Thanks to doctors and all NHS staff
By the time you read this, the process of offering a first dose of vaccine to everyone locally in the top ‘priority’groups should be entering its last few days and I welcome the decision that was taken to bring forward the original timetable for appointments across Prestwick, Troon and North Ayr.
The vaccination process across Ayrshire is a hugely complicated one that will ultimately see vaccine doses offered twice to more than a third of a million people and, as we near the end of its first stages, I want to put on record my own thanks to all the NHS staff, GPs, council workers and other volunteers who are involved in rolling it out locally. If anyone is concerned that, for any reason, they may have been missed for an appointment, please do get in touch with me and I will do what I can to help.
In my previous Post column, I said there needed to be a step-change in the level of support for many businesses. And there’s one sector in particular that I have had close contact
with over the last month for whom it is particularly true. With tourism being such a cornerstone of our economy, local B&Bs and guest houses have been hit very hard, with patchy support being offered to them since the pandemic started. Earlier this month, smaller operators were taken off the list of businesses able to access hospitality top-up payments, despite most having been forced to close for months. I am continuing to raise this, along with funding concerns from other local businesses, with the Scottish Government in the hope of convincing them to extend a greater level of support.
It was with deep sadness that I learned of the recent death of Prestwick stalwart Trish Young, whose enthusiastic and positive promotion of her town was nothing short of inspirational.
You always knew that if there was an issue affecting Prestwick, Trish would be amongst the first to raise it with you and that she wouldn’t let go until she had got a satisfactory answer. And she was always right to do so.
Trish will leave a huge gap in the community of Prestwick and an equally huge hole in the lives of everyone who was fortunate enough to know her.