Christmas InfoNOW News 2024

Christmas events and activities

Looking for festive fun? Find what’s happening near you in our Event and Activities calendar.

Support services opening times

Looking for help or support over the Christmas or New Year bank holidays? Some services will be closed or have different opening times. See our Christmas opening times page for more information about what’s available.

Wellbeing Hubs

Wellbeing Hubs are warm welcoming place to spend time in Newcastle. Local venues, such as libraries and community centres, offer a range of support such as hot drinks, free wifi, place to charge your devices, information, advice and more. Use our Wellbeing Hub finder tool to find your nearest Wellbeing Hub

Helping you find the right information, at the right time

New leaflet available

Following feedback from people who use InformationNOW, working in partnership with services in Newcastle; we have created a new leaflet to share with people who might need support from local services.

All of the services included in this leaflet have a telephone number so they can be contacted by people who are not online. This leaflet has been shared with everyone who receives support from Adult Social Care in Newcastle. It is also being distributed by our partner organisations.

You can download and share the leaflet with the people you work with too

Mental health support

Read more on InformationNOW about local support mental health support including:

• Counselling services
• online support services
• Telephone helplines
• support groups
• What to do in mental health crisis or emergency

You may also find these resources useful during the holidays:

• Christmas and mental health – Mind
• Top tips for looking after your mental health at Christmas | Mental Health Foundation

Looking after someone this Christmas

You can read more about useful information and support if you are an unpaid carer and looking after someone on informationNOW

Although many Carers support services may be closed during the Christmas and New Year holidays there are telephone and online support available

Mobilise is a free online service for unpaid carers in Newcastle. They have a range of virtual groups, forums and online tools to help you.

The Carents Room is a free online service for people supporting and caring for older parents. It has a range of information and resources to help you keep your parents safe and well.

Carers UK have a national helpline that is open during bank holidays and run virtual carers cuppa sessions.

You may also find these resources useful during the holidays:

• How to support a person with dementia at Christmas | Alzheimer’s Society
• Online support for carers this Christmas – Mobilise

Christmas cost of living

The festive period can cause extra financial, food and family pressures. If you feel you are being affected, you can read more about Cost of living support on InformationNOW, including:

• Help with energy problems and how to pay for them
• Dealing with debt
• Food banks and free emergency food in Newcastle

As well as Christmas being an expensive time of year it also creates a lot of waste so you may want to think about Money saving and sustainable ideas for Christmas

Adult Social Care

Adult Social Care helps people to stay independent, safe and well, so you can live the life you want. They work with people who have care needs. This includes people with health conditions, disabilities, neurodiversity or mental health issues. They help carers too. Adult Social Care is also known as care and support for adults.

Getting help at the right time means you can plan ahead and make choices that are right for you. You can start this conversation with Adult Social CarePoint at Newcastle City Council.

You don’t have to speak to the council to arrange your own care and support. But you can get free information and advice from the council to help you.

InformationNOW round up 2024

Watch our short 2024 InformationNOW highlights video for a full over view of what information people have found useful this year. Our most popular pages, most used languages and much more! Most visited pages in 2024 include:

• Hobbies
• Looking after someone
• Accessible and public toilets
• Free meals and cheap food
• Support for Asylum Seekers and Refugees
• Food banks and free emergency food
• When someone dies: a practical guide
• ESOL : English lessons for people who speak English as a second or other language

Would you like to work with us more in 2025? Read more about working with and supporting InformationNOW

Thanks for reading InfoNOW News

InfoNOW News will be back in January 2025. We hope you found it useful. Please feel free to share this information and subscribe to InfoNOW News

Want to be featured in the next InfoNOW News? Send us your news and add your events to the calendar. 

Best Wishes

Lauren and Richard

Richard White and Lauren Hoy: Prevention, Information and Advice Leads at Newcastle City Council

Last updated: December 18, 2024