This month’s winners….

   1st    No 23    Kay Lambert

   2nd    No 83    Mary Tulloch

   3rd     No 10    Val Martin Pope.

A message from David Hill

Susie and I would be very happy to play some piano and organ works for the village next Friday. We would suggest everyone has a glass in hand, relax and we will try to provide some relief from yet another encounter with Netflix! It is, of course, free – but if anyone would like to contribute anything, we would suggest the Foodbankas a totally worthy cause in these difficult days – to contribute visit www.rutland.foodbank.org.uk and press the red donate button.

Please join the zoom link below at 8pm on Friday

https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89445411603?pwd=SFpsczNub1dCbTcwSGxPaWQ3WXdYZz09

Meeting ID: 894 4541 1603 Passcode: 198698

We look forward to ‘seeing’ you then.

David”

Dear All

As we enter the third National lockdown the Wing Covid 19 Group wanted to get in touch again and let you know that we are still here, ready and willing to assist you if required.

We still have well-being volunteers providing welfare support, both in terms of supporting in practical and physical ways, and in providing support  – someone on the end  of the phone to talk to if you need it.

We are encouraging and supporting the excellent ‘good neighbour’ schemes and existing networks that you already have in place, but please be assured that if you need help and do not have any other support in place we are here to help.

As more information comes to us through Rutland County Council and other channels, we will let you know and signpost where this information can be found.

This lockdown has reintroduced shielding for those people who Clinically Extremely vulnerable. Those of you that are shielding probably have your own support in place already. If you don’t, or are shielding for the first time and need some help with shopping etc, please let us know and we will try to help. Those considered to be Extremely Clinically Vulnerable are being written to again by the Government.

Now that we are getting used to the implications of lockdown, we do not intend to reintroduce the prescription collection service within the village, as many pharmacies now offer a free delivery service. However, should you need help with this aspect please get in touch with your well-being volunteer who can help to get this set up for you.

We thank you all for the support you gave to the Christmas Cheer event, which despite the atrocious weather, was still attended by around 100 people of all ages and raised a fantastic £178 towards the Church funds. The village looked amazing with all the lights and Christmas windows – it was obvious that considerable effort had been put in to make beautiful displays.

The Foodbank has also been extremely well supported in the build up to Christmas but is needed now more than ever – please keep on putting your donations in the box in the Church porch. Your support is very much appreciated thank you.

In accordance with the National Guidance, RCC playgrounds (including the Wing Recreational Area) remain open – as does Rutland Water. You may also have noticed that Wing Parish Council has provided a new goal on the recreation ground. 

Support for closed businesses – There will be one off grants for those businesses in the Retail, Hospitality and Leisure sectors (up to £9k for each business depending on property size) and there will be an ongoing fortnightly payment for those businesses required to close.   RCC are awaiting all the details.

Guidance on the priority for vaccination programme can be found here:-

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/priority-groups-for-coronavirus-covid-19-vaccination-advice-from-the-jcvi-30-december-2020/joint-committee-on-vaccination-and-immunisation-advice-on-priority-groups-for-covid-19-vaccination-30-december-2020

Just to remind you, your well-being volunteer contacts should you need help or support, are set out below.

Street you live on	Name of volunteer	Phone number
Reeves Lane, Westhorpe Close and 12 & 14 Top Street	Linda and David Clark Paul Comben	07718381345 01572 737373
Top Street	Susannah Fish Chrissie Roberts	07908815112 07970900029
The Jetty and Middle Street	Jane Alexander-Orr Alice Hill	01572 737368 01572 737516
Church Street and Bottom Street	Joanne Beaver Kevin Osborne	01572 737286 07557453806
Morcott Road, Glaston Road and Mill Close	Helen Bateman Helen Eldridge Angela Harding	01572 737499 07851922391 01572 737784
Station Road, Wing Hollow and Preston Road	Jeffy Wood	01572 737465

Several residents were honoured by the High Sheriff of Rutland, High Sheriff of Rutland, Richard Cole, and the Lord Lieutenant, Dr Sarah Furness, by receiving a letter of thanks for all the work they have done since Covid-19 arrived in the country.

