ONLINE advice on how to set up and maintain a support or childcare bubble is now available from the council. 

Hampshire County Council has published the advice online which includes who can create support and childcare bubbles, and how to do this, including advice for parents with shared custody of children.

Hampshire County Council’s executive member for public health, Councillor Judith Grajewski said: “A bubble is a close support network between two households of a certain number, which can allow each household to safely expand the number of people they have close contact with, at the same time as adhering to the crucial national restrictions aimed at reducing the spread of coronavirus and keeping loved ones as safe as possible.

“A bubble can offer a real lifeline in terms of practical, emotional and wellbeing support, as well as some help towards providing a degree of normalcy to everyday life. It can also provide friends for children to play with while keeping close contact with others to a minimum – and in line with Government guidance.”

A childcare bubble can be formed by anyone with children aged 13 or younger. This means you can access informal childcare from family or friends from one other household. However, the childcare bubble is exclusively for the use of childcare and only when the child’s parent or carer is not present.

Single adults who live alone, or a single parent living with children under the age of 18, can form a support bubble with one other household of any size, as long as they are not part of a support bubble with anyone else.

Once in that support bubble, you can have close contact with that household as if they were members of your own household.

You can form one childcare bubble and one support bubble with different households, but must not meet with both at the same time.

For more detailed information visit https://www.hants.gov.uk/socialcareandhealth/coronavirus-support-bubbles.