Please find below information about the ‘Staying Warm and Well in Devon’ campaign. This campaign aims to support vulnerable and older people across the county to deal with the adverse effects of winter – issues relating to fuel bills, cold houses or other weather related impacts – by providing a single point of access to refer people to get the help they need.

Local Voluntary Co-ordinators will complete a ‘Warm and Well Check’ and develop ‘Individual Action Plans’ for eligible individuals referred to the service

• Coordinators will then use links with local services and a pot of flexible funds to help these individuals get the help they need, whether that is small home adaptations – cavity wall or loft insulation etc; financial advice; help to get on the right fuel tariff; home safety checks; help to get shopping and many other small, practical interventions that could make a huge difference.

It’s really very simple! If, through your work, family or social activities, you identify someone over the age of 50, who you think could do with a helping hand this winter, please help us to make a difference by referring them for a ‘Staying Warm and Well’ check.

You will, of course, have to obtain their consent to make the referral; once you have this you can make a referral by:

• by visiting www.dacvs.org.uk and completing an online referral form
• making a telephone referral to 01392 284284 or
• alternatively, you can signpost clients to make a self referral.

NB: For clients who have difficulties in communicating by telephone or in accessing the internet, we will arrange a home visit (likely to be via a local VCS organisation).

The Staying Well and Warm in Devon project will be active throughout the months of February and March.

Thank you for your support.

A memory café is a place where people with a dementia and their families/friends can visit to support each other and share information and experiences. The cafes provide a friendly, informal and relaxed atmosphere for visitors to drop by, enjoy a free cup of tea/coffee and some cake, and meet other people in similar circumstances to themselves, as well as the opportunity to talk with members of the healthcare team, and to get advice, information and support about living with dementia. Free leaflets are available, and also a variety of books about dementia and other relevant subjects to borrow.
The café operates on a drop in basis; just turn up any time between 10.00am-12noon on the 3rd Friday of the month, and you will be warmly welcomed by our staff and volunteers with a cup of tea/coffee and cake.

If you would like to find out more about the Northam Memory Cafe please contact Sharon at Taw & Torridge Caring on 01237 459337 or email: sharonttc@torridgecvs.org.uk
visit www.northdevonmemorycafes.org.uk or drop by at the next cafe.

Some comments from participants: –

“I have such a lot of fun remembering those things that I used to do when I was a child”

“It has been wonderful getting to know everyone else, and hearing their stories”

Similar sessions are also occurring from 10.30am to 12 noon on the 2nd Wednesday of each month in Bideford Library [via the town hall entrance]. In these sessions we hope to create a booklet of recollections that can be sold in the library for others to enjoy.

To book a place for any of these sessions, or for further information please call Sharon or Sue at Taw & Torridge Caring on: 01237 459337 or email: TTC@torridgecvs.org.uk

An initial briefing

Introduction

The Government is reviewing how local authorities are funded. It is doing this in two parts: part one is the proposal that local councils should retain a greater proportion of the National Non-Domestic Rates, commonly known as business rates; part two relates to proposals on the Community Budget. This initial briefing outlines the Government’s proposals for business rates retention, the changes that will result and considers the issues of interest to NAVCA members. The proposals are set out in a consultation document[1], which is accompanied by a plain English Guide[2]. A further eight technical papers have recently been released[3] and we will provide a briefing on them in due course.

The proposals are important to the local voluntary and community sector for several interrelated reasons:

• they are likely to affect a significant proportion of local voluntary and community organisations funded directly or indirectly by local government;
• changes to local government finances are likely to have a direct impact on local services and therefore on local communities;
• any potential change in the funding of public services is likely to affect the demand on services provided by local voluntary organisations;
• local authorities are key partners for the sector and therefore any significant change for the local authorities is bound to have some impact on the sector.

To read more Click here.

Your local walk is at: ILFRACOMBE
on: Sunday 25th September

For more details and to register, visit memorywalk.org.uk

 Asda will invite local voluntary groups to use the store for meetings and the chance to boost fundraising with display space and donations from the company.

