InfoNOW news 11 June 2021

InfoNOW news 11 June 2021

News

Just one thing – whales and dolphins
As Carers week closes
National pensioners convention goes virtual
Indoor and outdoor sports
European Union Settlement Scheme – act now
Cafes reopening

Research & Reports

No longer managing report
Survey: where do you feel safe or unsafe in Newcastle?
Women’s health strategy: call for evidence closes Sunday

Resources

Volunteer passport
Safe to be me resource guide

Opportunities for Action

Accessing good quality information seminar
Refugee Week
Loneliness awareness week

New on InformationNOW this week

This week’s events & activities at a glance
Autistic spectrum Pride event
Ageing through the pandemic
Updated articles & organisations

NEWS

InformationNOW Just one thing ..

Did you know it was World Ocean’s Day on Tuesday?   Save our whales and dolphin by adopting, donating or fundraising.

Whales and Dolphins are remarkable as they absorb huge amounts of carbon over their long lifetime. They are our allies in fighting climate change. And, like rainforests, they urgently need our protection. When they die, they lock that carbon away at the bottom of the sea. Whales redistribute nutrients across the seas; they are essential to the marine eco-system and the production of phytoplankton which produces over half of the world’s oxygen. This is known as the “Whale Pump”. It is estimated that just one whale could have the same positive impact on the climate as 30,000 trees. We can help to restore their ocean environment and allow populations to recover to levels that existed before industrial-scale whaling and fishing devastated the oceans.

Read more about whales and dolphins.

As Carers Week closes

Listen to  Deputy leader,Councillor Karen Kilgour speaking about caring and carers week – also on a Radio Tyneside where she talks to Richard Finch on the radio 

Listen to Chief Executive Edward Gorridge talks about caring and Newcastle Carers support available.

 

National Pensioners Convention goes virtual

The National Pensioners Convention is planning a series of webinars during June. An opening rally on 8 June will be followed by webinars on pensioner poverty (18 June) and the future of health and care (21 June). The series will conclude on 29 June with a webinar on ‘Generations United: Bridging the Generation Gap’

Return of adult indoor sport and group exercise

Sport England will have regular updates on what you can do indoors and outdoors now that some restrictions are lifting. This means that:Indoors: Gatherings of either six people (the ‘rule of six’) or two households can take place. Organised indoor adult and children sport and physical activity can return (including exercises classes) subject to sport-specific guidance. For organised indoor sport and physical activity, there’s no limit on group numbers so long as people adhere to capacity restrictions on indoor facilities. The maximum occupancy of each indoor facility should be limited by providing a minimum of 100 sq ft per person.

Outdoors: Up to 30 people can meet outdoors. Organised outdoor sport and physical activity can take place in any numbers, subject to sport-specific guidance.Read more.

European Union Settlement Scheme (EUSS) : The Clock is Ticking. Act Now

EU, EEA and Swiss citizens and their dependants are reminded that applications to the EU Settlement Scheme close on 30 June 2021. Time is running out. If you have not applied you must act now to continue legally to live, work and access public funds in the UK. There is a national website. Applying is free. The Home Office Resolution Centre can help with your questions. Call 0300 123 7379. The council’s website has information that might help too. Failure to make an application by the deadline will result in a person becoming unlawfully resident in the UK.

InformationNOW has an article on EUSS.

Cafes reopening

Maximo’s Deli will be reopening at the Lemington Centre on 21st June.  Our friends at Healthworks have reopened their gym sessions at Lemington and in Benwell, but you don’t have to join the gym session to meet up and have a bite and a chat or get a takeaway.  Classes include step and tone, Zumba, yoga and more.  Remember to book for a class.

The Urban Green Cafe is opening in Exhibition Park. It’s a new community cafe using locally sourced food and is open from 9 am to 7 pm.

REPORTS & RESEARCH

No longer managing: The rise of working poverty and fixing Britain’s broken social settlement

A new report from IPPR looks at the living standards of families who fall into the poorest half of households and find that a growing number of these families are ‘no longer managing’, as rising costs and falling incomes are increasingly dragging them below the relative poverty line.

