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April 2021 Monthly
Parish Newsletter

Visit suffolk.gov.uk/coronavirus for health advice, service changes, business support
and schools’ guidance.
Keep up to date on the latest guidance on Covid-19 from central government
here: www.gov.uk/coronavirus
Registration now open for “Life changing” Great
East Run Outreach programme

On April 1
st
it was announced that registration opened for the renowned Great East
Run Outreach programme for inactive Suffolk residents.
25 Suffolk residents who are currently inactive are being given the opportunity to
change their lives and sign up for a supported run training programme in Ipswich,
with the aim of completing the challenge of the Great East Run half marathon on the
26th September 2021.
Participants will receive an extensive programme of support which will include,
advice and guidance by double Olympic long-distance runner Paul Evans, expert

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weekly coaching sessions, gait analysis and exclusive discounts on running gear at
Coes in Ipswich, and physiotherapy support from Allied Health Professionals.
Participants can also join Suffolk Mind for a free Suffolk’s Needs Met course to learn
about their emotional needs and wellbeing.
Over the course of 4 months participants will be supported to develop their stamina,
fitness and confidence to take on the 13.1mile course.
The programme developed by Suffolk’s Most Active County initiative is open to
individuals over the age of 18 who do less than 30 minutes moderate to vigorous
physical activity per week.
88% of the individuals who signed up for the programme in 2019 completed the
Great East Run.
The programme received praise from 2019 participants. One participant said:
“Life Changing. I have more energy and I want to continue running. It’s also
improved my mental well-being, self-belief and self-motivation”
Another said:
“It has been the most positive experience I have ever taken part in. It has restored
my confidence and belief and I can now say ‘yes, I can’! Thank you!”
Stuart Keeble, Director of Public Health, said:
“It’s inspiring to hear about the individual and collective stories of those taking part in
Great East Run challenge programme. This programme provides an incredible
opportunity for 25 Suffolk residents to take that first step to an active lifestyle and all
the benefits this can provide.
“We are working in partnership to integrate physical activity into as many aspects of
life as possible through our ambition of becoming the Most Active County in England.
Without doubt, one of the best ways to look after your physical and emotional
wellbeing is to stay active. If you are considering becoming more active, but need
some support and motivation, signing up for the Great East Run Outreach
programme could be the perfect opportunity to help you start moving more.
“We have seen the transformational impact of mass participation events can have on
individuals lives.”

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The Great East Run returns in 2021 with renewed vigour following its cancellation in
2020 due to the pandemic and is anticipated to sell out with 4,000 runners taking the
starts line on the 26th of September.
The Great East Run is one of the Great Run Company’s portfolio of mass
participation events, which also includes, amongst others, the Great North Run
which is the World’s biggest half Marathon.

To apply for a place on the programme, visit www.macoutreach.com where full
details of the eligibility criteria are available alongside the application form.
Reflections on a year of the Keep Moving Suffolk
Campaign

Additionally, April 1st marked the first anniversary of the Keep Moving Suffolk
Campaign.
Just nine days after the Prime Minister announced the first lockdown on the 23rd
March 2020, Suffolk’s Most Active County Partnership launched the Keep Moving
Suffolk campaign. The ambition was to help people stay active or become active
during the pandemic.
Stuart Keeble, Suffolk County Council’s Director of Public Health said:
“We knew that keeping active during lockdown was going to be hugely important.
These were unprecedented times, with people having to spend more time in doors,
along with the impact of the situation on mental wellbeing. Physical activity is an
important antidote and it was important that we did as much as possible to
encourage, support and inspire people to be active.
“In response, we gave birth to the Keep Moving Suffolk campaign. The campaign
highlighted many of the ways we can all stay active at home for little or no cost, and
as the weather got warmer, one of the real positives was rediscovering the outdoors
with the many nature walks and cycling routes Suffolk has to offer.
“Twelve months on, and with restrictions still in place, we continue to do all we can to
help the people of Suffolk to keep moving.”

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In the last year, 20,000 ‘Active at Home’ booklets were distributed to help older
adults undertake physical activity at home and 12,000 ‘Movement and Mental Health’
cards circulated to support young people’s mental health.
Over 1,600 age-appropriate sports activity packs were provided to looked-after
children, 3,500 activity packs given to digitally isolated older people to help them stay
active and resources supplied to support more than 25,000 primary school children
walk to school.
In just one month (September) of the new 14-month Love to Ride programme,
participants cycled over 50,000 miles whilst our Dance with Millie tutorials, to help
children stay active whilst home-schooling, received thousands of hits. Numbers,
however, don’t tell the whole story. More importantly are the reasons why people
have needed help.
“I’m 78 and lost my husband to Covid in November so been here in the four walls ‘til
we are allowed out again” and “I have been shut in since last March and only have a
small house and can’t move that well” were typical responses from the recipients of
Keep Moving Suffolk activity packs for older people.
A local key worker told us about the impact of the sports equipment packs on
a family he supports.
He said: “I support a family with a parent who struggles to be active with the children
due to her mental health difficulties. This pack helped her get involved in sports with
the children. Since then, she has made a goal to be more active and she now has
the goal to go for a walk once a day with the children.”
Mother of two, Kelly Hutchinson from Ipswich, was grateful for our home
schooling resources. She said,
“It’s a big challenge home schooling and juggling work and home life so the Keep
Moving Suffolk website is a godsend”.
Stuart Keeble, Suffolk County Council’s Director of Public Health added:
“There are many similar stories from the last year, however, as lockdown restrictions
begin to ease it is certain that the impact of the pandemic will be felt for some

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significant time to come. Our response will be to continue to play our part in helping
Suffolk to keep moving.”

