As the days get shorter and temperatures continue to drop, it certainly feels like winter is on the way.
Although I agree that it’s probably far too early to mention Christmas, we should all start to give some thought to preparing for the changing season – something Suffolk County Council is here to help with.
Today marks the start of the council’s new Winter Matters campaign, a campaign packed full of tips and advice to help you and your loved ones look after your money, health, wellbeing and safety during the colder months.
As we do with so much of our work, the council has partnered with organisations and services from across the county who are already providing support for people in Suffolk, such as the Rural Coffee Caravan and Community Action Suffolk, to ensure we can help those who need it most. I would like to offer them my thanks for their help with this campaign.
Of course, every year Suffolk County Council helps families and communities with essential services, whether it be by gritting icy roads, commissioning social care support, or attending fires, but this year especially we are asking that people make their own preparations to enable them to have a happy and healthy winter. It would take too long for me to list all the various parts of this campaign, but I wanted to highlight just a few.
Winter marks the start of the flu season, and of course the shadow of COVID hasn’t gone away. Protect yourself and those you care about by getting the flu and covid vaccines as soon as you are eligible.
Vaccination is still the best defence against these serious and potentially life-threatening illnesses, and I am delighted that more than 173,000 people in Suffolk have already had their autumn COVID booster vaccine.
Don’t forget, when notified you can book your COVID vaccination appointment or find a walk-in clinic near you by visiting SNEE NHS Covid-19 Vaccination webpage.
We can all play our part in helping to slow the spread of viruses this winter by washing or sanitising our hands regularly. Anyone feeling unwell should ideally stay at home to protect others if they can. If you’re ill and have to leave the house, please consider keeping your distance from people or wearing a face covering if you must get close to them.
As well as looking after our health, it’s important for us to prioritise wellbeing this winter, with ongoing increases to the Cost of Living being a source of stress for many.
I know this is especially true when it comes to energy bills. Whilst Government has stepped in to help cap the average cost of energy, additional help is at hand from Warm Homes Suffolk, which provides support on making homes more energy efficient and cheaper to heat.
The service can offer assistance with fuel payments, discuss energy efficiency improvements, help you access grants to pay for insulation, and assess your eligibility for contributions towards the cost of repairs or replacements if your boiler or heater stops working.
If high energy bills are preventing you from putting the heating on, or you know anyone who may need extra help heating their home, please contact Warm Homes Suffolk on 03456 037 686.
Further guidance on national and local support with household costs, including food and essentials, is available on our website. Visit the Cost of Living page to find out what help you could be entitled to, as well as tips and advice for saving money.
Although rising prices may prompt many of us to look for a good deal this winter, this should not be at the expense of safety.
Online auction sites or social media marketplaces can be rife with counterfeit goods or products that don’t meet the UK’s stringent safety laws. These often haven’t been properly tested and could pose a serious risk of fire, serious injury or even death.
Buying from reputable retailers will help to keep you safe and remember, if a deal looks too good to be true, it probably is.
You can also reduce the chances of a fire in your home this winter by taking a few simple steps such as regularly cleaning your chimney before use, never leaving candles or open fires unattended and switching off electrical appliances before bed, including fairy lights on Christmas trees.
There is a wealth of information on this and other ways in which you can prepare on the Winter Matters page. We will also be sharing advice on social media and distributing leaflets via the Rural Coffee Caravan and Suffolk Libraries to support everyone in Suffolk.
