This page is a collection of resources for people dealing with the COVID-19 outbreak, living in the Helston and surrounding area. We are filling it with information we come across from various sources, but if you have any suggestions for what people might find useful, please let us know via the contact page, or message us on Facebook!
Official Information
For official information on the Coronavirus pandemic, you should start at Public Health England.
The World Health Organisation and NHS also provide regular, useful information.
Here are some other useful contacts and sources of helpful information, mostly local:
Cornwall Council: Covid-19 related questions or queries [webpage] | covid19@cornwall.gov.uk |
| Cornwall Council Online. Links to every department, including housing, family services, schools etc. | LINK |
| Council Tax enquiries | 0300 1234 171 |
| Helston Town Council – Community Emergency Team | 01326 565761 CET@Helston-tc.gov.uk |
| Helston Town Council – General Enquiries | 01326 572063 enquiries@helston-tc.gov.uk |
| Porthleven Town Council | 01326 573154 porthleventc@tiscali.co.uk |
Health:
| Helston Medical Centre | 01326 572637 |
| Meneage Street Surgery | 01326 558714 |
| Porthleven GP Surgery | 01326 562204 |
| Boots chemist – Helston | 01326 572030 |
| Hall’s Pharmacy | 01326 561400 |
| Tesco Pharmacy | 0117 291 8753 |
| Boots chemist – Porthleven | 01326 562252 |
| Cornwall NHS Trust | 01208 251300 |
| NHS Kernow | 01726 627800 |
| Cornwall Partnership NHS Trust Patient Advice Liaison Service | 01208 834 620 |
| Royal Cornwall Hospitals Trust Patient Advice Liaison Service | 01782 252 793 |
Support:
| Addaction | 0333 2000325 (24hrs) |
| Adult Social Care | 0300 1234 131 (working hours) 01208 251300 (out of hours) |
| Age UK | 01872 266383 |
| Carers UK | 0300 123 1053 |
| The Cinnamon Trust | 01736 757 900 |
| Cornwall Community Directory (Family Information Services) | 0800 587 8191 |
| Cornwall Link | 01827 266383 |
| DisAbility Cornwall | 01736 759500 |
| National Domestic Violence Helpline | 0808 2000 247 |
| Inclusion Cornwall | 01872 326440 |
| Red Cross | 01209 614 921 |
| Royal British Legion | 0808 802 8080 |
| Royal Voluntary Service | 01209 218179 |
| Samaritans | 116 123 |
| Volunteer Cornwall | 0800 678 3105 |
| Volunteer Cornwall: Request for Covid-19 Help | requestforhelp@volunteercornwall.org.uk |
| Victim Support | 0808 1689 111 (24/7) 0300 3030 554 |
| The Women’s Centre | 01208 77099 01208 79992 |
Mental Wellbeing:
| Valued Lives | 01209 901438 |
| Outlook South West | 01208 871 905 |
Employment:
| Jobcentre Plus | 0845 604 3719 |
| Jobcentre Plus: Redundancy | 01872 355068 |
| HMRC Tax helpline to support businesses affected by coronavirus (COVID-19) | 0800 0159 559 |
| HMRC Tax helpline for self-employed who are struggling due to COVID-19 | 0800 0195 559 |
| HMRC Employers general enquiries | 0300 200 3200 |
| HMRC Employees’ general enquiries | 0300 200 3500 |
| Reed in Partnership | 01726 218956 |
| PlusS | 01872 630979 |
End of life:
| Cruse Bereavement Support | 01726 76100 |
| Penhaligons Friends | 01209 210624 |
| Bereavement Service Helpline | 0345 6060 0265 |
| Government step-by-step guide | LINK |
| Help with funeral payments | LINK |
| Helston Registry Office | 0300 1234 181 |
Housing:
| Cornwall Housing | 0300 1234 161 |
| Private Sector Housing Team | 0300 1234 151 |
| Rough Sleeper Scheme | 0800 151 3441 |
| St Petrocs | 01872 264 153 |
| Cornwall Council Home Solutions | 01872 22470 |
Financial Advice & Support:
| Citizen’s Advice Bureau | 01827 265305 |
| Benefit Contact Centre | 0300 1234 121 |
| Healthy Start Vouchers | 0845 607 6823 |
| Kernow Credit Union | 01209 314449 |
| Help With Health Care Costs | 0300 330 1343 |
| Independent Age | 0800 319 6789 |
| The Pension Service | 0800 731 7898 |
| Child Poverty Action Group | LINK |
| Turn2us | 0808 802 2000 |
| Carers Allowance Unit | 0345 608 4321 |
| The Money Advice Service | 0800 138 7777 |
| Kernow Accountancy | 0300 456 3565 |
Volunteering and Support
Facebook Groups
There are several Facebook groups set up for local communities to support each other — these are a great place to start for people looking for local information:
Covid-19 Mutual Aid Helston & Surrounding Areas
Covid-19 Mutual Aid Lizard Peninsula
Covid-19 Mutual Aid Porthleven
Covid-19 Mutual Aid Breage & Praa Sands
Covid-19 Mutual Aid Perranuthnoe
Covid-19 Mutual Aid Penzance
Godolphin Cross has a page of useful local information here.
