CCS Thatch Bulletin August 2020

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Bulletin

Village Halls CCS is continuing to support our community halls with information, advice and training, helping them adapt to these challenging times.

We are keeping halls regularly updated with information about financial support, as well as guidance on the practicalities of maintaining halls during closure and planning for their reopening.

Our Community Buildings Members Facebook Group is a new forum for halls to ask questions and share ideas with each other. Join us

Reopening your Village Hall

HERE

Visit our website

HERE

ACRE - Action with Communities in Rural England - has produced guidance looking at how village halls can prepare risk assessments, ensure social distancing once open and introduce effective cleaning regimes.

There are some practical resources too including checklists, notices for display in halls and sample terms of hire. Find out more

HERE

The latest Government advice COVID-19: Guidance for the safe use of multi-purpose community facilities can be downloaded HERE

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Webinar Programme for Community Halls CCS is running a programme of FREE online webinars for village hall trustees. There has been a tremendous response to our webinar programme, thank you to all who have attended.

See the full list of webinars below, click on the links to find out more

Webinar Programme in numbers

information and to book. If you have any questions, please contact Sally Sargent, CCS Community Involvement Officer, at sallys@somersetrcc.org.uk

127 people signed up

The webinars are funded by the

 171 places filled over 18 webinars so far

Somerset Community Foundation

 84 Community Buildings supported

TUE, 11 AUG 10:00

TUE, 8 SEP 10:00

Governing Documents: How and when

Meetings and AGMs for Community

to update them

Buildings.

TUE, 18 AUG 10:00

TUE, 15 SEP 10:00

Incorporation for Community Buildings

Community Buildings: Trustee Roles and Responsibilities

WED, 19 AUG 19:30 Community Buildings: Coping with

TUE, 22 SEP 10:00

Covid-19 and Beyond

Trustee Liabilities for Community Buildings, (including

TUE, 25 AUG 10:00

Health and Safety)

Finances & Marketing for Community Buildings

TUE, 29 SEP 10:30 Safeguarding for Community Buildings

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Meet Robert Horn, Community Buildings Advisor Many of you will already know our Community Buildings Advisor, Robert Horn. Some of you will have met Robert while attending one of our recent series of online webinars.

Robert is passionate about supporting Village Halls and the community events that go on in them. Coming from a background in Building Surveying, he has been advising Village Halls in several counties for 15 years.

He has been a trustee for his local village hall and now manages a small community centre on a parttime basis. A founding trustee and volunteer for a

Call: 07931

87137

Email: robert@somersetrcc.org.uk

recreational charity, he also enjoys making music and messing about with old cars in his spare time.

Sarah Blackburn It is with great sadness that we inform you of the sudden and untimely death of Sarah Blackburn.

Sarah was a former trustee of CCS and former director of Smart Communities. Some of you will have met Sarah through her role as a Hallmark visitor, and many of us have benefited greatly from her considerable expertise and experience as a trustee of Brushford Parish Hall.

She will be greatly missed and our thoughts and sympathies are with her family at this time.

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Good Neighbours Scheme CCS

has helped to launch a new Good

Neighbours scheme in Bishops Lydeard and surrounding villages. The scheme is intended to partner willing volunteers and helpers with anyone needing support with small one-off tasks, such as lifts to medical appointments, dog walks, or even simply sharing a cup of tea and a friendly chat.

The aim is to bring people together and help build strong relationships and connections within local communities so that they can support each other in a CCS Village Agent Christine Brewer

neighbourly way.

CCS Village Agent Christine Brewer Visit our website

says:

HERE “We are delighted to be able to offer

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, support for vulnerable people in our communities is needed now, more than ever before.

this scheme in the Bishops Lydeard area and we have been very lucky that we already have some wonderful volunteers.

CCS is working towards setting up more Good Neighbours Schemes with

If any community in Somerset is interested in setting up a Good Neighbours scheme, please contact CCS at marie@somersetrcc.org.uk or call 01823 331 222. We look forward to hearing from you.

the aim of building a network of schemes across the county of Somerset. These groups will help those in our communities who need help to access services or feel isolated and lonely. They will make a huge difference to vulnerable people’s lives.”

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Stay Hydrated!

The warmer weather is here and it's really important that we all stay well hydrated. Good hydration can help in preventing or treating conditions like urinary infections (UTIs), incontinence and constipation.

It's really important to think about how much you are drinking. Ideally, we should be drinking 1.5 litres or 8 glasses of fluid a day.

