Surlingham

hello everyone! In order to celebrate the first time Surlingham receives a fresh fish van in the village this Thursday, at the farm shop, we have decided to bring to you fish and chips on the menu with our own twist!

This will be available Friday to Sunday. So be quick to place your order.

Stay safe evryone

Love

JOAQUIM and ANA

Message disseminated on social media by Garry Whiting, Managing Partner, Heathgate Medical Practice –

<<Covid 19 Vaccine Update

I am writing this as the Manager at Heathgate and the Lead for the Covid Vaccination Centre in Poringland but also speak on behalf of my colleagues at 8 other Practices locally including Old Mill and Millgates. 

I have read lots of residents comments over the weekend and need to clarify some mixed and incorrect information being shared. 

Covid 19 vaccination can not be given in the same way as Flu vaccines are.  Groups of Practices have to create Centres.  That’s the NHS England guidance.  We have successfully done that at the Poringland Community Centre with the grateful thanks to the Parish Council, Police and other agencies. 

We have 6,000 over 80 patients in the 9 GP Practices in our grouping to consider vaccination first, along with Care Home residents and NHS staff.  Vaccination supplies are limited and with the 15 minute post vaccination requirement for patients to sit before leaving the Centre we are limited to the number of you we can safely hold on site until it is time to leave. 

Our patch stretches from Loddon to Diss and Harleston to Attleborough.  A geographical challenge. 

We had our first clinics last week, which were well received.  Thank you for those who contacted us after visiting the Centre.  Your positive feedback kept our staff smiling. 

We have clinics this week too and our booking team are calling patients right now!  

Please do not call your Practice.  Several of you are asking when will you be called and think you should be a priority.  I understand this but we are working to the guidance from the Departmemt of Health.  We will call you! 

Some of the press messages, if I am honest, are not helpful and some of the interpretation by the public is varying. 

This is a real challenge for everyone.  Staffing the Centre as well as keeping our Surgeries open.  But we can and will do this.  The Surgery teams are determined to rise to the challenge. 

Things have become a little more complicated with the opening of the mass vaccination site in Norwich.  Despite the local Centre in Poringland, NHS England has sent letters to all over 80 year olds inviting them to attend the mass site too.  This has not been helpful.  I understand why people are confused. 

We were just as frustrated with this and the number of calls that this has led to in Surgeries today.  I am being honest with you.  

The announcement about over 70’s is adding complication to this and we are waiting instruction on this.  

So, the Poringland site is open and we are booking 1,500 appointments by phone for this week Wednesday to Sunday for patients of the 9 Practices in over 80 year olds groups.  Calls are being made by the booking team as I speak.  

If you have a letter you can choose to go to the Norwich mass site but by appointment only.  Or you can wait for your call from us. 

Please work with us.  Please do not ring us.  We will contact you.  

This is a challenge but we have worked hard to get a local site up and running within the restraints and restrictions of using a non NHS site.  Those who have been critical, I wish I could share some of the national politics here but I’m not going to and I am proud of what we have established and will continue to deliver. 

To our staff in the Practices working on this project and who belong to this FB site (Ed. =Poringland FB page).  A huge thanks.  

Garry Whiting
Managing Partner
Heathgate Medical Practice

Permission to publish on Surlingham.org obtained from GW on19th Jan.

Help us #ProtectTheNHS. Try to keep your exercise within walking distance of your home, shop as local as you can and only go out if it is essential. We know how difficult this lockdown is and we appreciate all you are doing to help. Don’t give Covid that chance. #StopTheSpread

Further fines have been issued this week for breaching COVID-19 regulations, including to a man and his son who travelled from London to stay at their second home on the north Norfolk coast. More here

I would like to wish you all the very best for 2021 in these extraordinary times,

The flooding in the run up to Christmas was a reminder that, in the middle of this awful pandemic, climate change is still a big threat to our future, and this was underlined last week with the announcement that last year was as hot as 2016, the hottest on record, with global temperatures 1.25 degrees above the long-term average.

Can I take this opportunity to remind you of the Broadland Futures Initiative which is looking at the long-term flood risks to the Broads and local communities. Key partners include the Environment Agency, Natural England, county and district councils and farmers and landowners. We are planning a virtual exhibition, an online survey (from 18 January), as well as a series of “virtual village halls” public events in February and March to engage with local residents on this most difficult of questions. The dates for the “virtual village halls” will be advertised on the website nearer the date, and the links to the virtual exhibition and online survey will be available on the website on 18 January.

I wish you all the best for the coming weeks.

