LONELINESS and isolation has been a growing problem for many of us over the past year, but the loss of face-to-face contact has been especially tough for deaf people. So charities have provided vital support – and some have remained open with social distancing to assist with day-to-day tasks. These include help with bills and letters, as people who have grown up using BSL as their first language may not be able to read written English well.” “We get a lot of people who come in with letters from the council or their insurance company, for example,” says charity worker Anna Pugh. “If you don’t use communication, you lose it,” she explains, stressing the difficulties the hearing-impaired community has faced, such as finding lip-reading impossible because of face masks. “And deaf people don’t have access to the news as hearing people do, so unless they see someone in person and find out the news from them, they may not know what’s happening.” How you could win big – and help …
Health
Meet the youth football academy promoting equality and tackling bullying and racism
When the Khalsa Youth Football Academy started back in 1988, the aim was to address the under-representation of the Asian community in the sport – but it’s evolved into so much more than that. And now Khalsa, based in Letchworth Garden City, Hertfordshire, has had a real boost after securing funding for its Connecting Hope project from money raised through The Health Lottery. The newly launched Connecting Hope initiative will help a group of 14-to 18-year-olds in the local community learn the valuable skills they need to become mentors. “The incentive is to have a qualification that sits proudly on their CVs,” says co-founder Bal Singh, 49, “so it’s not just about football – it’s using transferable skillsets like effective communication and organising events.” How you could win big – and help others! Want to raise money to help your local community and be in with a chance to win a big jackpot? Why not play The Health Lottery ? There are five chances to win £25,000 in the …
‘We talk, we laugh, there’s singing and dancing’ – the hub that brought together an isolated community
Sunderland's African Caribbean Community Association got off to a flying start when it received £40,000 funding from money raised by Health Lottery North East and Cumbria. Since then, it has become the heart of this previously isolated community, providing chat, food and fun that brings people together. But its work goes deeper than that, giving its members a real voice in the locality. “We started the association in 2017 as we felt there wasn’t a cohesive unit of people of African heritage in Sunderland and South Shields,” explains project worker Lucky Pemu. “It gave us confidence to take part in city-wide events and we were accepted by the community in Sunderland and got ourselves integrated into social, political and cultural activities in the North East.” More than £120 million has been raised through The Health Lottery, supporting 3,200 grassroots projects across Great Britain – 200 of which are in the North East and Cumbria. And £157 million in prizes has been scooped by …
The ‘magical’ city farm saving lives in a community
Swansea Community Farm is, says manager Kate Gibbs, a “magical place” – and one that gives a warm welcome to volunteers aged from eight to 83. “It’s a place of peace and acceptance, a really safe space,” says Kate, who came to Wales’ only city farm 15 years ago as a volunteer. “People leave whatever’s going on in their lives at the gate and just work together to make a better space in the community.” Volunteers including people who have suffered trauma, ill health and mental illness, as well as asylum seekers – come to the farm to rebuild their lives and learn new skills, such as caring for the animals. It’s just one of 185 projects at the heart of local communities that Health Lottery Wales is proud to support. Every time you play, money raised goes towards charities to tackle issues such as health inequality, loneliness, mental health and food poverty. How you could win big – and help others! Want to raise money to help your local community and be in with a chance to win …
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‘It’s not your typical community garden’ – the space saving locals from loneliness and more
It was once a derelict piece of land in Walsall. Now transformed into Caldmore Community Garden, it is a beautiful urban oasis where all ages and cultures can come together and make friends. Support from Walsall Housing Group (whg) and Walsall Council made it possible. What’s more, funding from People’s Health Trust using money raised through Health Lottery West Midlands means the project has been able to extend its activities, with a full programme from a toddler group to its popular Men’s Shed. “It’s not quite your typical community garden,” says community development worker Anna Webster. “We’re not so much focused on growing things. Instead we see gardening as a way of bringing people together. We’re located in a very diverse neighbourhood, with a mix of Bangladeshi, Pakistani, South Asian and a growing number of Eastern European people, so we have to keep coming up with new ways to welcome and engage them.” These new ways are very popular, including a women’s group, Garden …