Survey: where do you feel safe or unsafe in Newcastle?

You may have heard that the Police and Crime Commissioner is carrying out a survey asking people where they feel safe or unsafe in Newcastle.

The survey asks people to specify specific streets, parks, pubs, venues where they might feel safe /unsafe during the day or night.  Survey findings will be incorporated into bids for the Safer Streets funding which focuses on public places/spaces and putting measures in place to help people feel safer.

They would like to get the full diversity of people including women/girls contributing so that they can focus on their suggestions for improvements.

If you have any questions about the survey please contact Dean Taylor 

InformationNOW has articles on: ways to report crime and safety issues ; scams and fraud; bogus callers

Women’s health strategy – have your say by this Sunday

The Government is seeking your views to help inform the development of their Women’s Health Strategy.  This call for evidence is seeking to collect views on women’s health. It has run for a period of 14 weeks and is open to everyone aged 16 and over. It closes at 11.45 on 13th June so this is your last chance to participate.  So far, over 1000 women have contributed.

For generations, women have lived with a health and care system that is mostly designed by men, for men. This has meant that not enough is known about conditions that only affect women, or about how conditions that affect both men and women impact women in different ways. Pregnant women and women of childbearing age are also under-represented in clinical trials, which can create troubling gaps in data and understanding.
In the UK, women have a longer life expectancy than men, with life expectancy at birth being 83.1 for women and 79.4 years for men in 2017 to 2019. However, women in the UK spend a greater proportion of their lives in ill health and disability. Women spend around over a quarter of their lives in ill health or disability, compared with around one fifth for men. Moreover, in recent years, healthy life expectancy has fallen for women but has remained stable for men.

There are also differences in life expectancy across socio-economic groups. Taking action on women’s health will support our commitment to extend healthy life expectancy by 5 years by 2035.The easiest way to participate in the call for evidence as an individual is by completing the public survey. There is also an easy read version of the online survey.

You can also submit written evidence

OPPORTUNITIES FOR ACTION

Newcastle Volunteer Passport launched

Volunteering Matters launched their new Volunteer Passport Scheme Newcastle. The scheme will enable the formation of a network of volunteers, who are fully recruited, trained, supported and ready to respond quickly and appropriately to the needs of the local community, and VCSE organisations. Find out more

Watch their new video: Newcastle Volunteer Passport 

If you’d like further information please contact Pam Robinson.

InformationNOW has an article on: volunteering

Safe to be me – resource guide

From Age UK, this resource guide offers practical advice on providing the kind of service in which older lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgender (LGBT) people can feel safe to be themselves.  This resource is written for anyone working or volunteering in health, social care or the voluntary sector who would like to support older people who are LGBT. It will also be helpful for training providers to ensure courses integrate discussions and scenarios relating to the needs of people who are LGBT.

Accessing trusted information about advice and support to help increase residents’ financial inclusion

Thursday 24 June 2021, 12.30pm to 2.30pm via Microsoft Teams

Financial Inclusion Group at Newcastle City Council featuring presentation about InformationNOW by Lauren and Kate and group discussions

Knowing how and where to access information about trusted advice and support is an important part of Newcastle’s partnership approach to promoting financial inclusion. One of the most requested actions from previous seminars is the development of a directory to hold up to date information on the support available for residents in need. With this in mind, we have worked with partners to ensure that information about housing, money, debt, free, low cost and emergency food and wider financial inclusion issues are included on the InformationNOW website so that residents, professionals and volunteers know where to turn for help.