In response to this, CCS is delighted to say that our Village and Community Agents have lots of free water bottles to hand out. If you are worried about how much you, or someone you know, is drinking, contact your local Agent who will be happy to help!

Watch our stay hydrated video

Call us on 01823 331 222 or visit: www.somersetagents.org

Carers - it’s important to make sure someone drinks enough. Sometimes the people you care for do not have a sense of how much they're drinking.

To help them:

1. Make sure they drink during mealtimes

2. Make drinking a social thing, like "having a cup of tea"

3. Offer them food with a high water content – for example, soups, ice cream or jellies, or fruits like melon

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HERE

Watch our Talking Café hydration special

HERE

Domestic Abuse

If you feel that you, or someone else,

For anyone living with domestic abuse, this is a

are in immediate

particularly difficult time. The message is, you

danger you must

are not alone, there is a lot of support available and there are

no closed doors .

call 999 and ask for the police.

Contact the Somerset Domestic Abuse Support helpline:

0800 69 49 99 .

Even if you cannot

Find help online:

speak for fear of

www.somersetsurvivors.org.uk

being overheard,

www.nationaldahelpline.org.uk

you can get help

www.respect.uk.net

by pressing 55 Talk to any health professional.

when the operator answers.

Somerset pharmacies allow their consulting rooms to be a safe place for people experiencing abuse to get help and advice.

If you are a young person under 18 experiencing domestic abuse, Childline can help you find ways to cope, stay safe and get support: www.childline.org.uk

Domestic take

many

abuse

can

forms

such

as: •

psychological

•

physical

•

sexual

•

financial/economic

•

emotional

Lucy Macready, from Somerset County Council, talks about the help that is available, during the coronavirus pandemic and beyond, for people experiencing domestic abuse

Get

help

online

at:

HERE

www.somersetsurvivors.org.uk

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If you need help we are here!

CCS Village, Community and Carers Agents are providing their regular service via telephone or email and are key points of contact within the community - especially if you don't know who to turn to.

Contact an Agent Click on this

LINK

or scan the

code with the camera on your mobile phone.

Fill in the simple form.

Call us on

A local Agent will call you back

01823 331 222

Somerset Carers Who cares for the carers? We do!

This year, unpaid carers across Somerset are continuing to face new challenges as the result of the coronavirus pandemic. Many people are taking on more caring responsibilities for their relatives and friends who are disabled, ill or older and who need support.

Somerset Carers is here to help!

Please get in touch if you need any Coming August from

soon -

the

-

from

latest

Somerset

Tuesday

11th

newsletter

Carers

https://somersetcarers.org/news

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support, no matter how big or small.

We are here for you! Call 0800 31 68 600 or visit: www.somersetcarers.org

Free help and advice every weekday at 11 am If you are looking for information, advice, and support – or just a friendly chat – you can now use Facebook Live to join people across the county for daily Talking Café events.

Social distancing measures meant that our usual Talking Café events had to be temporarily suspended, but they have now been relaunched digitally on Facebook Live, the social network’s live video platform.

Talking Cafés are a great support if you are looking for help and advice for staying safe, information about important services such as housing, finance, adult social care and children’s services.

Great asset

idea. to

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community.

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remember, enjoy

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you

Click HERE – 'like' the Talking Cafés Facebook page – and set a reminder to listen in and take part. We look forward to ‘seeing’ you soon!

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Somerset Language Connect Somerset Language Connect is a new project aimed at bringing together learners from minority ethnic communities across Somerset, who would like to improve their conversational English, with learning partners who aim to support them.

The scheme is completely free of charge and is supported by the Somerset Coronavirus Response and Recovery Fund.

When learning a language, meeting up with a fluent speaker is the ideal opportunity to practise language skills, learn new vocabulary and become more confident. The Language Connect project does just that, pairing English learners with volunteers, with learning sessions taking place online via a video conferencing platform.

Somerset Diverse Communities is encouraging all those who would like to get involved to call Community Engagement Workers Jusna on 07946 461544 Email: jusna@somersetrcc.org.uk or Michal on 07377 363165 Email: michal@somersetrcc.org.uk Download the Language Connect flyer

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HERE

NEW! Somerset Diverse Communities’ Translations Find useful advice and information translated into a wide range of languages

HERE

COVID-19 advice translated into 60 languages Somerset Learning Connect guidance, translated Domestic Abuse help and support, translated Stop Loan Sharks advice, translated

We will update the page on a regular basis, keep checking back for new information.

Coronavirus community support grants – have you applied?

Somerset Coronavirus Response and Recovery Fund is offering grants of up to

£ 10,000

for community organisations

and groups who are supporting those most at risk during the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak.

