Category: Whalley Range Community Forum

 

The Whalley Range Community Forum (WRCF) is a voluntary representative residents group formed in 1995 to facilitate and improve communication between members of the community and those who serve/represent Whalley Range.

The Forum act as an umbrella organisation, bringing residents and local services together to address local issues, to promote consultation and community cohesion – and to encourage participation.
The Forum produces a bimonthly newsletter and residents meetings to address local concerns with Police, Councillors, local council and planning officials, sends out a regular email bulletins featuring opportunities, events and news to around 400 residents from Whalley Range – and co-facilitates an annual local community festival.
The Forum worker supports new and emerging groups to access funding to set up their own community groups, holds funds for unconstituted groups and addresses resident priorities by facilitating relevant classes at the JNR8 centre during school term times.
Classes and initiatives for the diverse local community include mixed and women-only ESOL classes, women fitness, Tai Chi, confidence building sessions,  basic computer and work club support and art and wellbeing classes and afternoon tea for older residents.                                                         JNR8 is also registered as a Third Party Hate Crime Reporting Centre.
The community website features local news and events, consultation links, age-friendly news and current vacancies and opportunities.

Follow @WhalleyRangeorg and @AgeFriendlyWR on Twitter

JNR8 Youth & Community Centre, 82 Cromwell Avenue, Whalley Range, M16 0BG

Tel: 0161 881 3744 | Email: communityforumwhalleyrange@gmail.com agefriendlywhalleyrange@gmail.com

Very cold weather: NHS Tips to keep Warm

Follow these tips to keep you, your family and those around you warm and well in extremely cold weather.

To keep warm and well during spells of cold weather:

  • Draw your curtains at dusk and keep your doors closed to block out draughts.
  • Have regular hot drinks and eat at least one hot meal a day if possible. Eating regularly helps keep energy levels up during winter.
  • Wear several light layers of warm clothes (rather than one chunky layer).
  • Keep as active in your home as possible.
  • Wrap up warm and wear shoes with a good grip if you need to go outside on cold days.
  • If you have reduced mobility, are 65 or over, or have a health condition such as heart or lung disease, you should heat your home to at least 18C and make sure you wear enough clothes to stay warm. It’s a good idea to keep your bedroom at this temperature all night.
  • If you’re under 65 and healthy, you can safely have your house cooler than 18C, if you’re comfortable.

Protect your health in the cold

Public Health England’s cold weather plan –  https://tinyurl.com/y77ty3a8 – has tips on how to protect your health during cold weather.

Make sure you are receiving any benefits you are entitled to, such as the Winter Fuel Payment and Cold Weather Payment.

The Met Office has advice on getting ready for winter and some suggestions for practical things you can do to prepare for winter weather, including cold, ice and snow, high winds and flooding. The advice also tells you ways you can save money.

Travel carefully in icy weather

Icy pavements and roads can be extremely slippery. Take extra care if you go out, and wear boots or shoes with good grip on the soles. The Met Office advises putting grit or cat litter on paths and driveways to lessen the risk of slipping. It adds you should wait until the roads have been gritted if you’re travelling by car.

Bear in mind that black ice on pavements or roads might not be clearly visible, and compacted snow may turn to ice and become slippery.

How to find weather warnings

The Met Office provides the weather forecasts for broadcasts on radio and TV, so listen in to these bulletins regularly to keep up-to-date with the weather. Severe weather warnings are also issued on the Met Office website, through the Met Office Twitter feed, or you can ring the Weather Desk on 0870 900 0100.

Look in on vulnerable neighbours and relatives

Check up on friends, relatives and neighbours who may be more vulnerable to cold weather. Cold weather is especially dangerous for older people or people with serious illnesses, so check in on them if you can. Read about how to spot and treat hypothermia.

People with heart or respiratory (breathing) problems may have worse symptoms during a cold spell and for several days after temperatures return to normal.

You can find more information and advice on staying healthy in periods of cold weather in Winter health.

