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Welcome to the latest edition of our newsletter
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It was my granddaughter’s birthday last weekend and like many of you it was really sad not being able to hug her and wish her a happy 6th birthday; but I know that sticking to the guidance around social distancing is the best way to protect her and others.
We have been very busy this week. The Community Resource Group has continued to sign post and arrange delivery of food and other provisions to those that need it most, we have helped people access advice on benefits and their bills and we have made contact with those who wanted to talk about how they are feeling in these challenging times.
We have delivered medication to those that cannot leave the house and much more. We are so lucky that this great city has really stepped up and so many people in our local communities are thinking of others and doing everything they can to make a positive difference to others’ lives. Thank you to everyone.
Wendi Ogle-Welbourn, Executive Director: People and Communities for Peterborough City Council and Cambridgeshire County Council
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Peterborough Foodbank tackles food poverty
Since the beginning of lockdown, Peterborough Foodbank has seen an unprecedented rise in the number of requests for help with a 125% increase in the numbers of people being fed, compared with the same time last year. To meet this challenge the foodbank has changed and adapted its model to support those living in food poverty. They have managed to keep the service running by amalgamating all the centres into one at Dogsthorpe Methodist Church, open Monday to Saturday between 11am and 1pm. The warehouse is also open to receive donations Monday to Friday from 10am to 2pm.
They have recruited nearly 80 new volunteers to help during the current crisis and their warehouse and the centre at Dogsthorpe have been adapted to comply with social distancing guidance, appropriate PPE for all staff and volunteers is provided and there is plenty of fun and laughter.
One volunteer, Nick, describes his reasons for volunteering: ‘I wanted to do something useful in the community that would make a difference to people’s lives. It is nice to see how people from different backgrounds come to use the service.’
Since 23 March, Peterborough Foodbank has fed more than 1,500 people and has given 6,300kg of food to people who cannot afford it - which equates to 17,235 meals. Continued donations are vital during this time - please continue to donate.
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These donations have a big impact on the most vulnerable in the city. For example, two sisters the Foodbank spoke to hadn’t eaten for days; they were saving their last tin of beans as they didn’t know when they would be able to get food again. They were directed to where they could get a foodbank voucher and were so happy knowing they were going to eat a full meal that evening.
Sharon Keogh, head of community action at Kingsgate Community Church, said: "I would just like to take this opportunity to say thank you once again for all your support and donations. With your help, we are ensuring that no one goes hungry in our city during this time of crisis."
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Bright Ribbon Campaign supporting foodbank appeal
Villagers in Ashton and Bainton near Peterborough have started an innovative campaign to help vulnerable people in need of essential items.
In conjunction with Peterborough City Council’s on-going efforts to support communities since the Coronavirus outbreak, Bainton & Ashton Parish Council recently launched the Bright Ribbon campaign.
Residents donate non-perishable food items by placing them on their doorsteps in shopping bags tied with brightly-coloured ribbon. Within the first week of donations, 170kg of items were collected.
This was then delivered to the Peterborough Foodbank where it could be passed on to those in need. Donations are currently being directed towards parent-carer families who have been affected by the current crisis. Local suppliers, Plants Eggs, have offered a sizable donation of fresh eggs towards the scheme.
Councillor Irene Walsh, Peterborough City Council’s cabinet member who helped set up the campaign, said: “We’ve had a fantastic response from residents in the villages who are keen to help those in need. And full credit to the parish council who supported the scheme from the outset.
“We have been getting in touch with other parish councils, some of whom are already running schemes of their own and some who are keen to set up their own Bright Ribbon campaign. In Glinton the Good Neighbours Scheme is promoting the food donation point at the NISA store on the High Street. An impressive volunteering scheme is also running in the village, supporting local residents in a variety of ways.
"All in all, a fantastic contribution from Peterborough's rural areas."
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City College Peterborough supporting local residents
Within City College Peterborough, there is a small army of staff using their skills and the college's resources to support residents. Every day at the college in Brook Street 100 packed lunches are made and delivered to homeless people. Also, around 150 hot meals are planned, prepared, cooked and delivered to students and Cross Keys Homes residents who are self-isolating and do not have support networks. This has resulted in healthy home cooked food being supplied and delivered. As well providing this service Monday to Friday, on a Friday the team make up weekend food boxes which are delivered alongside the meals. This has now been taken a step further and along with the food deliveries there will be family craft boxes with instructions for parents and carers.
