Carers Trust South East Wales (CTSEW) have been successful in securing some funding from Welsh Government via Carers Trust Wales, to deliver a series of FREE wellbeing workshops for unpaid carers in partnership with Elemental Health, all workshops are being delivered virtually.
Carers are required to submit their expression of interest in the workshop(s) via this link: https://forms.office.com/r/3ugAApKtWM
Each session will be allocated on a first come first served basis.
They are delivering 16 workshops, eight for young carers and eight for adult carers.
Workshop details YOUNG CARERS – February 2022:
There will be a safeguarding officer from CTSEW present for all young carers sessions, and CTSEW hold evidence of DBS checks and qualifications for workshop facilitators.
Workshop details ADULT CARERS (18 years+) – February 2022:
If you have any questions, please contact Mel Thomas (melanie.thomas@ctsew.org.uk), or Lauren Barne (lauren.barne@ctsew.org.uk) 01495 769996
Cooperative Cymru, with funding from the Welsh Government have been allocated a number of iPads for their Connecting Carers project.
There are currently 8 devices available to loan, which will initially be for a 3 month period. These devices will be available to carers who may benefit from using it to connect with others.
Additionally, the project is looking to run online Zoom courses to help with your skills using this hardware.
If interested, follow the Connecting Carers Facebook page, and enquire.
The Welsh Government have produced an easy-to-read guide on how to acquire, and use your COVID passes, for those who have had trouble doing so.
The guide also entails how to easily get a COVID test through the NHS.
The guide can be accessed here.
Cwm Taf Morgannwg Local Health Board and Bridgend County Borough Council asked BAVO for help in promoting their Wellbeing Assessment Survey. They were looking for feedback from all kinds of people across all areas of the County which they will use to inform planning of services over the new few years.
At present 364 charities voluntary and community groups have BAVO membership; we contacted them all to ask them for help in getting the survey out to all the people they work with and encouraging them to complete it . We also circulated to networks that BAVO is involved with. As an incentive, BAVO ran a free prize draw ; everyone who provided us with details of their returned survey was entered.
BAVO’s community navigators, who work on the ground across the County, supported some of their clients to complete surveys, as did other BAVO team members.
We had feedback from some organisations that the survey was difficult to understand; in response to this Bridgend Council and People First produced an “easy read” version in English and Welsh which we re-circulated.
Not all of the returns came back to BAVO, some went straight to the Council, however we know that people from quite a lot of different organisations and communities completed them, including an 82 year old supported by one of our navigators and a 12-year old young person, supported by his teacher.
The winner of the prize draw was Nic Williams a volunteer trainee with Western Beacons Mountain rescue, pictured here with the Amazon Vouchers prize. (photo to follow).
Free fruit trees are being offered for community spaces in Cardiff, Vale of Glamorgan, Rhondda Cynon Taff, Merthyr Tydfil and Bridgend to create their own orchard.
These community spaces include schools, educational settings, hubs, gardens and allotments, if they have enough room to plant a few trees.
Along with free fruit trees, you will receive training to help you maximise the learning and experience opportunities that the new orchard will offer.
To register, follow the link to provide your details and answer a few questions.
The Welsh Government’s updated Programme for Government has been published today. This amends the Programme for Government published in June to reflect the Co-operation Agreement with Plaid Cymru.
We are committed to creating a stronger, fairer, greener and more compassionate Wales. The principles of inclusion, joint working and social justice will always be at the heart of our work, recognising and celebrating the diversity of perspectives and experiences in Wales. As we address the current unprecedented challenges, including the ongoing response to the pandemic, we remain committed to doing so in collaboration with you and in the spirit of social partnership.
Our well-being objectives have been maintained, and our actions to deliver these objectives has been strengthened in a number of areas by the Co-operation Agreement.
We look forward to working together to ensure our collective expertise and capability is used to improve the lives of people in Wales now and in the future.
