Community Health
Kincardine and Mearns COVID-19 E-Bulletin Edition #12
This bulletin continues to focus on what is currently happening or in place locally as a result of the Covid-19 (Coronavirus) outbreak.
Hot Topics this week are
Moving into Phase 2 of Transition out of Lockdown
Please see the “Guidance” section below for information on the detail of a further lifting of lockdown restrictions through a phased approach.
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Spaces for Funding Bid Successful!
Aberdeenshire Council’s bid for £310,000 to ensure people are able to safely access services in town centres while maintaining physical distancing has been successful. The temporary infrastructure projects will provide safe walking, wheeling and cycling as the lockdown is eased and immediate priority is to be given to the town centres including Stonehaven.
Want to know more about Mearns & Coastal Healthy Living Network Telephone Befriending Service, click on the link below to access the full bulletin.
https://mailchi.mp/66df5537c1d9/e-bulletin-4206918
Kincardine and Mearns COVID-19 E-Bulletin Edition #8
This bulletin continues to focus on what is currently happening or in place locally as a result of the Covid-19 (Coronavirus) outbreak.
This includes sections which will signpost you to official guidance, changes in service provision, local health and wellbeing providers, community resilience, support and advice.
Click here to access the full bulletin.
Kincardine & Mearns Mental Health & Wellbeing E Bulletin #1May
A chance to share what we know about mental health & wellbeing in K & M.
Welcome to the first K & M Mental Health & Wellbeing E Bulletin. In partnership with our colleagues in Public Health we want to share with you each month information, education & links affecting everyone’s mental health and wellbeing. We hope you enjoy and feed back any suggestions or information of your own you would like to share.
Not in the same boat, but we are in the same ocean!
You might have heard that we are all in the same boat, but it’s not like that. For some, lockdown is a chore to be endured. For others, this is a time of desperate financial & family crisis.
For some that live alone, they’re facing endless loneliness. While for others, it is peace, rest & time with family.
Everyone faces the current Covid-19 pandemic in their own way.
Interested, click below to access the full bulletin. Please note,
Kincardine and Deeside Befriending is closely following advice provided by the NHS and the UK government regarding the Coronavirus outbreak.
From Monday 16 March, all face to face befriending visits will temporarily stop until further notice.
The health and wellbeing of befrienders and befriendees continues to remain the priority throughout this unprecedented situation.
They continue to follow government guidelines closely and will advise when visits can re-commence. We appreciate this is a difficult time and we thank everyone for their co-operation and understanding. The information in the bulletin relates to non-Covid operations.
https://mailchi.mp/7fa5dd0258da/k-m-mental-health-wellbeing-e-bulletin-4179885
Worthwhile causes in Kincardine and Mearns benefit from Community Resilience Fund
Here is a round-up of grants that have been given to worthwhile causes in Kincardine and Mearns thanks to the Aberdeenshire Community Resilience Fund.
Aberdeenshire Council recently approved the creation of the support mechanism in light of the Coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic.
In just a few weeks of the fund being available, there have already been a number of grants awarded to worthwhile community groups across Aberdeenshire.
Sophie Stephen felt guilty about buying the last pack of toilet roll. She posted on Facebook asking if anyone needed anything extra. This appeal quickly mushroomed into her creating community support group with 200 volunteers providing assistance in and around Portlethen.
She has split the area around Portlethen into 24 zones with each zone being overseen by zone leaders, who coordinate community helpers to provide support where it is needed. The group has put a leaflet through the door of every household advising residents of local contact numbers they can use if they need assistance.
The group is based at Jubilee Hall, where a foodbank is being manned from 9am to 5pm seven days-a-week. The group offers those requiring assistance help with collecting shopping and prescriptions as well as a telephone service to talk to residents. They are working with groups, councillors, the Scottish Ambulance Service among others. For more information please watch a video where Sophie shares her story: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NrNEAjjdYfw
In Johnshaven and Benholm, a team of local volunteers are available to deliver shopping, pick up prescriptions and walk dogs for those self-isolating or unable to venture outside for any reason.
