Happy New Year!
We hope you are keeping safe and warm. In this email:
• BITMO’s GATE closes for refit
• Belle Isle foodbank closed
• Winter Warmth for BITMO tenants
• Being prepared in colder weather
• XL Bullies – important!
• Linking up with your neighbours
• Healthy Heart checks in Belle Isle
• Free play at BITMO’s GATE in February
BITMO’s GATE Closed for Refit
The BITMO’s GATE community centre will be closed for three weeks from Monday 8 January. This is so the kitchen can be extended and refitted. Our fantastic food volunteers have been producing meals from a crowded domestic kitchen – often for 50 or more people. We will have a restaurant quality kitchen, which will allow us to extend and improve the food offer. We will provide updates in the February edition of this email and on social media and posters in the community noticeboards before then.
The BITMO office and housing counter will be open as normal the whole time. You can still reach BITMO’s Community Development Team while the GATE is closed on 07891 270094 (call, text or WhatsApp) or email gate@belleisletmo.co.uk
Please see the section below about other local community centres that will be open while the GATE is closed.
Cranmore & Raylands Community Centre is on Cranmore Drive LS10 4AW. It’s next to Clapgate School and is a short walk from the Brooms, Nesfields and Lanshaws. It is open as a Welcome Space Monday to Friday 9am-3pm. There’s free Wi-Fi and device charging as well as a hot drink, toast and a chat. Contact 07487 664352.
Belle Isle Senior Action have their Welcome Space for over-60s every Monday and Friday morning from 10am-12pm at the 59 Centre on Belle Isle Circus. There’s free tea, coffee and bacon butties.
The Welcome Centre under St John & St Barnabas Church, just off Belle Isle Road is open as a welcome space from 9am-1pm Monday to Friday with free tea, coffee and biscuits.
 BITMO's GATE will be closed for 3 weeks from 8 January
Belle Isle Foodbank Closed
The Friday foodbank at St John & St Barnabas Church has closed. The nearest foodbanks are now in Beeston (Mondays), Hunslet (Wednesdays) and Middleton (Thursdays). We are working to make sure that there is a foodbank in Belle Isle and will host it ourselves if necessary. We will update you on this through these emails, website, social media and community noticeboards.
Until then there is the Manorfield Hall foodbank. It is at the top end of Newhall Road, by the corner of the Manor Farms not far from Town Street. Every Friday there’s a foodbank where for £2 you can get a good supply of food. We are passing our food donations on to them as well, so please use this good supply while there are no breakfasts at the GATE on Friday 12, 19 and 26 January.
BITMO’s Board has opened a Winter Warmth Fund for this winter. The Board understand the cost of living crisis that is affecting many people and have allocated money from their budget to pay for goods that can help you and your family keep warm this winter.
 BITMO households in need of extra support can apply for goods from the following list:
Hot water bottles, blankets, warm socks, snoodies (a blanket with a hood that you can wear), electric throws, electric blankets, electric heaters and dehumidifiers.
If your household got Winter Warmth goods from BITMO in 2021 or 2022 you can’t get anything this year, but please apply if you are still in need and we may be able to help you in another way – for example with food or help with electric and gas bills.
Please tell your friends and neighbours about this – particularly those who are not online – and encourage them to apply. If they need help, please offer to help them if you can. If you can’t, please ask them to contact BITMO’s Community Development Team on 07891 270094 (call, text, WhatsApp). Please apply online here.
BITMO is able to offer this extra support because we are a Tenant Management Organisation, run by a Board mainly made up of elected Belle Isle tenants.
Being Prepared During Colder Weather
Freezing temperatures often lead to a lot of calls to our emergency service and longer times for us to respond. It’s important that you report repairs to us straight away so we can fix the issue before it gets worse. Extreme weather does cause some limitations to our emergency repairs service. Understanding this can help you prepare better and avoid unnecessary damage to your home or possessions.
- Our roofers can’t go on roofs in the dark, when it’s raining or snowing, or when it’s windy. If you have a roof leak in these conditions, please move any items that might get damaged straight away and put a container underneath to catch the water.
- You still need to report the roof leak to us straight away, but we will raise an urgent repair order and not an emergency.
- Telephone us immediately to report an emergency repair if a leak is affecting your electrics. Don’t use the fitting until it has been checked and confirmed safe.
- We don’t go to emergency repairs for leaking windows or doors when it’s raining. Place towels down to control the leak, or a container if possible. We will raise an urgent order to inspect and repair the issue. You can report this to us by phone, during normal office hours, or email bitmo.enquiries@belleisletmo.co.uk .
Please prepare well in case of any emergency, such as a leak, no power, or no heating:
- Know where your water stop tap is so that you can stop leaks quickly
- Keep your mobile phone charged in case your power is affected
- Have some essentials to hand, to help stay comfortable in the event of an emergency, like a bucket (in case of any leak), blankets, a hot water bottle and torch
Visit the Northern Powergrid website for important advice on what to do before, during and after a power cut.
Important – XL Bullies
All XL Bully owners need to re-register their permission to keep the dog with BITMO (even if permission was given previously) and provide an Index of Exempt Dogs certificate, sign a responsible dog owner agreement, and have 3rd party insurance certificate.
Further advice can be found on the Dogs Trust website.
Please contact the ASB team at BITMO to reapply for permission to keep a dog at your property. Failure to comply with these regulations and to register that you have an XL Bully at your property will result in tenancy action being taken against you.
Are you already working with your neighbours to improve your community? Please let us know about it and if there is anything we could do to help.
Or are you interested in linking up with neighbours to help make Belle Isle an even better place to live? This could be anything from going for regular walks together to arranging a street party to setting up a street WhatsApp group. Whether you are already working on something and could do with more connections, have an idea and want to discuss what to do about it or are looking for ways to strengthen your community, please call Ben, the Belle Isle Community Builder, on 07891 273843 or fill in this online form.
For the next three Tuesdays you can speak to the NHS about your heart, get your cholesterol checked and get their advice. It’s at The Welcome Centre under St John & St Barnabas Church from 12.30-2.30pm on Tuesday 9, 16 and 23 January. After that the service will move to BITMO’s GATE for the rest of January and February.
There’s a free play at BITMO’s GATE on Thursday 22 February at 7.30pm.
Love is a complicated business. It gets even more complicated when the person you love doesn’t want to be alive. Tender, funny and defiantly hopeful, The Light House is a real-life story of falling in love and staying in love, even when the lights go out and you’re lost in the dark. It’s a love letter to life. Join the emergency response as we dance in the kitchen, sing in the streets and try to turn the lights back on. It gets lonely, muddling through these days and nights. So why don’t we do it together? Age guidance 13+ with trigger warnings for references to suicide & hospitalisation.
Tickets will be available from BITMO's GATE when we reopen on 29 January.
Keep up-to-date with BITMO services and local news by visiting the BITMO Facebook Page and the BITMO website.
Belle Isle TMO works in partnership with Leeds City Council to serve the residents of Belle Isle estate.
Belle Isle Tenant Management Organisation Limited Registered under the Co-operative and Communities Benefit Societies Act No.29817R. Registered Office: Aberfield Gate, Belle Isle, Leeds, LS10 3QH
|