Weed-smoking mum gives kids mental health days off school as ‘we all need break’
A mum has emphasised the importance of giving children “mental health days”. Caitlin Fladager, from Vancouver, Canada, often speaks about the importance of taking care of your mind. In the past, the parenting blogger has discussed how legally smoking weed de-stresses her and “makes her a better mum”. And now, she’s spoken to her 625,000 followers about the importance of giving kids a “break from everyday life”. In a viral Facebook post, the 27-year-old wrote: “I could tell my six and eight-year-old desperately needed a mental health day. “A break from everyday life. A break from me saying ‘no!’ all the time. Just a break. Like we all need.” Caitlin continued: “So I booked a lake house, emailed their teachers, packed their suitcases, and off we headed for a couple days. “I bought them snacks I would always say no to. “I let them bring their Nintendo Switches inside a restaurant we were eating dinner at. “I let them stay up past their bed time, …
Fake COVID-19 certificate sales rise as health passes become mandatory
With COVID-19 certificates becoming mandatory around the world, some people are turning to social platforms like Telegram to buy fake health passes, at a cost of around €100. In just a few months, accounts selling photoshopped certificates that are being delivered via email have grown in number in Europe and around the world, triggering an increase in cyber-crime, experts at the cybersecurity company Check Point have said. “They can photoshop it and they can start selling it with appropriate information. Scammers and channels on Telegram are very responsive: they ask you all the questions, details, etc. Everything that you want to put on the certificate,” Oded Vanunu, the head of products vulnerability at Check Point Software Technologies, told Euronews. Italy, as well as other European countries, have introduced smartphone apps to verify whether a certificate is authentic or not, but that might not be enough. Since the beginning of the pandemic, the popularity of …
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Covid: One dose of vaccine halves transmission – study
Published 28 April comments Comments Share close Share page Copy link About sharing Related Topics Coronavirus pandemic A single dose of a coronavirus vaccine can reduce household transmission of the virus by up to half, a study shows. Those given a first dose of either the Pfizer or AstraZeneca vaccines - and who became infected three weeks later - were between 38% and 49% less likely to pass the virus on than unvaccinated people, PHE found. Health Secretary Matt Hancock described the study's results as "terrific news". He has urged "everybody to get their vaccines as soon as they are eligible". In the study, protection against Covid was seen from about 14 days after vaccination, with similar levels of protection regardless of age of cases or contacts, PHE said in a statement. It added that this protection was on top of the reduced risk of a vaccinated …
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Covid-19: Hospital visiting rules tightened by NI health trusts
Published 2 hours ago Share close Share page Copy link About sharing Related Topics Coronavirus pandemic Health trusts in Northern Ireland have tightened hospital visiting rules as pressure mounts on services. From 7 May, patients could receive a daily visit from one person, with care home residents getting two a week . However, in recent weeks some health trusts halted or reduced visiting as Covid-19 admissions rose. Following a review of visiting on 30 July no further relaxations were announced, but trusts can implement their own rules. However, Prof Charlotte McArdle, Northern Ireland's chief nursing officer, said health and social care trusts must report to the department on an weekly basis to "identify and explain any variances from the main Pathway". "We have agreed a protocol with HSCTs and Hospices whereby they apply a standardised, regional risk assessment as …
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Coronavirus: Health chiefs reveal vaccine timeline in NI
Published 12 January Share close Share page Copy link About sharing Related Topics Coronavirus pandemic The Department of Health has published a detailed plan for delivering the Covid-19 vaccine in NI, which it calls "pragmatic, agile and flexible". It has produced a timeline for when people should receive their vaccine. Vaccination of older adults in care homes, those over 80, care home workers and health and social care staff began on 8 December. Phase 2 which includes those over 70 years and the extremely clinically vulnerable should begin in February. What is Northern Ireland's Covid-19 vaccine plan? Summer 2021 should see a mass vaccination programme across Northern Ireland. In a statement on Tuesday, the department said plans had been developed in partnership with Health and Social Care bodies and working with emergency teams as well as local councils …
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