Category Archives: Health & Wellbeing

Meter readings prior to October price increase

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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.

Cost of living/energy bills help – update

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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

Feel Good Festival at Little London Community Centre

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Feel Good Festival - Day One, 22 August | Event in Woodhouse | AllEvents.in

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.

Leeds Pride 2022

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Sunday 7th August – Leeds City Centre

Event Details and Travel diversions

Leeds Pride

Leeds Pride is back after missing two years due to the pandemic. Every year, Leeds Pride attracts over 50,000 people and the parade through the city features over 100 floats. Yorkshire’s biggest Pride event and it is free!! It’s fully inclusive and everyone is welcome to attend.

The schedule for the main day (Sunday) is as follows:

  • 12pm – 2pm – Sainsbury’s Parade Stage entertainment programme – Millennium Square
  • 2pm – The Robert Payne Parade – Millennium Square to The Calls
  • 3pm – 9pm – First Direct Main Stage entertainment programme – Lower Briggate

Events take place throughout the weekend; the Civic Hall will be lit in the colours of the rainbow and will proudly display the Pride flag for all to see; on Saturday a Community Marketplace is taking place in Brodrick Hall, Leeds City Museum from 11am to 4pm where people can find out about LGBT+ services, support and social groups in Leeds.

LCC and the organisers of Pride have tried to ensure that the spaces at Millennium Square and Lower Briggate are easily accessible so that everyone can enjoy the day. There will be a raised access platform in Millennium Square (also known as Accessible Viewing Area (AVA)) which is reserved for disabled people and their carers. Next to the AVA there are changing facilities, toilets as well as wheelchair accessible toilets. There are also accessible toilets in the permanent toilet provision under Millennium Square. There will also be two accessible buses parked on Great George Street. One of which will depart earlier to take people to the event spaces on lower Briggate. This allows those persons to get a position on the AVA on Lower Briggate. The second bus will travel as part of the parade.

Stewards will be available on the day to assist disabled people to find the AVA and toilets in both areas.

To find out more, please visit https://www.leedspride.com/accessibility-1

Bus services and road closures:

The parade route covers Millennium Square, Cookridge Street, The Headrow, Vicar Lane, Kirkgate, York Street, Duke Street, Kirkgate, High Court, The Calls, Call Lane and Lower Briggate and these roads will be closed approximately 13.45 – 16.15

Lower Briggate, Call Lane and Meadow Lane are closed 0400 – 2359.

A number of bus services will be diverted (including the 51/52 route) and you can see all the details here: https://wymetro.com/leedspride2022

Message from our councillors re Student Changeover

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An update on Student Changeover, the period when many students in the area all move house.
We have had 6 enforcement Officers patrolling the whole area from 8am until 4pm since 20th June. They have been advising residents on what to do with waste, handing out warnings for presenting waste in the street and issuing fines where necessary.
This is planned to be continuing until 6th July by which time the vast majority of people moving house in this period will have done so.
We have been working on educating students, landlords and letting agents since the beginning of this year in preparation for this student changeover period.
In regards to waste clearance we have put in as much extra resource in Headingley, Hyde park and Woodhouse as possible – obviously yesterday and today are the days when most people move so we should be reaching a peak with everything improving over the next few days.
Our Cleaner Neighbourhoods Team operatives are working up until 7pm every day in this period, doing extra hours to alleviate as much pressure as possible.
As local Councillors we too are supplementing this with ward walks and reporting in flytipping and waste – we are also reporting in all that is sent to us over email or text.
If you are moving, please do not leave items out on your wall or in the street in the hope that people will want to take your things. 95% of these sort of items will not get taken and then the rest becomes illegal flytipping.
Please dispose of your waste properly, either through acknowledged donation channels or thrown away properly.
There is a huge amount to get through, so please bear with us over the next few days, and do contact us if you think there’s a street or area being missed. And thank you to all those residents for their patience in this annual difficult period!
Cllrs Walshaw, Pryor & Garthwaite

al.garthwaite@leeds.gov.uk

jonathan.pryor@leeds.gov.uk

neil.walshaw@leeds.gov.uk

Insect Hotel at Woodhouse

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It was lovely to see this amazing insect hotel in the garden at Woodhouse Community Centre. It was created by the Inkwell gardening group using lots of natural and found materials, this insect hotel is the perfect home for all our beautiful bugs and perfect pollinators!

