In these difficult times, you'll be pleased to hear that the community is pulling together to help each other out and it is so overwhelming how many of you have offered to help. Thank you! Here is some information that may help you in the days/weeks/months ahead. (Much of this information is cut & pasted from the Langham Locals Facebook Group - but of course not everyone has (or wants!) Facebook so we are reproducing it here). This page will be updated regularly - if you have a neighbour that doesn't have internet access, please try to keep them up to date (at a safe distance of two metres of course!)

Shop Re-Opening
From Monday 1st June, the shop will be re-opening its doors to customers (2 at a time max in the shop) from 9am-2pm Mon-Fri, and from 9am-11am Sat & Sun.

Shop Deliveries
The shop will also be continuing with deliveries - please call by 11am to place your order.

Colchester Borough Council have published new guidance showing a gradual return to normal service by w/c 22nd June. Please check out their information card below:

Prescription Collections
From Monday 27th April prescriptions and medication will only be available to collect between the following times:
Monday to Friday 10am to 12pm and 3pm to 5pm
Please come to the front window and your prescription will be passed out to you
When queuing please make sure you stand 2m away from the person in front of you
If you need to pay for your medication please bring the correct money £9.15 per item

Repeat prescriptions
Repeat prescriptions can be ordered in the following ways:
Telephone: please use the dedicated prescription line between 10am – 1pm
Online: if you do not have online access please telephone the surgery for details
Email: Ardleighsurgery@nhs.net
By hand: please use the letter box at either Ardleigh or Dedham sites (we would prefer you use the other options if possible)

You should continue to telephone the surgery for any medical concerns you may have. Your call will be added to a telephone list and one of the clinicians will call you back. If the clinician feels you need to be seen face to face special arrangements are in place for you to attend our Ardleigh site. You will be advised of the process at the time of booking

We will continue to see low risk patients at our Dedham site; this will be by appointment only. Please wait in your car to be called in for your appointment

For general queries and information please telephone the surgery

Always telephone first - Please Do NOT come to either site unless you have an appointment or have been asked to do so one of our team

We have put these measures in place so we can protect our patients and staff with safe social distancing
Thank you for your co-operation at this difficult time

Stay at home and stay safe

We are pleased to advise that (subject to the continued good health of the Postmaster) the Post Office WILL be coming to Langham Community Shop EVERY Thursday throughout the current Coronavirus lockdown period.  The Post Office opening hours wil be from 9am until 12.30pm.

The Shop will not be open as volunteers will still be working to receive deliveries and make up telephoned orders for our customers, but Post Office customers will be able to enter the Shop one at a time just to use the Post Office.

Please respect your distance to help keep us all safe.

We are very grateful to Postmaster Chris who will be coming along to provide the service.

Please pass this message on to all friends and neighbours who do not have access to internet or social media.

Colchester Borough Council have published the following revised schedule which will apply until further notice:

We are pleased to advise that the Post Office WILL be coming to Langham Community Shop on Thursday 2 April from 9am until 12.30pm.

The Shop will not be open as volunteers will still be working to receive deliveries and make up telephoned orders for our customers, but Post Office customers will be able to enter the Shop one at a time just to use the Post Office.

Please respect your distance to help keep us all safe.

We are very grateful to Postmaster Chris who will be coming along to provide the service.

Please pass this message on to all friends and neighbours who do not have access to internet or social media.

From Tuesday the 31st we won't be making any changes to our boxes. We haven't got enough staff to cope with this. You can still add on bread, milk, eggs and butter but the set boxes can't be altered. We would like to thank everyone that's been helping us out, all the volunteers!


If you have left a message over the weekend please call again Monday. Our order line is open from 8am - 3pm. Every day Monday to Friday.


Please look on our facebook page for the set boxes. Phone orders only.

Thank you to all the lovely people that paid tribute to the NHS staff last night, it really was a humbling and emotional moment.

Here at Ardleigh surgery we are continuing to offer the best service possible to our patients under challenging circumstances.

There are a few important points I would like to share with you:
1. Prescription requests are taking up to 5 days to process, just like the supermarkets we are seeing an unprecedented demand. The team are working extremely hard and many of us are working long hours and weekends to try and catch up, but the requests keep coming. Please let me assure you there is no need to panic about your medication, there are enough supplies to provide normal prescriptions as and when needed. You do not need to order more than one month at a time and you do not need to order more than 7 - 10 days ahead.
2. Many people are requesting inhalers that they have not been prescribed for several years. If you haven't needed an inhaler in the past year you will need to discuss your request with one of the asthma nurses. Prescribing unnecessary medication will put pressure on supplies and may result in national shortages (just like the supermarkets). If you become unwell and are breathless you should contact 111. Or in severe cases 999
3. You may have seen on social media people advising to contact your GP for a ‘rescue pack’. Rescue packs are only prescribed for people with severe COPD. If you feel your asthma or mild/moderate COPD has suddenly got worse please telephone the surgery or contact 111
4. We are trying our best to avoid bringing people into the surgery unnecessarily, if you have an appointment booked we will probably be contacting you to change your appointment to a telephone consultation.
5. We will continue to provide nursing care at our Dedham branch in the mornings, please do not go to Dedham unless you have a pre booked appointment.
6. All patients who come to Ardleigh surgery will be met at the door and if possible we will help you without you having to come into the building. If you do need to come in to be seen we will take your temperature before you enter
Dedham and Ardleigh helpline is a voluntary group organised by Dedham and Ardleigh Parish council and the local church.
If you are self isolating and need help collecting you medication, or getting shopping they can be contacted on 01206 322025
Please be kind to our staff, we are trying very hard to help and although we understand your concerns and frustrations we are doing our best and must comply with the latest guidelines and advice. Like most of you we have families at home too and share your concerns and worries but we are all committed to keeping things running here as smoothly and efficiently as possible.

At the surgery we have been overwhelmed by the kindness and generosity shown by so many local people and business. Bacon rolls, hot chocolate, bath bombs, hand creams, cakes, protective clothing and masks are just a few of the things that have been donated. We truly are grateful for all your support at such a difficult time, to receive a gift or a kind word is a huge boost to staff morale

Thank you from all the team at Ardleigh Surgery.
Stay home and stay safe

Colchester Borough Council has decided to suspend recycling collections (paper, plastic, cans, glass, garden waste) until further notice. Black rubbish bags and food waste bags will be collected as normal. You can read the full CBC announcement here.

With the evolving situation, our Shop has now decided to focus all its efforts on operating a home delivery service for those that need it:

The Farm Shop is now operating a "max 5 in the shop, 2m apart" policy which is working well. They are offering 4 different mixed vegetable boxes for delivery or collection:

The Children's Play Area and the Tennis Courts have been locked up until further notice. Parents should please advise their children not to use the adult exercise equipment.

Until further notice, the Mobile Post Office will now be coming to the Community Shop on Thursdays only, between 9am and 12:30pm.

Following the Prime Minister's TV broadcast to the nation this evening, you can read the full government guidance here