Has your home or business been affected by flooding?

The clean-up operation is continuing across Derbyshire following unprecedented rainfall during Storm Babet, which is estimated to have flooded around 1,700 properties across the county.

If you need support following flooding, take a look at our website for useful links to help and advice available on a range of issues. 

You’ll find details on where to get mental health support; information known so far about Government flood grants; advice on cleaning up after a flood; advice about making a claim on your insurance policy; foodbanks; our Trusted Trader service for finding traders to carry out repairs; links to Derbyshire Law Centre for legal advice; and East Midlands Chamber of Commerce offering advice to flood-affected businesses.

There’s also links to your local district and borough council for support for anyone experiencing homelessness and information on where to sign up for the Government’s free flood warning service and how best to prepare for any future flooding.

Find out what your rights are as carer and get support and advice at an information event hosted by Derbyshire Carers Association on Thursday 23 November 2023 from 10am to 1pm.

The event will take place at the Post Mill Centre, Market Street, South Normanton, Derbyshire, DE55 2EJ.

You’ll also be able to speak to legal, financial and employment advisors.

For more information and to book your place, please contact Katie Matkin on 07773 173416 or email katie.matkin@derbyshirecarers.co.uk

Derbyshire Carers Association supports more than 6,000 adult carers and 350 young carers and delivers a wide range of services on our behalf.

Carers’ Rights Day is on Thursday 23 November and is a national campaign which aims to make sure carers aware of their rights, raise awareness of their needs as well as highlighting help and support available.

The online information finder  provides free, impartial information and guidance if you need a bit of extra support to remain living independently at home.

By answering a few questions, anyone over 18 can get tailor-made information, advice and guidance on a range of services, activities and resources they can access themselves to make their lives easier.

And for people who may need extra, practical support to help them remain independent there is now a new self-assessment tool available.

Using the answers provided, people who could benefit will be asked to fill in a self-assessment which will then be reviewed by an adult social care professional to see if they have eligible care needs.

Anyone who cannot use the internet, does not think the information provided is what they are looking for or would like to be assessed can email contact.centre@derbyshire.gov.uk or call 01629 533190 Monday to Friday, 9am to 5pm.

It follows the success of a scheme we launched last year which helped to fund more than 150 spaces supporting Derbyshire residents during the colder months.

Between them, they provided 17,000 hours of warmth and company for almost 11,000 Derbyshire residents feeling lonely or struggling to heat their homes or feed themselves.

Organisations can now apply for up to £1,000 towards the cost of opening up new community venues or to extend their opening hours as the weather gets colder.

The money can be used towards things like providing meals or light refreshments, the cost of energy bills or paying running costs to stay open for longer.

To qualify for a grant, organisations must pledge to offer a heated space during the winter months, provide seating, may offer refreshments such as a warm drink and a biscuit and be free of charge.

People visiting warm spaces will also be offered information to help them with cost of living support, as well as advice on looking after their mental health and well-being.

Our Derbyshire Eco Centre at Middleton by Wirksworth has been championing greener living since opening in 2010 and has some inspiring courses on offer for this autumn and winter.

Learn to identify trees, take up bird watching, create something useful from an old pallet or learn the art of bushcraft. Prefer to stay indoors? You could get absorbed in rag rug making, craft gifts from natural materials or have go at tie dyeing. All these and more.

At other venues we offer dry stone walling and hedge laying – you’ll need to be outdoors for those! Plus pottery, Christmas gifts and decorations and more.

Do you want to build your knowledge and confidence about the costs and potential savings of improving the energy efficiency of your home? Is your home particularly hard to heat?

If your answer is ‘yes’, then free support and impartial advice are available to homeowners in Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire as part of a new pilot project we are supporting – the HEAT Hub. 

Our library in Buxton is lending a helping hand to Transition Buxton by hosting a 'Library of Things' which is set to open before the end of the year.

There are more than 70 Library of Things across the country and the idea is that you borrow things that you only need occasionally rather than buying them. Items like carpet cleaners, hedge trimmers, drills, tents, pressure washers etc. It's a great way to save money and resources. 

Transition Buxton is currently gathering items and recruiting volunteers with a plan to launch the library before the end of the year. There will be a charge of £5 for library membership, £2.50 for the unwaged. Donations to borrow items will be welcome.