14 January 2022 InfoNOW news

14 January 2022 InfoNOW news

News

Food and Friends

InformationNOW

We know that lots of you want to get out and about in a safe way, meeting friends and making new ones.  At the same time, finances are being squeezed.  We have updated our Food and Friends article to let you know the vast range of community cafes, lunch clubs and coffee mornings that take place.  Why not take a look and try something new?

We also know that many of the lunch and tea clubs have changed their dates/times and some have closed owing to Covid 19. If you have a lunch, tea or coffee club that you’d like to promote to a wider audience, please get in touch with us at [email protected] We see this as a work in progress.

Newcastle Sings, May to July 2022

Music Partnership North Newcastle has teamed up with the music department at Newcastle University to create Newcastle Sings.

Newcastle Sings will run between May to July 2022, and they would love for your choir or vocal group to get involved.  From performances in schools and churches to concerts given by professional and community choirs, they want to help celebrate every single note sung in the summer of 2022.

Interested in getting involved? Put your details into the form on their new website.

The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee, June 2022

The Queen’s Platinum Jubilee in June 2022 sets a new historic royal record and to celebrate her 70-year reign, we have all been given an extra Bank Holiday. The usual May Bank Holiday has been moved to Thursday 2nd June and an additional Bank Holiday on Friday 3rd means we can all look forward to a four-day weekend. Expect a blockbuster weekend of celebrations including the traditional pageantry with some mind-blowing cutting edge technological displays.

Please note that the Community Foundation are offering grants to support the celebrations.

  • Grant Range: £750 to £10,000
  • Closing Date: midnight Monday 28 February 2022

InformationNOW has articles on: things to do in Newcastle, museums and attractions

Opportunities for Action

Have your say on medication labelling

The National Innovation Centre for Ageing  is seeking volunteers to share their views and experiences of taking medication to help shape the future design and delivery of labelling and product information.Volunteers will be asked to complete an online survey to help understand:

  • the ways in which they currently manage their prescription medication in their everyday lives
  • what they think and how they feel about the current label and product information that comes with their prescription medication
  • what resources and tools they use to better understand their prescription medication and how to take it properly

Volunteers will then be asked if they would be interested in taking part in interviews and/or group workshops with other volunteers to provide deeper insights and opinions based on what people them through the survey.  Deadline to sign up is 21 January 2022

InformationNOW has articles on: Chemist/pharmacy; help with shopping and prescriptions

The Great Winter Get Together

The Great Winter Get Together kicks off on the 17th January through to 30 January 2022, Blue Monday, dubbed the saddest day of the year, is when many people start feeling isolated and disconnected and the event /network is part of the legacy of the Jo Cox Foundation. Loneliness is not related to age and there are many young people who feel lonely and most of us experience this feeling at some time in our lives.   The idea of this event is to raise awareness and remove taboos:

  • share your experience of loneliness
  • reach out to someone you know who might be lonely
  • bring people together to connect (within Covid guidelines)

You can read their Loneliness toolkit for personal reasons or to get an event organised.

Why not Tweet your support #GreatWinterGetTogether or #NoShameInSharing

InformationNOW has articles on: Feeling lonely and food and friends

Collective Giving – the Community Foundation

The Community Foundation is a funding hub and it aims to ensure that communities thrive across North East England, changing lives and helping everyone feel they belong.  The purpose of Collective Giving is that people can  pool their gifts to a cause that they feel strongly about without starting a fund of their own.  So, as an example, , if you want to make a bigger impact in a particular place, you can give to the Vital Fund for Northumberland, Newcastle, North Tyneside, Gateshead, South Tyneside or Sunderland. By giving in this way you give the Community Foundation greater flexibility to respond to needs across our area. Or you can support collective giving funds which make a difference to a particular cause or community.

Please also note that the Community Foundation are offering grants to support the Platinum Jubilee celebrations.

  • Grant Range: £750 to £10,000
  • Closing Date: midnight Monday 28 February 2022

Life’s transitions – choosing a care home

Care homes are for people unable to live independently at home where qualified staff support you with personal tasks. The care homes provide you with a bedroom, bathroom, communal areas and meals. There is a cost to live in a care home. They offer different levels of care to suit your needs: general personal care, nursing care, dementia or specialist care.

Here are some useful questions to ask to help you find the right care home for you:

  • what the care fee includes. Are there any extra costs?
  • the location of the home. Is it easy for visitors to get to and for you to get out and about from?
  • can a visit be arranged to meet staff and see the home?
  • what standards are in place for care/the care plan?
  • does the home arrange activities or outings? For example, to the shops, to a place of worship, or entertainment? Do they have a mobile library?

Care homes and home care are regulated by the Care Quality Commission. You can read their report on any service on their website.  Each care  home profile on InformationNOW shows the most recent CQC rating.