However I think that everyone in the village of Wing deserves praise for the way we have shown we are a community in these troubled times not just a collection of streets in a rural village.

Everyone has contributed in whatever way they could.

Of course, congratulations to those volunteers who have been recognised for their response by the Lord-Lieutenant and the High Sheriff but there must be a special mention to our own Farm Shop at Wing Hall for their service and support in providing local facilities for the community.

Dear All,

We all know that the Covid crisis has been very challenging to so many and we still have a long way to go before it is defeated but new vaccines give us cause for optimism as we look towards 2021

.
In the face of this pandemic so many people across Rutland have stepped up to the challenge in so many ways to support the vulnerable across our communities.

As you will know, the Lord-Lieutenant, Dr Sarah Furness, and I have written to over 250 people nominated by their towns and villages to thank them for their efforts but we realise that there are many more out there who have done great work across our county and we are very keen that this does not go without our thanks.

We have created a short video service to celebrate the work of all the volunteers across Rutland and you can view by clicking on the link below – please share it as widely as possible so that as many people as possible in the county can see it.

My thanks to everyone who helped put it together.

May I also take this opportunity to wish everyone happy and safe holidays with loved ones this Christmas time.

With my best wishes

Richard Cole

High Sheriff of Rutland 2020-21

Tel No 01572 821190

Mob No 07512 218987

If you would like to attend one of the church carol services, please remember that due to the COVID test and trace protocols, it would be appreciated if you would book in to ensure that there is a space for you.

There will be two identical services, one at 4pm, the other at 6pm on Sunday 20th December. If you would like to come please ring Alice (737516) or David (737465) and you will be added to the list.

We hope that we can accommodate everyone who wishes to come but places are filling up quickly so do make contact soon.

There will also be a communion service at 11pm on 24th December.

Again if you would a seat please ring either Alice or David.

Whilst writing we would like to thank everyone for providing so much food and many treats for the Foodbank over the last few weeks. David has made regular trips to the Foodbank and they are very appreciative. The boxes will remain in the church porch and any donations will be gratefully received. If in doubt as to what to include please visit the Foodbank website www.rutland.foodbank.org.uk

Wishing you a happy Christmas and best wishes for 2021.

David Wood and Alice Hill – Churchwardens

mRNA Vaccines

Published by Steven Novella under Science and Medicine

This week should see the first people in the US to actually receive an approved (at least EUA) vaccine to prevent SARS-CoV-2. There are three vaccines currently ready to go in the West, the Pfizer vaccine which received it’s EUA in the US on Friday and was already approved in the UK, Moderna which should get approval this week, and the Astra Zeneca vaccine which should not be too far behind. The (arguably) biggest challenge has been met – a massive scientific effort to develop vaccines in record time. This has been a collaboration between government and industry, and shows what we can accomplish with sufficient motivation (which translates into both money and easing red tape).

Now we have three further challenges in front of us. The companies need to mass produce their vaccines. This is happening with about 100 million doses ready to ship. We should have another 2 billion Pfizer doses by the end of 2021, and 1.5 billion Moderna doses. We also need to distribute the doses. This is happening through collaboration among FedEx, UPS, and the military who will get the doses to hospitals and physicians, who can then administer and track the doses. So far, so good.

The final hurdle, however, may prove the stickiest – we need people to accept the vaccine. In a December 9th survey by the AP-NORC, only 47% of Americans said they would get the vaccine, with 26% saying they would not, and 27% saying they are not sure. These and similar results have caused some to comment that the disinformation virus may prove deadlier than the COVID virus. We have a vaccine that can protect people from a deadly pandemic – this is a no-brainer. Resistance is partly due to a dedicated anti-vaccine movement that appears immune only to logic and evidence. We can only marginalize them. But these numbers go beyond the hard-core anti-vaxxers. People also fear what they don’t know, and these are the first mRNA vaccines to hit the market. So let’s review what these are, and the safety data.

