campaign around domestic abuse awareness, ensuring that even those harder to reach due to the lockdown have opportunities to reach out.

For those feeling isolated, we also provide a social prescribing service. Our staff have kept up to date with the changing community support and initiatives available to link residents, via the telephone, to these wider networks. With so many local and national organisations offering support, the social prescribers help residents filter through this to access the most appropriate services. They will continue to provide personalised support to those feeling lonely or isolated, helping them stay connected.

Another service reaching out to the community is our library team. Their innovation in setting up a home delivery scheme of books for residents classed as extremely vulnerable has already reached over 300 new people. The team is also providing free access to e-resources for all residents and with the uptake of this having increased by more than 20 per cent, it is proving popular. The library staff have shown great responsiveness in keeping the wide variety of eBooks available and they are running live Q&A sessions every Monday from 3pm - 5pm on Twitter, for residents with any questions.

How ever you are staying connected, our services will continue to reach out. I hope that you continue to stay safe and well.

Cllr Paul Bettison, OBE

Leader of Bracknell Forest Council