Bolton Council’s Bulletin Accurate as of 1pm on 13 November 2020
Happy Diwali
Enjoy celebrating with your family but please stay safe.
Socialise with only your household or support bubble www.gov.uk/coronavirus
Help and advice to look after your mental health
The council and our partners have published guides to support your positive mental health and give our local community the support and advice they need.
COVID-19 has now had a far reaching impact on people right across the world and it’s important during this time to take care of your
mind as well as your body.
Everyone will be reacting in their own way. You might be:
- Feeling frustrated or lonely.
- Concerned about your finances, your health, relationships or relatives.
- Feeling down, worried or anxious.
Remember, it is OK to feel like this.
These are normal reactions to uncertainty and to challenging events.
Our guides offer further help and advice.
Business support grants
Further business support grants for companies are available.
The grant schemes are for businesses that have been required to close as a result of the national lockdown effective from Thursday 5 November 2020 or as a result of Tier 3 restrictions imposed on Friday 23 October 2020.
Further information and an online application form can be found on the council website.
Please do not apply for a grant yet if your business has not been required to close. Further information about discretionary grants and Tier 2 grants backdated to 5 August 2020, for businesses that were open but severely affected, will be published here once they are available.
Alcohol Awareness Week
Next week (16-22 Nov) is Alcohol Awareness Week, and this year Alcohol Change UK is focussing on the issues around alcohol and mental health and the best ways to look after ourselves and those we love during a year of great change and uncertainty.
When things get tough, we can find ourselves turning to alcohol to cope. But what many of us don't realise is that drinking too much and too often can make our mental health problems worse - such as anxiety and depression - and prevent them from being properly addressed.
So for this Alcohol Awareness Week, Alcohol Change UK is looking at the issues around alcohol and mental health, the best ways to look after ourselves and those we love during a year of great change and uncertainty.
Council extends Bolton town centre free parking offer until June 2021
Visitors to Bolton town centre can continue to enjoy free parking for another seven months.
Bolton Council has extended its town centre free parking offer until June 2021.
Full details here: https://bit.ly/2IvTH78
Pathway to success: Simple steps to build children’s early communication and language skills
Families in Bolton are being urged to follow five simple steps to help children develop the valuable language skills they need to succeed.
This comes as the new Bolton’s Integrated Early Years Communication and Language Pathway is launched to help Bolton’s children get the best possible start in life.
Have your say about changes to council tax support scheme
Bolton residents are being asked to share their views on proposed changes to the Local Council Tax Support scheme.
Support is given to around 30,000 individuals and families in Bolton whose financial circumstances mean they are entitled to help with paying their council tax.
Under the scheme, working households currently receive an 87.5% discount, meaning residents pay 12.5% of their overall council tax bill.
The council has put forward four options for proposed changes, which would see some of these households pay more council tax from April 2021.
How to self-isolate when you travel to the UK
The government has updated the guidance about how to self-isolate when you return or travel to the UK. This includes information about the new national restrictions and how they affect the requirements on international arrivals when returning from exempt and non-exempt destinations.