As a Parish Council we made the decision to immediately respond to the food poverty crisis by setting up a local, accessible collection point here in Dodleston. The donated food will be taken over to West Cheshire Food Bank, which is part of The Trussell Trust.  Regular updates via our Facebook page and webpages will be published to give those that would like to donate to this cause, more information.
We would like the drop-off point to be accessible and make it easy to donate, so until further notice, will use the following address:
12 Egerton Walk
Dodleston

Please leave any donations in the red box to the right by the front door. Donated food will be taken to West Cheshire Food Bank on either a weekly or fortnightly basis (depending on the number of donations). Donations can be dropped off at any time during the day, 7 days a week. Any donation would be welcomed but if you would like to donate the most needed items, look at this list on a weekly basis.
 
With businesses closing and jobs lost, the pandemic has put an unparalleled strain on Foodbanks here in Britain and families are struggling to keep their heads above water.
Figures from June showed that demand is greater than ever – an 89% rise for The Trussell Trust, the UK’s biggest food bank network, while the Independent Food Aid Network, which has around 350 food banks, saw a 175% increase in requests for emergency parcels. We expect that this figure will rise steeply in the coming months as the Furlough scheme ends to be replaced by a lower level scheme and more businesses are closing their doors. And we have Christmas around the corner.
Here are more statistics on the impact of the Covid-19 crisis on food banks:

• An 89% increase in the number of food parcels distributed - up from 81% in the second half of March
• A 67% increase in the number of household referrals to food banks – up from 48% in the second half of March
• A 107% increase in the number of children needing support from a food bank in April 2020 compared to April 2019
• An increase in the number of families with children receiving food parcels, up from 33% in April 2019 to 38% in April 2020
• A significant increase in need for food bank support across the UK in April 2020 compared to April 2019, but with variations across the country, from a 47% rise in Scotland to one of 142% in Northern Ireland
• For each of these figures there is a person – a mother struggling to feed her children, a nursing assistant who can no longer afford to put food on the table, professionals who have slipped through the net of government employment support. The list goes on. 

If you need help from the Food Bank, there are a few simple steps to follow. The most important step is to get a foodbank referral. More information can be found here on how to access the foodbank.

To enable safe social distancing for students using public transport to and from school, Cheshire West and Chester Council have confirmed that an additional bus will run from Dodleston to support the current 61 service. 
The new S61 will be for the exclusive use of students attending Bishops’ Blue Coat High School and will depart a few minutes earlier.  This service will also run in the afternoon at the end school.  Students attending other schools should wait for the normal 61 service, which will be quieter as a result. 
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The timetable for the new S61 service is given below.  The 61 service will continue as usual.

After applying in June 2019, the Parish Council was awarded a grant to improve the sport field by developing an outdoor gym as well as surfacing the perimeter pathway. The Outdoor Gym was completed during the first week of December but unfortunately the extremely poor weather over Autumn and Winter meant that the path surfacing needed to be postponed…. and then the pandemic set in.
 
We’ve now had the good news that the contractor is able to start the work on the perimeter path as from Monday 15 June. Due to the nature of the work and the surface material, it will require an initial partial closure of the foot path for two weeks whilst the works are being done. After the works have been completed the path surface material needs to harden, which can take around 2 weeks. We will be asking users to avoid using the path to allow this to happen.
 
Please bear these restrictions in mind when you use the sports field as from Monday 15 June.
 
We are sorry for the inconvenience but hope the results will be worth the wait and patience.

Cheshire West and Chester Council have issued an update on household waste recycling centres:

Household Waste Recycling Centre update
22 May 2020
 
Residents were reminded to only visit if absolutely necessary and consider how essential their trip is before setting off.  The recycling centres are for the use of Cheshire West and Chester residents only.

Northwich, Neston, Ellesmere Port, Winsford and Chester HWRCs - update
After two weeks we have reviewed each of the sites and will be returning to normal operating hours, days and traffic management procedures.  These sites will return back to normal on Wednesday 27 May after the bank holiday weekend, so we can manage the expected increase in visitors during the bank holiday.

