Nottinghamshire County Council would like to say a big thank you to all Nottinghamshire providers for the creative and innovative approach they have taken to ensure people receive the support they need through the last few months coping with the challenges of COVID-19.

The Council would not have been able to continue to meet the needs of the population of Nottinghamshire without the efforts of all support organisations, personal assistants and workers within the sector. It has been a difficult period for all, but we have all managed to ensure that people receive the support they require all be it in different and creative ways.

Providers have helped people maintain their social links through use of social media and other ways to keep people connected. Not only have we seen the commitment to support the people you work with, but this has extended to offering support to family and carers whose responsibilities have increased during this difficult time, or in some cases where family have not been able to have the contact with loved ones that they would like. 

We have had many examples of creative ways of working and positive experiences during this time which will help shape future practice. These range from supported living providers sharing photos of the positive experiences they have been sharing with tenants which include photos of artistic masterpieces, Dalek shaped pizzas, back garden archaeological digs and bowling in the kitchen. There have also been examples of care staff self-isolating in services with tenants when they have become symptomatic, putting their own lives on hold. 

We have had examples of providers linking together who usually provide day provision to ensure that the needs of the people they support are still met. This has involved use of technology and lots of fun activities such as quizzes and online learning and examples where people have achieved milestones whilst in lockdown such as cooking a meal on their own for the first time.

A big thank you also to the personal assistants who put themselves forward as having extra capacity to support others through this time. Also, thanks to the community organisations who have provided lots of essential work including shopping support and safe and well calls.

Your commitment and support in all the discussions we have had over the last few months, has been massively valued, as we all navigate a new world, which has often felt like it has very different rules to the world we lived in before this crisis.  There have been many examples of working together to come to good decisions and we are grateful for the role you have played in supporting us to problem solve and we hope we can count on this in the future.    

Melanie Brooks

Corporate Director

Adult Social Care and Health

The Families Information Service are working to update all childcare providers’ pages on the Notts Help Yourself website every six months so that parents and carers have the most current information about your services to children. Not only is the website used by parents and carers to find childcare, but the Customer Service Centre, Children’s Centres and other Early Years Services use it and direct parents to it to find childcare. If the information about your childcare services is out of date or not on there, then you could be missing out on new business.

We need your help to update these pages. We’ll send out email reminders approximately every six months to ask you to check your page on the website and to update any out of date information. The best way to update your page is online. You need an account on the Notts Help Yourself website to do this. If you don’t already have a login click here and complete the form to register for an account. Once you have an account, we can link the page to your login so that you can view and update the information.

A step-by-step guide on how to register for an account and update your information can be found here.

We strongly encourage you to register to update the page online, but if you don’t want do it this way then when you receive the email reminder from us please reply to the email with any changes you want making.

If you need any help with registering or updating your information then contact the Family Information Service by email: familyinfo@inspireculture.org.uk, or by phone: 0300 500 80 80

Do you know anyone who is keen to help make a difference to the life of others? If so, they may want to consider becoming a Personal assistant (PA). The role has flexible working hours and can include tasks such as cleaning, shopping, leisure activities, support with personal care and other tasks to help them live independently in their own home.

If you know anyone who is interested, they can access more information or apply to join the Council’s Support with Confidence PA accreditation scheme.

More info

Find out how the website has been used by the public, including common search terms. See if there are any service gaps your service might be able to fill, including boxing clubs for women aged 16-25, visually impaired tennis groups outside of Nottingham and cookery classes for 16-25 year olds. You can now also access information on the current gaps for short breaks services for disabled children and young adults.

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