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Week five of my newsletter! It does not seem possible that the Peterborough Community Resilience Group has been going this long, but on the other hand I cannot believe just how much everyone has achieved in this space of time; galvanising an army of volunteers supporting our charities and community sectors and parishes, the public and private sectors stepping up their services and our registered social landlords reaching out to their residents. The range of support has been amazing - from shopping, food parcels and hot food deliveries, trips to fetch medication, gardening, transport to health appointments, gardening, delivering craft kits and activity packs, Zoom youth clubs and events, befriending calls – to name but a few. I am exhausted just thinking about the hours people in our community have given to help others – thank you so much.
We have many care homes and care providers in our communities and I know that there has been support provided to them; but I also know what an immense challenge our care homes and care providers are facing. They have always been trusted to look after our loved ones, but they have had to go much further in their support and care for them at this time. This is because relatives have not been able to support due to the social distancing that has been needed to reduce the likelihood of infection. The staff in these homes have gone above and beyond what we could have ever expected of them, risking their own health and safety whilst looking after our relatives and most vulnerable people. I am not sure how we can thank the care homes and care providers enough – thank you for all that you have done and all that you continue to do.
Watch my recent vlog here.
Wendi Ogle-Welbourn
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VCS response to COVID-19 crisis
 Peterborough Council for Voluntary Service (PCVS) has been supporting the city’s charities and voluntary and community groups for the past 40 years. But over the past couple of months, it has seen an unprecedented crisis in requests for support. PCVS responded quickly to this by bringing together the voluntary and community sector in an email group and online forum to support a whole range of immediate community needs.
There has been a fantastic response in the sector with over 90 members, large and small, including charities such as Age UK through to the local Lithuanian community. Peterborough City Council has turned to the group for support with some of the requests into the response hub. The group has been able to respond to a wide range of queries including laptop provision for families on limited budgets, sourcing household goods e.g. fridges, advising on where to access support for specific groups and advice on family issues, to give just a few examples.
It has subsequently developed themed groups to coordinate a VCS response to need e.g. access to food, mental health, children and young people, languages.
The Food Network was first developed in the PCVS Food Poverty Forum. In these unprecedented times this grew and adapted to focus on the Covid situation.
PCVS realised that a number of organisations were seeking funding for food and that there were already many groups working on the ground and that there is strength in working together to benefit the city.
The purpose of the partnership is to share food, collect data so that there is an understanding of wider long term food poverty issues in the city and to understand individual organisational needs, wants and gaps to ensure that the Peterborough community is helped in an equal and fair way.
This exciting development has been made possible because of the open and understanding work of all the organisations involved. Special thanks to the Peterborough Foodbank, Community First, Family Action, Paston Farm Community Centre, Westraven Community Café, Little Miracles, Millfield Community Fridge, Food Cycle Peterborough, Bharat Hindu Samaj, Food for Nought and Light Project Peterborough.
Mental Health Awareness Week
Hosted by the Mental Health Foundation, Mental Health Awareness Week is taking place until Sunday. The week aims to shine a light on mental health and get the nation talking.
The theme this year is kindness. One thing that we have seen all over the world is that kindness is prevailing in these uncertain times. We have learnt that amid the fear, there is also community, support and hope. The added benefit of helping others is that it is good for our own mental health and wellbeing. It can help reduce stress and improve emotional wellbeing.
People are being encouraged to get involved by reflecting on an act of kindness. Take a photo or video (with permission) and post using the hashtags #KindnessMatters
and #MentalHealthAwarenessWeek. You can also share your ideas on how you think we could build a kinder society that would support our mental health using the same hashtags above.
You can find out more on the Mental Health Foundation website.
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Can you help transform the lives of young people?
Foster Care Fortnight (8-21 May) is the UK’s largest foster care awareness raising campaign, delivered by The Fostering Network. This year’s campaign message is all about how the dedication and commitment of foster carers helps to transform lives.
Our need to provide safe, secure and loving homes for children and young people across Peterborough grows every year.
If we can keep more children local then they can attend the same school, keep in touch with their friends and get the support and guidance they deserve.
Being a foster carer is rewarding. You need is a spare bedroom and a sense of humour! We are encouraging people from ALL walks of life to consider fostering.