We know that referrals to advice and support between organisations are often built on relationships, even if there may be a more appropriate service which could provide support residents. We know that online directories such as Information NOW can be used to complement relationships so that residents receive the right type of advice and support for their needs to help avoid crisis. This is an area we would like to explore further as part of June’s Financial Inclusion Group; how is information used to support collaboration, and what else could be done to improve information through collaboration. The seminar will focus on:

  • What information is available to help residents, professionals and volunteers know about advice and support in Newcastle
  • Understanding how professionals and volunteers find out about advice and support services in Newcastle
  • What different audiences want from information about the advice and support in Newcastle
  • How we can work together to make sure that residents access the right type of advice and support to meet their needs
  • How we can work together to contribute and strengthen InformationNOW as a city-wide resource

The seminar is free to attend,  but places must be pre-booked. For more information or to book a place please email Clare Fish

Refugee Week,14th to 20th June

The theme of this year’s Refugee Week is ‘We Cannot Walk Alone’ and it’s all about celebrating the contributions to our community made by refugees, as well as highlighting some of the issues faced.

There are so many ways to get involved with Refugee Week, and they are highlighting 8 Simple Acts in keeping with the theme. Whether it’s getting friends together for a walk of solidarity, or making an effort to watch a film or read a book that explore the ideas of walking in someone else’s shoes, you can find some fantastic suggestions on the Refugee Week Website  Here are a few:

Sing a Song Hear my song charity takes music into immigration centres
Read a book. What about Michael Rosen’s poems about Migration?
Perspectives using artwork on refugee experiences
#Say it loud and post through social media, #We cannot walk alone

InformationNOW has an article on: support for refugees and immigration and asylum.

Loneliness awareness week, 14 to 18 June

Organised by the Marmalade Trust, Loneliness Awareness Week takes place from 14-18 June. National and local activities are planned and it’s a great opportunity to raise awareness that loneliness affects people of all ages and can be addressed by more specific and intergenerational interaction.  We all feel lonely at times – it’s a natural human emotion. We’re wired for social contact and loneliness is our signal that we need more. After a year of lockdowns, social distancing, and restrictions, more of us are experiencing loneliness than ever which is having a great impact on our wellbeing. The best way to deal with it is to recognise it and start talking about it.

Last year this campaign reached around 271.5 million people all without leaving our homes. They saw almost 20,000 charities, organisations, companies and individuals get involved online.   Marmalade Trust has a number of resources to help you.  InformationNOW has an article on: Feeling lonely

EVENTS & ACTIVITIES

West End Women and Girls has relaunched its events and activities and the centre is open 

VOICE with Alphabetti theatre is running Sucking Eggs, ‘Some days I just want to shout to the world that I am still here and I have something to say.” A kitchen sink drama about what it means to grow old.  Captioned and audio described on certain performances.

Healthworks activities that need to be booked in advance
Felling male voice choir rehearsals
Yoga at Walbottle

Autistic spectrum Pride event 12 to 1pm on Friday 18 June

Hosted by autistic poet, writer and presenter, Kate Fox, why not join a virtual picnic.  Join Autistic Pride Day for a chat about neurodiversity. What is it? How does it affect people’s everyday lives? How do we make life more inclusive for neuro divergent people? Their panel of experts are Difference members who are neuro divergent themselves and are keen to share with us their knowledge and experience, which includes autism, ADHD and dyslexia. A BSL Interpreter can be arranged by contact Richard at Difference North East.

Following a panel discussion and an opportunity for questions, you will tuck in to your picnic, whilst being entertained by legendary local poet Jenni Pascoe! Book 

Ageing through the pandemic opportunity to take part

You may remember that we highlighted this opportunity to get involved last year.  Now that this partnership, led by Film Maker Danielle Giddens with Newcastle University based on Ageing through a Pandemic is underway, why not find out more.  Taking place during Loneliness week, this event is an open forum for over 70s to share their experiences of the Covid 19 pandemic and numerous lockdowns. The purpose of this is to develop one of the films; using this conversation and other research, they will be scripting a short drama that seeks to represent the sentiment, lived experience and perceptions of this demographic living in Newcastle upon Tyne.  Book to take part.

Organisations Updated
  • Men’s Pie Clubs
  • Friends Action North East
  • Joseph Cowen Healthcare Centre
  • A Time to Talk
  • Walbottle Village Institute
  • Felling Male Voice Choir
  • West End Women and Girls

Last updated: May 5, 2022