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Welcome to the latest edition of our newsletter. First of all I want to say a big thank you to O&H Peterborough, a local business which has very generously donated money to our Peterborough Community Reslience Group/hub.
This donation will support our voluntary and community sector work. The increase in need due to COVID-19 means we need more resources and this donation will enable a much-needed extension of services. Also I want to thank another local business, BGL, which has enabled us to buy iPads for some of our care providers, enabling residents to keep in contact with their family and friends – thank you so much.
We have had an increased number of calls from our residents who are feeling lonely and isolated, this is not surprising, as many have not been able to leave their homes for a very long time. The hub can help with friendly calls and activities, so please encourage people to contact us if they need this type of support – this ranges from young people to older people.
We have been told that some of our residents may not think they qualify for support from the hub, as they do not consider themselves needy enough or vulnerable. Please, please tell everyone that there is no criteria to access the support from the hub – if anyone needs help, it does not matter what it is – just ring 01733 747474 and we will do our best to provide direct support or find someone who can help.
In this newsletter you will find some great examples of how agencies and organisations continue to step up and help with the wide variety of needs that our residents have – everyone is amazing and I continue to feel very proud of our great city.
Wendi Ogle-Welbourn
Watch my recent VLOG here.
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NHS Test and Trace
A guide to NHS Test and Trace has been produced by Peterborough City Council so that residents understand the programme and what they need to do as part of it.
The more people that use NHS Test and Trace correctly, the more effective it will be at stopping the spread of the virus, the safer it will be for you and your family and the quicker the lockdown measures can be lifted.
Find out more and read the guide on the council website.
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 Safe and well checks for people who the NHS believes should be shielding, who have not yet registered, have been continuing.
In the past two weeks the Countywide Co-ordination Hub has been supported by the British Red Cross and redeployed staff to make contact with just over 2,000 people across Peterborough and Cambridgeshire to check whether they are okay and need help and support.
Of this group, 1,228 people were successfully contacted by telephone and a further 780 were visited at home. As a result, 27 people who required urgent help and support were identified.
Rob Hill, part of the hub team, said: “We will continue in the coming days and weeks to attempt to make contact with people who we have been told should be shielding who have not yet registered.
“We know from the visits we have made so far how essential this work is, as we are coming across people who really do need our help and support at this time.
“I cannot thank enough the redeployed staff and volunteers we have supporting us on these checks. Their hard work is making sure that some of the most vulnerable people in our communities are supported.”
Janette, one of the redeployed staff members from Peterborough City Council who has been supporting the work, said: “I really enjoyed making the calls this week. I feel as if I made a difference, I hope, to many of the people I spoke to.”
At time of publication there are 18,893 people on the shielded list with 4,538 people telling the hub that they need ongoing support.
Volunteers in the spotlight - Listening Ear
“My name is Annie and I am the volunteer coordinator for Caring Together.
"Caring Together has a number of volunteer roles within the charity, many of which could not continue once COVID-19 restrictions were put in place, as they predominantly involved face to face contact with carers and the loved ones they care for.
"In order to continue to provide support for carers, Caring Together needed to increase the number of volunteers acting as a ‘Listening Ear’ on the telephone. We already had this service prior to lockdown, but as you would expect demand for this greatly increased once the social isolation measures were introduced.
"I contacted Peterborough City Council as I understood that a phenomenal amount of people had volunteered to help within the Peterborough region. The response to our request was amazing - in total we had 27 applications. Although we would have loved to have them all supporting us, the demand for the service was not at those levels. So far we have recruited three fantastic volunteers who are huge assets to Caring Together and the Listening Ear service.
"The demand for the Listening Ear is containing to grow so we hope to recruit more people from the applications we have received."
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Mary’s Child supports the local community
Mary’s Child is a charity that seeks to offer care and support to families and individuals in need.
The charity responds to requests from the local community, council, statutory agencies, community organisations and individuals to provide practical and pastoral support and is committed to working in partnership with others. It can usually provide emergency food and toiletries and other essentials when families or individuals fall into difficulty and will signpost to other charities and organisations to enable longer term solutions. Occasionally they are able to offer legal advice and advocacy.
