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An East London council has called on the goodwill of a number of celebrities to help get the message across to its residents to ‘stay home and help save lives’ during the coronavirus lockdown.

Council Leader, Councillor Darren Rodwell reached out to a number of well-known celebrities with a local connection to the borough, and they’ve recorded a series of short videos which the council has put out on social media during the lockdown.

Fifteen Barking and Dagenham residents have been helped into work through the council’s job shops since the start of the lockdown. Although, face-to-face appointments are not currently available, the service is still supporting residents via email, telephone or Skype.

There are a number of jobs available from the job shops this week, including apprenticeship and a degree entry programme with the Met Police, care assistants, domiciliary care workers, carers, support workers, housekeeper/cleaners, warehouse operative and an Investigator for the Financial Ombudsman Service.

Residents of Barking and Dagenham are being put on the alert and are being encouraged to be wary of scammers and fraudsters during the coronavirus outbreak.   

Unfortunately, in difficult times such as this, there are some people who try and exploit others and in the last week, the council has been made aware of a number of scams targeting the most vulnerable in the community.  

Enforcement officers in Barking and Dagenham have been working alongside shops across the borough to help stop the spread of coronavirus, with 28 shops voluntarily closing their doors after being given advice.  

Despite disruptions caused by the coronavirus pandemic, Barking and Dagenham Council is taking advantage of quieter town centres to carry out essential cleaning over the next 10 days.

Starting 28 April, the street cleaning crew will use an environmentally safe cleaning product to tackle stains and grease while disinfecting public areas. 

Councillor Syed Ghani, Cabinet Member for Public Realm, said: “We know our residents value their borough and want to see it as clean as possible.

The voluntary sector community in Barking and Dagenham is set to benefit from an injection of £100,000 from the Lankelly Chase Foundation in response to the coronavirus pandemic.

 

The funding, known as the COVID-19 Rapid Response Fund will be held by Barking and Dagenham Renew, a charity launched by the council, and will then be distributed by Barking and Dagenham Giving, the borough’s new platform for giving in the community.

 

Young people from the across the borough have been working hard& to keep the spirits of our incredible NHS staff high by thanking them in a number of creative ways.

Operators of fast food takeaways in Barking and Dagenham have been issued with updated guidance for customers and staff during the pandemic.

The advice on social distancing measures applies to everyone. Takeaway owners need to make sure they minimise opportunities for the virus to spread by maintaining a distance of two metres between individuals. This advice applies to both inside the food business and in external public areas where customers may need to queue.

Residents of Barking and Dagenham who are struggling to pay their bills or just want to make their money stretch that little more then they can join the council’s Community Food Clubs and be able to get shopping worth £20 a week for free during the coronavirus pandemic.

Membership of our community food club also gives residents access to a wide range of services, providing advice and support with finances, employment, housing and health.

Residents of Barking and Dagenham who are in need of short-term emergency assistance will be able to get help and support with food and utility bills. They can now apply to the council for assistance.

The council has started giving discretionary hardship support payments, known as Individual Assistance Payments (IAP) to residents to help with emergency living expenses including food, fuel (gas and electric for customers who pay via a key meter), travel expenses (only on Oyster cards), and household appliances and/or clothing in exceptional circumstances.