For more information on the Mutual Aid project, please see their website.
Volunteering
Helston Town Council is gathering volunteers to carry out activities for those self isolating or having difficulties such as picking up shopping, posting mail, collecting urgent supplies, giving a regular friendly phone call and or check. To volunteer, contact Helston Town Council by calling 01326 572063, or email townclerk@helston-tc.gov.uk using “Volunteer” in subject title or call in person into the town council offices in the Guildhall.
Volunteer Cornwall ‘Flu Friends’
Volunteer Cornwall is asking people to get involved as “Flu Friends” to support others who have no-one else to turn to… Imagine having to self-isolate when you have no friends or family you can turn to for help and support. No-one to ensure you have basic supplies like milk and bread, no-one to ensure you get your medication, no-one to talk to for 2 weeks! If you think you could help please get in touch by calling 01872 266988 or email mid@volunteercornwall.org.uk. Volunteer Cornwall has advice for protecting yourself while supporting others.
Mustard Seed Food Bank, Wendron Street
The Mustard Seed café is closed for the time being, due to a massive increase in people making use of the food bank. The food bank service is still being offered, Monday, Wednesday and Friday, 10.00 a.m. until 2.00 p.m.. You will need to ring the doorbell and will be asked some questions and then directed as to what to do. Mustard Seed do not have resources to regularly check Facebook Messenger, so please call 01326 564194 or email mustardseed@post.com.
Together We Can
Together We Can is a Cornwall-wide group set up nursing students based at Truro campus, offering shopping, prescription collection and errands to our vulnerable, isolated and elderly neighbours and communities.
Businesses offering support
With more people self-isolating, some local businesses are making special arrangements to support customers and the wider community. We have included as many as we can below, but you can always contact us if you know of others. Coronavirus is going to have a massive impact on the business community and bigger firms will have more reserves — please support your local businesses!
Mobile Post Office
West Cornwall Mobile Post Office is visiting several rural villages. Their current schedule (May 2020) is shown below. For more information visit their Facebook page.
Food Deliveries (including pet food)
Fruit and Veg Boxes (usually other staples too):
Wallow and Root, Ashton. 07855 384404 . Delivering veg, meat, eggs and milk in the Helston, Penzance, Falmouth areas. At the moment the best way of ordering is email or through Facebook.
West Country Fruit Sales, Gweek. 01326 331900. Have set up a new home delivery service, for fruit, veg, and other staples (bread, milk etc.)
Cornish Food Box Company 01872 211533. Free food delivery.
Cornish Harvest. 07972 042389 or email info@cornishharvest.co.uk. Sithney based farm offering weekly boxes of local veg.
Other Food deliveries:
Besides the links below, please do check out the great collection at this article on Barefoot Cornwall, listing several local suppliers who will deliver.
Helston Food Hub. Online complement to the Farmers Market for Helston, offering weekly (safe) collection of supplies from several local suppliers. Orders usually taken Mon/Tue, for collection at the Old Cattle Market on Saturday.
Scorse Foods. 01326 562611 or email orders@scorsefoods.co.uk. Helston butcher with small range of vegetables (Product List)
Fresh Cornish Fish. 01736 360779 or email info@freshcornishfish.co.uk. Newlyn fish supplier with box delivery scheme and one-off deliveries. (Full Range)
Mounts Bay Dairy, Penwith area. 07816459967 or email info@mountsbaydairy.co.uk. Local deliveries of milk, bread, meat, cheese, eggs etc. List of products here.
Fourlanes Store – 01209 215052. Local deliveries of shopping prioritising over 70’s. Payment by cash or cheque.
