Help with the Cost of Living:

A Range of Resources Newly Refreshed in Shropshire

Is your organisation helping those struggling with the cost of living crisis? Perhaps your volunteers, staff or organisation itself is struggling with increasing costs?

Key VCSE and public sector partners across Shropshire have recently published or refreshed a range of resources to help.

Cost of Living Help Website

Shropshire Council, in partnership with Shropshire Citizens' Advice, Marches Energy Agency, Community Resource, Shropshire Food Poverty Alliance, Shropshire Mental Health Support and Shropshire Libraries, has refreshed its Cost of Living Help website. The new site is easy to use, and features resources and support from Shropshire's VCSE sector as well as the public sector support that users can access. 

The partnership work on the website is led by the Shropshire Social Task Force, which first came into being as a result of Covid, and has recently reconvened to tackle the cost of living crisis. The site's cohesive, uncomplicated messaging has been crafted by a Cost of Living Communications Group commissioned by the Social Task Force, in order to help coordinate communications across the VCSE and public sectors and reach the most people with the most effective messages. 

This group recommends that frontline staff point people to this website as a key resource, and deliver these three core messages:

• If someone is worried about money or struggling right now, they are not alone. 
• They should not wait before getting help. Shropshire Council and many support organisations are seeing rises in the number of people seeking help and, as winter approaches, you may see more delays in getting responses. 
• The good news is that there is help available. 

Worried About Money? Leaflet

A revised hard copy of the Worried About Money? leaflet is now available! If your organisation would like printed copies of the new leaflet, please email Sophie Padgett, Shropshire Food Poverty Alliance Coordinator.

You can also now direct your service beneficiaries to the new online version of the leaflet, which takes users step-by-step through the process of finding out how to get the financial help they need.

Keep Shropshire Warm Energy Crisis Support Booklet

The Keep Shropshire Warm Team is supported by Shropshire Council and Marches Energy Agency. They have produced a new Energy Crisis Support Booklet, which answers common questions and provides information and advice for those struggling with their energy needs.

Expert Drop-In Advice

Shropshire libraries is hosting expert drop-in advice during July and August at libraries around the county. Download this leaflet to distribute and to learn the dates and locations of this free advice service.

DWP Toolkit

Finally, organisations may find this recently released Stakeholder and Employer Toolkit from the Department for Work and Pensions to be really useful. It contains suggested media copy, as well as information on household cost of living payments.

Shropshire Social Task Force Delivers Letter on Cost of Living to MPs

The Shropshire Social Task Force - which first came into being as a result of Covid, and has recently reconvened to tackle the cost of living crisis - has delivered an open letter to Shropshire MPs.

The letter's signatories state:

"We would like to make a strong case for national policy change regarding support for the cost of living, for families who are impacted, and for an increase in support for those of pension age. However, we specifically appeal that Shropshire be eligible for any future investment of funds due to high levels of need and rural, often more hidden inequalities, for poor health outcomes in these communities and rising impact on our care system. Programmes that support our children and older people living in low income households and levelling up must address rural disadvantage to give us the tools to support our residents in crisis."

Read the full letter here.

The Social Task Force members signing the letter hail from Shropshire's public sector organisations, such as Shropshire Council Shrewsbury & Telford Hospital, Shropshire Partners in Care, Shrewsbury Colleges Group, Shropshire Association of Local Councils, the Department of Work and Pensions, as well as members of the VCSE sector, including Shropshire Citizens' Advice Bureau, Marches Energy Agency, Community Resource, Age UK and Shropshire Food Poverty Alliance.

This letter comes on the heels of another recent open letter to the government, signed by 36 Shropshire organisations, including VCSE and public sector bodies, who expressed growing concerns about the impact of the crisis in the County. Read the full story in the Shropshire Star.

ICS Seeks Employing Body to Host New Voluntary Sector Engagement and Partnership Lead

The Shropshire Telford and Wrekin ICS is looking for voluntary sector bodies to submit expressions of interest to host an all-new engagement role designed to lead in ICS/VCS partnership work.

The main aim of the role is to elevate the voice and influence of the VCSE within key strategic and decision-making forums. The role will be hosted within the VCSE but will benefit from support within the ICS Communications and Engagement Team and VCSE leads.

The full role description and person specification can be found here.

Before the right person for the job can be found, the ICS is looking for the right VCSE organisation to host it.

If your organisation is interested in the opportunity to host this fully-funded position, please complete this expression of interest form and email it to Rachael Jones, Senior Communications and Engagement Manager at Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin ICS by Friday 29 July 2022. Please also feel free to contact Rachael with any questions.

Shropshire Carers Support Create New 'Carer Feedback' Form

Shropshire Carers Support Team want to hear the voices of unpaid and family carers in Shropshire, so they have created the ‘Carer Feedback’ form.

