On behalf of Caring Together I attended a Virtual event on Thursday along with many other representatives from various third sector organisations, and our local Councillors too.
The Lord Mayor of Leeds, the Lord Lieutenant, the County Sheriff and Councillors gave their thanks to all at Caring Together. We feel this includes not only our team, members and volunteers but neighbours, family and many other organisations that we work alongside in the community day in and day out, and have done for the last 25 years.
It felt an honour to represent Caring Together and humbling for sure to hear how other organisations have also come together and gone over and above in these strangest of times. All have definitely been Caring Together to provide support, both practically and emotionally when needed during the pandemic.
This thank you is for you all, you all deserve to be recognised for your kindness and generosity.
Kind wishes to you all
Lisa Caring Together
This is a UK-wide campaign delivered by Citizens Advice, Energy Saving Trust and the Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy (BEIS) that aims to help you cut your energy bills and access financial support you may be entitled to.
The impact of Covid-19 on energy usage over the coming months is expected to be greater than ever, and energy bills are a big worry for many this winter. Green Doctors are a team of expert energy advisers offering free support to vulnerable residents all year round to help them get on top of energy debt, switch provider, access grants and manage their energy use in the home.
https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/big-energy-saving-winter-tickets-127303204311?aff=erelexpmlt
From Leeds Live
With Christmas just around the corner a convincing scam email has been circulated that is targeting users, the Express reports.
It is asking people to pay just a £1.99 fee for an undelivered item of mail – but while the sum might seem small, what they actually want is bank account details.
Now Local Neighborhood Watch schemes have issued a warning urging customers to be extra careful about the new phishing scam.
It comes after a message that was recently received by a Royal Mail customer. The email claimed that Royal Mail had tried to deliver a letter unsuccessfully. And it simply asked the resident to pay a fee of £1.99 in order to redeliver the item.
To do this, they were encouraged to enter bank details online in order to complete the transaction. Both the low fee and the style of the email made the recipient think it could be legitimate.
Just to be on the safe side, however, they contacted fraud experts first – and were warned off.
The email was sent to a homeowner in the Buckinghamshire area – and now customers across the UK have been urged to be careful.
Ray Walsh, digital privacy expert at ProPrivacy, said: “Anybody who receives an email claiming to be from the Royal Mail must remember that they will not ever be asked to pay a redelivery fee.
“Never input your bank or card information after following a link on any email that claims it is from the Royal Mail, because it will result in your card details being stolen by criminals.
“If you have reason to believe that you may have been tricked, it is essential that you contact your bank and cancel your card at once. Additionally, check your statements for any signs of unauthorised transactions.”
The Royal Mail has also got advice for anyone who thinks they could be getting tricked.
A statement on its website said: “If you receive a suspicious email or discover a Royal Mail-branded website which you think is fraudulent, please let us know by contacting us.
“If you have been the victim of a payment scam, you can get a crime reference number by reporting it to your local police station.”
Please keep yourself safe and if you have anything you are unsure of just get in touch with family, friends, or even our ourselves to talk it through. We need to keep vigilant together.
https://personal.help.royalmail.com/…/answe…/detail/a_id/303
Dear all,
Caring Together invites you to the virtual ‘Everyday First Aid workshop’ with the British Red Cross.
Date: Friday 27th November 2020
Time: 10.30am
Venue: Online via zoom
Following government guidelines relating to Covid-19 British Red Cross decided, as an organisation, to temporarily stop all face to face First Aid and workshops.
In the meantime, to keep providing the valuable service they have been working on digitalising their learning platforms and would like to offer you an online workshop, all of which are delivered via Zoom where you will learn about every day first aid in the current climate.
If you would like to join us then please get in touch: lisa@caringtogether.org.uk or call me on 07436 530073.
The seek-and-find puzzle, created by London-based artist Berta Vallo for Sony, challenges you to find the 30 classic film titles hidden in this busy scene below. Click on it to make it bigger.
Some are straightforward and refer directly to the movie’s biggest stars or plot points but others are more obscure.
Leeds Libraries
The following libraries/hubs will be open from Fri 6 Nov The following libraries/community hubs will be open from Friday 6 November providing limited services throughout the lockdown:-
Central Library (opening hours: Monday to Saturday 11am – 3pm)
Community Libraries:
• Armley
• Compton Centre
• Dewsbury Road
• Headingley
• Reginald Centre
• Seacroft
Opening hours for the libraries listed above are: Monday to Friday 10am – 4pm, Saturday 10am – 1pm
Please check https://www.leeds.gov.uk/leisure/libraries for full details.
