Accessing community hubs

The hubs include online forms and phone lines which anyone can contact to seek help if they are isolated, anxious or unwell at home and do not have family or friends they can call on.

Volunteers and staff from local councils and the health service will then ensure they try to get the right assistance to the people who need it most, including arranging food deliveries, medical supplies or mental health support.

Community hubs have opened in every part of the county: in Eastbourne, Hastings, Lewes, Rother and Wealden.

The hubs are in addition to direct help which has already been arranged for people with urgent medical conditions who are being asked to shield themselves at home for 12 weeks. These people are being contacted directly by their GPs and can have food parcels delivered directly to their doors through the Sussex Resilience Forum which brings together emergency services, health services, local authorities and other partners across East Sussex, West Sussex and Brighton and Hove.

The community hubs will focus their help on people who do not have an extreme medical condition but are vulnerable because they are isolated from help, too unwell to buy food or have other pressing difficulties. The hubs will also bring together volunteers, donations and projects to co-ordinate East Sussex’s community response to the virus.

Contact details for the community hubs are:

Eastbourne online:  https://www.lewes-eastbourne.gov.uk/community/covid-19/ phone: 01323 679722 (option 1)

Hastings online: https://www.hastings.gov.uk/my-council/covid19/help/ phone: 01424 451019

Lewes online: https://www.lewes-eastbourne.gov.uk/community/covid-19/ phone: 01273 099956 (option 1)

Rother online:  https://www.rother.gov.uk/news/coronavirus-covid-19-community-support/      phone: 01424 787000 (option 4)

Wealden online:  https://www.wealden.gov.uk/news-and-events/coronavirus-covid-19-latest/community-support/ phone: 01323 443322

Look out for other local community hubs near you.