Sometimes, you may need a care home for a short time, perhaps as respite because your partner is in hospital and can’t care for you, or on discharge from hospital. InformationNOW has a number of useful articles to help you think about choosing a care home:

Spotlight on

Managing your money

Christmas is over and the bills are in. You may have spent more than you meant to.  Why not spend some time looking at your finances and planning for the year. Have you taken out expensive credit or bought something that you couldn’t really afford?  Just spent too much on gifts and food?

The first rule to managing your money is to focus on your key expenditure each month. This will be your Council Tax, mortgage or rent, utility bills including broadband, home and perhaps car insurance and grocery shopping.  However, do factor in expenses like birthdays and school uniform throughout the year too.

Difficulties often arise with unexpected bills and payments or a change in income, so it is worth thinking about contingency planning and how you would pay for a washing machine that has to be replaced, or an unexpected repair.  It’s worth thinking about saving with Moneywise Credit Union that has the Family Loan which you can access if you have child benefit and affordable credit.  Before you buy:

  • spend time shopping around,
  • work out your budget
  • never borrow money on the spur of the moment.
  • be careful about borrowing more money to pay off existing debts.
  • avoid going overdrawn on your bank account without agreement.
  • don’t borrow from Loan Sharks – speak to a Credit Union instead.

Check out this Citizens Advice guide for more
Contact your local Citizens Advice

InformationNOW has an article on: Dealing with debt

Here is the link to  Couch to Financial Fitness – Money Helper.  You can take their step by step guide to thinking about your money or take part in a live chat or ring 0800 138 7777.

Listen to Karleen from MAPS and Annie from Moneywise talking about how to manage your money well and plan ahead.  Click to listen.

Inclusive neighbourhoods – Promoting social inclusion in housing with care and support

Thursday, 27 January 2022, Time: 2.00pm to 3.30pm

As our population ages, the demand for housing care and support schemes is growing and expected to continue to rise. However, not much is known about how these living environments support older residents from social minority backgrounds, or how they work to ensure that all residents are equally valued and included. The Diversity in Care Environments (DICE) study, which has been funded by the Economic and Social Research Council and hosted by the School for Policy Studies at the University of Bristol in collaboration with ILC and Housing LIN, has sought to fill this research gap by exploring diversity and inclusion in HCS schemes across England and Wales.

At this webinar, they will be launching a policy report summarising the key findings of this study and outlining recommendations for policymakers as well as housing providers, designers and commissioners to promote social inclusion in HCS schemes.  Register for free.

Chaired by Prof Thomas Scharf, Professor of Social Gerontology at Newcastle University.

InformationNOW has a section on: care and support for adults, housing for older people

Levelling up health report

Public health experts urge government to put health at the heart of the levelling up agenda in this new report Levelling Up Health: A practical evidence-based framework. The report provides practical guidance on how to reduce health inequalities at local and regional level. The guidance is aimed at central and local government as well as other organisations with a stake in improving health. It sets out five principles and eight policy recommendations that are designed to be used together long-term across national, regional and local systems. This includes changing the narrative that health is a silo health service issue and not related to social and structural systems in our society.

Ask me community ambassador training

As part of an overall Women’s Aid initiative, Wearside Women in Need (WWiN) are working in partnership with Harbour to deliver free Ask Me Community Ambassador training online for people who live, study, work or volunteer in North Tyneside, Northumberland or Newcastle. Sign up.  Any questions email: [email protected]

InformationNOW has article on domestic abuse

Volunteering

Support women in the North East

Aspire, learning support and wellbeing are offering training for would-be volunteers.  Aspire is an award-winning non-profit organisation offering learning, support & wellbeing opportunities and services to women in the North East of England

Good Gym January Challenge

Good Gym is asking us to volunteer and do as many good deeds as we can in January. You can walk, cycle, run – no experience or equipment necessary.  Sign up and look at the list of activities that you can get involved with.  From litter picks, to painting to help the Sustrans and a special event at Ouseburn, there’s plenty to get on with.

InformationNOW has articles on: volunteering

Updates to InformationNOW

Events & Activities

Young at Heart Lunch Club

Fridays at YMCA Walker Park Cafe
Time: 10:30 am – 12:00 pm
Yoga with Healthworks
Women only gym with Healthworks

Heaton History Club

Inspire Festival, 30 January 2022

As part of their INSPIRE Festival Dance City continues to celebrate dance and ageing with their annual platform. Showcasing dance with people who are 55+ community groups across the region, INSPIRE presents a diverse programme of dance and film from community groups and guest professional artists.

Listen to Lissie Connor from Dance City and others talking about the range of activities you can take part in including dance – anything from voguing to specific pieces created by an artist.

InformationNOW has articles on fitness and hobbies

Articles Updated

Organisations updated

 

 

Last updated: March 17, 2022