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Mary’s Child Peterborough is now forming through the CofE Churches of Stanground and Farcet, and is currently supporting those in the area who have been affected by COVID-19. They are delivering food parcels and kindness bags and seeking to support those in need in a variety of ways.
Revd Carol R Avery, BEM, founder and chair of Mary's Child and Pioneer Priest for Stanground and Farcet said: “We look forward to working with others to improve the lives of families and individuals who find themselves in difficulty by listening, caring and providing practical support in the hope that they can then flourish."
Living Sport - Tackling Inequalities funding support
Living Sport has announced funding to support groups and organisations in Cambridgeshire and Peterborough.
The fund is focused on helping reduce the negative impact of COVID-19 and the widening of the inequalities in sport and physical activity. Living Sport is looking for groups and organisations that work with people from
- lower socio-economic groups
- Black, Asian Minority Ethnic Communities
- people with disabilities
- people with long-term health conditions
who can demonstrate their need for funding, to support their work over the next six months.
Grants are available and could fund a variety of things including:
- Addressing hardship through funding support
- Keeping the target audience active in this period
- Offering advice and training support
- Increasing resilience, capacity and capability of deliverers
You can find further information here.
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Healthwatch forums are back
The Healthwatch health and care forums - which run in Fenland, Peterborough, Huntingdonshire and Greater Cambridge - are back in action.
These public forums are designed to listen to what the public has to say about services across our area on anything related to health or care.
In March, they had to be postponed because of the coronavirus lockdown. But they have now been moved online so residents and service providers can reconnect and talk about the changes that have been happening in our communities.
If you would like to get involved, call Healthwatch on 0330 355 1285, text 07520 635176 or email enquiries@healthwatchcambspboro.co.uk if you want to join a meeting. They will send you a link and a password.
Thursday 25 June, 10am. The session will run via Zoom video conferencing.
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Disability Peterborough June Newsletter
Read the latest issue of Disability Peterborough’s newsletter here.
Parenting newsletter
The Early Help Team at Peterborough City Council has produced a fifth parenting newsletter supporting parents, carers, children and young people during COVID-19.
Safeguarding during COVID-19
The Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Safeguarding Partnership Board recognises that the COVID-19 virus is putting increasing pressure on all services providing support to children, young people, adults at risk and families.
You can find lots of useful resources on its COVID-19 page.
Local NSPCC newsletter
The Peterborough NSPCC team has produced its fifth newsletter.
The newsletter has a range of advice and support for parents and
carers and activities for young people.
 Youth Inspired newsletter and new online Zoom activity schedule
Youth Inspired Peterborough is running online activities via zoom suitable for young people aged 12 and above.
See the full schedule for June here or visit the Youth Inspired facebook page for more details.
To find out more about Youth Inspired read its June newsletter here.
Easy Read information on coronavirus
The keepsafe website has lots of useful Easy Read information on COVID-19, including posters that can be downloaded and printed.
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Taking your calls: Alzheimer’s Society's support line
The Alzheimer’s Society has always had dementia advisors at the end of the phone line. However, coronavirus has made phone support even more vital for people affected by dementia. Many callers have felt confused or conflicted over how to follow government guidance, or worried about someone continuing to receive essential support.
The Alzheimer’s Society is there for you, whatever your question. It can answer queries about all aspects of dementia and offer advice and support for all associated challenges, including coronavirus.
The Dementia Connect Support Line is 0333 150 3456. Find out more here.
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Scam Awareness Fortnight began this week and the focus is on scams which take advantage of the uncertainty and loneliness felt by many during the COVID-19 outbreak.
During the fortnight, Peterborough City Council will be sharing information about the types of scams which criminals are using amid the COVID-19 outbreak. Some of these include:
- adverts of face masks or medical equipment at high prices
- emails or texts pretending to be from the government
- emails offering life insurance against coronavirus
- people knocking at your door and asking for money for fake charities
The best way to protect your neighbours from being scammed is to spread the message. Unfortunately, it is estimated that 7 out of 10 (68%) of people targeted by a scam do not tell anyone about it and only around 5% of scams are reported.
Further information on coronavirus scams are available here.
You can access free downloadable resources for coronavirus and all types of scams on the resources webpage of the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Against Scams Partnership (CAPASP).