The team uses food supplied by the charity FareShare and has also put out appeals to local businesses to support their efforts.
The City Centre Hub in Brook Street, the Kingfisher Centre in Bretton and the Industrial Hub in Hampton are all still being used by adults with a social care package, who are being provided with a daily packed lunch.
Alongside this, City College Peterborough has redeployed staff to reablement, care homes, hotels and on call for an after-hours sitting service for vulnerable people whose parents or carers may get taken into hospital overnight. This is, of course, all done with social distancing, whilst still designing and delivering online learning courses and carrying out welfare checks on students.
Pat Carrington, assistant director, employment skills and libraries for Peterborough City Council and executive principal of City College Peterborough said: "So what have these amazing teams taught me during this time? Well, it's how committed they are and how they complement each other. So when people ask “what were you doing when we were in lock down?” the extraordinary people that are in our service and that I have the pleasure to work with, will have lots to say."
Shopping for people who are self-isolating – advice for volunteers
Many local residents are supporting people who are self-isolating, so can’t get to the shops for food and other supplies. These residents are volunteering to do shopping for the people who are self isolating.
However, finding safe and secure ways for people to pay for items without exposing themselves, or the volunteers, to risk of harm, is a national challenge.
To support this, the Countywide Coordination Hub has been researching a range of payment options, so they can advise people, and the volunteers who are supporting them, who can then choose the most appropriate method for them.
The payment methods include:
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Supermarket ‘click and collect’ schemes – for customers with online accounts, however delivery slots are in high demand
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Paying the shop over the phone by card –using a pre-agreed password when the volunteer goes to the till
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Buying volunteer cards online from Asda, Marks & Spencer or Waitrose and sending to the volunteer to use
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Buying gift cards from Morrisons, Sainsbury's or Tesco for the volunteer to use
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Paying the volunteer with a cash machine via a bank card – using contactless
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Paying the volunteer for the shopping via online banking
Supporting your mental health
The following services are available to help people to manage their mental health.
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Lifeline Plus - a mental health and wellbeing helpline for people aged 18 and over living in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, is available Monday-Friday between 9am and 2pm via freephone 0808 808 2121. The line will support people to manage their wellbeing, provide self-help advice or signpost to other organisations for particular concerns.
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Lifeline - 7 days a week, between 2pm and 11pm, managed by Lifecraft which provides support for those in mental health distress: 0808 808 2121.
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Qwell - an online wellbeing support, including educational and self-help articles and peer-to-peer support via forums. Adults are also able to receive help from qualified counsellors via drop-in or scheduled online chat sessions. www.qwell.io
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Keep Your Head – this website brings together all the mental health support available to young people across the county - www.keep-your-head.com/now
Don't delay - seek help if you have medical concerns
NHS organisations across Cambridgeshire and Peterborough would like to remind residents that they are still open 24 hours a day, seven days a week to provide urgent medical treatment and support healthcare concerns.
If you are not sure where to go for medical support, we would recommend you visit 111.nhs.uk in the first instance.
Healthy Child programme
The Healthy Child programme is still available to provide antenatal and new birth visits, with extra support available for new parents.
From Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm, administrators, school nurses, nursery nurses, health visitors and emotional health and wellbeing practitioners are on hand to provide help, advice and support.
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Cross Keys Homes
If Cross Keys Homes tenants are struggling financially, self-isolating or shielding and are having difficulty accessing food then there are various options available to help including delivery of food boxes, shopping for essential food items and delivering prescription medication.
See the Cross Keys Homes website for more information or ring 01733 385000.
PARCA helps family in need
Peterborough Asylum and Refuge Community Association (PARCA) received a request for emergency food for a family of four. The family had no money to pay for the food and no access to public funds due to their immigration status. Moez Nathu, CEO of PARCA, handled the request and delivered the emergency food for a week within a couple of hours of the request.
Moez said: “It was an amazing experience to bring a smile to the faces of the family. One of the children thanked me and smiled. I feel very proud of the work carried out by myself and my colleague today.”
Employment and benefits support
If you are affected by Coronavirus or its effect on the economy, The Department of Work and Pensions website provides information about the changes the government has brought in to support people who are already claiming benefits, need to claim benefits, or are at risk of losing their job as a result of Coronavirus.
