InfoNOWNews 14 April 2022

InfoNOWNews 14 April 2022

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InformationNOW

We’d like to wish everyone a Happy Easter and thank you for reading InfoNOW News.

We are taking a break from InfoNOWNews for a couple of weeks and our next issue will be at the end of the month.

Please do send us items for the newsletter for May and for the Queen’s Jubiliee events section we are building around the celebrations in June.

Best wishes,  Kate, Lauren and Carol.

Top 10 most viewed pages on InformationNOW in March 2022

We look at the type of information our visitors are looking at to see what’s important to people in Newcastle. Here’s the 10 most popular viewed pages on InformationNOW. They may be useful to you or someone that you know.

  1. Food Banks (211 views)
  2. Care Homes in Newcastle (78 views)
  3. Emergency Funds and support (65 views)
  4. Support for asylum seekers and refugees (64 views)
  5. Newcastle Welfare Rights (64 views)
  6. About us – InformationNOW (56 views)
  7. Cost of living crisis – managing on a low income (56 views)
  8. Free meals and cheap food (54 views)
  9. Login/Register on InformationNOW (54 views)
  10. Hobbies (48 views)

Free holiday activities in Newcastle

Holiday Activities team run the ‘Newcastle Best Summer / Spring / Winter Ever’  schemes, the free school holiday schemes in Newcastle for 4 to 16 year olds. This support is for families who receive free school meals. Community organisations across Newcastle provide free activity sessions and a meal for your child. You can choose from a range of fun, educational and sociable activities such as: sport, art, and culture. Newcastle City Council and StreetGames are working with community partners to give children and young people in Newcastle a happy and enjoyable school holidays.

Read more about free school meals on InformationNOW

The Late Shows return 13 and 14 May

Newcastle’s late-night culture festival is back.  Friday 13th activities will be centred on Ouseburn and Saturday 14 May will be Newcastle, Gateshead and Quayside. Over 40 museums, galleries, studio collectives and landmark historical buildings will come together to offer one-off events including hands-on workshops, behind-the-scenes tours, performances and parties.

Organisations involved include:
The Biscuit Factory, Northern Print, Ouseburn Farm and The NewBridge Project on 13th and The Baltic Centre, Arcadea, Life Science Centre on 14th May.

Why not volunteer?

Read more on InformationNOW about Tyne & Wear Archives and Museums

Take kids for free on public transport in the North East

It’s Easter and the school holidays.  Fare-paying customers will be able to enjoy free travel for up to three children aged 11 and under, across local public transport in Tyne and Wear, Northumberland and Durham until 7 May.

Each transport company has introduced its own offer and customers should check on board or on company websites and social media for detailed terms and conditions including: Arriva North East, Go North East and Stagecoach North East, although our information has come through from Transport North East and Nexus

The Tyne and Wear Metro and Shields Ferry already have a permanent deal for customers to take the kids for free when they travel.

Customers with Network One tickets including Day Rover and Explorer can also take up the offer. Some season tickets are excluded from offers, as well as customers who do not pay for their travel.

Phones and data scheme

Tesco set up the Little Helps scheme at the start of the pandemic, to get phones and data to people who needed them, including victims and survivors of domestic abuse.

Little Helps will continue helping vulnerable people through grassroots charities and organisations working in these areas:

  • families and young people
  • mental health
  • domestic abuse
  • homelessness

If you represent an organisation or charity in one of these areas and you need help, please email [email protected]

Read about getting online and digital equipment on InformationNOW

Opportunities for Action

Lindisfarne Gospels Artist Brief

Sharing Stories Through the Ages is part of Lindisfarne Gospels 2022,  a programme of events inspired by the display of the Lindisfarne Gospels in the North East in autumn 2022. On loan from the British Library, the manuscript will take centre stage in an exhibition at the Laing Art Gallery from 17 September to 3 December 2022.

Newcastle City Library will be hosting a complementary exhibition in the Newcastle Collection Showcase on Level 6 of the City Library in September 2022. This complementary exhibition includes a commission for a local artist which comprises two distinct activities:

  1. to create an installation to be part of the exhibition, inspired by the Lindisfarne Gospels and their return to the region
  2. to conduct an outreach programme which will result in the creation of a separate, new artwork which will be displayed at City Library in September 2022 and added to the Local Studies Collection afterwards to be preserved for future generations.
Deadline for the submission of applications: Tuesday 10th May 2022

IntoUniversity Learning Centre launched in Walker

IntoUniversity Learning Centre has been launched with Newcastle and Northumbria Universities. Based at Monkchester Community Centre it will support young people with

  • after-school academic support
  • mentoring with university students and local professionals
  • in-school aspiration-raising workshops
  • enrichment and work experience opportunities

Read more about Collaborative Newcastle

Spotlight on

MS Awareness Week 2022, 25 April to 1 May

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is a condition that affects your brain and spinal cord. In MS, the coating that protects your nerves called myelin, is damaged. This causes a range of symptoms like blurred vision and problems with how we move think and feel along with fatigue.

