Organisations, groups and residents are being invited to attend a series of local meetings to find out how Bath and North East Somerset Council and its partners are planning for winter.

The five area forums within Bath and North East Somerset: Bath, Bathavon, Chew Valley, Keynsham, and Somer Valley, will be hosting the discussions in late November and December.

The meetings will be looking at some of the financial pressures facing the council as it prepares its budget and will also provide an opportunity to consider some of the winter pressures facing our local communities and services.

Speakers from the council, Bath and North East Somerset Swindon and Wiltshire Clinical Commissioning Group, and the Royal United Hospital will be setting out the challenges they face in winter when demand for their services increases significantly, alongside the additional pressure from Covid.

Councillor Kevin Guy, Leader of Bath & North East Somerset Council, said: "As we head into winter, it's important that people are aware of the significant budget pressures on the council. It's not just the impact of Covid but staffing and supply chain pressures can impact at short notice on local services such as waste collections.

"These meetings will be an opportunity to outline our plans for the winter and discuss how we can all play a positive part in supporting our communities and building on our local strengths and resilience. It will also be a chance for people to let us know what they think of our plans, to voice their opinions and share feedback."

Details of the council's new communications campaign, which offers B&NES residents help planning for winter, will also be shared at the meetings.

All the meetings will be held online. For more information on how to join the meeting:

23 November: Chew Valley Area Forum, 6pm - 7pm,

24 November: Bathavon, 6pm - 7.30pm,

25 November: Somer Valley, 6pm - 7.30pm, HERE to link to that one

30 November: Keynsham, 6pm - 7.30pm,

1 December: Bath (registration required), 6pm - 7.30pm -

2 December: 3SG meeting (registration required) , 5pm - 6.30pm - The Forums are supported by Bath & North East Somerset Council and aim to: : facilitate discussion about the issues that affect Bath

: enable the community to give feedback about their local services.

In addition, the 3SG are hosting a session for the voluntary and community sector on Thursday 2nd December at 5pm. To register visit:

HERE : the Zoom site