Ramadan gift bags for prisoners at HMP Peterborough
A secondary school teacher from Peterborough has co-ordinated and prepared Ramadan gift bags for prisoners at HMP Peterborough.
Atif Iqbal got in touch with the prison and offered to provide the gift bags for those serving time at the prison.
Thirty gift bags with prayer mats, headscarves, prayer beads, the holy Quran and boxes of dates were donated by members of the Muslim community, local businesses and organisations. Families even sent hand-written notes with Ramadan messages.
Atif said: “Ramadan is a time of forgiveness and self-reflection. We all make mistakes. Families and young children even sent hand-written letters. It’s just a token to say they haven’t been forgotten. I am so glad I could help with this initiative.”
HMP Peterborough is a Category B private prison for men, and a closed prison for women and female young offenders.
The management at the prison makes yearly arrangements for the inmates during the holy month of Ramadan including keeping the kitchen open until late for post-fast meals, eaten after sunset and co-ordinating the facility for special prayer. However, the current Coronavirus lockdown has impacted some of the facilities it can provide.
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Love of gardening brings community together
A project set up by Community First to encourage people to come together through gardening has found a way to continue its good work and help residents beat loneliness during the pandemic.
Residents had been tending to the community garden at the Allama Iqbal Centre in partnership with Gladstone Connect and improving other green spaces. But in the past four weeks, at a time when many people would have felt more isolated than usual, Community First has encouraged people to continue to garden and grow whilst staying apart. Instead of bringing their volunteers together to garden physically, it has provided them with plants and compost, donated by local growers, and created Facebook tutorials to show people how they can continue to grow plants at home. All are encouraged to get involved, whether they have a garden or not, with tutorials detailing how to grow plants in recycled and reused household items. By giving volunteers a platform to display their progress and ideas, Community First is continuing to play a vital role in the reduction of social isolation despite many being physically isolated. Over 40 growers across the city of all different ages and backgrounds have co-operated online to plant more than 380 plants in the local area, such as strawberries, herbs and potatoes to further provide and support the local community.
Helen Walkinsham of Community First said: "Gardening together has kept our community together and helped it grow, despite the challenges of the current situation. We receive daily emails showing us how people’s plants are flourishing and asking for advice on how and what to grow. Many people in isolation have said that knowing they are part of a gardening community has helped them feel less alone. The Community Garden will be ready for volunteers to return to after the crisis and will provide food for the community as a result of our efforts."
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Age UK Glinton Friendship Club
A buddy scheme in Glinton run by the Age UK Friendship Club is helping to support villagers during the lockdown.
Just before people were asked to stay at home, Barbara Holdich from the club organised a rota for its volunteers to call round members of the community every few days to check that they are ok and enquire whether they need any support.
Barbara said: “The members were very happy to do this and they keep in regular contact with each other, so everyone is getting plenty of company, albeit it over the telephone. As everyone has their own list of members and details, this makes it very easy to do. Everyone I have rang has told me that several people have contacted them and they sounded really uplifted by the support they are receiving. Our oldest member stopped coming to the club when she was 103. She has recently celebrated her 105th birthday and I popped a card round to her, and I rang her for a lovely chat."
Glinton Age UK Friendship Club is in its 19th year and was the first one to be set up in Peterborough. You can find out more about the club on the Peterborough Information Network.
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Be on your guard for fake shielding letters
We have become aware of fake shielding letters being sent to people, claiming to be from the Countywide Co-ordination Hub.
If you have any concerns regarding a letter, check the correct information about the official Coordination Hub here: www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/residents/coronavirus/coronavirus-covid-19-overview or please call 0345 045 5219.
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Caring together during the Coronavirus pandemic
Caring Together provides information and advice, runs service in local communities and campaigns for carers’ rights, so that carers have choices. They have had to change how they do it, but their purpose and commitment to carers and the people they look after remains the same. They continue to offer a variety of support for carers of all ages and the people they care for. This includes:
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Help to plan for the unexpected (emergency planning)
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Family Carers’ Prescription
They also offer virtual support to other professionals supporting carers at this time.
Caring Together has also highlighted the fact that unpaid carers have now been specifically added to the list of people who can be tested for COVID-19 if they, or anyone they live with, has symptoms. For more information on support available for carers, please visit Caring Together's website www.caringtogether.org, email us hello@caringtogether.org or ring us 01480 499090.
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