Bournemouth Chamber of Trade & Commerce

Bournemouth Chamber of Trade and Commerce

BELONG. CONNECT. PROSPER

Lewis-Manning Hospice Care launches new Mobile Lymphoedema Clinic

Lewis-Manning Hospice Care has launched a brand-new Mobile Clinic to support cancer patients with Lymphoedema. The new mobile clinic is part of the hospice’s plan to bring its services closer to people’s homes. Initially the clinic will be open every Thursday from 9am to 5.30pm at Kings Park in Boscombe with plenty of free parking for patients, meaning people do not have to deal with the stress and costs of travelling miles to the hospice.

CEO Clare Gallie said, “We are delighted to launch and trial this new initiative, which is allowing us to provide our extraordinary hospice care, closer to home.  It is critically important we can provide support when people need it – especially right now whilst people are struggling with the added complications that have been imposed by the pandemic.

“This new mobile space is light, warm and has a friendly atmosphere, with the same clinical standards you’d find in our hospice. Our dedicated team of specialist nurses means you will see the same reassuring faces each time, with the benefit of us bringing our services closer to you. We are thrilled to be working with Welsh cancer charity Tenovus Cancer Care, hiring their mobile unit for this service. We are also extremely grateful for the support of Bournemouth Christchurch and Poole Council on this initiative and allowing the unit to be parked for free in the Kings Park car park.”

Anyone wishing to be referred from Bournemouth, Christchurch and the surrounding areas simply needs to be registered with a GP surgery within East Dorset and have been diagnosed with Lymphoedema which has been caused by cancer and/or its treatment. You can be referred to the Lymphoedema Clinic by any health care professional directly linked to your care. Visit lewis-manning.org.uk/lymphoedema-clinic for more information and how to access our amazing service.

www.lewis-manning.org.uk

Buster’s Beach Bus – Open Top Bus Routes 2021

Yellow Buses are extremely pleased to announce the launch of their open top services in Bournemouth and Christchurch on Good Friday 2nd April 2021.  Details can be found on the Bournemouth Echo website. Click here to read.

In 2019 Yellow Buses started operating open top buses again in the conurbation and carried 96,000 passengers between April and September. Around two thirds of these customers were concessions from BCP or Dorset. Local residents love to get out and about and take a ‘seat with a view’ on our open top buses.

Buster’s Beach Bus will run along the Bournemouth Coast from Alum Chine to Mudeford Quay via two routes. By travelling along this coastline, you can see the most fantastic views of Dorset from Old Harry Rocks to the west and the Hengistbury cliffs to the East. Travelling along the seafront through Southbourne on a bright day you can see the amazing ‘Needles’ rock formation and lighthouse on the Isle of Wight.

 

 

 

 

Full information can be found on Yellow Buses website below https://www.yellowbuses.co.uk/busters-beach-bus-returns

Restart Grant scheme – BCP Council

BCP Council are aiming to get approximately £23million in Restart Grants out to our businesses shortly after Easter. These funds will support businesses that are predominantly reliant on delivering in-person services for the general public from their business premises and will be paid directly to businesses that have already been awarded a Local Restrictions Support Grant for the period from 16 February to 31 March.

Depending on rateable value, these awards will vary from £2,667 to £6,000 for non-essential retail businesses and from £8,000 to £18,000 for businesses in the hospitality, leisure, accommodation, personal care and gyms and sport sectors where the criteria is met.

Full details of the Restart Grant scheme and eligibility criteria will be available on the Council’s website by 1 April.

An application form for new applicants will also be made available once initial grants have been made.

Find out more here

£4.5m Additional Restrictions Grant Stream 3 announced

A comprehensive package of discretionary funding will be used to support local economic recovery and help businesses across Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole bounce back from COVID-19. The funding will be split to target various different organisations both for direct grants and for wider business support measures.

£750,000 Exceptional Circumstances Fund will be launching next week. This will target those businesses who have suffered a significant reduction in income but that have not received any grant support so far. Varying levels of grants may be awarded up to £10,000. Further details for this scheme will be released next week and organisations will have to apply to be considered for the grants.

BCP Council’s wider package of support will also allocate budgets to the following:

  • R3 Economy Recovery Taskforce groups
  • Bournemouth Town Centre BID, Bournemouth Coastal BID and Poole BID
  • Local business support organisations
  • Resourcing of Economic Development and regeneration projects
  • Bounce Back Challenge Fund whereby businesses and organisations can put forward applications for either small scale (£15,000) or large scale (£70,000) projects that assist with the recovery of the economy, improve our localities and are innovative.

These schemes are very close to being finalised and details will follow in early April.