Older people: events, news, health, seminars and information sharing

Manchester Care and Repair: Big Energy Saving Week 2020 – 20 Ways to Save

Save in the kitchen

  • Use a bowl to wash-up rather than running a tap, reduce your washing machine use by one cycle a week, and only fill the kettle with the water you need and you could save around £36 a year in the kitchen.
  • A dripping tap can waste more than 5,300 litres of water a year, so make sure your taps are properly turned off and change washers promptly when taps start to drip.
  • Save in the bathroom
  • Spend one minute less in the shower each day and a family of four could save £75 a year on energy and water bills.
  • A running tap wastes more than 6 litres of water every minute, so turn off the tap while brushing your teeth, shaving, or washing your face.
  • Replacing an inefficient shower head with a water efficient one could save a household of four people around £70 a year off gas bills and around £115 a year off water bills.
    Save on lighting
  • Turn your lights off when you’re not using them. If you switch a light off for just a few seconds, you will save more energy than it takes for the light to start up again. This will save you around £14 a year on your annual energy bills.
  • Replace your bulbs as and when you can with energy efficient LEDs – on average it could save about £35 a year on bills.
    Save on appliances
  • Turning your appliances off standby mode can save you £30 a year and remember not to leave laptops and mobile phones on charge unnecessarily.
    Save on heating
  • If you have a timer on your central heating system, set the heating and hot water to come on only when required.
  • If you turn down your main thermostat by 1 degree, you can around 10% on your energy bill. But make sure your home is warm enough during cold weather. Cold homes can damage your health.
  • Installing a room thermostat, a programmer and thermostatic radiator valves and using these controls efficiently could save you around £75 a year.
  • Close your curtains at dusk to stop heat escaping through the windows and check for draughts around windows and doors.
  • Draught-proofing of window and doors and blocking cracks in floors and skirting boards can save around £20 a year on energy bills.
    Save by switching
  • Use the Citizens Advice energy price comparison tool to see if you can save money by switching energy tariff or supplier.
    Save by getting extra support
  • Do a home energy check to find out about savings of up to £130 a year on household energy bills. Visit the Simple Energy Advice website and get personalised energy savings advice.
    Visit your local Citizens Advice office to get advice in person about how to reduce your energy bills.
    If anyone in your household is receiving benefits, contact your energy supplier and see what support they can provide. They should be able to tell you what help is available through the Energy Company Obligation.
    If you need a little extra help from your energy company – including large print bills or more support during a power cut – you can apply to be added to your electricity network priority services register.
    Check if you are eligible for the Warm Home Discount. Energy suppliers can provide rebates to households on certain benefits. The rebate is £140 for 2019/20 and you should contact your electricity supplier directly to see if you qualify.
    If you live in Wales, contact the Welsh Government’s Nest scheme on 0808 808 2244 to see if you are eligible for a package of free home energy efficiency improvements such as a new boiler, central heating or insulation.                           If you are aged 60 or over and live in Manchester, you can also contact Manchester Care & Repair for help support with your energy costs. Or come and visit us at one of our upcoming events this Big Energy Saving Week, to see how we can help you.
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News from Manchester Cares

MCR Cares – February Programme

Winter Wellbeing Flyer (updated for 2019_20)

Computer Classes

News, meetings, courses and events

 

Latest Newsletter from Age-friendly Manchester

 

 

https://mailchi.mp/manchester.gov.uk/celebrating-the-international-day-of-older-people-the-state-of-the-city-choir-singing-warming-up-for-winter-events-advice-volunteering-and-more-599897?e=2c8a210af0

Winter Wellbeing Flyer (updated for 2019_20)

Latest news and events from Manchester Cares:

https://manchestercares.org.uk/blog

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Pride in Ageing

In June we celebrated the launch of Greater Manchester’s brand new Pride in Ageing programme alongside Sir Ian McKellen.

Led by the LGBT Foundation, Pride in Ageing aims to ensure that the needs of lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans people who are aged 50 and over are recognised and met by services across Greater Manchester, particularly in social care and housing.