We have children and young people in our care of all ages and from different backgrounds. This includes siblings who are desperate to stay together, children with disabilities and teenagers. We offer generous allowances and 24 hour access to advice and training.
CKH partnership offers support for mental health
Cross Keys Homes (CKH) is here to help with the mental health support service it runs in partnership with Insight Healthcare. The service is available to anyone finding life difficult at the moment who could benefit from talking therapy.
Face to face sessions have been replaced with phone, skype or online appointments so that everyone can safely maintain social distancing measures without missing out on vital support.
Talking therapies can help people understand and work through difficult feelings and develop strategies for coping better. The service can help with issues such as low mood, depression, anxiety, stress, panic, anger, trauma, bereavement, loss, relationship difficulties, family problems and phobias. Offering a range of advice, information and support, including low intensity cognitive behavioural therapy and counselling.
The service is free and available to anyone aged 17 and over who is living in the Peterborough and Cambridgeshire area.
Anyone can make a self-referral to receive support, with no need to see a doctor. Just visit www.insighthealthcare.org to find out more.
Bright Ribbon
Dave Allport has been employed by Peterborough City Council since July 2001 and his current role is Parking and City Centre Operations Officer. On a daily basis his role can see him undertaking various duties, from making sure the city centre fountains are safe, to ensuring visitors and residents can park safely in the city.
During the past few weeks Dave, along with other officers from the Prevention and Enforcement Service, have been involved in the Bright Ribbon Campaign. The campaign works with parish councils across the city to source and deliver food to parents and carers of children and young people with a disability or complex needs during the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as supporting other vulnerable people through the foodbank.
Dave has been arranging for donation points to be installed in villages, as well as collecting and distributing the donations. Dave said: "I'm really enjoying being involved in such a worthwhile campaign and know that I'm helping to provide support to vulnerable people across Peterborough during this time. It is hoped that over the coming weeks more and more parishes will become involved in the campaign and it continues to grow."
Government launches £5million fund to combat loneliness
The Government has launched a £5 million fund to tackle loneliness during the coronavirus outbreak and period of social distancing.
The project will aim to ensure that, for people of all ages and backgrounds, staying at home does not need to lead to loneliness. As part of this plan, national organisations working to tackle loneliness and build social connections are invited to apply for a share of funding, which the government is investing to help them to continue and adapt their critical work.
This fund will make grants of between £500,000 and £1,000,000. Find out how to apply here.
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Stanground and Farcet Church helps resident
The Hub was notified of a gentleman who was concerned about the state of his garden. He has health issues that reduce his mobility and his small garden at the rear of his bungalow had become overgrown. He had recently been broken into and the police thought that the condition of his garden might have been a contributory factor to the break in. This left him scared that it might happen again.
Carol Avery at Stanground and Farcet Church contacted the gentleman and went to see how much work was involved.
Carol and her husband agreed to go there at the weekend to do the work themselves and will visit again if needed.
Youth Inspired video
Youth Inspired, Young Commissioners have come together to create a video that supports other young people across Peterborough who may be struggling with the current situation. The video lets young people know how they can access mental health support and that they are not alone.
It’s a powerful message that brings the community together during this uncertain time.
Council for Disabled Children newsletter ‘Making Ourselves Heard!’
You can view the latest newsletter from the Council for Disabled Children here.
Bereavement support guide
Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Clinical Commissioning Group has produced a guide to services in the area and national organisations that offer support for people who have lost a loved one.
If you feel you need support or advice, it may be helpful to first talk to your GP. They may be able to help you see a counsellor. Your place of work or school may be able to help too. Faith communities can also be a source of support for many people.
You can read the guide here.
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SERVSC expands services to respond to COVID-19 emergency in communities
Charity SERV Suffolk & Cambridgeshire (SERVSC) provides essential services to NHS hospitals in the region, transporting blood, blood products, samples and donated breast milk every day of the year. However, in response to COVID-19, the charity has expanded its services even further to support local hospitals and communities.
The charity has been supporting the Peterborough COVID-19 Hub, by delivering prescription medicines to people who are unable to collect them. It has also been supporting Peterborough and Cambridgeshire NHS Foundation Trust by using its fleet of vans to transport vital PPE to community hospitals and health centres.
This extension of services has seen a 50 per cent increase in the number of calls they receive. As a result, because the charity continues to carry out its primary function, many of the services in response to COVID-19 are completed out of SERVSC hours.