More than 130,000 people in the UK have MS. In the UK people are most likely to find out they have MS in their thirties, forties and fifties. But the first signs of MS often start years earlier. MS is unpredictable and different for everybody. Symptoms can come and go and change over time, and it’s difficult to know how your condition might progress.

Or you can share your story.  These submissions may be included on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram.  Wear orange to show solidarity.

The MS Society Newcastle and Gateshead is a volunteer group that meets regularly and includes exercise and support.

Read more on InformationNOW about self care and disability

Resources and training

No fault divorce biggest reform of divorce law for 50 years

Landmark reforms introducing no-fault divorce aimed at reducing conflict between separating couples came into force on 6th April.

The Divorce, Dissolution and Separation Act (2020) changes remove unnecessary conflict to ease stress on couples and children

  • new minimum wait of 20 weeks between application and conditional order of divorce
  • simplifying the language of divorce to make it more understandable. This includes replacing the terms ‘decree nisi’, ‘decree absolute’ and ‘petitioner’ with ‘conditional order’, ‘final order’ and ‘applicant’.

In January 2022, the government announced £1.3 million in funding for a Family Mediation voucher scheme,  with thousands of families benefiting from free out of court settlements relating to issues, such as contact with children.

Read more on InformationNOW about separation and divorce

Community Digital Skills Pathway

Teakisi has partnered with Good Things Foundation  to help people improve their lives through digital access and skills training.

The project will support 60 people (30 from Newcastle and 30 from North Tyneside) who are socially and economically excluded and for whom essential digital skills  is the primary barrier to employability and life skills.  Participants will:

  • gain essential digital skills
  • progress to further learning
  • increase their employability
  • bridge the gap between informal, community-based digital skills provision and formal training

Read more about eligibility criteria and how to register your interest here

Read more on InformationNOW about getting online

Bereavement Support Services

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has announced a new, dedicated service to help people through one of the most difficult and challenging times of their life.

Anyone who has suffered a loss can now contact DWP Bereavement Services through a single phone number, 0800 151 2012, to report a death and find out what financial support is available.

This includes:

  • making a new or managing an existing claim for Bereavement Benefit or Bereavement Support Payment
  • making a new or managing an existing claim for Funeral Expenses Payments
  • requesting State Pension updates following the death of a spouse or civil partner

Find more benefits on InformationNOW

Free career training

Wanting to try something new? Are you thinking about a career change? Why not enrol on a free course to test the waters? These free ten-week courses are delivered in locations across Gateshead and Newcastle by Future Skills North East, a community interest company based in Gateshead.. The Spring programme begins this April. Options with places include:

  • Education and Training (Level 3)
  • Diploma in Leadership and Management (Level 5)

For more information, contact [email protected] 

Read the InformationNOW section on Work and Retirement and read more about the Skills Hub in the City Library and their partners

Skills for life – free courses

If you are aged 19+ and do not already have a level 3 qualification (equivalent to A levels or an advanced technical diploma) you can choose from over 400 free courses to help you boost your earnings or get a better job. Courses include: digital, health and social care, accounting, construction, catering, agriculture and early years and more.

These courses are also available to you if you are unemployed or you earn below the National Living Wage annually (£18,525), even if you already have a level 3 qualification.

Providers include: Newcastle City Learning, Newcastle College, Newcastle Sixth Form College and People Plus.

Domestic Abuse Training Programme

Safe Newcastle has new domestic abuse training available.  Visit their website and book.  Available for staff working in Newcastle.

New Events and Activities

  • Beelines through the City
    Throughout April Monday to Thursday and Saturdays
  • Jazz afternoon to raise monies for Ukraine
    Saturday 16 April, free admission. 2pm to 6 pm
  • Literature Quiz to Celebrate World Book Night
    22nd April, 6.30 to 10 pm
  • Denton and Westerhope Mature Action Group
    28 April 12.30 to 2.30 pm

New Organisations

Personal safety is a key issue in our society for women and the Council is supporting the White Ribbon Campaign. These three organisations have been added to enable signposting to campaigns where men can highlight and challenge difficult and belittling behaviour towards women.

Read more on InformationNOW about Personal Safety

Updated Articles

Museums and Attractions 

There are many museums in Tyne and Wear, with exhibitions ranging from science and technology to local history. InformationNOW has local museums and attractions in alphabetical order. The exhibitions change regularly, so visit the museums’ websites or contact them directly to see what’s on before you visit.

Remember there are lots of 1900 Hadrian’s Wall festival related activities this Easter.

Bereavement and Grief

Bereavement is something which happens to almost everyone at some stage in their lives. The death of someone close to you, whether it was expected or sudden, can be an extremely difficult time, and you will experience many different emotions.  This article covers: the stages of grief, counselling and therapy, support, financial support, carers support and unexpected deaths.

When hoarding and clutter become a problem

Hoarding is where someone collects large amounts of items and is unable to throw any of them away. As their collection of possessions grows in size, it begins to encroach upon their living space and affects their quality of life. For example they may be collecting newspapers, CDs, clothes, crockery, electrical items, animals (in some rarer cases) and more.

Last updated: June 30, 2022