NEWSHOUND

COVID-19 TEST CENTRE AT EDGBASTON STADIUM CAR PARK

Warwickshire County Cricket Club has donated its Edgbaston Stadium to the Department of Health to create a drive-through COVID-19 testing station, to regularly test NHS staff who are working in Birmingham and the wider West Midlands region. The NHS staff testing centre is within Edgbaston’s main on-site car park. NHS staff will drive in through the Edgbaston Road entrance, be tested while remaining in their vehicle and exit the grounds onto Pershore Road. Neil Snowball, Chief Executive of the Club, said: “With our county cricket programme and conference and events business closed until 29 May, our staff have been exploring various options which enable the club to keep supporting our local community during these difficult times, whether that be through making calls to our elderly members and ex-players, volunteering and by offering Edgbaston Stadium for use in the wider civil contingency effort. “Whilst it is a small part to play in the grand scheme of things, we are pleased that our stadium can be utilised to support the fantastic efforts being made by all of our NHS staff in response to the coronavirus crisis. We are also very grateful for the support that we have received in delivering this project from Patrizia and Homes England, our development partners” The NHS staff COVID-19 testing station will remain at Edgbaston Stadium until further notice to support the measures that have been implemented by the Government to counter the virus. Warwickshire CCC has also outlined plans to show thanks to the NHS by providing free entry to its staff at a Birmingham Bears fixture later this summer. Details of this will be revealed as further information about the 2020 season and schedule are released.

MOSELEY FESTIVAL 2020 CANCELLED The organisers of Moseley’s annual Summer festival have confirmed the 2020 event won’t take place this year saying : “With heavy hearts we’ve taken the decision to cancel this year’s community Moseley Festival, which had been due to take place in early July. “While some restrictions may or may not be in place by then, we couldn’t be sure. We are completely run by volunteers and do not receive any public funding. It was coming up to the time when we would have needed to book the stalls and entertainment for the street fair and other events and pay overheads. “As we can’t currently guarantee that it would be safe to hold the event in early July, we decided that it would be best to cancel this year’s festival. Moseley Festival has been going for many years and we have no plans to end that tradition. We will be back in 2021 and hope we can hold at least one special one-day event before then.”

MOSELEY TRAVEL HELPS WITH REPATRIATIONS Although the shop door is closed, Moseley Travel is very much still very much open for business. The office is staffed most weekdays and is assisting with repatriation, rearranging existing bookings and offering general travel advice and new bookings. Its phone number is 0121 442 4499 and emails to enquiries@moseleytravel.com are still being answered. Read more about Moseley Travel on pages 16 and 17.

CAFÉ OWNER SAYS MOSELEY BUSINESSES WILL CLOSE IF LOCKDOWN LASTS TOO LONG Moseley businesses may be forced to close permanently if the lockdown goes on for too long, the owner of one of the area’s main coffee shops has said. Bob Khan, who owns Cafephilia on Alcester Road, which closed its doors to customers after the announcement of the lockdown, was talking to the Birmingham Live website. He said: “We are a very close-knit, family-owned coffee shop. We have had to close the doors - that’s really bad. It’s going to have a massive effect financially. We had bought a lot of stock in and all that stock has been given away to the elderly. “We just want to get back to normality. It’s going to put us at risk if it carries on. I will have to use my personal resources. We can last two months before it starts to get really serious. We have to write off April, and if May is out of the question too we will be in serious trouble in June. I know a lot of businesses will close. We can sustain the hit for two months but other businesses are just making ends meet on a weekly basis.”

LOCAL BUS SERVICES HIT BY PANDEMIC Bus services have been reduced due to a decline in passenger numbers. The 50 is running a service every 20 minutes. The no. 1 to Moseley Village / Bristol Road / Five Ways goes through Moseley on the hour, with return buses reaching Moseley Village at 26 and 56 minutes past each hour. The 1A to the QE bus station leaves Moseley Wake Green at half past the hour - a couple of minutes later in the Village, but there are so few passengers that it pays to be a few minutes early. It returns from the QE bus station at 10 minutes past the hour, reaching Moseley Village at 26 minutes past.

MOSELEY IN BLOOM CANCELS JUNE OPEN GARDENS In light of the COVID-19 situation, Moseley in Bloom (MiB) has had to take the decision that Moseley in Bloom Open Gardens event will not take place in June this year. The group believes it is extremely unlikely that the virus will be under control by the end of June and that mass movement of people will be safe again. Even if it were, the current timetable of planning for the event would involve visiting gardens, talking to owners and calling for volunteers during April, and that simply cannot happen. Kate Stocks, MiB Open Gardens Co-ordinator, said: “In times of uncertainty people need clarity and we hope that making the decision now will reduce people’s anxiety. We are currently investigating other possibilities for some kind of garden event – watch this space to find out more, once we have had chance to develop these ideas. Best wishes, stay safe, and enjoy your gardening: Moseley gardens should look amazing this year.”

MOSELEY PULLS TOGETHER TO HELP LOCAL CARE HOMES Moseley Together (MT), a new group providing community support for Moseley during the COVID-19 pandemic, is saying a huge “thank you” to everyone who has helped with its plea for Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) to help Moseley care homes. Moseley Together has received donations of 62 boxes of gloves , including 50 brand new boxes (that’s 5,000 gloves) from Patrick of Moseley Autocentre; around 100 disposable face masks; around 60 disposable aprons; 7 x 500 ml bottles of hand sanitiser (six from one person), six small pocket-packs of sanitiser, and one unused paint spray mask. Supplies have been delivered to four care homes which needed them most. One care home passed on this message: “Please thank all of your volunteers. You are a lifeline. I have put your note on the staff notice board as encouragement in everything that you are doing.” Another said, “Thank you so much for your kind support. We really appreciate your efforts supplying us gloves this morning.” MT has now been in contact with all 13 known care homes in Moseley and further supplies will be delivered as soon as possible to those who need them. Not all of the homes look after the very elderly and a couple of them with younger residents have asked for washable face masks for the residents to use when going out for walks. So, if you are handy with a needle and have a pattern, about 20 are still needed. Also still required are: disposable one-piece zip-up paper overalls, gowns or aprons with sleeves, eye goggles (the spectacle kind that wrap round the face, rather than the masks with elastic straps). If you would like to volunteer to support others, or need support yourself, Moseley Together can be contacted on 07796 668257, email info@moseleytogether.org.uk

Ian Cook Moseley B13 Magazine

MOSELEY SOCIETY MEMORIAL PAGE

In these extraordinary times the Moseley Society committee has taken the decision to open a Memorial page on their website: https://moseley-society.org.uk/ (There is a link from the front page to the relevant section).

Fiona Adams made the following announcement: “As COVID-19 spreads across our community we have opened this page for everyone who wishes to record and remember the lives of people in Moseley who have died. We wish to include everyone, particularly at a time when normal funerals and memorial services cannot take place. Some will have died in hospital and have been tested for virus, others will have died with symptoms but without testing. We want to include everyone who has died during this difficult period, whether before their time or from natural causes. We wish them all to be remembered.” Anyone can send in details of the person they want to be remembered via the contact page on the website or direct to Fiona Adams.