A COUNTY councillor has encouraged residents to do their bit where they can to relieve the pressure on council funding.

Cllr Paul Rone, Herefordshire Council cabinet member for Health and Wellbeing, visited a care company in Hereford called Kemble at Home to learn more about the care sector.

Last summer the councillor took on the cabinet portfolio for the care sector.

Cllr Rone, who is passionate about volunteering in the community by joining in events like litter picking and community cooking, was very pleased to hear about the charitable efforts Kemble at Home staff have made in the past year to improve the lives of many people in Herefordshire.

He said: “By volunteering at activities like litter picking, we relieve the pressure on some of the funding that the council receives, which means there is more money in the pot available for the much-needed services like health care.

“There are many companies like Kemble at Home who are keen to help in the community, and I believe that such efforts should be applauded.

“If we all do our bit, we will live in a much more pleasant society.”

From 2020 the government will no longer provide grants to the council, which leaves a shortfall in the budget.

Kemble at Home staff organised many charitable events in 2017, like the 24-hour walk for Leominster Meeting Centre, and a 35-hour hymn-a-thon to raise funds for St Mary’s Church in Burghill, raising more than £5,000.

It is an independent family-run company, based in Holme Lacy Road, Hereford, which was formed in 1993 and currently provides visiting care, live-in care, re-enablement, respite and support services to adults within their own homes.