It will also tackle the social isolation faced by LGBT people over 50, which we know is commonplace and has a significant impact on their health, happiness and wellbeing.

An Advisory Group of older LGBT people has been set up to ensure that the views from their communities feed directly into the project and its delivery. The Group is now full but please contact Lawrie Roberts if you would like to be involved.

Age-Friendly Manchester have funded this new programme of work, together with the Greater Manchester Ageing Hub, Manchester City Council’s Adult Social Care and Barclays Spectrum.

If you would like any further information on Pride in Ageing, please email Lawrie or call 07541 977 854.

Bringing Manchester’s Older Chinese Community Together Through Art

Older Chinese communities in the UK often experience high levels of social and cultural isolation. Supported by the Baring Foundation, Manchester’s Centre for Chinese Contemporary Art (CFCCA) is exploring how art and creativity can bring older Chinese residents together.

Zoe Dunbar, the Director of CFCCA has written a blog for the Baring Foundation about their activity to date.

CFCCA have delivered a series of creative workshops to develop writing and language skills, ran script writing sessions for residents to tell their life stories and practised traditional Chinese block printing using recycled materials. Activity has been delivered in collaboration with Wai Yin Chinese Community Centre and the local Sheung Lok radio station.

Read Zoe’s blog on the Baring Foundation website to find out more.

The CFCCA is currently recruiting for a new Age-Friendly Projects Coordinator role. See further details under the Employment, Volunteering and Training Opportunities section later in this eBulletin.
Elaine, Chair of the Age Friendly Manchester Older People’s Board pedalling up a smoothie at Celebrate Festival in Whalley Range.
Changes to the TV License Fee for over 75s

The BBC recently announced that from June 2020, the free TV licence will only be available to older people aged 75 and over if they are in receipt of Pension Credit, a means-tested benefit designed to help older people on very low incomes.An estimated 1.3 million households are currently not taking up their right to pension credit, worth an average annual £2,500 – some 600,000 of whom are currently eligible for a free TV license. To find out whether you may be eligible, ring the pension credit claim line on 0800 991 234.You will need your national insurance number and bank account, savings and investment details.

 Archive news about Transport…

Are we getting there?
Age-friendly transport across Greater Manchester
Greater Manchester Older People Network Conference Report – Liz Jones, Macc

The following 23 questions were raised by participants during the course of the morning workshop.

Some were posed to Andy Burnham and the expert panel in the afternoon. The rest have now been submitted to Transport for Greater Manchester and the Greater Manchester Ageing Hub for responses.

  1. How will we prioritise investment and coordination of community transport schemes (such as Ring and Ride)?
  2. How do we get a complimentary, localised, fully accessible, funded, door to door transport service?
  3. How can the design of transport be improved? This can include better information, bus stops, seating, interchanges, training etc.
  4. How can we ensure that there is a consistent good level of training for understanding various needs across all transport?
  5. How can we expand and better tap into existing community assets, such as volunteer schemes, minibuses, taxi sharing etc?
  6. How are you going to better involve older people in decision-making around public transport? Are bus drivers currently given training run by older people/people with disabilities? If not, could they be in future?
  7. How do we involve older people in designing new provision For example, there are issues with the new Bolton interchange which could potentially have been avoided with a better commitment to co-design.
  8. Why cant free bus pass be used before 9:30am when a lot of hospital and health appointments are made before 9:30 am?
  9. Can we develop a more comprehensive network for Park and Ride?
  10. It is difficult to access toilets at main transport stations/interchanges. Can transport maps highlight local toilets and flag up community toilet schemes and/or publicise other nearby toilets?

11.Why isnt parking on pavements illegal in Greater Manchester?

12.Is a congestion charge for Manchester a consideration looking ahead?

13.How do we propose to make community transport more age-friendly, along the lines of the Ring and Ride scheme?

14.When is re-regulation of buses going to happen?

