18th May 2023 InfoNOW NEWS

News

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Community Wellbeing Day Benwell

Friday 19 May  11am to 3pm 

A Community Wellbeing Day ran by Search Newcastle. It’s time to unwind your mind!
An afternoon of wellbeing and fun in support of Mental Health Awareness week. Join to take part in a range of activities including:

• Relaxing sessions
• Self care tips
• Refreshments
• A friendly environment
• Support from Search staff

See more on InformationNOW about this event

Outer West Library service change

Temporary changes to library services in the Outer West Library and community hub have begun. The library will close while construction work on a new building takes place.

A temporary Library building will be in the car park of West Denton Leisure Centre, directly behind the current building, and will offer the full range of library services, including regular story times, free access to computers, free public wifi, printing and photocopying.

You can read more about the change to services here: Outer West Library building to relocate ahead of rebuild | Newcastle City Council

Read more on InformationNOW about Outer West Library and Community Hub

£1 and £2 Bus travel cap

The £2 cap on bus fares in England has been extended until the end of October. This has been done to ease the cost of living pressure on passengers and to encourage people to use buses.

The cap, which applies to more than 130 bus operators, will rise in November to £2.50 for 12 months, before prices are reviewed.

Also announced young people aged 21 and under (5-21 years of age) across Tyne and Wear, Northumberland, and County Durham can now make any single bus journey around the region for just £1 from Sunday 7 May.

The new The new £1 21 & Under single fare initiative has been funded via the Department for Transport.

Read more on GOV.UK about £2 bus fares in the North East 
Read more on Go North East about £1 tickets for those aged 21 & Under

BBC announces extra support to help people pay for TV Licence

A new plan has been made to help reduce the number of people in financial difficulties who are taken to court for not paying the licence fee.  75% of the people prosecuted for not paying the fee are women.

This plan was made in response to a study called the BBC’s Gender Disparity Review. The purpose of the study was to find out why 75% of the people prosecuted for not paying the fee are women. Financial and societal factors were the reason most people did not pay the fee.

The support plan includes a way to pay the fee in small amounts over a year, making it easier for people to afford. It also gives a two-month period where no legal actions will be taken against those who are struggling financially, as long as they agree to receive free advice from debt advice organization StepChange.

Read more on BBC about Extra support to help people pay for TV Licence

Spotlight on…

The Peoples Plinth

The Farrell centre is asking the people of Tyneside to rummage through their attics, sift through family memorabilia and comb their photo albums to find meaningful, interesting and unique objects to put on the peoples plinth. You can see examples of whats on display now on their website 

The People’s Plinth is located in a shopfront across from the Farrell Centre’s entrance on Eldon Place and will be visible to the public 24 hours a day

If you have an object that fits the bill, send photos of it and a short paragraph explaining why you think it should be included to [email protected]

Read more about the Peoples Plinth at the Farrell centre

Opportunities for action

Woven Voices Prize

Submission deadline 1 June

The Woven Voices Prize for Playwriting promotes the voices of migrant playwrights in the UK, The winner will have their play staged and performed in a West End Theatre in London.

The competition is open to first generation migrants to the U.K. This includes:

•  People who do not hold a British passport but reside primarily in the UK
• have moved to the UK after spending formative years abroad
• have moved to the UK as a child, are culturally British but are sometimes seen as a migrant or sees themselves as a migrant
• weren’t born in the UK and have English as a second language
• are an asylum seeker or a refugee in the UK.

Read more on their website about the  Woven Voices Prize

Read more on InformationNOW about Support for refugee and asylum seekers

VCSE partnership programme

Monday 22 May, 10am to 11am

• What is the Integrated Care System (ICS)?
• How can the Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise (VCSE) sector feed into healthcare changes that are happening in our region?
• What is the VCSE Partnership Programme and how can my organisation be involved?

To answer these questions and find out more about the ICS VCSE partnership programme, join an online introduction session.

Sessions take place on a monthly basis. Next session is via Zoom and you can book online here. If you have any questions about this session, please contact NENC VCSE Engagement Manager, Siobhan Flynn: [email protected].