The gardening group meet on Thursday mornings 10am – 11.30am – new members welcome

New Measures to help with cost of living

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The government has announced further measures to help with the ongoing cost of living crisis, and in particular rising fuel bills

All households will get £400 cut from the fuel bill in October, this is replacing the £200 ‘loan payment’ proposed earlier and it will not have to be repaid.  It will be credited to your electricity bill (if you are on a prepayment meter this is likely to be paid in top-up vouchers).

In addition, people over State Pension age (on 26th September 2022)  will be paid an extra £300 on top of the existing Winter Fuel Allowance.  This should be paid directly into your bank account in November or December

Households in receipt of means tested benefits will receive £650, to be paid in two instalments, one in July and one in the autumn.  This will apply to you if you get: Pension Credit, Universal Credit, Income-based Jobseekers Allowance, Income-related Employment and Support Allowance, Income Support,  Working Tax Credit, Child Tax Credit. 

A £150 disability cost of living payment will be made in September to those receiving non-means tested disability benefits—Disability Living Allowance, Personal Independence Payment, Attendance Allowance, Scottish Disability Benefits, Armed Forces Independence Payment, Constant Attendance Allowance, War Pension Mobility Supplement.

You do not need to claim any of these—they should be paid automatically to you.  You  will receive all of the payments you qualify for and they do not affect any other benefits and are not taxable.  They are all intended as one off measures for this year only.

This is in addition to the £150 paid via Council Tax that many people will have already received. All households in band A-D qualify for this even if you do not pay any council tax because you get full council tax support or are exempt for another reason.  If you pay your Council Tax by direct debit this should have already been paid into your bank account.  People who don’t pay by direct debit needed to claim this payment online at www.leeds.gov.uk/council-tax/£150-council-tax-rebate.  Caring Together have helped many  members to claim this but if you still haven’t claimed please get in touch with us if you need assistance to do so.

The household support fund has also been increased, and extended to March 2023.  This is money paid to local councils to help them support those most in need, with rising cost of food, energy, and water bills. You may be able to get help from this if you do not qualify for the other measures.  You can contact Leeds Welfare Support on 0113 376 0330.

If you are struggling, please ask for help. Caring Together can help our members to look at the options and to access the support that is available so please contact us.  Even if you are not a member, we can try and put you in touch with the organisations that can offer help.

Do you know the signs of dementia?

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“It’s not called getting old, it’s called getting ill”

It’s Dementia Action Week and this year’s campaign will focus on the theme of diagnosis.

If you or a loved one is experiencing memory loss, it could be a sign of dementia.

Alzheimer’s Society research shows that the misconception around memory loss being a sign of normal ageing is the biggest barrier to people seeking a dementia diagnosis.

With diagnosis rates falling to a five-year low, we want to encourage those who might be living with undiagnosed dementia to come to us for guidance and support and feel empowered to take the next step.

Getting a diagnosis can be daunting, but we believe it’s better to know. And so do 91% of people affected by dementia.

Forgetting things from time to time is usually normal. But if memory loss is affecting your daily life, it’s a good idea to seek help. The Alzheimer’s Society can give you advice to help you understand if your symptoms are related to dementia. https://www.alzheimers.org.uk/about-dementia/symptoms-and-diagnosis/memory-loss-dementia-diagnosis

Light of Remembrance – Candle lit vigil walk Leeds City Centre

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Saturday April 23rd 6pm – 9pm

To bring together communities through the losses suffered during Covid-19, a short candlelit vigil walk from the Millennium Square to the Mill Hill Chapel in City Square (Leeds) on the 23rd April, 2022 between 6-9pm.

Schedule:

6pm Meet on the steps of the Civic Hall in Millennium Square where Martin House Children’s Hospice choir will be performing. Civic leaders will be attending and opening our event.

Opening Speakers: Councillor Eileen Taylor; Councillor Sharon Burke; Councillor Abigail Marshall Katung; Councillor Mohammed Iqbal; Councillor Sharon Hamilton

7pm A candle lit walk stopping at significant places to pause and reflect, en route to City Square and finally into Mill Hill Chapel

8pm We will be gathering inside the chapel until 9pm (event finishes)

There will be a musical performance from: Sarah Yaseen & Mina Salama

To see more information or to register: https://t.co/4lIW7QuV85

Light of Remembrance image