15.Can transport links/routes be linked or better integrated with hospital and health care locations? For example, having maps on display of bus, tram and train routes, indicating stops and routes for local hospitals and health centres.

16.Promotion what currently available, such as taxi vouchers, hailer cards etc. While these are available, they are not sufficiently known about. How do people find out about these? Can they be promoted more widely and at relevant times?

17.Are you surveying older people satisfaction of public transport? If so, can you share the results with the GMOPN?

18.Do you think it is right to ask people to surrender their bus pass in order to qualify for the taxi voucher scheme? Could both offers be flexible?

19.How do we help people not on main routes? Even a five-minute walk can be a real challenge.

20.Who can we can communicate with to get answers to questions and to be able to feed our ongoing concerns into transport planning?

21.Can we have real-time information displays at bus stops, as the case with trams and trains?

22.How are you going to better synchronise the bus, tram and train services?

Once we have received responses, we will publish a set of replies on our website at

www.manchestercommunitycentral.org/policy-and-influence/gm-older-peoples-network

Read the report below:

https://www.manchestercommunitycentral.org/sites/manchestercommunitycentral.co.uk/files/Transport%20Report%20GMOPN.pdf

 

 

Be Well

Be Well meet with residents in various venues – including JNR8.
If you think that you could be helped by ongoing support in the community, rather than just by a medical approach, Be Well can help. They offer support to members of the community on a one-to-one basis to help them achieve goals around their health & wellbeing.
You can speak to your GP surgery and ask to be referred – or take advantage of this self-referral pilot scheme below.

Up until Friday 30th August, anyone who is registered with a GP at one of the seven surgeries based within the Chorlton, Whalley Range and Fallowfield neighbourhoods can self-refer to Be Well. These are:

Princess Road Surgery (Fallowfield)
Chorlton Family Practice (Chorlton)
Corkland Road Medical Centre (Chorlton)
Wilbraham Road Surgery (Chorlton)
Ashville Surgery (Whalley Range)
The Alexandra Practice (Whalley Range)
The Range Medical Centre (Whalley Range)

Read more here:
https://www.thebiglifegroup.com/service/be-well/

Staying cool in a heatwave: Advice from Age UK

Advice from NHS:

http://www.nhs.uk/Livewell/Summerhealth/Pages/Heatwave.aspx

Advice from Age UK

The sun and skin health

It very important to ensure that your skin isnt exposed to the sun for long periods, as this can lead to sunburn and make you more susceptible to skin cancer. Anyone can develop skin cancer, so it important to protect yourself whatever your skin type.

Protecting your skin

  • Use sunscreen of at least sun protection factor (SPF) 15 with four or five stars. Apply it generously and top up at least every two hours and if you’ve been in water, reapply when you are dry. The sunscreen star rating shows its ability to protect your skin from damage and premature ageing.
  • Apply sunscreen to any uncovered parts of your body. A hat will protect your head, face, ears and eyes.
  • Choose sunglasses that have a CE mark, UV400 label or a statement that they offer 100 per cent UV (ultraviolet) protection.
  • When the weather is hot, your skin may also feel drier than usual. Using moisturiser can help keep your skin healthy.
  • If you have moles or brown patches on your skin, they usually remain harmless. But if they bleed, or change size, shape or colour, show them to your GP without delay. For more information visit the Cancer Research UK website.

Sun exposure and vitamin D

Although it important to protect your skin, some direct exposure to the sun is essential for the production of vitamin D.

Dont let your skin burn, but try to go outside once or twice every day without sunscreen for short periods from March to October. The more of your skin that is exposed, the better your chance of making enough vitamin D.

There are some food sources of vitamin D – salmon, sardines and other oily fish, eggs and fortified spreads – but sunshine is the major source.

The Government recommends vitamin D supplements for some groups of the population, including people aged 65 and over.

If you think you could be at risk of not getting enough vitamin D, particularly if you are housebound or cover your skin for cultural reasons, raise this with your GP. Always speak to your GP before starting to take a vitamin supplement or over-the-counter medicine on a daily basis.

