IN THIS week’s column, Bracknell Forest Council leader Paul Bettison highlights some of the support that needy families and individuals can benefit from this winter. He writes:

In every community there are households who require support and as a council we aim to support as many of these residents as possible. Nobody should be worrying about where their next meal is coming from.

Through the Household Support Fund, we are able to offer assistance to those in need to ensure that essentials are covered. The wonderful work that Marcus Rashford MBE started during lockdown is being continued and we are providing children who are eligible for free school meals with assistance during the school holidays including the Christmas holidays, February half term and Easter.

In addition, we are also helping families who are eligible for council tax support with a supermarket voucher in December to help towards the costs of the upcoming festive season.

We are so lucky in Bracknell Forest to have some great partners who we work with to provide invaluable support. Through grants, we are able to enhance this support to ensure the financially vulnerable within our communities are provided with assistance they need.

As a council, we support:

• Bracknell Foodbank to buy fresh food for users and those in crisis

• The Ark to distribute to low-income carers to help with food and utility bills and essentials

• The Local Welfare Scheme which seeks to offer support at a point of crisis or emergency

• The Children’s Social Care emergency fund for welfare support for low-income households

• The rough sleeper team to help those at risk of rough sleeping

• The leaving care team to provide care leavers with the essentials over winter

Many of these rely on volunteers who have worked tirelessly throughout the pandemic and we really cannot thank these people enough for giving up their own time to help those in need.

We can all do our part in helping to keep our community safe. Simple things such as abiding by current guidance to wear a face covering in shops and on public transport, getting tested and isolate if you have Covid-19 and taking up vaccines or boosters to protect yourself. By all doing our bit, we can make the run up to the festive period safe for everyone.