Honour the Heroes of VE Day by staying at home and being a hero! #EssexUnites

In his latest message, Roger asks you to honour the Heroes of VE Day by protecting the heroes of today by staying at home over the Bank Holiday weekend. Also, he explains how we are uniting across Essex to remind people in coastal areas such as Southend, Tendring and Maldon to Don’t Stay, Take It Away! Roger has a weekly briefing with Kit Malthouse MP, Minister for Policing and the Fire Service. Roger also receives regular updates from leaders from Essex Police and Essex County Fire and Rescue Service. You can view the message here:   https://youtu.be/1SPa67ov4B8       A full transcript of the update is below.

"Hello, I’m Roger Hirst. Your Police, Fire and Crime Commissioner. Tomorrow is VE Day 75 where we will be remembering our heroes of the past. I know we would all want to commemorate with families and friends in the way we normally would have. However, we want people to celebrate but celebrate at home. A street party, even if you are socially distancing, is not allowed in the legislation. We are asking people to remain at home and celebrate with your own household or on social media because we still need people to stay home and save lives. Police will be out patrolling, as officers are every day. They will be out this Friday and over the weekend. Police officers will ask people to go home if they are doing things they shouldn’t be doing. We want people to honour our war heroes in a safe way by staying home with their own families. There are lots of organisations who have lots of fun VE day activities that people can enjoy at home with their families without placing themselves or others at risk and without risking getting into trouble for breaking the law. Visit English Heritage, the Royal British Legion or your local council for their VE Day Celebrate at Home packs. The links are here: https://www.essex.gov.uk/news/councils-across-essex-helping-residents-to-celebrate-the-75th-anniversary-of http://www.veday75.org/ https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/inspire-me/ve-day/ https://www.britishlegion.org.uk/get-involved/remembrance/remembrance-events/ve-day-75 Usually on a Bank Holiday you may be heading off to one of our country’s coastal tourist spots. Please don’t visit them. They will be here when all this is over. If you do live in one of our coastal towns and are using one of the local businesses to buy a take away. Don’t stay, take it away! It really is important to follow this advice. As part of the Essex Unites movement, we are working with areas such as Southend and the coastal resorts in Tendring and Maldon to push this important message. The overwhelming majority of you have been following the guidance, as well as importantly supporting local businesses who are doing their best to operate within the guidelines, but some have been staying on the beaches and eating their take aways there. Please don’t do this, we cannot have gatherings of people out in the open. You must take your food home. Thanks again for everything your families and you are doing. We will get through this together. Stay Home, Protect the NHS & Save Lives. Thank you."