Opening Hours from Monday 25 May – transition to normal hours and days
Monday – extended (Ellesmere Port, Winsford, Chester, Neston, Northwich, Frodsham)
Tuesday – extended (sites as above)
Wednesday -  Neston & Northwich closed ( EP, Winsford, Chester, Frodsham – 8am-8pm)
Thursday – Northwich closed ( EP, Wins ford, Chester, Frodsham – 8am-8pm.  Neston 9am-5pm)
Friday Neston & Northwich open 9am-5pm (EP, Wins ford, Chester, Frodsham 8am-8pm)
 
Frodsham will remain with extended hours up to and including Friday 29 May. From Saturday 30 May sites will be operating as normal with the exclusion of Tattenhall.
Tattenhall remains closed until further notice.
  
Vehicle access –update
We continue to monitor the type of vehicles that can access the sites.  These vehicles are currently not allowed to use the recycling centres:

1. All vans, obvious van with panelled sides are not to be allowed.

1. All trailers are not allowed.
2. All pickups are not allowed.

Please see the PDF below for information from CWaC relating to the garden bin collection changes.

29 March 2020 –2pm to 4.30pm
Meet @ St Mary’s Church Car Park, Dodleston OR
Meet @ The notice board by Moor Lane, Lower Kinnerton
 
Equipment – old gardening gloves, warm clothes, a high viz jacket or vest if you have one, walking shoes or Wellies.
 
We have litter picks to borrow if you don’t don’t have your own as well as high viz vests. We supply strong Great British Spring Clean litter bags.
 
Welcome to the Great British Spring Clean 2020 and thank you for getting involved the country’s biggest mass-action environmental campaign.
 
Together, we can make a massive difference. All our individual actions can help to transform our country for the better, creating cleaner streets, parks and beaches, protecting our wildlife and, ultimately, stopping the tide of plastic that is doing so much damage to our oceans and marine life.
 
The Great British Spring Clean is about demonstrating that you love where you live – whether that’s by pledging to pick while you’re walking the dog or taking the kids to school, hosting a clean-up or joining someone else’s clean-up.
 
Last year, more than 560,000 people took part and this year we are aiming to get 600,000 #LitterHeroes out there.
 
The time has come around to host our own local annual litter pick which always coincide with the national Great British Spring Clean campaign. This year the date falls on Sunday 29 March 2020 which is also the date to put our clocks forward and gain that extra hour of daylight.

Have you ever walked or driven past the barren corner of Penfold Way and Church Road and wish it could have a bit of colour?
Well we have some good news! The Parish Council has agreed to fund some Spring bulbs to get that corner of the village in bloom.
All we need now are some volunteers to get them into the soil as we have a very limited window of opportunity left before hard frost set in. We need a few days of warmer temperatures and a Saturday so according to the weather forecast, Saturday 30 November seems a good date!
Have you perhaps got some Spring bulbs that you don't have space for in your own garden?
In addition to the Parish Council contribution , we are happy to accept any other contributions of Spring bulbs - in particular Daffodils, Tulips, Crocus and Hyacinths. Even just a few will add to the Spring display.
Bring a hand trowel or a bulb planter if you have one. A kneeling mat might also come in useful. We do expect that the soil might be slightly hard so a few garden forks might also help!
We want to start at 10am on Saturday 30 November and if you can spare some time to help we would be very grateful. The more hands the lighter work!
Please confirm with Welna Bowden at Welnabowdendpc@gmail.com or Whatsapp/text 07717574185 your help so we can anticipate numbers. Alternatively just turn up if your plans have changed and you have some spare time.
We look forward seeing you there!
Let's get Dodleston in bloom.

Dates for Parish Council meetings in 2020 have now been set.  All meetings to start promptly at 7pm.  Members of the public are welcome to attend.

Monday 13th January
Monday 9th March
Monday 11th May - AGM
Monday 13th July
Monday 14th September
Monday 9th November