They want carers to have more opportunity to get involved with the services they access.

The Carers Feedback will give carers and representatives an opportunity to tell the team their experiences with the whole of the Health and Social Care Sector - good or bad. 

Please note, this is not a complaint form, it is a mechanism for the Carers Support team to share good practice and forward poor performance to relevant support areas as necessary.  Carers will be kept updated on what has happened to their feedback and all outcomes achieved.

The Shropshire Carers Support Team sais:

"This a really positive new way for all of Health and Social Care organisations included Voluntary and Community Sector organisations to have a 2 way conversation with carers – all views matter!"

The form can be found on Shropshire Choices website.

Current VCSE Engagement Opportunities

The VCSA newsletter will now contain a regular feature highlighting current open surveys and engagement opportunities that are relevant for VCSE organisations and their beneficiaries.

Flyers/materials for distribution will be made available for download as well as any relevant links. If you have engagement opportunities to share/list here please email Sarah Hampson, VCS Insight and Engagement Officer at Shropshire Council to have it included in an upcoming newsletter.

Shropshire Wildlife Trust, Canal and River Trust and Energize Shropshire, Telford and Wrekin are coming together to empower people to make use of their local green spaces, (the canal networks) for their health and wellbeing in the Whitchurch area. They want to understand your thoughts and barriers to being active in green spaces and understand more about the challenges people might face in your area. Closing 19th July

• Survey link

APPG call for evidence on cost-of-living crisis and school meals. The All Party Parliamentary Group for School Food is undertaking a short survey to gain a snapshot of the impact of the cost of living crisis on school food. The survey should take a no more than 10 minutes to complete. All Responses to the survey will be anonymised in the report. Closing 22nd July

• Survey link

Libraries strategy 2022-2027: Provide your feedback on the draft strategy, which describes the changes the Library Service will make to be at the forefront of the council’s future relationship with its residents, and how the service will work in partnership with others to deliver the county’s priorities. Closing 3rd August

• Survey link
• Download executive summary
• Download full draft strategy
• Download FAQs

Shropshire Economic Growth Strategy: The Economic Growth Strategy for Shropshire (EGS) for 2022-2027 has now been published as a draft for formal consultation. The strategy has been refreshed to consider the council’s response to the Covid-19 pandemic and the impacts of Brexit and also how these national changes impact on partners and the economy. The draft strategy has been developed through ongoing collaboration between Shropshire Council, the local economic taskforce, Shropshire’s business community, and other partners and key stakeholders. Closing 15th August

• Shropshire's Draft Economic Growth Strategy
• Shropshire's Economic Evidence Base
• Full consultation information
• Survey link

Charities Commission Annual Return Consultation: A consultation on its proposed new approach to the annual return, and a new set of up to 16 questions it plans to include. These changes would come into effect from 1 January 2023. Closing 1st September

• Survey link

Telford and Wrekin Council Aging Well Survey: Share your views on the support you need to 'age well'. Telford and Wrekin Council, together with a wide range of our local partner organisations are launching a borough-wide “Ageing Well” consultation, asking residents over the age of 50 to share their views on the support they need to age well. Closing 16th September

• Survey link

Shropshire Council Diversity survey: Shropshire Council and partners are working to understand the needs of every local area in Shropshire. They recognise that Shropshire is made up of diverse communities, and not all health, wellbeing, community and personal needs will be the same. Shropshire Council are collecting information to paint a picture about local use of health services, health and wellbeing, and the demographic and economic make up of our communities. Right now, they specifically want to hear from people in: Whitchurch and surrounding area; Oswestry and surrounding area; St Martins. Closing date TBD

• Survey link

Healthwatch: 999 and ambulance services feedback. Healthwatch want to understand how the current strains on the ambulance service are impacting people’s health and lives. No closing date

• Survey link

Landau to Host Jobs Fair 20th July

The Dana, Shrewsbury

Landau and its partners in Shropshire will be hosting a jobs fair at The Dana, Shrewsbury on 20^th July. Local employers confirmed to attend so far such as Shropshire Fire and Rescue; The Wrekin Housing Group; Culina logistics; Midlands Partnership NHS foundation; Radfield Home Care Shrewsbury & Oswestry; Paveaways; ABP will be there - to name a few - with many more expected!

Please feel free to download and circulate this flyer among your service users.

If you are a local employer and would like more information on how to take part (stands are free!) please contact the Landau Employer Engagement Officers, Ben Deacon or Karina Cullen.

Practical Applications: Working with Overlooked Communities

Suicide Bereavement Online Conference

Every Tuesday and Thursday between 6th of September - 29th of September 2022, Harmless will be hosting a live online webinar session (10:00-11:00am) with an expert in the field of suicide bereavement. This unique CPD-accredited conference will be held online over 8 short sessions to allow you to join in flexibly at however many sessions you'd like.