Vaccines basically work by exposing the body to antigens (something to which the immune system can react) that are found on an infecting organism so that the body can mount an immune response, including memory for those antigens. This will allow the body to respond more quickly and robustly when exposed to the living organism, fighting it off before a full-blow infection can occur. Antigens can be a weakened and/or altered form of a virus, an inactivated virus, or isolated proteins from the surface of a virus or bacteria. These exposures are often given with adjuvants that help stimulate the immune system to maximize the response. They may also be given in multiple timed doses to maximize immune response. The immune memory will then last for a variable amount of time, depending on the organism and the vaccine (typically years).

The mRNA vaccines are just a novel way of getting antigens into the body to provoke an immune response. Instead of injecting proteins, you inject mRNA – RNA is similar to DNA, one form of the genetic information that codes for each organism. You have DNA in most cells in your body (some cell types, like red blood cells) lose their nucleus and so have no DNA). DNA is like repository of the code, while RNA does the work. The “m” in mRNA stands for messenger. These RNA strands are made from the DNA, they travel outside of the nucleus onto the cytoplasm where their code is converted into a string of amino acids, which is then folded into a protein.

If you inject mRNA which codes for a specific protein into the body, and this mRNA is then taken up into cells, the machinery of those cells will make protein from the introduced mRNA. The mRNA vaccines, therefore, introduce the code for a viral protein that will provoke an immune response. So instead of injecting the protein, you inject the mRNA which then gets translated into the desired protein. The vaccines use mRNA for the spike protein on the SARS-CoV-2 surface, and they also include a shell that protects the mRNA from being degraded and helps it get into the cells. Why would we do it this way? One reason is that we are really good at making RNA, and it can actually be easier, faster, and cheaper than making proteins.

Here are a couple of important points: The mRNA will mostly be absorbed by muscle cells near the point of injection. The half-life of mRNA in humans is about 10 hours, so it will be gone in a matter of days. The mRNA never gets into the nucleus of the cells, and so it has absolutely no effect on the DNA. It is therefore entirely wrong that the vaccines can alter our DNA, as some anti-vaxxers are saying.

Also, while these vaccines are new, mRNA technology has been researched for years. The company Moderna was founded in 2010 purely for mRNA technology, and so has been developing that technology for the last decade – even though their COVID vaccine is their first commercial product. The mRNA technology can also be used for more than vaccines – any protein-based therapy can be achieved through mRNA.

Regarding the safety of the vaccines, the two mRNA vaccines together have followed about 70,000 subjects for at least two months. This time frame was chosen by the FDA because most vaccine side effects are apparent by 6 weeks from the time of injection. By their calculations, this is a good safety buffer. No serious side effects have emerged.

This does not prove zero risk. There is never zero risk. But we have to make a risk vs benefit analysis. While side effects may emerge once millions of people get the vaccine (and yes, this will be tracked), the data we have sets statistical limits on how frequent those adverse events can be. We can compare this to the risk of contracting COVID. In the US about 1 in 20 people have caught the virus, and the death rate is on the order of magnitude of 1 in 1,000. That is many times mores than the greatest side effect rate of the vaccines. Even if you are in a low risk group, you are statistically more likely to benefit from getting the vaccine than to be harmed by it. (Keep in mind, death is not the only outcome – spending time in the hospital is very inconvenient, and many people survive but have long term health consequences.)

But people are risk-averse, and are more afraid of the risk of an action than a non-action. But we don’t have to rely on our evolved instincts – we can crunch the numbers. It is more risky to not get the vaccine than to get it. And the mRNA technology is well understood and safe – and it does not affect your DNA. Further, the vaccines are our shortest route out of this pandemic and all the downstream negative effects of that, including on education, our economy, and our future. Seriously – get the COVID vaccine as soon as you are able.

