PLEASE SCROLL DOWN FOR CORONAVIRUS NEWS - LATEST AT THE TOP (last updated Friday May 15)
BISLEY BUSINESSES
With the economy taking a huge hit from lockdown, we are keen to do our admittedly tiny bit to help Bisley businesses.
If you run a business in Bisley (or live in or very near to Bisley and run a business outside the village), and you would like us to feature details on our ‘LOCAL BUSINESSES' pages, please just email us the relevant details.
There is no charge!
Some local businesses are already on the tabs above, but we have added almost all of these ourselves; if you own one of these businesses and would like us to add to or amend your details please just say.
Please do continue to support the Bisley News with your ads too, though.
If you run a business in Bisley (or live in or very near to Bisley and run a business outside the village), and you would like us to feature details on our ‘LOCAL BUSINESSES' pages, please just email us the relevant details.
There is no charge!
Some local businesses are already on the tabs above, but we have added almost all of these ourselves; if you own one of these businesses and would like us to add to or amend your details please just say.
Please do continue to support the Bisley News with your ads too, though.
WELFARE PACKAGES
There are people in the village who are struggling financially with lack of work and so on. Lucie and Tom at the George Stores are coordinating welfare packages - meat, fruit and veg, household essentials - for those who need them.
If you would like to receive such a package, please call in or email Lucie in complete confidence; there is absolutely no need to be embarrassed to ask for help - that's what it's there for.
Likewise, if you would like to help with donations of food, cleaning products, or cash, please email Lucie. Money donated will be used to buy essentials for those who need them.
If you would like to receive such a package, please call in or email Lucie in complete confidence; there is absolutely no need to be embarrassed to ask for help - that's what it's there for.
Likewise, if you would like to help with donations of food, cleaning products, or cash, please email Lucie. Money donated will be used to buy essentials for those who need them.
MASKS AT THE SHOP
A kind villager with a sewing machine has started making free masks - they are available at the George Stores.
VE DAY...
...official commemorations are not happening this year for obvious reasons, but Aly MacLeod kindly sent this picture of the War Memorial, decorated to honour our war dead and also to show support for the many NHS staff in the village and beyond.
CORONAVIRUS SURVIVAL TIPS!
1. The supermarkets have been empty of bread flour for some weeks now (unless we're just unlucky when we go). If you're also struggling to get hold of it, it is available on Amazon - we ordered one of these 16kg sacks of strong flour last week and it arrived promptly. BREAD (AND OTHER) FLOUR IS NOW IN PLENTIFUL SUPPLY IN THE VILLAGE SHOP.
2. Caroline Stephen recommends The Fish Society for overnight frozen fish deliveries - it’s expensive, she says, but the quality is excellent.
3. The webmaster had flirted with the idea of teetotallism during the lockdown, but is a man of straw and so he has been getting bright beer deliveries (ie real ale in polypins) from both Stroud Brewery and Uley Brewery. Stroud will deliver. Man cannot live on Budding Pale Ale alone, but he can give it a damn good go. (Sadly Budding is off as of today - May 8 - because of the virus, but Tom Long is still available.)
If you have any similar hints or tips for how to get through this miserable period, please email them to us and we will put them up.
2. Caroline Stephen recommends The Fish Society for overnight frozen fish deliveries - it’s expensive, she says, but the quality is excellent.
3. The webmaster had flirted with the idea of teetotallism during the lockdown, but is a man of straw and so he has been getting bright beer deliveries (ie real ale in polypins) from both Stroud Brewery and Uley Brewery. Stroud will deliver. Man cannot live on Budding Pale Ale alone, but he can give it a damn good go. (Sadly Budding is off as of today - May 8 - because of the virus, but Tom Long is still available.)
If you have any similar hints or tips for how to get through this miserable period, please email them to us and we will put them up.
LONELINESS
Stella Mulligan, who in happier times helps to run the excellent Flicks in the Sticks evenings in the village (now confirmed cancelled in in June, July, and August, with hopes to return in September if the Hall has been reopened by then), has been in touch to make the point that the effects of the lockdown are likely to lead to many people, especially those who live alone, feeling very lonely.
Stella suggests that people do as much as possible to contact friends and family members - a quick phone or FaceTime call, or an email or text message (for those who have the mobile phone coverage) can go a long way to breaking up a humdrum day and making people feel wanted and valued. You can also still write letters, of course!
For slightly more technically-minded people, the Houseparty app (which is available for iPhones, iPads, Macs and systems running on Android) allows groups of family and friends to ‘meet up' and see and talk to each other online. (I say ‘slightly more technically-minded' because it is extremely easy to use.)
Stella suggests that people do as much as possible to contact friends and family members - a quick phone or FaceTime call, or an email or text message (for those who have the mobile phone coverage) can go a long way to breaking up a humdrum day and making people feel wanted and valued. You can also still write letters, of course!
For slightly more technically-minded people, the Houseparty app (which is available for iPhones, iPads, Macs and systems running on Android) allows groups of family and friends to ‘meet up' and see and talk to each other online. (I say ‘slightly more technically-minded' because it is extremely easy to use.)
BISLEY CORONAVIRUS COMMUNITY GROUP
Following the government's announcement of new measures to slow the spread of the COVID-19 coronavirus, a Bisley Coronavirus Community Group has been set up to help those villagers who are having to self-isolate.