 Asda has a proud history of supporting the communities it serves – it defines the way it works by not only saving people money but helping them live better. Now with more and more of its customers feeling the squeeze financially Asda wants to do more to help the people of Bideford.

 Bideford is only one of 23 stores throughout the UK to be chosen to pilot this new approach to serving the community. If it’s successful all of Asda 600 plus stores and supermarkets will join the ‘Community Life’ project next year.

 Every store has a member of staff dedicated to working with the community and our own one, Peter Wilcox, the store’s ‘Community Champion’ describes how the scheme will work:

 “We want to open our store up for the local community – to be the place that local groups could meet, where our local police can talk to people about the work they do, where customers can get advice on health matters and where voluntary groups can promote their activities.”

 “What’s really exciting is the ‘Chosen by you, given by us’ project where Asda puts in extra money to support local groups and charities or by giving our time to help local projects. Our customers can nominate and vote for the charity, school or project of their choice.”

 “At the front of our store will be a brand new community board with three transparent containers where customers can make a donation to one of the three nominated local charities, groups or community projects. The container with the most money at the end of each month will be topped up with a donation from Asda, and the total presented to the winning group. The money collected in the other two containers will be presented to the other two local groups.”

 The Store’s Manager, Amanda Hubbard, added “This scheme gives all our customers an opportunity to nominate their favourite community group or charity – just take one of the leaflets from the community board in the store and let us know who you want our donation to go to.”

Carers in the Fremington, Ilfracombe and Holsworthy areas can now access free monthly Carers Information Surgeries at their local GP practice. This new service is being co-ordinated by Devon Carers Link which is a voluntary organisation providing information, support and services to anyone giving unpaid care to a family member, partner or friend who needs help because they are ill, frail or have a disability.

If a carer, or the person they are caring for, is a patient at Fremington Medical Centre, Ilfracombe Medical Centre or Holsworthy Medical Centre they can pre-book a 45 minute appointment to speak in confidence to a Carers Worker about support and services to help them in their caring role.

People may just want someone to talk to about the stresses of their situation or they may want to find out more about the type of support services which are available. This includes information on sitting services to enable people to take a break from caring, flexible breaks grants to help carers afford to take time out, Carers Alert Cards, training courses, carers support groups, help for young carers, where to get benefits advice and how to access support from Social Services and other organisations.

More of these monthly Carers Surgeries are planned across North Devon and Torridge in the next few months and details will appear in local GP practices. Carers from any area of Northern Devon can also contact Carers Link by telephone on 08456 435072 for information and support or to arrange alternative appointments with a Carers Worker at or nearby their home.

Carers Information Surgery appointments can be booked on the following numbers:

Fremington Medical Centre: 01271 376655
Holsworthy Medical Centre: 01409 253692
Ilfracombe Medical Centre: 08456 435072

Contact Devon Carers Link on 08456 435072 for further information or see the website at www.devoncarerslink.org 

Carers Link is a devonwide voluntary organisation which is free to join and provides information and support to carers. Carers provide unpaid support to family members, partners or friends who need help because they are ill, frail or have a disability.

Your views are important and Torridge District Council would like to invite you to make any comments or suggestions on issues you may have about your polling station, or polling place, particularly:

• Electors have such reasonable facilities for voting as are practicable in the circumstances, and
• As far as is reasonable and practicable, that polling places are accessible to all electors, including those who are disabled, and when designating a polling place, have regard to the accessibility needs of disabled persons.  

If you choose to contribute and comment on the existing arrangements or wish to propose alternative arrangements you will need to do so by the Monday 15 August 2011 either by post or email:  The Electoral Services Officer,Torridge District Council, Riverbank House, BIDEFORD, EX39 2QG    paula.hunter@torridge.gov.uk  (please title your email ‘ Polling District Review 20111’)

Action for Sustainable Living – a Manchester-based community charity that encourages people to change their lifestyles and live more sustainable.

Envision – a group set up by young people to engage other young people in social and environmental volunteering.

The deadline for entries is the 15th July 2011.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/charity-awards/2011-criteria