Street you live on	Name of volunteer	Phone number
Reeves Lane, Westhorpe Close and  12 & 14 Top Street	Linda and David Clark Paul Comben	07718381345 01572 737373
Top Street	Susannah Fish Chrissie Roberts	07908815112 07970900029
The Jetty and Middle Street	Jane Alexander-Orr Alice Hill	01572 737368 01572 737516
Church Street and Bottom Street	Joanne Beaver Kevin Osborne	01572 737286 07557453806
Morcott Road, Glaston Road and Mill Close	Helen Bateman Helen Eldridge Angela Harding	01572 737499 07851922391 01572 737784
Station Road, Wing Hollow and Preston Road	Jeffy Wood	01572 737465

Anne passed away peacefully on 6 December at Oakham Grange. She had lived in Wing for more than 40 years.

Anne brought a  love of music to Wing,  forming firstly  The Wing Ladies Choir, followed by concerts to raise funds to purchase the village hall. She was a hard taskmaster, any vocal wobble resulted in a stern look !

She then played the music for the series of very successful pantomimes. Latterly, she played the organ for church services.

She loved supporting concerts at Oakham and Uppingham schools, and travelled further afield to hear celebrated musicians. Music really was her first love.

She was very active in Wing, serving on the Parish Council and Village Hall Committee.She was also a member of Wing WI.

She will be missed.  People have spoken about her elegance;   always  immaculate.. 

Anne’s funeral is on Thursday 17 December at 2pm at the Wing church of St. Peter’s and St. Paul’s. A piper will lead her from the church to the grave yard.

Anne will leave Cedar House 1:35 -1:40. She will go at walking pace up Reeves Lane to pass her old house. Then onto Top Street and to the Church, from the Oakham direction.

The service is at 2pm BY INVITATION ONLY.

Dormans have to have names and contact details of all those attending, but of course, her many friends are welcome to say a final goodbye as she passes by in the funeral procession.

A Celebration of her Life will be arranged next year when the restrictions are lifted.

Unfortunately  due to Covid 19 restrictions, people cannot attend the service unless they receive an invitation. But it would be wonderful if anyone would like to be on the road  to pay their respects.

Thanks to Oakham Grange for the wonderful care that she received during these last few difficult months.

In accordance with clause 8 of the Trust Scheme dated 14^th October, 1997 Wing Parish Council, as sole trustee of Wing Community Centre hereby gives notice that the Annual General meeting of WING COMMUNITY CENTRE, a UK registered charity, will take place on MONDAY, 18^TH JANUARY, 2021 at 7.30 pm.

The purpose of the Meeting is for the trustee to present the Report and Accounts of WING COMMUNITY CENTRE for the year ended 31^st March, 2020 and to take any questions from the community.

The trustee requests that members of the community submit questions in advance of the meeting so that the trustee can prepare appropriately. If a member of the community is unable to attend the meeting, then please do still ask your question and the trustee will make a written response which will be submitted to the meeting and provided after the meeting to the member.

The meeting is open to all members of the Wing Community who wish to attend and will be held by ZOOM conference call. The agenda and instructions on how to join the call will be provided to members who register in advance with the Parish Council. If you would like to attend the AGM then please email wingrutlandpc@gmail.com or telephone Helen Cullen on 737544, in advance of the meeting or, at the latest by 12pm on Monday, 18^th January, 2021.

This is your Village Hall and the Parish Council would like any interested residents to attend the meeting if they would like to. We are somewhat restricted this year because of COVID but we felt that this should not stop us having a meeting, albeit electronically. On this occasion there is only the presentation of the accounts, relevant officers’ reports and any questions which residents may have on the agenda, but even so, it is an opportunity for residents to gain a better understanding of how we manage our major village asset. Do please join us, if you can.

Wing Parish Council