Kind regards

John

John Packman

Chief Executive

The illustrated Zoom talk, in support of Hospice Ethiopia UK, will take place on Monday January 18, from 7.30pm.

Pre-registered guests can sit back, relax and be inspired by artists demonstrating compassion in a variety of media by Nick, who has kindly offered to give this talk on behalf of Hospice Ethiopia UK to raise funds in what has been a very difficult time for fundraising.

The talk will introduce the idea of compassionate art through some famous and lesser- known examples, in which artists have provided inspiration, protest, reflection or transformation, expressed grief or offered hope. 

The idea came from the positive experience of bringing people together at the popular weekly online Art Café that Nick runs.

Nick became involved through his wife Helen, who is Lead Chaplain at Priscilla Bacon Lodge. Staff there have supported Hospice Ethiopia for several years, since the organization was founded by Tsigerida, an Ethiopian Nurse in 2003.

Hospice Ethiopia (HE) provides community palliative care to patients in their own homes.  Their experienced nurses provide medicines, medical equipment, support and advice free of charge. There is no other such organisation in Ethiopia. In addition, they provide palliative care education to wide range of healthcare professionals enabling more patients than ever before to access symptom control and the relief of their suffering. HE is a registered non-government organisation but receives no government funding, so finances are an ongoing worry.

Over recent years, the collaboration and understanding between Norwich and HE has grown and evolved. The Norfolk-based support group has become a registered charity, Hospice Ethiopia UK (HEUK). This partnership has benefited both parties more than we could have ever anticipated, with lasting friendships made. Members of HEUK have visited Ethiopia about once a year since early 2012 and taken out small items of equipment such as stoma bags that are unobtainable or expensive in Ethiopia.

While there, joint visits with HE nurses have been carried out to patients, formal & informal teaching provided to a range of healthcare professionals as well as networking with other non-governmental organisations and hospitals. The future for both Hospice Ethiopia and Hospice Ethiopia UK is looking promising.

Nick said: “HE is continuing to support patients at home, providing palliative medicine, advice, pastoral support, and a ‘comfort fund’ to provide basic food for patients who have no means of support. In a country where people’s faith means a great deal to them, they are planning to increase spiritual support for patients. It is compassionate work undertaken by caring people. If looking at compassionate art together on Zoom can provide financial support for HE’s vital role, then I will be very happy!”

To register, please phone 01508 538014 or contact us

A Zoom link to this online talk will be sent to your email inbox. Admission is free but donations warmly welcomed via the website www.hospiceethiopia.org.uk (link to external site)

Dear All,

For all you fish lovers out there we are very exited to announce that on Thursday 21st Jan 12pm-4pm we will have Surlingham’s first (as far as we are aware) fresh fish van coming to the village.

East Coast Fishmonger which was established in 2010 will be trialing a month so if fresh fish is something you are keen on and would like to see on a regular basis, do be sure to pop down to show your support and keep this very handy service for many here.

Tim will be situating his van just outside the shop so will be easy to find and sat out in the fresh Norfolk Countryside.
He will be taking card payments to make life even easier, with a minimum of only £2 so you are good to go on the go, especially if you wont have cash with you. The shop also takes card payments as usual with min order now only £5.

So to confirm the dates we have booked in are:
Thurs 21st Jan 12-4pm,
Thurs 28th Jan 12-4pm,
Thurs 4th Feb 12-4pm,
Thurs 11th Feb 12-4pm.

We look forward to seeing you there.

In regards to the shop we have lots of goodies. Remember our comment box, where you can tell us how fab or awful we are, but also if you would like to see anything. We had a request yesterday for some little yogurts. They are coming in today. We have the Brick Pizzas in and are as popular as ever, Fruit Pig has also just arrived with their delicious Haggis, Black Pudding and White Pudding. Yesterday we also received some more chicken, Kievs, chicken breasts, beef mince, pigeon breasts, duck breasts, pheasant breasts and whole pheasant, partridge, venison and much much more.
More fresh veg in this afternoon as well as milk. The best way to find most up to date info on what has arrived in the shop is to follow us on Social media. We are on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter

We will drop another reminder about the fish next week, but until then… have a super weekend all!

Directions to Farm Shop: Follow Postcode NR14 7GD Mill Road Surlingham. There are signs for Farm shop, Teles Patisserie and Time Share Swimming Pool. The Shop is at the end of the long drive on the left. Parking is to the right.
Open: 8am-9pm every single day including Bank Holidays and weekends.

Glenn and Lily – Yare Valley Farm Shop, Surlingham