Home testing now available from libraries and pharmacies
as opening times change for community test sites

It was announced on April 15 that home testing kits will be made available from
libraries and pharmacies across Suffolk as part of the fight against coronavirus.
Lateral flow devices (LFD) can now be obtained free from any library in the county,
subject to stock availability and opening times, from Monday 19 April.
Similarly, more than 130 NHS pharmacies across Suffolk will be taking part in
the Pharmacy Collect scheme, where people can collect kits free of charge.
Pharmacy Collect sits under the national NHS Test & Trace service and is being
operated by Suffolk Local Pharmaceutical Committee, which represents 136
community chemists including independents and those part of larger community
pharmacy chains.
Regular testing is seen as key in controlling the spread of the virus as the UK’s
vaccination programme continues.
Shops, pubs, and indoor leisure businesses such as gyms re-opened in England on
Monday April 12 under the government’s roadmap to recovery from lockdown, and in
Suffolk bosses are being asked to sign up to the Yes2Test scheme which asks
them to commit to workforce testing.
Stuart Keeble, director of public health for Suffolk, said:
“I urge the public to play their part in the fight against COVID-19 by testing regularly
and these schemes will help them to do so.

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“We want to make testing as easy and accessible to the community as possible,
which is why we are making LFD kits available in libraries and particularly so in those
areas that previously had a testing centre.
“Pharmacy Collect is another way of making it easy to test – pharmacies, like
libraries, are at the heart of our communities.
“Testing and isolating following a positive result, along with vaccinations, and
following the current guidance, is how we will get through this pandemic and we want
to make getting a test as easy as picking up a prescription or borrowing a book.”
The growth of home and workplace testing has resulted in 10 smaller community
asymptomatic testing sites in Brandon, Debenham, Elmswell, Eye, Hadleigh,
Halesworth, Holbrook, Nayland, Needham Market and Saxmundham being closed
after Friday April 16.
Centres remaining open seven days a week but with reduced opening hours from
7am to 2pm are:
• Bury St Edmunds – STEM Centre, West Suffolk College, Western Way, IP33
3TB
• Ipswich – Former Profiles gym, University of Suffolk, 4 University Avenue, IP3
0SF
• Lowestoft – Kirkley & Pakefield FC, Walmer Rd, NR33 7LE
The following sites will open between 7am-2pm Monday, Thursday, Friday,
Saturday, 12pm-7pm on Tuesday, and be closed on Wednesday and Sunday:
• Haverhill – Haverhill Arts Centre, High Street, CB9 8AR
• Ipswich – Whitton sports centre, Whitton Church Lane, IP1 6LW
• Martlesham – Community Hall, Felixstowe Rd, IP12 4PB
• Mildenhall – The Pavilion, Recreation Way, IP28 7HG
• Newmarket – Unit 16, Guineas shopping centre, CB8 8EQ
• Stowmarket – Museum of East Anglian Life, off Iliffe Way, IP14 1SL
• Sudbury – Stevenson Centre, Stevenson Approach, Great Cornard, CO10
0WD

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Sites in Felixstowe and Lowestoft will open between 8am and 3pm Monday,
Thursday, Friday and 8.30am – 3.30pm on Saturday, 12 – 7pm on Tuesday and be
closed on Wednesdays and Sundays.
• Felixstowe – Felixstowe Sports Centre, 75 Undercliff Road West, IP11 2AE
• Lowestoft – Waterlane Leisure Centre, Water Lane, NR32 2NH
Sites in Beccles and Framlingham operate as follows:
• Beccles – Blyburgate Hall, Blyburgate, NR34 9TA. Monday, Tuesday,
Wednesday, Friday between 7am-1.30pm, Thursday 12.30pm-7pm. Saturday
& Sunday – closed
• Framlingham – Fire Station, B1119 Saxmundham Road, IP13 9DB. Monday,
Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday 7am-11.30pm, Thursday 3pm-7pm. Saturday &
Sunday – closed
Home testing kits are available from all testing centres.

99% of pupils receive a preferred primary school on
National Offer Day

It was announced on April 16 that 99.15% of children offered a place at one of their
parents’ three preferred schools and 95% were offered a place at their first
preference school.
This year, 99.15% of children were offered a place on National Offer Day at one of
their parents’ three preferred schools and 95% were offered a place at their first
preference school.
Suffolk County Council received 7207 applications from parents indicating which
primary school they would prefer their child to join in September 2021.
Families who applied online are able to log on to the Admissions Portal from today to
see the school their child has been offered. They will also receive an email with

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details of the school place offered. Letters will be sent to parents who made a paper
application by second class post today (16 April 2021).
Allan Cadzow, Corporate Director for Children and Young People said:
“We are delighted that so many children have been offered a place at one of their
parents’ preferred schools and particularly with the high number of those offered a
place at a first choice school.”
“We do understand that not all families will have received a place at their preferred
school. If a parents’ preference for a Suffolk school is refused, we will automatically
add their child’s name to the waiting list for that school. We will also advise them
about how to lodge an appeal should they wish to do so.”
Any parents or carers with a child born between 1 September 2016 and 31 August
2017 who have not yet applied for a school place should make an application
immediately. Information on how to make an application can be found on the School
Admission pages or by contacting Suffolk County Council on 0345 600 0981.
Once school places have been confirmed, parents need to consider how their child
will get to and from school. If their child is eligible for Suffolk County Council funded
school travel they will receive an email by 14 May 2021 with details of how to opt-in.
For further information on how to view your offer online and guidance on what to do if
you have not received your preferred offer, please read the School admissions
FAQ page.

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