For further advice on scams, please call the Citizens Advice consumer helpline: 0808 223 11 33. To report a scam, please call Action Fraud: 0300 123 2040
Aware of the additional pressure upon unpaid family carers during the coronavirus lockdown, Peterborough City Council has been busy calling carers to make sure they have access to support.
The Countywide Co-ordination Hub has been supporting carers and the most vulnerable members of society, helping with access to food and medication, signposting to professional services, arranging a friendly phone call and offering a point of contact should any needs arise.
Those working and volunteering in the hub are speaking to carers young and old every day, from all walks of life, including Mr F, who was finding it increasingly difficult to care for his wife during the lockdown.
Mr F, himself in his 80s and recovering from throat cancer, is a full-time carer for his wife, who is disabled and unable to leave the house. He was having to make essential trips for food and medication, meaning he was having to leave his wife alone at home for prolonged periods.
Mr F was contacted by the council and referred to the Co-ordination Hub, and the couple is now receiving support with food deliveries and medication.
Mr F said: “The lady from the council was brilliant. My wife and I now have online slots with two supermarkets, and we’ve received a food bundle that was just great. They are also helping pick up our medication. It may sound like a simple thing to some people, but I can’t tell you how much it means to us, just knowing that someone is looking out for us and there if we need them.”
In the last census close to 20,000 people in Peterborough identified themselves as carers, but we know the numbers are likely to be higher as those providing care don’t often see themselves as a ‘carer’.
Caring Together supports carers in Peterborough. Information for carers is available on the Peterborough Information Network.
More than £600,000 has been distributed by the Cambridgeshire Coronavirus Community Fund to support community organisations across Cambridgeshire and Peterborough to continue to help those in need during the COVID-19 crisis.
Many groups have had to adapt their services to continue providing support to the community, including a shift to online services or remote delivery.
As a result of lockdown, many opportunities that groups rely on for fundraising have been cancelled, such as the London Marathon, and as such the funds to make these changes and to continue supporting the community have become stretched.
However, thanks to the Cambridgeshire Coronavirus Community Fund, many organisations have been able to continue supporting their communities. This has included helping those with learning disabilities, supporting people to access groceries and food, assisting those at risk of homelessness and supplying people with the resources to allow them to remain occupied in lockdown and improve their wellbeing. The fund itself is completely reliant on donations from the public.
Katrina D’Souza, community development officer for the Cambridgeshire Community Foundation, said: “We are so grateful to our donors, but the fund can only run for as long as people are donating to it.
The Cambridgeshire Community Foundation has always been focused on addressing the inequality that exists across Cambridgeshire, which no doubt will be negatively impacted as a result of the virus. We all have a responsibility to support our community!”
You can find out more and donate to the fund here.
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Bharat Hindu Samaj - Community update
Bharat Hindu Samaj - the Hindu temple in Peterborough - has been helping its Hindu members, the NHS and the wider Peterborough community with donations received from its members.
More food donations, which have been used to make food bags for feeding the homeless and needy, have been donated to Peterborough Soup Kitchen and the Foodbank. Volunteers also work with the Soup Kitchen and the Foodbank to identify, source and purchase the required items.
The Hindu community has also supplied hot vegetarian meals to staff at Peterborough hospital, prepared by volunteers in their homes, in clean and safe environments with appropriate precautions.
Together with the charity Barnardos, they have also been arranging charity collections of children’s items at the temple. This includes toys, books, bedding, nappies and other essentials. These items will then be distributed to families in need.
In addition to these activities they continue to supply groceries, gloves and masks to members of the community.
In these unprecedented circumstances, it is very important that everyone knows help is available for those who need it the most. For more information on Bharat Hindu Samaj and the work they are doing in the community visit their facebook page.
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Support available to expectant and new mums in Peterborough
Having a new baby can be a huge life change at the best of times, but in lockdown it can be a really isolating and daunting experience.
Cross Keys Homes, in partnership with the NCT Peterborough branch, can provide telephone support to new mums across the city.
The Birth & Beyond Community Support project has trained volunteers on standby to offer new and expectant mums a listening ear and signposting to local services.
This is a FREE confidential service available to pregnant women or women with a child under two years old.
Email: birthandbeyondeast@nct.org.uk for more information.
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