The field of suicide bereavement is a particularly specialist area. When we start talking about suicide it can be surprising how many others have a story to tell. So many of us are impacted by suicide either through the tragic loss of a loved one, someone we once worked with, someone in our community, a patient, or someone very supportive. Everyone has a story.

Harmless are hosting their third online Suicide Bereavement conference to examine the practical application of working in the field of suicide bereavement, split over 8 live webinars during the month of World Suicide Prevention Day.

The programme is designed to help those working with anyone impacted by suicide to improve their knowledge, skills and understanding in relation to suicide bereavement. Delegates can expect to take away from the conference a range of knowledge, inspiration and practical applications for the implementation in real life personal and professional situations. Learning from some of the leaders in the field, delegates will have access to interactive sessions that can drive change in the field of suicide bereavement.

Visit the Eventbrite link to book.

Men's Health Forum Online Training Sessions

The Men's Health Forum is running online training sessions for anyone who wishes to become a Men's Health Champion.

Men's Health Champions are not health professionals but members of the public who care about men's health and want to help improve it. The training takes place on July 19th and 21st from 10am-12pm and costs £149.

You can find out all the details on the Men's Health Forum website here.

Shropshire Council Arts Café Event in partnership with Creative Lives

26th July online 6.30pm 

The session will look at:

• Partnership working with other arts professionals, the community and other sectors
• Researching and applying for funding
• How art and culture can be a catalyst for positive change within a place or community

The Arts Council's new strategy 'Let's Create' emphasises the importance of creativity in everyday life, and challenges artists to think about how they can open up their practices to allow more people to embrace creativity. In this session, Nicola Winstanley- Creative Lives Development Officer (West Midlands)- shares some guidance on co-creation, creative placemaking and approaches to funding. The session will include case studies from across the UK, and there will be time to discuss ideas and approaches specific to Shropshire.

For a zoom link to attend this event, please email Barry Trench, Arts Development Officer at Shropshire Council.

The session aims to address:

• Partnership working with other arts professionals, the community and other sectors
• Researching and applying for funding
• How art and culture can be a catalyst for positive change within a place or community 

Creative Lives is a registered charity that was established in 1991. They champion community and volunteer-led creative activity, and work to improve opportunities for everyone to be creative. In particular, they celebrate and promote people expressing themselves creatively with others, recognising the benefits this can bring. 

Beat the Street Game Coming to Shrewsbury

29th June to 10th August

In The Café  Get-Togethers with a Theme for LGBT+ People Over 50

In Palmer's Café, Shrewsbury 2-4pm

Next topic: July 27th: Day trips & Fundraising - Doing it for Ourselves              

Are you interested in being involved in organising LGBT+ day trips for the over 50’s?

What about running a fundraising activity for SAND? At In The Café this month we’d welcome your ideas and involvement.

Some of the regulars at In The Cafe have asked about trips out with the group. This falls outside of what SAND can do, but they can help people from the group access support in getting this off the ground.

Another way to get involved is to help them with their fundraising for this year. From bake sales to baked bean baths, bring along your ideas for raising money and helping SAND do its work.

The King's Fund Virtual Conference:

Time for Action on Poverty

19-22 September 2022

The case for addressing poverty, its root causes and associated health inequalities is urgent and overwhelming. The Covid-19 pandemic has laid bare the harm caused by deprivation, and the cost-of-living crisis is likely to hit the poorest the hardest – leading to poorer health and lower social mobility.

At this event, leaders across the NHS, local government, the voluntary, community and social enterprise (VCSE) sector, and those with lived experience will share learning on the role of the health and care sector in tackling the root causes of poverty.

The event will provide practical examples on how the health and care sector can effectively engage with partners across local government, the VCSE sector and business, to achieve meaningful progress on poverty and deliver services to the most excluded in society. You will hear about the role of NHS organisations as ‘anchor institutions’ and discuss how health and care organisations should use their influence and resources to poverty-proof services, address inequalities, and benefit the communities they serve.

To learn more and to book your place, please visit the event web page.

Mayfair Community Centre: Day Service Coordinator

22-28 hours a week (to be agreed) 3 or 4 days within Mon to Fri 9.00- 5.00.

For more information, visit the Mayfaire Centre website. 

Closing Date Fri 22nd July 2022, interviews Wed 27th July

Job description

Application form - PDF

Paid and Volunteer Opportunities:

Girls Friendly Society Market Drayton

The Girls Friendly Society (GFS) Market Drayton is recruiting for general volunteers, as well as a group coordinator part-time position.