The village has been split up into various zones, with villagers who are at less risk given responsibility for helping nearby villagers who are at greater risk.
If you are self-isolating and need assistance with fetching food or medicine, or anything else, please contact Lucie in the George Stores (01452 771203) or any of the parish councillors on the telephone numbers or email addresses below.
If you would like to help, please also contact the same people.
The village has been split up into various zones, with villagers who are at less risk given responsibility for helping nearby villagers who are at greater risk.
If you are self-isolating and need assistance with fetching food or medicine, or anything else, please contact Lucie in the George Stores (01452 771203) or any of the parish councillors on the telephone numbers or email addresses below.
If you would like to help, please also contact the same people.
BISLEY ALLOTMENTS - IMPORTANT UPDATES
Please visit this page on our website for important updates about the allotments.
OTHER CORONAVIRUS NEWS:
OLD NEWSPAPERS
Bit of an odd one, this. If you have old newspapers that you aren't saving for any reason please drop them in to Lucie or Tom at the shop. There is a villager with a large number of pets - gerbils, hamsters, tortoises etc - who would like to take them off your hands so as to shred them as bedding for his pets.
FARM SHOP
The farm shop is open, but during the coronavirus lockdown entry is restricted to two customers at a time. If it's chilly wear warm clothing as you may have to wait outside for a few minutes.
TAKEAWAY MEALS
Both pubs are now obviously closed. Julian Partridge at The Stirrup Cup is offering a takeaway meal service and can be contacted on 01452 770007. He is focusing on simple dishes - fish and chips, cheeseburger and chips, scampi and chips, bean chilli and rice, macaroni cheese, and couscous salad is.
Vanessa Ridler Dutton at Dove Cottage (01452 770353 or via email) is also delivering her homecooked frozen meals around the village - gluten- and dairy-free options are available, as are vegetarian and vegan recipes - and you can pay by contactless card, cheque, or bank transfer (so that, in these strange times, you don't have to worry about handling change).
There are too many dishes to mention, but they include saag aloo gohst; lambs liver and bacon hotpot; beef and Guinness stew; fish and leek pie; cauliflower and broccoli cheesy bake; vegetable Thai green curry; and aubergine, red pepper and chickpea tagine with falafel. All single main meals are £5.
GEORGE STORES
The George Stores is asking villagers over the age of 70, or who are vulnerable in other ways, not to come into the shop. Other villagers will be delighted to bring supplies. Obviously, if you have any symptoms associated with the virus you should not go to the shop.
POSTPONEMENTS AND CANCELLATIONS
THE FOLLOWING EVENTS HAVE BEEN POSTPONED OR CANCELLED BECAUSE OF CORONAVIRUS - updates on other events will follow as we learn of them, but clearly it is very likely that all meetings will be cancelled for quite some time:
BIS UP 2020
FLICKS IN THE STICKS (cancelled until September, review thereafter)
CALL MY WINE BLUFF
AN EVENING WITH RACHEL MARKWICK (Rachel is the April artist at The Stirrup Cup; as things stand, her work will still go on show, but there will be no 'evening with'.)
V.E. DAY CELEBRATIONS
Bit of an odd one, this. If you have old newspapers that you aren't saving for any reason please drop them in to Lucie or Tom at the shop. There is a villager with a large number of pets - gerbils, hamsters, tortoises etc - who would like to take them off your hands so as to shred them as bedding for his pets.
FARM SHOP
The farm shop is open, but during the coronavirus lockdown entry is restricted to two customers at a time. If it's chilly wear warm clothing as you may have to wait outside for a few minutes.
TAKEAWAY MEALS
Both pubs are now obviously closed. Julian Partridge at The Stirrup Cup is offering a takeaway meal service and can be contacted on 01452 770007. He is focusing on simple dishes - fish and chips, cheeseburger and chips, scampi and chips, bean chilli and rice, macaroni cheese, and couscous salad is.
Vanessa Ridler Dutton at Dove Cottage (01452 770353 or via email) is also delivering her homecooked frozen meals around the village - gluten- and dairy-free options are available, as are vegetarian and vegan recipes - and you can pay by contactless card, cheque, or bank transfer (so that, in these strange times, you don't have to worry about handling change).
There are too many dishes to mention, but they include saag aloo gohst; lambs liver and bacon hotpot; beef and Guinness stew; fish and leek pie; cauliflower and broccoli cheesy bake; vegetable Thai green curry; and aubergine, red pepper and chickpea tagine with falafel. All single main meals are £5.
GEORGE STORES
The George Stores is asking villagers over the age of 70, or who are vulnerable in other ways, not to come into the shop. Other villagers will be delighted to bring supplies. Obviously, if you have any symptoms associated with the virus you should not go to the shop.
POSTPONEMENTS AND CANCELLATIONS
THE FOLLOWING EVENTS HAVE BEEN POSTPONED OR CANCELLED BECAUSE OF CORONAVIRUS - updates on other events will follow as we learn of them, but clearly it is very likely that all meetings will be cancelled for quite some time:
BIS UP 2020
FLICKS IN THE STICKS (cancelled until September, review thereafter)
CALL MY WINE BLUFF
AN EVENING WITH RACHEL MARKWICK (Rachel is the April artist at The Stirrup Cup; as things stand, her work will still go on show, but there will be no 'evening with'.)
V.E. DAY CELEBRATIONS