Through this crisis, it is clear that black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) communities are disproportionately affected by the pandemic. Somerset Community Foundation is working alongside Somerset Diverse Communities in an effort to reach out to diverse cultures across our county.

Please get in touch, we’re here to help you. To find out more and to apply, visit: www.somersetcf.org.uk/coronavirus

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Free Webinars – Stress Management and Confidence Building for Social Enterprises

Register now for two FREE online webinars on 20th August and 3rd September, providing practical advice to help manage stress when times are tough.

Ruth James

The Covid-19 pandemic has put immense pressure on social enterprises, many of whom have been at the forefront of helping to support some of the most vulnerable people in our communities.

Both webinars are free of charge, but registration is essential. Places are limited

Both stress management webinars will be

and early booking is advised

led by Ruth James. Ruth’s area of expertise

via the Enhance Social

is understanding and managing people so she will be sharing some practical insights and tools to help social entrepreneurs improve their own and their staff’s wellbeing.

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Enterprise Network website:

https://enhancesocialenterpr ise.org.uk/events

The Enhance network is shaped by its members, so the subjects we offer training on or how you would like to network going forward is up to its members!

We want to be able to grow this network over the coming years and are currently able to provide membership for free – but we need organisations to join! Over 166 members in Somerset already have - so why haven’t you?

https://enhancesocialenterprise. org.uk/join-the-enhance-network

Join us to be:

Part of an important social movement in Somerset and

Signposting and advice from

Devon

the Smart Communities team

Free business listing - have your

Peer Support

enterprise put on the map at

www.enhancesocialenterprise.or

Private Members Facebook

g.uk - we will be encouraging

group to discuss issues

people to SHOP SOCIAL!

Free webinars, networking and training events

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Bishops Fox's Educational Foundation The aim of The Bishop Fox’s Educational Foundation is to promote the education of young people through a grant scheme.

BFEF trustees have recently considered and approved over 100 uniform grants at

ÂŁ 100

each, these

have been awarded to year 6 students

For full details of the grant

and above attending secondary

scheme, visit: www.bfef.org.uk

schools in Taunton Deane.

or contact Geraldine on geraldine@somersetrcc.org.uk

Face Masks Watch CCS Agent Wendy give a hands on demonstration of how to make your own face mask out of a sock! Click

HERE

to tune in and find lots of

other helpful advice on the dos and donts of wearing face coverings.

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THANK YOU Thomas Franks and Savona

Since the start of the lockdown, CCS

has

received many generous

CCS would like to say a HUGE THANK YOU to

donations, from the 5000

Thomas Franks Ltd and Savona Foodservice for their incredible support, helping our Agents to get

books donated by publisher Harper Collins,

food to those most in need in Somerset.

to bicycles, ready meals, Click

HERE

to read this remarkable story, what a

paint and dog food.

fantastic team effort! Watch our short film

HERE

to see the

We'd like to say a huge

team in action!

THANK YOU to one and all, your support has made a BIG difference to many people's lives throughout Somerset.

THANK YOU Rotary Club of Taunton CCS would like to thank the Rotary Club of Taunton for their generous donation of smartphones.

The smartphones will help people by reducing isolation, let them access home shopping or other vital deliveries, and enable people to contact helplines or interact with online support groups.

Keeley Rudd, Chief Executive of CCS, said: “We are thrilled and so grateful to have such a valuable and useful donation to help our clients who are in need. We particularly want to give these smartphones to young carers, but are happy to supply families and older people, or indeed anyone to whom it will help – we anticipate these will make a huge difference to peoples lives.”

Applications for a smartphone can be made via your local Village Agent – go to https://somersetagents.org/find-an-agent

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Useful information

CCS latest COVID-19 updates

Somerset Coronavirus helpline

Visit our webpage The helpline is available from 8am to 6pm every day, including weekends making it easier for you to

HERE

for

links to help and advice for individuals and businesses in

access any local authority help you may need,

Somerset.

including emotional support, in the current crisis.

Call 0300 790 6275 If you are deaf, hard of hearing or speech-impaired you can contact the helpline using SMS text: 07781 482858

Continue to use the 111 NHS online service for medical advice and only ring 111 if you can’t get help online.

Distressed? Anxious?

Feeling overwhelmed?

The Mindline Somerset emotional support helpline is now open 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

Set up by Mind in Somerset, Mindline is a service you can call (local call rate) to talk to someone about your anxieties and worries.

Support is available, around the clock, every day by calling 01823 276 892.

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