The Equality and Human Rights Commission is currently undertaking an inquiry into how older and disabled adults and unpaid carers can challenge local council decisions about social care and support in England and Wales. As you know, local councils make a number of decisions that affect people’s access to social care and support. This includes whether they are entitled to care or support and, if so, how much and what kind of care or support they can access.
They want to understand people’s experiences of challenging, or trying to challenge, local council decisions about adult social care or support.
They want to know whether:
As part of the evidence gathering, the commission have now begun to carry out interviews with key organisations across the sector, in both Wales and England. They’d like to hear from professionals and organisations working with social care service users and unpaid carers to make sure they take full account of their insights and experiences within their inquiry.
If you would like to take part in an interview or submit written evidence please contact: SCI@equalityhumanrights.com. Please find attached more information about what to expect from an interview. We are hoping to conclude our evidence gathering by the end of January 2022.
For more information about the inquiry please visit the inquiry webpage. You may also be interested in reading the inquiry terms of reference.
BAVO is raising awareness of the need to end male violence against women.
White Ribbon Day is marked around the world is the largest global initiative to end male violence against women by calling on men to take action to make a difference.
On White Ribbon Day Thursday 25 November, and the 16 days to end violence against women that follow, we are asking people in their communities, organisations and workplaces, to come together, and say ‘no’ to violence against women.
Because of thousands of people like you we are able to get the message out that men’s violence against women and girls must end. And that all men can make a difference. #AllMenCan is our leading message this year. It was developed for us in March when the murder of Sarah Everard brought women’s experience of men’s violence to the forefront of everyone’s minds. It also opened up so many conversations about men taking action and making a stand. As we move towards the end of the year we want as many men as possible to think carefully and make the White Ribbon Promise to never commit, excuse or remain silent about male violence against women.
People are invited to wear a White Ribbon and make the White Ribbon Promise to never commit, excuse or remain silent about male violence against women https://www.whiteribbon.org.uk/promise
Some starter ideas:
How many people can you get to wear a white ribbon – Everyone in your workplace? All your friends?
Be active on social media follow us and spread the word using #WhiteRibbon #AllMenCan #MakeThePromise
Find out about becoming a White Ribbon accredited or supporter organisation
Download – Donate -Display the White Ribbon Promise Poster in English and Welsh
For further information, go to White Ribbon website.
Follow White Ribbon UK on twitter: @WhiteRibbon_UK.
The Older People’s Commissioner wants to hear about your experiences of re-connecting with your community as restrictions have changed, and your views on what needs to happen to make sure that older people can do the things that matter to them, and that no-one is left behind as we move forward.
We’d like to invite you to take part in one of our upcoming online focus groups (dates below) to share your experiences, discuss your concerns and help guide the Commissioner’s work.
We particularly want to hear about how you are coping this winter – what are the challenges you are facing and what you are looking forward to doing when the weather gets better.
To join , please register and select one of the dates below:
Foundations for the third sector (F4S3) is an induction programme for people who have recently started working in the voluntary sector; new entrants, recent college graduates, those who have made a career change, or volunteered for 18 months or less.
A free pilot course will provide new volunteers and staff with a complete understanding of how the voluntary sector functions and includes:
PROGRAMME CONTENT
The programme is made up of four modules, each of which consists of two classroom workshops, two recorded webinars and two live webinars. It has been designed to encourage learners to incorporate the learning from the workshops in their daily work through practical examples, case studies, research, and presentations. As learners complete each level of the programme, they will earn a digital badge.
The course is made up of four one day classroom workshops, followed by four one-hour recorded webinars and four one-hour live webinars. There are also assessments to complete.