Eligibility and application criteria

Tax Day 23rd March – commentary from Saffery Champness​

The announcements made by Government yesterday on their first Tax Day lacked anything particularly significant, with many of the expected matters overlooked or pushed back further. More than 30 tax updates, consultations and documents were published, in a move to strengthen policymaking, modernise the UK tax system and further tackle tax avoidance. Much of this is part of the Government’s wider 10-year plan to build a trusted and modern UK tax system.

Ian Harlock-Smith, Tax Director, Saffery Champness, and a member of the firm’s Private Wealth and Professional Practices Groups, said:

“There was no mention of capital gains tax increases or changes to tax relief on pension contributions and nothing of immediate concern or of particular importance to individuals and professional practices. There was mention of an interim report on the Government’s fundamental review of business rates, including one change aimed at owners of self-catering accommodation, some minor changes to Inheritance Tax reporting requirements to reduce administrative burden, some technical changes to the Structures and Buildings Allowance, and further streamlining of Making Tax Digital, although nothing significant that is new on that front.”

“The Government did call for evidence to explore the opportunities and challenges of more frequent payment of income tax. This is to be based on in-year information made available through self-assessment and Making Tax Digital. This could mean that self-employed individuals move towards a PAYE type tax system.”

For more information, see Saffery Champness website. 

Recovery Loan Scheme launching soon

The Recovery Loan Scheme ensures businesses of any size can continue to access loans and other kinds of finance up to £10 million per business once the existing COVID-19 loan schemes close, providing support as businesses recover and grow following the disruption of the pandemic and the end of the transition period.

  • The finance can be used for any legitimate business purpose, including growth and investment.
  • The government guarantees 80% of the finance to the lender to ensure they continue to have the confidence to lend to businesses.
  • The scheme launches on 6 April and is open until 31 December.

For more information, click here. 

Help BCP Council support local economic recovery

BCP Council’s team of Information Officers would like to talk to local business owners and find out how they have responded to the challenges of COVID-19.

Their survey, which will be carried out over the phone, is aiming to discover those areas in most need of support. They are also looking for ideas that might help forge the way forward, such as a show-stopping event that would bring a welcome boost to businesses.

This is your chance to share your experiences and views; potentially making a real difference to the recovery of our high streets.

For further information and to get involved with the survey, click here to contact the Information Officers. 

Request for Food Parcels from Small Businesses

A message from Dolly Senior,  KIDSCAPE

The Department of Education has given a grant to BCP Council to run a programme for families in need that will provide school holiday activities and food over the Easter Holidays and we are proud to be chosen as one of a small number of providers on the pilot scheme.

As part of the programme, we will be providing lunches and tea for the children that attend the club to encourage a healthy and balanced diet and also providing a food box to the families at the end of each week to encourage families to cook a healthy meal together.

As the scheme grant is very tight, we have only a small budget to do the catering.

As a small business ourselves, we would like to promote other small businesses and we are hoping that you can work with us on this project by donating food items. To make life easier for you, we will be happy to come and collect these items from you.

We will also put your business cards and information in with the food box and will also include your business into our report for BCP and the DfE.

Please see below the link to the programme that will give you more information:

http://search3.openobjects.com/kb5/poole/fis/site.page?id=_0mSS_z9XP0

We sincerely hope that we can work together in this small pilot project and help reduce child hunger.

Thank you in advance for any help you can give.

Yours sincerely,
Dolly Senior

BCP Council Public Space Protection Order (PSPO) Consultation

What is being proposed?
BCP Council is consulting on the proposal to consolidate previous Designated Public Place Orders/PSPOs from the preceding authorities, to form one BCP PSPO relating to the consumption of alcohol in public places.

The proposal is not an alcohol ban and it does not make it an offence to drink alcohol in the area proposed to be covered by the Order. However, it would be an offence to fail to comply with a request from an authorised officer to cease drinking or surrender alcohol in the area covered by the Order, if the individual is or is likely to cause anti-social behaviour. If alcohol is confiscated, it can be disposed of by the person who confiscates it.

A range of information has been collated and analysed, this has identified which areas will be consulted on to be included in the Order.

When is the consultation period?
The consultation will run from 16 March 2021 and close at midnight on 13 April 2021.

What happens next?
Your views are important to us and we want to hear from all those who live, work or visit the BCP area and who could be affected by this proposal. You can complete the survey and find more information: https://haveyoursay.bcpcouncil.gov.uk/pspo

If you have any questions or require a large print copy of the documents, or in an alternative language, please email asbteam@bcpcouncil.gov.uk giving your name, address and telephone number.