Dear all,
Remember, remember the 5th November – well, we’ll certainly remember this one! Going into Lockdown 2, Bonfire Night will be vastly different from those we’ve known before. I don’t recall celebrating ‘Halloween’ as a child, probably because we didn’t.
Preparations for Bonfire Night started, however, I suppose from early October. Any old furniture destined ‘for the bin’ would be saved then the chumping would start. Planks of wood and broken tree branches would be dragged along the streets to join anything which would burn. Alongside, we would be buying fireworks, usually two or three at a time and storing them in a biscuit or ‘Quality Street’ tin.
The local shop ‘Collinson’s’ sold Standard Fireworks but some shops sold the ‘Lion’ brand; always being displayed in a large tray with glass lid. As the day drew nearer, checking of the tin to see what was still needed was a regular occurrence. Should I buy a ‘Mount Vesuvius’ with its changing colours or yet another brilliant white ‘Snow Storm’? One or two rockets were bought too and we always had to ensure an empty milk bottle was to hand for its launching pad. Looking back, the rockets were very feeble by today’s standards but at least they were silent, bar the initial ‘whoosh’. Often we didn’t even see them explode as they disappeared behind a house. I suppose there was always a ‘Guy’ on display, accompanied by a request for “penny for the Guy please”, although it would have only been sitting near to our houses, never outside shops. ‘Raiding” occurred and kids from the ‘Beechwoods’ or ‘Norwoods’ in Burley/Headingley would descend and run away with whatever they could get their hands on. We would be devastated, so much so we took it in turns to do ‘guard duty’. Had they had arrived on my watch though, I would have been terrified and would have had to have let them take what they wanted!
The 4th November was ‘Mischief Night’ and harmless pranks were played on our neighbours. We ‘d plan to tie door knobs to the dustbin lids with string and smear doorknobs and garden gates with treacle. In reality I don’t think we did carry out anything as ambitious and probably settled on simpler tricks such as door knocking, making noises and running away. My Mum certainly said “You’re not taking our Golden Syrup!” not to mention a prior reprimand about leaving some “poor soul” having to clean up the mess.
‘Bonfire Night’ was such an occasion though, and in my case, the fire was built and lit on nearby waste ground, known as The Woodyard. An event when parents met up to chat and offer round parkin, toffee apples and bonfire toffee which would often result in a dental appointment soon afterwards. There may have been pie and peas but if so, I would have been warned by Mum beforehand not to eat them, their origin unknown and Mum only trusting those made by ‘Newtons’ on Kirkstall Road! Potatoes were roasted at the edge of the fire and sometimes forgotten about so we would see their charred remains the following day when we children would look for any unused fireworks. On the walk to school we would see rockets in the gutter and could only guess how far they must have travelled – not far I’ll wager. Of course Bonfires were enjoyed not just on waste land but at the end of many a street, being cobbled in those days.
One of my earliest bonfire recollections was when I would be around six years of age. Keith who lived next door but one, and in the same school class, experienced the horror of a ‘Jumping Jack’ cracker landing in his wellington boot! Keith was rushed to Casualty – probably the Public Dispensary on North Street where he was cared for. I clearly remember Keith wearing those slippers which reached the ankle and seeing the heavily bandaged leg above when I visited him at home. Curiosity from myself, coupled with his bravado, he showed me the terrible burns which have left me frightened to this day of certain fireworks. A lesson learnt.
When I moved to my apartment close to Woodhouse Moor, it was only a short walk to the Council’s Bonfire and Firework Display. Most years I have enjoyed the display from the comfort of home and could even see the top of the fire over the tops of high buildings. A mini Woodhouse ‘Feast’ was also on site for the evening, having disappeared by next morning. This year we will have nothing. but I hope children will be able to enjoy some fireworks (at hugely inflated prices these days!) with accompanying tasty treats. I’m sure we will still be rocked with loud explosions from somewhere around and see the occasional firework trail but nothing on the scale of yesteryear with the current restrictions. I feel blessed to have the memories of those simple and fun times.
Thank you once again Maureen, until next time…
Image sourced from pinterest
