Coventry

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Coventry acquires £1.3m to support most in need

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As reported on the Coventry Council website today

Coventry has acquired £1.3m to support the ones most in need. Part of the government’s covid winter grant scheme.

The money will go to support people in a wide variety of ways, including free school meals for eligible children over the Christmas holidays.

The grants will help families and individuals with essentials such as food, energy and water bills. The money has been given to the Council to spend in the best ways for the city.

A working group has been set up and details on how families and individuals can apply are on the Council website on our Coronavirus web pages.

The winter grant scheme is available to support families and individuals with access to food, energy, water bills and other essential items. The aim is to give vulnerable households peace of mind in the run up to Christmas and over the Winter months during the pandemic by helping those who need it to have food on the table and other essentials, so every child will be warm and well-fed this Winter.

The scheme will run through until 31 March 2021. If you require support please contact the Council on 08085 834333 where you will receive support with making an application.

The money could also help people with things such as repairs for boilers and ovens, although it could not be used for expenses such as rent.

There is a particular emphasis on children, with free school meals at Christmas and the February half-term and grants to support schools with additional warm clothing for pupils because of the need for greater ventilation in classrooms during the pandemic.

Cllr David Welsh, Cabinet Member for Housing and Communities said: “COVID has affected all our lives, and a lot of families are struggling financially. This grant money will go to help those who need that extra bit of support this winter.

“It will give them the security of knowing there are warm meals and clothing for their children and it will help keep people healthy and safe in what we know will, be a difficult winter for so many in our city.

“We are now in the process of identifying the best way to make sure that families and single people who need our help know what’s available.

“We already have excellent partnerships in place with advice agencies, and community organisations are already working with benefits and customer service advisers, so we are well placed to ensure this funding is used effectively.

“We will be announcing details very soon and I would urge anyone who needs some extra help to apply as soon as possible.”

Cllr Kevin Maton, Cabinet Member for Education and Skills, said: “Our schools have done a fantastic job throughout the pandemic, continuing to provide lessons and bringing in new measures to keep all the children safe.

“This money will help to support that work through essentials such as warm clothing. Something as simple as a fleece or a woolly hat could help children beat off winter illnesses and prevent the spread of germs and so help us battle coronavirus.

“We are delighted that schools will also be able to support children through free school meals in the holidays. This is always an expensive and difficult time of year for a lot of families and this will help to take a little bit of the stress away.”

The money has been distributed to local authorities based on population size and levels of deprivation in the local area.

The Council is making the claims process as straightforward as possible and is working with a range of partners to deliver the grants, including Schools and the Coventry Food Network.

Coventry based Nexus GS Limited acquired by Air IT

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Air IT Limited has today announced the acquisition of Oxford based IT managed service provider (MSP) Riverbank IT Management Limited, and Coventry based Nexus GS Limited for undisclosed considerations.

With these latest deals taking place simultaneously, Air IT has further extended its geographical footprint adding Coventry and Oxford to its expanding UK operations. The announcement follows the news of London based Netstar and Birmingham based Microtrading, which kicked off Air IT’s acquisition plans and mission to become the UK’s largest SME cloud focussed MSP in the UK back in October of this year.

Recently backed by August Equity Partners LLP, Air IT are a leading UK supplier of managed IT and communication services, which specialises in delivering IT support, cloud, telephony, cyber security, and business intelligence solutions to SMEs throughout the UK.

The addition of these highly respected businesses increases overall headcount to 175 and adds further geographical locations from which to serve Air IT’s growing base of over 1000 clients. Furthermore, the combined technical expertise and local reputation of both Riverbank and Nexus GS will allow Air IT to address the Thames Valley market whilst bolstering its position within the West Midlands.

Air IT, Riverbank and Nexus GS have continued to be individually successful in maintaining organic growth over the last three years, with each consistently delivering 20% year on year growth. Riverbank and Nexus GS share the same dedication to service excellence that Air IT has been recognised for in the last few years and use the same tool sets that allow them to deliver secure, agile, reliable, and innovative mission critical capability to their customers.

John Whitty, CEO of Air IT said:

“Following the recent acquisitions of Netstar and Microtrading, we are very excited to be able to welcome the Riverbank and Nexus GS teams to the Air IT family.

“Both businesses bring significant value to the table and will be integral in helping us realise our plans to grow and cement our position as the outsourced IT services partner of choice to the SME community in the UK.

“Both are highly accredited and mature MSPs and will be a great fit for the Air IT group with very similar values, culture and passion for helping clients become more successful, efficient and secure through the adoption of performance enhancing technology.”

Marc Juffkins, Managing Director and Founder of Riverbank IT Management Limited commented:

“Riverbank has always been committed to providing the very highest standards of service and support to our clients, and we look forward to helping our customers realise the joint benefits that being part of the Air IT group will bring, including access to a broader range of business enhancing services such as managed cyber security and Business Intelligence (BI) as a service.”

Justin Huckfield, the Founder and Managing Director of Nexus GS Limited said: 

“We’re all delighted to join the Air IT group. They have an excellent reputation and track record. Its investment in support systems and breadth of expertise will enable Nexus GS to better serve and meet the ever-changing needs of our clients. It’s clear that Air IT shares a similar ethos as Nexus GS with people and client-centric values at the core of its operations.” 

Mehul (Mickey) Patel, partner at August Equity, commented

“We are excited to see the Air IT team continue on their growth journey, adding four new businesses to the group within months of each other. We will continue to use the knowledge and network we have built over time to assist the management continue to develop the UK’s largest SME cloud service provider.”

Coventry University Hospital first in the world to start Covid-19 vaccine

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Coventry University hospital started the vaccine roll-out at 6:30am on 8th December 2020. A first for Coventry, UK and the world. The Coventry University Hospital website posted the following on their website this morning :

The biggest vaccine campaign in NHS history kicked off this morning, as 90-year-old grandmother Margaret Keenan became the first person in the world to receive the Pfizer Covid-19 jab following its clinical approval.

At 6.31AM early riser Margaret, known to friends and family as Maggie, was given the life-saving jab by nurse May Parsons at University Hospital, Coventry.

Maggie, who turns 91 next week, is a former jewellery shop assistant who only retired four years ago. She has a daughter, a son and four grandchildren and is looking forward to being able to go out again once she receives the top up dose. 

Margaret said: “I feel so privileged to be the first person vaccinated against Covid-19, it’s the best early birthday present I could wish for because it means I can finally look forward to spending time with my family and friends in the New Year after being on my own for most of the year.” 

“I can’t thank May and the NHS staff enough who have looked after me tremendously, and my advice to anyone offered the vaccine is to take it – if I can have it at 90 then you can have it too!”

NHS England chief executive Sir Simon Stevens praised all those involved in delivering the new vaccine programme.

“Less than a year after the first case of this new disease was diagnosed, the NHS has now delivered the first clinically approved Covid-19 vaccination – that is a remarkable achievement,” Stevens said.

“A heartfelt thank you goes to everyone who has made this a reality – the scientists and doctors who worked tirelessly, and the volunteers who selflessly took part in the trials. They have achieved in months what normally takes years.

“My colleagues across the health service are rightly proud of this historic moment as we lead in deploying the PfizerBioNTech vaccine.

“I also want to thank Margaret, our first patient to receive the vaccine on the NHS.

“Today is just the first step in the largest vaccination programme this country has ever seen. It will take some months to complete the work as more vaccine supplies become available and until then we must not drop our guard. But if we all stay vigilant in the weeks and months ahead, we will be able to look back at this as a decisive turning point in the battle against the virus.”

Like many around the country, Maggie has been self-isolating for most of this year and is planning on having a very small family ‘bubble’ Christmas to keep safe.

Originally from Enniskillen, Northern Ireland, she has lived in Coventry for over sixty years. She will receive a booster jab in 21 days to ensure she has the best chance of being protected against the virus.

NHS nurse May Parsons said it was a “huge honour” to be the first in the country to deliver the vaccine to a patient.

Speaking at University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust, nurse May Parsons, said: “It’s a huge honour to be the first person in the country to deliver a Covid-19 jab to a patient, I’m just glad that I’m able to play a part in this historic day.

“The last few months have been tough for all of us working in the NHS, but now it feels like there is light at the end of the tunnel.”

May, originally from the Philippines has worked in the NHS for the last 24 years and been at University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire since 2003.

The phased vaccination programme will see patients aged 80 and above who are already attending hospital as an outpatient, and those who are being discharged home after a hospital stay, among the first to receive the life-saving jab.

Care home providers are also being asked by the Department of Health and Social Care to begin booking staff in to vaccination clinics. GPs are also expected to be able to begin vaccinating care home residents.

Any appointments not used for these groups will be used for healthcare workers who are at highest risk of serious illness from Covid-19.

Health chiefs have set out how they will deliver the mammoth task ahead, using hospital hubs, vaccination centres and other community locations as well as GP practices and pharmacies.

The life-saving vaccine is typically delivered by a simple injection in the shoulder but there is a complex logistical challenge to deliver from the manufacturers to patients. It needs to be stored at -70C before being thawed out and can only be moved four times within that cold chain ahead of use.

Taken from : https://www.uhcw.nhs.uk/news/landmark-moment-as-first-nhs-patient-receives-covid-19-vaccination-at-uhcw/