Read more on InformationNOW about Integrated Care Systems

Job opportunities at Urban Green

Urban Green Newcastle are recruiting for six new exciting roles, including a Digital & Social Media Coordinator and Director of Parks and Allotments.

Joining the team at Urban Green means being part of an innovative movement to secure the future of parks, allotments and green spaces in Newcastle upon Tyne.

Read more about vacancies at Urban Green on their website

Newcastle Food Redistribution Network Event

Wednesday 24 May  9:45am to 1pm

A network event for organisations to come together to reduce food waste in Newcastle. The event is aimed at Newcastle small to medium sized enterprises (SME) working in food and drink, public sector catering organisations and VCSE sector food handlers, particularly organisations who already supply or receive surplus food. If you are interested in this event as an individual (or don’t represent an organisation type listed above) but would like to attend please contact [email protected]

The event follows the successful launch of the ProjectBind Newcastle app a signposting tool to advise you on the various things you can do with your surplus food.

Lunch and refreshments will be provided by Magic Hat Cafe .

Read more and book a ticket on EventBrite

Resources

Digital Weight Management programme

12 week programme 

The NHS Digital Weight Management Programme could help you if you are living with obesity and also have diabetes, high blood pressure, or both.

It is a 12-week online behavioural and lifestyle programme that people can access via a smartphone or computer with internet access

If this is you, you could benefit from this 12-week programme.

You can watch a short NHS video about the program here

Read more about the 12 week program on NHS England

Research and reports

Mental health awareness & Dementia action week reports

3 drugs  lecanemab, donanemab and remternetug  currently being reviewed offer promising hopes for people living with dementia and for future treatment. A recent article by Alzheimer’s Society looks at these 3 new drugs and their journey. Read Three promising drugs for treating Alzheimer’s disease online here

A Mental Health Foundation report looks at the prevalence and rates of anxiety amongst different groups of people, and the current key drivers and risk factors for anxiety. It then considers the main ways of coping with anxiety and provides recommendations to governments across the UK for preventing anxiety.
Read Mental Health Foundations report ‘Anxiety in the UK and how to tackle it’ online  

Upcoming events and activities

Employment Support Drop In sessions

Byker Sands community centre are running employment and benefits support drop in sessions for local residents over the next few months.
Their trained jobcentre work coaches can check you are claiming correct benfits, help you apply and prepare for jobs and find funding tfor childcare or to start work. The next sessions are:

Tuesday 6 June 9:30am to 12pm
Tuesday 4 July 9:30am to 12pm
Tuesday 1 August 9:30am to 12pm

You can view the drop in session leaflet here

Riverside Roots

Thursdays 10am – 12pm

Riverside Roots is a gardening scheme for women, run by East End Women community project at Building Futures East in Walker. They welcome everyone, from beginner to expert, it offers an opportunity to enjoy the outdoors and learn something new.

They are also currently fundraising to convert a Double Decker bus into a community greenhouse growing fresh produce for their community food parcels

Read more on InformationNOW about Riverside Roots

Jesmond Community Festival reminder

Jesmond Community festival is heading into its 3rd week of events, competitions and activities.

Thursday 25 May Big Question cafe
Friday 19 May Jesmond Ceilidh
Friday 2 Jun Frets ‘n’ Bows ‘n’ Tales ‘n’ Ales

You can see a full list of events for Week 3 and Week 4 events on their website

Read more on InformationNOW about Jesmond Community festival

WinG Spring activities

WinG Outdoor activities provide outdoor awards and outdoor well-being activities to individuals, charities, community groups and via NHS referrals.

Their spring activities programme offers a range of outdoor well-being activities There are still some activities coming up in May:

Saturday 20 May –  Rock Skills Award
Monday 22 May  –   Mountain bike ride
Thursday 25 May –  Cheviot hills walk

To find out more or book contact [email protected] or 07506176888

New or updated organisations

Quadrant Leisure

Quadrant Leisure run weekly activities for young people with special educational needs at local Hubs in Newcastle and North Tyneside

Read more on InformationNOW about Quadrant Leisure

New or updated articles

Help with shopping and prescriptions

There are supported shopping services in Newcastle that can help you buy food and essentials items.

Read more on InformationNOW about Help with shopping and prescriptions

Last updated: May 22, 2023