Dehydration and overheating

Extreme heat and dry conditions can cause you to dehydrate and your body to overheat.

It important to eat a balanced diet to help your body replace any salt you lose by sweating.  Aim to drink 6 – 8 glasses of liquid a day, and more if it hot.

You may also need to be careful if youre taking some types of medication that affect water retention. Speak to your GP if youre concerned.

Watch out for certain signs – particularly for muscle cramps in your arms, legs or stomach, mild confusion, weakness or sleep problems. If you have any of these, rest in a cool place and drink plenty of fluids. Seek medical advice if your symptoms persist or worsen.

Heat exhaustion and heatstroke

Heat exhaustion

The symptoms of heat exhaustion include headaches, dizziness, nausea or vomiting, intense thirst, heavy sweating and a fast pulse.

If you have any of these symptoms you must, if at all possible:

  • find a cool place and loosen tight clothes
  • drink plenty of water or fruit juice
  • sponge yourself with cool water or have a cool shower.

Your symptoms should improve within 30 minutes. If you’re feeling better but still have any concerns, call your GP or NHS 111 for advice.

Heatstroke

Heatstroke can develop if heat exhaustion is left untreated – it can also develop suddenly and without warning.

The symptoms of heatstroke include confusion, disorientation, seizures and loss of consciousness.

Heatstroke is a life-threatening condition. If you or someone else shows symptoms:

  • call 999 immediately, or 112 if you are in the European Union (you can call 112 from a mobile for free)
  • if you have a community alarm, press the button on your pendant to call for help
  • while waiting for the ambulance, follow the advice given for heat exhaustion but do not try to give fluids to anyone who is unconscious.

http://www.ageuk.org.uk/

More information: http://www.nhs.uk/Livewell/Summerhealth/Pages/Heatwave.aspx

Alexandra Park Manchester Amateur Photographic Competition 2019

Competition now closed – good luck to everyone who entered!

 

Ok folks, so here it is, the annual Alexandra Park Manchester Amateur Photographic Competition for 2019 is now officially open!
The theme for this year (as stated on the poster below) is celebrating ‘Fun in the Park’, so get those cameras clicking and snapping any event or fun thing happening out there in our fabulous park over the coming months. Remember it doesn’t just have to be only humans having fun, the wildlife does too!
To enter the competition you can follow the link to the park website at:
https://www.alexandraparkmanchester.org/comp
or snap the QR code with your device.
Don’t forget to read all the T’s & C’s before entering a picture, these are on the website.
The competition closes on the 31st August 2019 and winners will be notified by the end of September.
Good luck.

Connecting Chorlton, Fallowfield & Whalley Range Report

The report of the participatory neighbourhood event held in November 2018,

Connecting Chorlton, Fallowfield & Whalley Range

Promoting Cross Sector Neighbourhood Working.

It is intended that this can be used as a resource for people who might want to run similar events and gives details of how the event was initiated and run, and what came out of it on the day and from the action points .

e.g. the development of ward based cross sector groups, new health and wellbeing activities, the continuation of networking lunches, and the establishment of a Self Care and Social Prescribing forum.

The resource includes contact details and links to useful websites.

Click below to read the Report:

Connecting Chorlton Fallowfield Whalley Range Report February 2019 – reduced

PRESS RELEASE: Whalley Range recognised as age-friendly by Mayor of Greater Manchester

Whalley Range has been officially recognised as an age-friendly neighbourhood by the Mayor of Greater Manchester, Andy Burnham.

The Mayor announced the winners of his Age-Friendly Challenge during Greater Manchester “Doing Ageing Differently” conference.

Held, in February 2019, the event brought together over 300 key figures in ageing from across the country.

Whalley Range was one of 32 areas from across Greater Manchester to be recognised by the award scheme designed to showcase the best places to grow older in the city-region.