Cindy Dickerson, SERVSC chairwoman, said: "We have been really happy to support our NHS services during this challenging time. To do all this we have increased our hours to 24/7 every day and as a result it has enabled us to double the capacity of tasks we can do. Our volunteers have been fantastic and we have had some really great responses from the patients and hospitals they have been helping."
SERVSC doesn’t receive any government funding so it relies on donations from the public, charitable grants and awards and by corporate sponsorship. However, during the COVID-19 emergency it has been unable to perform its usual fundraising activities so has been relying on generous donations from the public using the charity’s text donate service.
If you would like to donate to SERV Suffolk and Cambridgeshire, you can text ‘BLOODRUNNERS’ to 70085 to donate £5. Alternatively, you can text ‘BLOODRUNNERS’ followed by the monetary value you would like to donate, e.g. ‘BLOODRUNNERS15’ to donate £15. (Messages sent at the standard text rate).
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New website supports shielded to keep busy
A new interactive website, believed to be the first of its kind in the country, has been launched for people who are shielding to help them combat loneliness.
The new website launched by the Countywide Coordination Hub this week is a collaboration between Cambridgeshire Skills, City College Peterborough and Cambridgeshire Library Service.
The idea for the website was borne out of the fact that one of the challenges for people who are self-isolating is being able to keep busy in their own home.
The website will offer a set of leisure, pleasure and learning opportunities for shielded people to take part in. This will include aligning the food deliveries from the hub to a healthy eating class, both online or via recipe cards for those that don’t have digital access. The food delivery from the hub will include all the ingredients needed to cook the meal that will be taught online or via the recipe card.
In addition, there will be sewing classes taught through instruction cards for those that have no internet access, that would include a delivery of materials and instruction to learn how to sew alongside the food deliveries.
There is also a section of the website which supports families of pre-school children to help their children prepare to start school in September.
For those people who do not have access to a computer, information that is on the website will be sent through the post. A bid for funding has also been made to set up a scheme where people can loan laptops or to supply those without digital access with tablets to allow them to access the website and engage with friends and family online.
Adrian Chapman, Service Director: Communities and Partnerships, Peterborough City Council and Cambridgeshire County Council, said: "We currently have more than 16,000 people on the shielded list, with around a third needing our help and support, and this is growing all the time. As well as providing deliveries of food and medication and offering a befriending service and meeting many other needs, we know that many people who are shielding need help and support to keep busy at home at this very difficult time.
"This new website will allow everyone who is shielding, regardless of whether they have told us they need help or not, to take part in a whole range of activities and sessions, whether it's cooking, learning a new skill or supporting our NHS by sewing masks and other items."
Details of the website and how people can log in will be shared with those on the shielding list.
Identifying modern slavery
Modern slavery is a harmful and hidden crime and its victims may be especially isolated and hidden from view during the coronavirus outbreak. Further information on modern slavery and coronavirus can be found here.
Bharat Hindu Samaj Community SEWA Project
Since the announcement of lockdown, volunteers from the Hindu community (Bharat Hindu Samaj) started undertaking Serving, Encouraging, Working for, Assisting the Community (SEWA).
This has included helping families, friends and neighbours with shopping and collecting medicines in order to keep elderly and vulnerable community members safe, without needing help and support from any wider community groups.
For those older people who do not have access to social media or have language issues, a group of people have been calling them regularly to keep in touch and offer support for shopping and other essential tasks.
Members, worshippers and devotees of the Hindu Temple have also started donating towards a fund for providing food for the needy. Donations have come flooding in and the management committee and trustees have been reacting to various requests from the council and PCVS for groceries and sanitary products.
Recently, the Hindu Temple donated enough groceries to make up 200 food parcels for the homeless, at the request of the Peterborough Soup Kitchen.
A representative from the Peterborough Soup Kitchen said: "Thanks to all the members of the Bharat Hindu Samaj Community for the wonderful food donation received earlier today. Our volunteers are making up over 200 food bags for the homeless this weekend and the donated food items will be used in those bags. These homeless individuals are currently provided accommodation in hotels/B&Bs across Peterborough to keep them off the streets and safe.
"Thank you again for your continued support, without which we would not be able to continue feeding the homeless and needy".
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