Volunteers: GFS are looking for women who would like to volunteer and would be happy to share their skills and interests with the girls through a range of activities including arts and crafts, skills for life, sports and community participation. GFS offers weekly group sessions that offer support, fun and friendship for girls and young women in the local community. The sessions offer girls a safe, female-only space to develop their confidence, self-esteem, wellbeing and resilience.

Interested in volunteering? Learn more on their website! 

Group Coordinator Market Drayton: Group coordinators will run a local GFS group and gain experience in managing a team of volunteers and supporting the growth of GFS in the local area. 

You will be responsible for: promoting GFS in schools and local networks to recruit girls/young women; training and leading a team of volunteers to plan and deliver weekly GFS sessions. 

You will need experience of youth work or a related field in particular developing and delivering activities for children/young people. 

You should be able to: apply equality, diversity, and inclusive practices across your work, operate within GFS’s feminist values, and put girls and young women at the heart of decision making.

 Part time 5 hours per week during term time. 

This post is eligible for criminal records check with the DBS.

Interested in applying? Visit the GFS website! Closing date Wednesday 13^th July at 12:00 hours. 

Citizens' Advice Shropshire:

Help to Claim Welfare Rights Adviser/Trainee

Do you like to work as part of a team but also like being independent and resourceful? Are you passionate about working for an organisation that is committed to making a difference and making society fairer?

Citizens' Advice Shropshire are looking to employ a Help to Claim Welfare Rights Adviser/Trainee

Location: Remote/Homeworking

Salary: £20,852 pro rata. Increasing to £21,166 pro rata + Pension Contribution

Hours: 35 hours per week

Holidays: 28 days + Bank Holidays

End date of contract: 31 March 2023 with possible extension

In this role, you will be responsible to our Specialist Services Manager.

• As a Welfare Rights Adviser/Trainee you will join an established Help to Claim team helping people to make claims for Universal Credit through to their first payment.
• You will play a key role in ensuring clients receive good quality advice via telephone and digital channels, including carrying out benefits checks, assisting with applications, and contributing to team rotas and targets.
• Good attention to detail, strong IT skills and a focus on good customer service are some of the key attributes needed for this role.

Closing Date: midnight Sunday 24^th July 2022. For more information and to apply, visit the Citizens' Advice Shropshire website.

Qube: Hiring for Three Roles

Qube in Oswestry are hiring for three positions!

• Finance Officer
• Transport Officer
• Social Prescribing Triage Officer

Visit the Qube website to find out more and to apply. You can also email them or phone 01691 656882

Lingen Davies: Health Engagement Coordinator

Are you a confident, friendly person with excellent communication skills and a passion for improving people’s health?

Lingen Davies are recruiting a health engagement coordinator to work with the Health Engagement Team, delivering on the ground cancer awareness within communities – they’ll be able to support cancer champions with opportunities to get out into communities should they so wish.

This is a public-facing role, getting out into the community at events and on high streets to raise awareness of cancer (early diagnosis, cancer screening and prevention), looking for new opportunities to engage with people from all walks of life, across Shropshire, Telford & Wrekin, and Mid Wales.

This role will focus on developing programmes of work throughout the region, using a range of activities and settings to effectively engage with the public, making maximum use of the Lingen Davies Health Promotion Van to take engagement activities out into the community.

Full details and application form can be found on the Lingen Davies website

Closes 21st July 9am.

For an informal conversation about this role please email Miranda Ashwell, Health Engagement Officer, or phone 01743 492396

Volunteer Opportunity: Shrewsbury Ark

The Shrewsbury Ark is a day centre supporting homeless and vulnerable people throughout Shropshire from its headquarters in the heart of Shrewsbury.  They are actively recruiting volunteers to work across a range of roles. From supporting clients and cooking and cleaning in the day centre to office administration and helping out in the shop, whatever time or skills you have, they would like to hear from you!  

Please visit their website or call them on 01743 363 305. You can also email  if you are interested, or for more information.

Volunteer Opportunity: Roy Fletcher Centre

Digital Tutors

The Roy Fletcher Centre in Shrewsbury is looking for volunteer Digital Tutors to provide digital skills support to a 65+ age group who have little or no experience of the digital world.

Volunteers would help at their IT tuition service and IT support groups on Mondays and/or Wednesday mornings 10:30-12:30 or Thursday mornings 10:30-1pm.

Download the full role description here.

Interested? Contact Pauline Briand at the Roy Fletcher Centre on 01743 341300 

Telford and Wrekin Climate Change Fund Open for Second Round

Telford & Wrekin Council is urging local community groups facing difficulty or even closure due to soaring energy bills to apply for a grant from its Climate Change Fund, which groups can use to make their premises more energy efficient, helping them reduce fuel bills.