All Leeds households will have their bins collected a DAY EARLIER the week before Christmas.
If you are due a collection on Boxing Day Monday, that collection will be made on Christmas Eve (Saturday) instead.
After Boxing Day your bin will be collected on your normal, scheduled days.
Don’t get caught out this year, check the schedule below:
There are 74,000 unpaid carers in Leeds. If you look after a partner, relative or friend who is disabled or ill due to physical or mental health, you are a carer, even if you don’t think of yourself as one.
Caring Costs unpaid carers in many ways, from carers’ wellbeing and ability to access health services, to costs to their finances and employment options, to the current cost of living crisis which is being felt even more acutely by carers throughout the UK.
Find out about the emotional, practical and financial support available to you. https://www.carersleeds.org.uk/
Our latest newsletter is here along with some inserts, lots of information and upcoming activities, events and outings
You can also see previous newsletters here
Issue-98-Winter-2022
Today – 10/10 is World Mental Health Day and we are sharing with you ‘Take10’ from Mindwell Leeds for some calm, mindful time which might might help. Here are 10 activities you can do for 10 minutes or 10 seconds.
And also some information about where to access mental health support or find resources to help you better understand your mental well being
October is Free Wills Month and a number of solicitors in Leeds are taking part this year. This is a partnership between the solicitors and a group of well known charities and means that anyone over 55 can have a simple will, including joint wills, made or updated free of charge.
The charities hope that you will make a donation or leave a gift in your will but you are not obliged to.
Go to https://freewillsmonth.org.uk/ to see which charities are involved and to find a participating solicitor and details of how to book an appointment for your free will,
Mindfulness for Health 8 week course – online or in person in East Leeds
Let’s recover together
Aimed at people living in Leeds:
who are over 60 and living with pain, fatigue, long covid or other health difficulties,
or who are over 60 and facing isolation or are bereaved after the pandemic.
You can choose to be online or in person at Space2 in Gipton, Leeds.
Taster session on Monday 3rd October 10.30 am – 12.00
The 8 week course starts Monday 10th October 10.30 am – 1 pm (breaks are built into the morning)
Booking is essential.
Phone Jelena at Space 2 on 0113 320 0159 or mobile 07519 042683 for more info or to book your place.
8 week course teaches the skills to help you support your physical and mental health. Each week introduces key ideas and practices which help us to live well and thrive in the face of health challenges such as chronic pain, fatigue, chronic illness and stress.
What will I learn?
mindfulness and self compassion skills in daily life, how mindfulness can help manage pain, stress and chronic health conditions, to live in the present moment and breathe into your experience, rather than tensing against it, the art of taking joy in simple everyday pleasures, greater concentration and focus, transformative body and breath awareness for relaxation, tranquility and to let go of tension
What is involved?
8 weeks of 2.5 hour sessions with breaks, a mixture of practicing mindfulness, learning ideas and discussion, being in a warm and friendly group where you can choose what to share, led by an experienced accredited mindfulness teacher, resources to practice at home, free membership of an online community of practice to continue after the course.
Information about this and other courses at https://mindfulnesscoop.co.uk/
Energy prices rise again on October 1st and while the government’s new price guarantee has limited that to some extent they will still be going up by over 25% for most people (unless you are on a fixed tarrif)
So, it is a good idea to give your energy company meter readings to make sure you are only being billed for what you use. If you can send in a reading for on or around 30th September this means your usage will be accurately recorded at the point of the price increase and should hopefully avoid disputes later on.
You don’t necessarily have to submit your reading on this day, most energy companies will let you send in a backdated reading for a few days after. When the prices went up in April many energy companies websites and phone lines crashed because of the volume of people trying to use them so a day or so after might be better.
https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/…/how-to-read-your…/
If you have a smart meter, and it is working, you don’t need to send readings in.
Government today announced the new energy price guarantee. This will start on 1st October and will cap the energy costs for a household with ‘typical’ use at £2500 (it is currently £1971). The Energy Price Guarantee limits the amount households can be charged per unit of gas or electricity. So your exact bill will continue to depend on how much energy you use.
If you have fixed your tariff you can either stay on this, or can leave and switch to the new subsidised tariffs with no exit penalties. There will be some discount applied to existing fixed rates as part of this scheme so you may have to work out which tariff benefits you most.
The £400 payment to all homes this winter will still be paid – this is to be spread over 6 months, as a credit on your bill, a reduction in direct debits or by voucher for those on pre-payment meters.
For those who pay electricity costs via their landlord, equivalent help is promised but there are no details yet.
The other, previously announced, cost of living payments for those on means tested benefits, people over state pension age and those who receive disability benefits will go ahead as planned.
While this is welcome news compared to the £3549 cap that was due to come into effect in October it is still an increase of more than 25% on top of the already extremely high cap. If you are struggling to afford your energy bills please reach out for help.
Contact your supplier first – they have an obligation to try and help you and many suppliers have set up hardship funds.
Caring Together members – or anyone over 55 in Woodhouse, Little London or Leeds city centre – speak to us and we will help you to explore your options re getting help with your bills or seeing if you are entitled to any additional income.
We will also be hosting some information sessions with the Energy Efficiency Worker from Green Doctor Leeds, where you can come along and have a cuppa and have a chat about your current energy bills and energy efficiency:
Monday 12th September at Caring Together premises, 127 Woodhouse Street – 11am -12.30pm
Thursday 27th October and Thursday 24th November at Little London Community Centre 2.30pm-4pm
Little London Community Centre
Thursday 1st September 2.30pm – 3.30pm
Green Doctor will be with us today to chat about fuel
bills, tariffs, winter fuel allowance and energy efficiency.
Pop in for a cuppa and join us
Together We Can are excited to invite you to join them in their summer celebration, “What Makes You Feel Good?” Explore new ways to express yourself, uncover some new talents and share with us what makes you feel good.
Together We Can is Leeds Involving People’s lived experience mental health network.
There are loads of different activities to try, from drumming to balancing chakras, celebrating neurodiversity to creating your own tissue paper posies and many more!
Day One is at Little London Community Centre and there are also events at Beeston Village Community Centre on Tuesday 23rd and at New Headingley Club on Wednesday 24th.
You can register here https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/feel-good-festival-day-one-tickets-387431426827 and you can also book on individual activities here or it is ok to turn up on the day.
