District Dispatch - 13 October 2022

The Chichester Youth Connections Service was set up in direct response to the negative impact that the coronavirus pandemic has had on young people. It supports young people who live or go to school in the district who are looking for help with loneliness and isolation; improving self-confidence; and making connections with other people. The team can also help young people find their next steps in education and employment. If you know of someone who may benefit, please visit our Chichester Youth Connections page.

This new service builds on the success of the council's Social Prescribing Service, which has helped over 2,500 people since its launch in 2018. The Social Prescribing Service team can help where the route cause for physical ill-health is related to issues such as money, debt and benefits, employment and housing, or social isolation. Residents are either referred to this service by their GP or they can get in contact or find out more about the service on our social prescribing page.

With the impact of the pandemic and current cost of living pressures, these services are playing an important role supporting people's health and wellbeing. This is a key theme within our Supporting You campaign and you can hear more about the services first hand from our staff by watching our videos, as well as finding out about the range of other services we offer on our Help with Health and Wellbeing page. If you are struggling at the moment, please don't suffer in silence.

Last week, we approved a proposal to join a countywide scheme to help increase the number of electric vehicle charge points across the district. A number of sites owned by the council, including most of our car parks, will now be considered for inclusion within the scheme. As you may already be aware, we already have a network of 18 electric vehicle charging points in our car parks across the district using government funding that we applied for, and we now aim to build on this.

By 2030, the Government wants all new vehicles sold to be electric, and as part of our council's climate change commitment and to assist in improving local air quality, joining this scheme means that we will be able to play our part in helping more people make the move from petrol and diesel cars to electric.

In addition to joining the countywide scheme, we have also taken on two electric cars for staff to use on work journeys as part of a two-year pilot scheme in partnership with Co-Wheels Community Car Club. This is in addition to the introduction of two electric bikes, which are also available for staff to use for work journeys. The aim of these schemes is to help the council become greener and enable more staff to travel to work using methods such as the train or bus.

Finally, I want to encourage you to attend the last Cross&nbsp of 2022, which will take place on Sunday 16 October in Chichester. This will be the third event to take place this year, and promises another unique mix of entrepreneurs and artists, while offering a platform for local businesses, students and organisations to show their skills and bring the community together. The event will take place in North Street and East Street between 10am and 4pm - so please make sure that you put it in your diary. 

Best Wishes
Cllr Eileen Lintill
Leader of Chichester District Council