I WANT to respond to I Hancock's letter which appeared in Tuesday's Echo, quite reasonably asking about Dorchester's public response compared to that of other towns and villages.

Firstly he is right, much of our early effort has been put into communicating the closure of the wide range of assets that we provide; play areas, sports courts and the Municipal Buildings among them. This is nonetheless an important step, as it gives residents fewer reason to be outside; the sooner we all get used to staying indoors, observing Government guidance, the better.

The first thing we noticed about the response to the pandemic was how our community groups were reacting; groups like Age UK, Volunteer Centre for Dorset, Food Groups and Citizens Advice all stepping up to the challenge. Members of our team have been making contact with these and other, newer, groups to find out what practical and financial support we can provide. I appreciate that in other places the local council may have taken more of a direct role; our judgement here is that Dorchester, because of its size, has a wealth of really well established groups who will tell us when we can help and the most effective way for us to act is to support them, rather than reinvent the wheel.

We are also working with other towns and the Dorset Council sharing knowledge and experiences of how to get through this and keep our communities together. Our Facebook page is starting to fill up with much of the detail that residents might need in order to get through this period. If there is something that you think is a gap and you think we can help with then please get in touch; in Dorchester the odds are that someone has already started to meet the need.

Lastly, the one thing that I know that Dorchester has, in profusion, are good neighbours. The simplest kindnesses, picking up food or medicine, walking the dog, simply having a chat over the phone, can be delivered without Councils or volunteer groups getting involved. If there was ever a need to phone a relative or check on the elderly resident three doors down, but staying at least 2 metres apart, now is the time to do it. The more you do that, the less the volunteer groups and agencies will need to be involved.

Councillor Richard Biggs

Mayor of Dorchester