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Welcome to this month's bulletin. I hope you and your loved ones are keeping well.
As you are aware on 14 June the government announced a delay in the lifting of the Covid-19 restrictions until 19 July and the end of lockdown will be based on a review of the current level of infections and hospital admissions.
Six people or two households can still meet inside in private homes or other indoor venues, as long as people continue to socially distance. Up to 30 people can be indoors if people or carers are attending a support group.
Please continue to follow the advice of Hands, Face, Space, Fresh air to help keep you and your loved ones safe while the Covid-19 restrictions are still in place. Please see the Government website for more information.
Within this bulletin you will find information regarding support for people with dementia, information for carers of people with learning disabilities, support for children and young peoples mental health and details of what is happening in Coventry's libraries, as well as other services that maybe of interest.
Thank you and stay safe.
This week helped to raise awareness and recognise the contribution carers make to families and communities. The theme for this year’s carers week was ‘making caring visible and valued’.
The Carers Trust Heart of England have arranged a number of online and face to face activities during the week and they are busy starting plan there next one based on the most popular activities and groups for carers.
Your feedback of the activities you attended would be welcome. E-mail contactus@carerstrusthofe.org.uk or telephone 024 7663 2972 to leave feedback.
Community or LFT testing is recommended twice a week and required for many workplaces and people in a paid or unpaid caring role. However, with more and more people choosing to use home-testing kits, the number of testing centres for people without COVID-19 symptoms are changing.
Reflecting this change, the sites at the Hagard Community Centre in Willenhall, Xcel Centre in Canley and the AT7 Centre in Bell Green closed on Friday 18 June. That will be followed by the closure of the Moat House Centre on 23 June and the Alan Higgs Centre on 25 June.
The move will still leave three centres to serve the city; at:
- Market Way in the city centre;
- Indian Community Centre in Foleshill;
- Woodlands School site in Tile Hill which will open on 24 June.
Opening hours at the centres are changing slightly. They will now be open on Mondays and Fridays from 8.30am -5.30pm; and on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday from 10am - 4.00pm.
There will also be mobile units that will go out to different areas of the city and the option to set-up pop-up test sites in some areas is also being explored. In addition, the collect schemes will be widened to enable residents to pick up home test kits from a broader range of venues such as libraries and community centres.
If you develop any symptoms, no matter how mild, you should isolate and book a test at a symptomatic (PCR) test centre via GOV.UK.
For people who can’t access tests through the other routes, you can also order a box of tests online through LFD direct or through 119, which will be delivered to your home.
People must continue to test, even after their vaccines, and even following a negative test result must continue to follow all guidelines, including social distancing and wearing face coverings.
The Council is trying to understand why some people are still choosing to get tested at community centres when there are now other options available. Please help by filling out this survey.
How to take a Lateral Flow Test at home video.
To find out more about testing, coronavirus or local restrictions and support, visit www.coventry.gov.uk/coronavirus
#GetTestedCoventry
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'Care We Share' is a revolutionary portal that allows carers to coordinate care, share caring responsibilities and obtain support from their network. Through our easy to use one-stop portal users can:
- Manage care slots with their family and friends ensuring their loved ones have care 24/7 and that they have peace of mind that they are being cared for.
- Manage medical and hospital appointments.
- Arrange leisure activities.
- Communicate with their network providing updates on care activity.
- Save time by updating one simple shared portal rather than making multiple calls, sending text messages or utilising social media channels to update family and friends.
- Help carers to look after their own physical and mental health.
- Positively support family and relationships.
Free pilot
As part of our digital adoption pilot study,' Care We Share' is appealing to carers to sign up for our free three month trial to utilise our care portal. Carers must have use of a laptop, tablet or PC with internet access and be willing to use the portal for a minimum of once per week over the three month period. Free training will be given and participants will be required to report back on its usability and their user experience. As a thank you, participants accepted onto the pilot will receive a £25.00 Amazon voucher on commencement plus a £25.00 Amazon voucher on completion of the trial.
Email Carers Trust to find out more.
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Supporting someone with dementia can involve experiencing changes in the person’s abilities and behaviour that can be difficult to understand and cope with. The emotional impact of this can be huge – leading to feelings of sadness, frustration and helplessness amongst others. Virtual Carers Peer Support group is there for carers to have a safe and supportive space to discuss what’s happening and how they feel. Often there will be someone there who has either faced similar issues and offer some suggestions – but always a listening ear.
The Alzheimer's Society currently have a virtual activity group/café running every Friday from 1.15pm-2.30pm via ZOOM for carers for someone with dementia.
