Businesses continue to donate PPE and meals

Businesses are being thanked for donating personal protective equipment to support frontline care workers, and for making and distributing meals through the coronavirus pandemic.

Stoke-on-Trent City Council has received a donation of PPE from Michelin Tyres Plc, which has its UK Headquarters in Stoke. And Staffordshire-based JCB is producing around 2,004 meals a week for distribution across the city. Other donations have come from local businesses including GK Potatoes, Pets at Home, Cottage Delight, Wright’s Pies, Brakes Food Service, Bookers Cash and Carry, Bolton Diaries, Cheerful Link, Milk 4Life, Raven Pharmacy and Roy Evans and Sons as well as Müller and Fox’s Biscuits outside the city. Staffordshire Fire and Rescue Service has co-ordinated the response from local suppliers.

Council leader Abi Brown said: “The response from JCB, Michelin and of so many local companies across Stoke-on-Trent reflects how great businesses are in our city – they want to support our most vulnerable residents at this most testing of times. They also want help all of our heroes in the care professions who are facing the challenge head on every day, and helping to keep people safe and well. We’re really proud of the way the city is responding to the coronavirus pandemic, and I’d like to thank all businesses who continue to go the extra mile to provide support. We have a good supply of PPE and continue to keep sourcing supplies to keep our staff safe. We are continuing to support care homes and work with them so that they have what they need. We have staff on standby to support the sector and help ensure the stability of care for vulnerable residents. We ask companies if they have any spare stock and are able to make donations such as masks, gloves or other PPE to get in touch.”

The council has set up a page on its website for businesses to make PPE donations – www.stoke.gov.uk

Meanwhile, the council is urging residents not to buy PPE from shops and outlets that does not have the CE mark on them. It comes as trading standards officers confiscated face masks that had been on sale in a store in the city that did not comply with the CE safety standard.

Councillor Brown said: “The CE mark shows that items conform to health, safety and environmental protection standards. Products without that mark may not be safe and may not give any protection. We urge all residents to check before they buy and if they have any concerns to please report it to our teams.”

Trading standards teams have responded to complaints from residents and carried out proactive visits to premises across the city. They have issued a total of eight closure notices to premises that should not be operating under the coronavirus legislation, to barbers, gyms, vape shops and a mobile phone shop in locations across Shelton, Stoke and Meir. They have also issued three notices under coronavirus legislation anti-social behaviour powers to premises that are not adhering to social distancing guidance – to corner shops and an independent supermarket. The shops, in Trent Vale, Burslem and Bentilee, were given guidance and requested to put in place health and safety notices, and they are continuing to stay open with support from council teams.

Councillor Brown said: “We want to support our food shops to continue to stay open where appropriate, to serve their local communities. The national guidance is really clear on which premises should be open and which shouldn’t, and I’d like to thank the vast majority of businesses that continue to respond responsibly through this period of lockdown.”

The council is also asking residents to please continue to manage their household waste responsibly, as reports of fly-tipping have increased during the coronavirus outbreak. The council has suspended bulky waste and garden waste collections to prioritise blue and grey bins, and has collected 118 tonnes more grey bin waste since lockdown measures came into force.

Councillor Brown said: “We do understand residents’ frustrations that they are not able to dispose of waste in all of the same ways they could do before the outbreak. However, these are unprecedented times. Our teams are working hard to ensure household blue and grey bin collections can continue, and we ask for residents’ further support and patience at this time. Fly-tipping will not be tolerated and our teams will take enforcement action on people who dump waste that blights our city.”

The council is continuing to administer funding to small businesses and those operating in the retail, leisure and hospitality sector, and has now paid grants to more than 2,650 eligible businesses, totalling £29m. The authority has been allocated £57m from government to administer to eligible businesses and is yet to hear back from 500 businesses who may qualify for funding.

Councillor Brown added: “We urge businesses to come forward and apply for this funding, it is there to support them through this most difficult of times, and we are committed to administering it as swiftly as possible. We urge businesses to fill the forms in correctly, including the business registration number and full name of the business. It slows the process down for us in checking forms if they are not filled out correctly.”

Businesses can check their eligibility and fill in an application form via: www.stoke.gov.uk/businessratesgrants

A dedicated team is in place to support businesses of any size with business related queries, due to Covid-19. They can support with enquiries about property related matters, details about business loans or grants as well as information for the self-employed. They can be contacted on 01782 236878 or by e-mail at: bu*************@*******ov.uk

For more information and advice on coronavirus (Covid-19) please visit Public Health England: https://publichealthmatters.blog.gov.uk/2020/01/23/wuhan-novel-coronavirus-what-you-need-to-know/ and the NHS: https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/.

All residents are reminded about the critical importance of regular handwashing with soap and hot water for 20 seconds. The significance of this action cannot be underestimated.

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