St Keverne Village Store – 01326 280207. Free delivery in & around the village locally.
Chypraze Farm Produce. 01736 788312, email hello@chyprazefarm.co.uk, but best to contact by messaging through their Facebook page. Locally raised meat; free deliveries depending on order size.
Trevarthen Butchers – 01209 860081. Free delivery of food on Wednesdays & Fridays – 4 mile radius of Penhalvean shop.
Costcutters, Stithians – 01209 861713. Free home deliveries for food, Calor gas & log deliveries.
Spar Shop, Stithians – 01209 861675. Volunteers & Local Scouts Group are offering to help with deliveries.
The Cornish Harvest – 07972 042389. Deliveries – Helston, Porthleven, Lizard area.
Petz of Mullion – 01326 240645. Free delivery of pet supplies within Mullion
Ready Meals:
Eat Fresh, Eat Homemade – 07868 025686 or message via Facebook. Low cost, fresh and homemade meals for delivery in and around Helston. Menu published Friday, orders by Monday, delivery Wednesday. All meals are microwave and oven friendly. The price for 7 meals is £25 or individually priced at £4.
Parsley Box – 0800 612 7225. Cupboard stored tasty meals, ordered online and delivered fast to your door.
Oakhouse Foods – 0333 370 251. Frozen meals, delivered.
Wiltshire Farm Foods – 01326 378444. Frozen meals, delivered.
Supreme Cuisine – 01579 347346
Pubs, Cafe’s and Restaurants
The following pubs, cafe’s and restaurants are offering home delivery:
Salt & Vinegar, Helston. 01326565874. Fish and chips with delivery.
Jumunjy Thai Cuisine, Cury. 01326 241321, Now offering drive-though service (call ahead). Menu here.
Whealdream. 01326 653333, Now offering takeaway and delivery of pizzas, roasts, and sides. Menu here.
Dig In. We are open as usual at Helston Rugby Club. You can call to order and collect, just turn up or even order & pay online for delivery. We do chips, burgers, sausages etc. Currently we are open 9am 2pm Mon, Tue, Thu & Fri and were looking into increasing these hours if the support is there. Please check out our Facebook page, we will deliver to people self isolating.
Coffee Bean, Coinagehall Street, Helston. 01326 572970. Open Monday-Saturday. Offering delivery service to elderly, but have no extra staff so deliveries are likely to be done after closing time.
The Cornish Barista. 07932 994821. Truro-based cafe offering delivery of cakes, fudge, and pasties.
Garden Kitchen Cafe, Breage. 01736 763184. Have put together a takeaway and delivery menu. All items on this menu will be available for delivery free of charge; also included are items that can be placed in the freezer and basics such as milk, eggs and butter. The delivery service will run between 11am and 5pm as of Friday 20th March, cash on delivery or card payment over the phone. Will be delivering to: Breage, Porthleven, Sithney, Carleen, Ashton, Newtown, but please call if your locailty is not in this list!
Lifeboat House Restaurant, Coverack – 01326 281400. Take-away menu due to be increased & the possibility of meal delivery in the future.
Three Tuns, St Keverne – 01326 281101. Free delivery for food takeaway orders.
Queens Arms, Breage. 01326 564229. Will be offering takeaway service from Friday 20th March, with free delivery within Breage (minimum spend). Please see their takeaway menu here.
Elderly & Vulnerable Priority Shopping Hours
Iceland. (Redruth: 01209 210982, Penzance: 01736 361130) First hour of opening every day.
Sainsbury’s (Helston: 01326 388330) First hour (7.00 until 8.00 a.m.) on Thursdays.
Tesco (Helston: 0345 0269653) Monday, Wednesday and Friday, 9.00 until 10.00 a.m.
Waitrose. (Truro: 01872 225861) First hour of opening every day.
ASDA. (Falmouth: 01326 378873) From opening until 9.00 a.m. on Friday.
Other Businesses Offering Support
CABS4U Helston. 01326 617373. Providing free transport from 6:45 until 9:00 a.m. on Thursday to any elderly person in Helston that needs to get their shopping from Sainsbury’s.
Courtney’s Crystal Cleaning Services. 07306 031235. Offering free service to the elderly, disabled and households with more than 2 children to clean/disinfect homes. Mondays and Tuesdays 9.00 a.m. until 3.00 p.m., evenings after 7.00 p.m.