• Sutton’s one stop shop provides information on everything from school closures and gritting routes to weather reports and health advice.

Sutton Council has launched an online one-stop-shop to support its residents and businesses though the winter months.

The Winter Information Centre (WIC) brings together information from a range of council services, and those of our partners, so residents can use www.sutton.gov.uk/winter as a place to find out about any disruption, look up health advice and report any problems.

Parents can find out if the borough’s schools are open or closed; there are links to travel advice for the buses, trains, tubes and roads; advice on how to stay warm and healthy, access to five day weather reports for the area; and information about Sutton’s gritting programme including the locations of gritting routes and bins.

Sutton is already leading the way for collaborative winter planning by providing 42 tonnes of grit for residents to collect over the coming weekends and use when the cold weather strikes.

The council will continue to grit main roads, streets and side roads via gritter trucks and gritting teams, and fill over 400 grit bins around the borough. The public can also use these bins and each one has reference and contact numbers in case they need replenishing.

Ruth Dombey, Leader of Sutton Council, said:

“Winter can be a very difficult time for people when the temperature drops so we wanted to make their lives easier by creating one place to find important information.

“By providing regular updates through the Winter Information Centre and social media we can help our residents to make informed decisions about what action to take to cope with cold weather disruption.

“We have also taken extra measures to support our vulnerable residents by providing grants for warm homes, making extra checks on their wellbeing and ensuring our meals on wheels vans are prepared for the cold weather.

“This, along with other measures such as providing 42 tonnes of free grit, means that Sutton is better prepared for winter than ever before.”

In addition to gritting, Sutton is taking extra care to support its elderly and vulnerable residents by offering grants and support through its Warm Homes scheme, Meals on Wheels and a new homeless support service.

The mobile hot meals service has never missed the delivery of a hot meal and Sutton Council is doing its best to keep the record intact by fitting 5 out of the 10 Meals on Wheels vans with winter tyres and having access to 4 by 4 vehicles in case of the worst.

Meals on Wheels staff and other council outreach workers will also be extra vigilant in making sure the homes of elderly and other vulnerable people are warm and that they have enough information and provisions to look after themselves.