Please contact Corrine at coventry@alzheimers.org.uk for details of how to join these sessions
If you are living with or caring for someone with dementia and you would like to speak to a trained Dementia Adviser about any dementia related issue, please call Dementia Connect on 0333 150 3456.
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Dementia Carers Count are offering free courses for Carers looking after someone with dementia.
Please see below the dates and topics covered in each session.
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8 July 2021 2pm – 3:30pm Spotlight on memory changes. Book now
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22 July 2021 2:00pm – 3:30pm Spotlight on mental capacity Book now
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Carers’ Voice Podcast. View the latest podcast. This episode features Paul and Lisa talking to Michael Howard about Carers’ Voice and why it is important to have carer involvement around the services provided to support them and the people their look after.
Virtual Carer Support Groups – June & July 2021 Please see below the up-and-coming groups for the next month with contact details of hosts to join and request a Zoom link.
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Kooth is a safe, free and confidential way for young people to access emotional wellbeing and early intervention mental health support. The service is now live and is available to all young people across Coventry aged 11-25 years and is being jointly funded by the City Council and Coventry and Rugby Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG).
Kooth.com is an award winning and innovative online mental health and wellbeing support service, accredited by the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP), which will support and complement the existing offer operated by Rise - a family of NHS-led services providing emotional wellbeing & mental health services for young people across the county. Rise already provide a well-established 24/7 telephone service providing crisis support to young people across Coventry. Kooth delivers digital self-help resources and online counselling to further extend the local offer.
Fully trained and qualified counsellors and emotional wellbeing practitioners are available from midday to 10pm, and from 6pm to 10pm at weekends, 365 days a year to provide a much needed out-of-hours service for emotional support in an accessible way. Sessions can be booked in advance or they can drop in for one-to-one instant text-based chats.
The service also encourages peer to peer support via moderated discussion forums, and self-help through reading or submitting content. Children and young people have 24/7 access to magazines with wellbeing articles, personal experiences and tips from young people and the Kooth team.
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 Would you like someone to talk to? Learn about the impact of anxiety and low mood as well as other topics?
This is an opportunity to meet other people and gain support. Please join the women only wellbeing sessions.
The next one is 28 June 1.30pm - 2.30pm.
Please email or call
They look forward to welcoming you.
Join the Wild World Heroes for the Summer Reading Challenge and discover how you can make a difference to the environment too.
We’re teaming up with WWF for a very special nature-themed Challenge that will inspire you to stand up for the planet!
Wild World Heroes will feature amazing books, awesome rewards, and plenty of ideas for taking care of our environment.
Look out for more information coming soon at your local library.
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- Anyone over the age of 18 is not being invited for their COVID-19 vaccination. Text message invites are being sent out by the NHS. This means that any unpaid carers who missed their opportunity to have their vaccination when unpaid carers were invited for their vaccination will be able to book for one.
- Please be aware that the national booking system will be very busy at the moment. You may need to keep trying. More slots are added every day.
- Book via the national bookings website, or by calling 119 to arrange the vaccination.
- More appointments are added regularly at local pharmacies too
- You can contact Healthwatch online or telephone: 024 7622 0381 if you are struggling to book your appointment.
Are you an adult with an autism diagnoses or think you may be autistic and would like to find out more about autism or do you care for someone with autism who might benefit from support with their education?
The Community Autism Support Service (CASS) are offering an online education programme for adults (18+) with autism (diagnosed, awaiting diagnoses or those that think they may be autistic), living in Coventry and Warwickshire. The course is suitable for individuals not currently accessing or eligible for learning disability support.
The sessions look at how we as adults are affected by autism, what challenges it brings (along with the positives) and where to see support, discussion and learning from one another.
More information on the courses and how to book.
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Care Companion is an online resource intended to provide personalised support to anyone with a caring role in Coventry and Warwickshire. It provides access to a range of informative resources and support tools, all completely free. Please visit the Care Companion website to find out more.
You will be able to create your own profile to ensure resources are relevant to your needs and those of the person you care for.
The team at Warwick Medical School are currently evaluating Care Companion via a research study funded by the NHS. The study aims to evaluate the impact of Care Companion on carers to help improve its design and content. If you are interested in hearing more about the study and potentially participating you can find out more on the website without any obligation.
We welcome carers' views and look forward to hearing from carers and people who have disseminated information about Care Companion. Any questions please contact Theresa Day.
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You can also sign up or view previous bulletins from our Carers' website.
If you have any comments or wish to contribute something to the next bulletin, please let us know by contacting us at carers@coventry.gov.uk.
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