Andy Burnham, Mayor of Greater Manchester said:

“I launched this challenge last year to unearth the positive work I know is going on in Greater Manchester, to find practical examples of what age-friendly really means, and to share best practice across the city-region.

The response to this challenge has been fantastic. The variety of age-friendly work displayed from all our winners clearly shows the commitment from our local communities to make sure that people in Greater Manchester are living not just longer, but happier and healthier too.”

Chris Ricard from Age-friendly Whalley Range/Whalley Range Community Forum who applied on behalf of the area said:

“We are thrilled to hear the news that Whalley Range has been recognised as an age-friendly neighbourhood for 2019!

We will be celebrating this award with groups and residents of all ages as a neighbourhood committed to working towards making      Whalley Range a great place to grow older.”

The award recognises the hard work that organisations and older people in Whalley Range have carried out to make their area a great place to grow older.

An age-friendly neighbourhood is a place where: residents are committed to looking out for each other, older people feel they can have a say in what going on in their local area, and there are spaces where people can get together.

The award also showed that Whalley Range is committed to helping older people feel: independent, safe and secure, and informed about what is going on in their local area.

Submissions to Mayor Age-Friendly Challenge were reviewed by an expert panel chaired by Prof. Chris Phillipson from MICRA at The University of Manchester. Other panellists included representatives from Greater Manchester Older People Network, Ambition for Ageing, and the Centre for Ageing Better.

Notes to editors

Greater Manchester is the UK first age-friendly city region, as recognised by the World Health Organization.

The Mayor Age-Friendly Challenge represents a commitment to shape a city-region that recognises the contribution older people make and the value in keeping all residents socially, physically and economically active for longer.

The challenge was launched by Andy Burnham during Greater Manchester Festival of Ageing in July 2018, where he called for the voluntary and community sector, public services, and older people groups to submit their best age-friendly schemes and help deliver more age-friendly neighbourhoods across Greater Manchester.

https://www.greatermanchester-ca.gov.uk/news/mayor-launches-agefriendly-challenge-at-greater-manchester-s-festival-of-ageing/

The Mayor Age-Friendly Challenge was delivered by Ambition for Ageing on behalf of Greater Manchester Combined Authority Ageing Hub which works to improve older people quality of life in Greater Manchester, addressing the challenges and embracing the opportunities the UK is facing in response to a rapidly growing older population.

www.greatermanchester-ca.gov.uk/agefriendlygm

Age-friendly neighbourhood information from Ambition for Ageing report Building

Age-Friendly Neighbourhoods in Greater Manchester.

https://ambitionforageing.org.uk/neighbourhoods

Whalley Range Climate Action Group

We are a group of local residents who are starting a local climate change action group. Climate change is a huge threat to us and the planet. Although it is easy to despair, we can make a difference by working with others for change and we want to do this in our area.

This new group will work to support each other to make positive changes to our lives and community and to act for change. Members will decide what we do and can get involved in as much or as little as you like – ideas so far include learning sessions, supporting each other, climate campaigning, and linking with other groups in and beyond the area.

We are hoping to build a supportive group that meets locally to share ideas and strategies and organise activities and campaigns. Everybody is very welcome to join no matter what your current level of knowledge. You are invited to contribute your skills and energy to build a self sustaining, learning, active group.

Come to our meetings from 11-1pm at the JNR8 Youth and Community Centre 82 Cromwell Avenue Whalley Range M16 0BG.

There is the option to eat lunch together afterwards, please bring your own veggie food. For more info see the Whalley Rangers Facebook Group, Twitter @RangeAction or contact climateaction@whalleyrangers.org

WRCF News and Events: January 2019 Edition

Coming soon to Manley Park…

STOP PRESS: CHANGE OF DATE FOR CELEBRATE FESTIVAL!!!!

We’ve had to reschedule Celebrate to Saturday 15th June!

More info to follow!

https://www.whalleyrange.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/Newsletter-Winter-18-19.pdf

 

Read the latest issue of our Whalley Range News & Events – featuring local news, activities and reports

Click the link below: