This week I have held meetings with Age Concern Falmouth, writes Falmouth mayor Steve Eva, who informed me that they are calling over 200 elderly residents all over Cornwall to ensure they are coping with this epidemic these are very difficult times for people living alone.

I also met with the Royal Naval Association Falmouth, who have sadly lost five of their members due to illness- this was the first physical meeting held since February last year and was run with Covid Safe rules in place.

On Friday I was invited to visit Cockwells Boat Yard, where they are building fantastic motor boats, launches and yachts for customers from all over the world-the company has grown from one employee, to over 100 employees and there will soon be looking for grow by another 50%! This is a great successful local company in Mylor Bridge exporting to the world.

I have also visited the Princess Pavilion and met a couple of nice ladies who have been serving Coffees, Teas and Fresh Cakes as we begin to open up further services to the public.

For the next few weeks this service will be available for a donation and will allow us to showcase our services.

Covid numbers have begun to Plateau in Falmouth and with the NHS offering testing and vaccinations in Falmouth and Penryn hopefully we can return to the very low numbers we had enjoyed up to 2 weeks ago very soon.

Sadly we announced the postponement of the Tall Ships- hopefully only by a year, but as long as we get control of the Covid situation there will be plenty other events to enjoy.

For now please Stay Safe and remember to Social Distance and Hands, Face, Space and Ventilation.

Steve Eva

I’m going to come clean- this week has been a bit subdued from my end, writes Deputy Mayor Kirstie Edwards. "One of my daughters had to self isolate due to Covid contact and being unwell (unrelatedly) so I’ve played it safe and stayed home as much as possible!

I’ve tried to help remotely with getting tests and vaccines into the community as fast as possible- our town team has done an extraordinary job of getting tests to our businesses and Councillor Kirkham has been spearheading the call to get a pop up vaccine centre for Falmouth, in light of our rise in cases. Stithians, whilst wonderful and efficient, is not accessible for many in our community who don’t drive. I have had residents contact me who have paid excessive amount for taxis or spent a whole day on buses to try and get as near as possible to the centre. Our young people who are working long hours in hospitality, tell me they simply can’t afford the time to get to Stithians. That said I have been really impressed by how Falmouth comes together for our community to try and tackle these challenges- people offering lifts and rallying to help each other.

In other news I’ve been chasing casework and helping get residents in touch with the right people to help them and I’ve also been preparing for my next two chaired meetings.

I have really missed our walkabout and all being well, hope to be out again next week- although I’m double vaccinated as someone who had been shielding, I am remaining vigilant.

If there is anything you’d like me to help with, please do get in touch at councillor-kedwards@falmouthtowncouncil.com.

Stay safe

Kirstie Edwards – Deputy Mayor