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

Little Amal walks in Leeds for World Refugee Day

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Monday 20th June – 6pm – 8pm Briggate and Millenium Square

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After spending the day in Bradford, Amal will pop up on Briggate around 6pm, and walk through the city to Millennium Square arriving there about 8pm. With music, performances and activities along the way if you join her on her journey.

A little girl on a BIG journey, Little Amal is the giant puppet at the heart of ‘The Walk’. Since July 2021 she has travelled over 8,000km in support of refugees.

The 3.5 metre-tall living artwork of a young Syrian refugee child has walked across Turkey, Greece, Italy, France, Switzerland, Germany, Belgium, the UK, the Netherlands, Poland and Ukraine to focus attention on the urgent needs of young refugees.

One year on from leaving her home in Syria, Amal will walk again in the UK this June during #RefugeeWeek.

Between 19-27 June she will visit 10 towns and cities across England meeting friends old and new, sharing her message of resilience and hope with anyone who has been forced to leave their homes.

Deadline for Leeds Council Tax/Energy Rebates

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Friday 24th June – 5pm

Help us to help you – that’s the message from Leeds City Council to people in Leeds who have yet to make their application for a council tax rebate payment.

All households in Council Tax Band A-D have been entitled to a £150 payment as part of the Government’s response to rising energy bills.

This applies even if you do not pay council tax because of receiving full council tax support (benefit) or are exempt for another reason.

All who pay council tax by direct debit should have automatically received this payment into their bank accounts

Those who do not pay by direct debit (including those who do not pay at all) have been able to claim via an online form since 4th April. But latest figures show that around two-thirds of Leeds’s 120,000 non-direct debit households have not yet applied.

The claim form can be found here: www.leeds.gov.uk/council-tax/£150-council-tax-rebate. Staff at the council’s community hubs can help you with this process if you need it.

Also, here at Caring Together, we have been helping lots of our members to complete these applications and you can contact us if you haven’t applied yet and need some help.

Later in the year the council does plan to issue vouchers or a credit to council tax bills for those who have not received the rebate but crucially, those who proactively apply before 5pm on June 24 will get their rebate more quickly.

Litter Free Leeds

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Leeds Goes Purple

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Friday 10th June – Sunday 12th June

Have you seen those purple bin bags dotted around your area?

If you didn’t know, they’re being filled up by local people who are doing litter picks in your area as part of Litter Free Leeds.

We all know litter is an eyesore and can be a danger to wildlife and pets. Each year 60,000 bags of litter are collected in Leeds by people ranging from individuals, families doing a quick pick as part of a day out or dog walk, to organised groups and even businesses wanting to do something to make a difference in their area.

Litter Free Leeds is organising a ‘Leeds Goes Purple’ weekend starting today and running until Sunday 12th June to celebrate the contributions being made across the city and to spread the news to anyone who wants to join in and do their bit in and around their local communities.

If you want to join in, contact your local group – Woodhouse Womblers – oracy@ymail.com to get your purple bags.

Platinum Jubilee Celebrations at Caring Together

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We had a beautiful morning last week to celebrate the Platinum Jubilee. We also had a few weeks to prepare prior to our celebrations where some of us came together and unleashed our creative sides to make some decorations for the window and inside too. We even had some knitted and crocheted bunting made. We hope you liked them.

On the day we had some wonderful home made scones, buns, and a trifle for all (that took some making, but well worth it…….we loved it!). Some of our members and Morrisons donated our prizes for the event. That included the jam and clotted cream! Some members also donated the purple platinum jubilee bags, sweets, and the queens shortbread (and the tins). These all went together for the bags everyone got to take away; so kind and thoughtful and welcomed by all. Our tables; donated from housing, were kindly decorated with flowers from our allotment. The office looked pretty impressive.

A HUGE Thank you to everyone for making it extra special, to those joining us on the day, helping prior to, and on the day.

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.