A free community larder has also been set up offering food and essential supplies for anyone in need locally. The larder is available between 10am and 11am on Tuesdays and 7pm and 8pm on Thursdays at Johnshaven Village Hall in Mid Street, Johnshaven. For anyone that cannot come along to the larder deliveries of food can be arranged. Tinned and dry goods are being provided via the food initiative Fareshare and supplemented by generous donations from local people. A grant from Aberdeenshire Council’s Community Resilience Fund has meant fresh fruit, vegetables and eggs are also on offer and milk and bread are available on request. For more information or to request a delivery please email mairieddie@hotmail.com
Coronavirus has seen an increase in demand for the services provided to older people by Mearns Coastal Healthy Living Network. To meet this need, the network is spending its’ application on covering the costs of additional hours for staff and purchased mobile phones and contracts for staff and volunteers.
Elderly and vulnerable people living in and around Stonehaven have received hand sanitiser and toilet rolls thanks to Stonehaven and District Roundtable and A&I Taxi Company’s joint application. They have worked together on a mechanism to deliver prescriptions and medications.
Kincardine and Deeside Befriending facilitate a befriending service for older people living in their own homes in the community but are experiencing social isolation and loneliness, often due to frailty, ill health or bereavement. A grant will cover the costs of increased postage of cards and notes to clients, volunteers and stakeholders, as well as for volunteers to collect and distribute shopping.
Bruce Stewart, Kincardine and Mearns Area Manager, said: “I have been absolutely delighted with the response shown by the communities in Kincardine and Mearns to help those in need during the Coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic.
“It is a pleasure to provide assistance to these fantastic individuals and worthwhile community organisations in ensuring the vulnerable and those in self isolation receive the assistance they require.”
Constituted community groups, resilience groups and volunteering organisations can submit a single application form to Bruce Stewart, Kincardine and Mearns Area Manager, with the implementation of the resilience fund following a similar approach to the existing Kincardine and Mearns Area Committee’s budget.
Each of the six areas in Aberdeenshire will have a £20,000 allocation, with the £80,000 balance being available to the whole of Aberdeenshire to be administered by the chair of the Community Resilience and Partnership Workstream.
Grants of up to £2,000 for community resilience work are available.As further community resilience funds become available from the Scottish Government, the value of grants and the criteria will be reviewed, however the principle aim at present is to be as flexible as possible for each individual community.
The Kincardine and Mearns Area Team, along with Community Learning and Development, Public Health and Aberdeenshire Voluntary Action the Rural Partnerships and other partners, will continue to work with community resilience groups and volunteers in their areas to provide support and identify any gaps in provision.
A coordinated approach is also being made with the Local Resilience Partnership and in particular with the British Red Cross, Aberdeen City Council and The Moray Council to ensure the maximum benefit, coverage and support is provided across the Grampian area. You can access the form here: https://www.aberdeenshire.gov.uk/communities-and-events/funding/community-resilience-covid-19/
Kincardine and Mearns COVID-19 E-Bulletin Edition #5
This bulletin continues to focus on what is currently happening or in place locally as a result of the Covid-19 (Coronavirus) outbreak.
This includes sections which will signpost you to official guidance, changes in service provision, local health and wellbeing providers, community resilience, support and advice.
*Please check each section for new and updated information*
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Coronavirus Self-Employment Income Support Scheme
This newly announced scheme will allow those who are self-employed or a member of a partnership who has lost income due to coronavirus to claim a taxable grant worth 80% of their trading profits up to a maximum of £2,500 per month for the next 3 months. HMRC will contact people who are eligible for the scheme and invite them to apply online. Find out more here.
Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme
The UK Government has released new guidance for employers on the Coronavirus Job Retention Scheme. The scheme is for employers to use to claim for 80% of furloughed employees’ (employees on a leave of absence) usual monthly wage costs, up to £2,500 a month, plus the associated Employer National Insurance contributions and minimum automatic enrolment employer pension contributions on that wage. Read more here.
Public Fundraising
The National Emergencies Trust has set up a Coronavirus Appeal to raise funds for local charities and grassroots organisations that can provide vital support to people in the quickest way possible.
Funds are being sought from members of the public, corporate donors, charitable trusts, community fundraising, and existing and new government funding programmes. This is intended to be the single, trusted mechanism to raise funds from the public, learning from the experience of previous emergencies nationally and internationally.
For more information click here.
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Third Sector Resilience Fund Launched
Applications are now open for the Third Sector Resilience Fund (TRSF).
Part of a £350m support package by the Scottish Government for the sector in response to the Coronavirus pandemic, the Third Sector Resilience Fund will support organisations across the third sector who are at risk of closure due to a sharp decrease in income or that are unable to deliver their services directly as a result of the Coronavirus pandemic. The fund’s primary intention is to help these organisations to stabilise and manage cash-flows over this difficult period.
The TSRF is delivered by Firstport, Social Investment Scotland and Corra Foundation and it offers charities, voluntary organisations and social enterprises grants of £5,000-£100,000. In addition, there will be up to a further £5m available in fully flexible, 0% interest loans starting at £50,000.
For more information and to apply, visit SCVO’s Coronavirus Third Sector Information Hub which has lots of useful information on funding for voluntary sector organisations during the coronavirus pandemic.
Grampian Coronavirus (Covid-19) Assistance Hub
A new website and phoneline is launched today, providing people all across Grampian with information on how to access social, practical and emotional support on Coronavirus (COVID-19).
The new Assistance Hub goes live this morning, pulling together links to the latest advice from a range of partners including all three local authorities, Police, Health, Red Cross, volunteers and community information. It is a site for anyone in Aberdeen City, Aberdeenshire and Moray, with information for residents and businesses alike.
Click here for the website or call 0808 196 3384 (8am-8pm 7 days a week).
The website is full of links with up-to-date information. The main objective is as a focal point for information and assistance for anyone affected by coronavirus anywhere in Grampian. It is also a way for residents to offer their support which they can safely deliver in their communities. Staff are on the phone to provide callers with up to date information, or to link them up with the right person who can quickly answer questions.
Another important feature is that the site can be used to request help on behalf of someone else, allowing friends and neighbours to signpost to someone in need.
What is the ‘Third Sector’ and are you part of it?
The third sector is an inclusive term which is often used interchangeably with the voluntary and community sector; the not-for-profit sector; and the civil society.
The term ‘third sector’ is used to describe all organisations operating outside the formal state or public sphere that are not trading commercially, primarily for profit in the market.
This means charities, voluntary organisations, community groups, social enterprises, cooperatives and mutuals. This definition may also include faith groups engaged in voluntary or social action, campaigning groups, and individual volunteers. Whilst these organisations are exceptionally diverse, they share a broad common theme of being value driven, and principally invest their surpluses to further social, environmental and cultural objectives.
KDP is a member of Aberdeenshire’s Third Sector Strategy Group (TSSG). This group comprises of representatives from Aberdeenshire Rural Partnership Federation (ARPF), Aberdeenshire Voluntary Action (AVA) and Aberdeenshire Council. It is embarking on a piece of work to demonstrate the value of the Third Sector across Aberdeenshire.
If successful, the purpose of this project will help strengthen the position of many Third Sector Organisations (TSO), to be recognised as credible partners in the delivery of services.
TSSG believe there are great examples of this already happening, therefore the first stage is to obtain a picture of what our Third Sector currently looks like. The link below is to a short questionnaire which will help gather valuable quantitative information to kick start the process.
YOU are the third sector, so please participate in this information gathering process.
Please complete and share the survey through your networks.