Module 1
Thursday 20 January 2022 – Cardiff | 9am to 4pm
Tuesday 25 January 2022 – Online | 1 hour
Module 2
Thursday 27 January 2022 – Cardiff | 9am to 4pm
Tuesday 1 February 2022 – Online | 1 hour
Module 3
Thursday 3 February 2022 – Cardiff | 9am to 5pm
Tuesday 8 February 2022 – Online | 1 hour
Module 4
Thursday 10 February 2022 – Cardiff | 9.30am to 5pm
Tuesday 15 February 2022 – Online | 1 hour
HOW TO TAKE PART – PILOT STUDY
The pilot training programme will be delivered in Wales during early 2022. To register your interest in the programme please email training@wcva.cymru. Closing date Friday 10 December 2021.
Spaces are limited and will be allocated following the closing date. You will be asked to confirm that you can commit to completing all modules and assessment. You will need to complete assessments before attending the live webinars.
Visit the WCVA website for further information on the F4S3 project.
Winter should be a time for family, festivity and looking confidently to the future, but we all know that there are some significant challenges that face older people as a result of short, cold, wet days and seasonal virus transmission. The continued impact of Covid-19 on our lives is a further complication and serves to exacerbate long established risks to wellbeing that we need to address.
In many instances, it’s the time for prudent healthcare to come into its own, with good advice and minimal support hopefully being all that’s required to ensure we manage this winter. However, where we have frail and more vulnerable family members and loved ones, there are organisations that can help us all manage better. Remember, all you need to do is ask! Preparation is far better than crisis.
Subsequently And Care & Repair Cymru, Age Cymru and Age Connects, have come together, to combine forces and help address risks to health & wellbeing this winter. This will be done by targeting four different aspects;
Falls Prevention
❖ Across the UK an older person is falling every 6 and a half seconds
❖ Every 30 seconds an ambulance is called to assist an older person who has fallen
❖ Every 5 hours an older person will die as a result of a fall in their home
❖ 500 older people fall each day in their homes
❖ Falls costs the NHS £2.3b
Keeping Warm
❖ Every winter 25,000 older people die needlessly, as a result of cold weather in the UK.
❖ There were 2,000 Excess Winter Deaths (EWD) in Wales in 2019-20, a third from people living in cold homes
❖ In the UK 4.5 million older people in fuel poverty and there are 155,000 households living in fuel poverty in Wales
❖ Across the UK £15 billion benefits go unclaimed every year
❖ £1.36bn cost of cold homes to the NHS
Keeping Connected
❖ Age Cymru estimate over 75,000 people aged over 65 in Wales are often or always lonely
❖ Alzheimer’s Society survey found 38% of people with dementia felt lonely
❖ 24% of those aged 75+ in very bad health are lonely
❖ Loneliness increases the likelihood of mortality by 26%
❖ Over a third of people aged 50+ in Wales are digitally excluded and do not use online services, missing out on savings of up to £560 a year from shopping and paying bills online
❖ 11% of the population of Wales (300,000 people) are digitally excluded, cannot access information and advice or keep connected
Staying Healthy
❖ Average life expectancy in Wales is 78 years for men and 82 years for women, and they will be living on average 17 and 20 years respectively living in poor health, which will impact on their quality of life and use of services.
❖ Over 142,000 older people are managing with long-term conditions in Wales, limiting the lives of 24% over 60 and 35% over 75s
The campaign launches on 1 November. The campaign video is available at; Look After Yourself and Each Other this Winter (British Sign Language Version) – YouTube.
The Welsh Government plans to provide everyone under 25 with the offer of work, education, training, or self- employment.
The offer, through its new Young Person’s Guarantee, will help ensure there is no lost generation in Wales following the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Minister has unveiled details of how the Welsh Government will develop a Young Person’s Guarantee that delivers for young people in Wales.
The Minister is calling on businesses and public sector organisations to consider how they can play their part in supporting the Young Person’s Guarantee.
Ministers will also look at ways to help young entrepreneurs to create their own businesses. This will include working with the business community to explore both employability opportunities and support for young entrepreneurs.
The Young People’s Guarantee will be developed to meets the needs of young people, including those at risk of long-term unemployment. It will not discriminate in relation to socio-economic factors, the promotion and use of the Welsh language or on the grounds of protected characteristics.
