STROUD District Council leader Steve Lydon keeps you up to date with council matters

Macmillan coffee morning - Wednesday, September 27

Along with many other organisations across the country, the council held a Macmillan cake sale and competition as part of the charity’s annual World’s Biggest Coffee Morning.

Council staff baked a variety of delicious-looking cakes, raising over £450 for the charity.

Nympsfield sheep racing – Saturday, September 30

One of the events advertised on council’s website was sheep racing in Nympsfield – again for charity.

The council is committed to helping local groups promote their events, so if you have something that you’d like publicised you can add it for free to the council’s website stroud.gov.uk/addevent as well as the tourist information website - visitthecotswolds.org.uk/addevent

Universal Credit – Wednesday, October 4

From today, if you’re of working age and receive benefits, and you make a new benefit claim, or your circumstances change, then you may be moved onto the new Universal Credit system.

This means that all your individual benefit payments will be paid as one monthly lump sum. This includes housing benefit, which under the old system was paid directly to the landlord. The worry is that many people will struggle to manage one monthly payment, and if they don’t pay their rent will be putting themselves at risk of homelessness.

There’s plenty of help available if you need help budgeting or understanding the new system. The benefits team at Ebley Mill and the Citizens Advice teams in Stroud, Dursley, Wotton-under-Edge, Nailsworth, Berkeley and Stonehouse are all trained to help with Universal Credit, plus there’s information on the website gov.uk/universalcredit or by phoning the Universal Credit helpline on 0345 600 0723.

GFirst LEP Annual Review - Wednesday, October 4

GFirstLEP is spending over £100 million across Gloucestershire, and its annual review will showcase how and where the money will be spent.

Projects that have benefitted so far from the funding include SGS Berkeley Green - the new college based at the Berkeley power station site, with future funding planned for improving the A419 corridor between Stonehouse and the M5, and repairing the Berkeley bridges so that travel times on the A38 are reduced.