Additional guidance and support for vulnerable people during lockdown

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The government has revised its guidance on those over 60 or who are deemed to be clinically vulnerable and could be at higher risk of severe illness from coronavirus. If you fall into this category, you should:

  • be especially careful to follow the rules and minimise your contacts with others
  • continue to wash your hands carefully and more frequently than usual and maintain thorough cleaning of frequently touched areas in your home and/or workspace.

There is support available if you need it.  Please contact us at Caring Together if you need any help or advice, or for more information about other support available in the city see: https://www.leeds.gov.uk/coronavirus/people-and-communities

Current information on who is classed as ‘vulnerable’ or clinically extremely vulnerable is available here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/new-national-restrictions-from-5-november#protecting-people-more-at-risk-from-coronavirus. (If you fall into the latter category you should have received a letter giving you detailed guidance)

 

Poetry Corner: ‘ Dumpty written by John Lithgow

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‘Dumpty’ by John Lithgow
Trumpty Dumpty wanted a wall
To stir up a rabid political brawl.
His Republican rivals, both feckless and stodgy,
Succumbed in the end to his rank demagogy.
Dumpty’s wall made no earthly sense,
A boondoggle built at enormous expense.
But he promised, in speeches despotic and shrill,
He’d make certain that Mexico footed the bill.
Trumpty Dumpty kept insisting.
More and more citizens started resisting.
Sadly, there won’t be an end to this tale,
At least until reasonable people prevail.  
Dumpty: The Age of Trump in Verse (Dumpty, #1) by John Lithgow

Light Night 2020 – Faint Signals

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Faint Signals

Faint Signals by British Library and Invisible Flock

British Library and Invisible Flock (UK)

Online from sunset on 10 November 2020 to 2 January 2021

Explore Faint Signals here

(Please note: Faint Signals is available through modern browsers (such as Chrome or Firefox) but is not currently optimised for mobile devices.)

Looking ahead to Light Night Leeds 2021, which will explore the themes of nature and the environment, the British Library has commissioned Yorkshire-based interactive arts studio, Invisible Flock, to produce a new online digital artwork using sounds from wildlife, weather and nature from the British Library’s extraordinary collection

Set in an imagined Yorkshire forest, we invite you to explore a vast online interactive commission rooted in real life natural environments. Faint Signals is a digital experience that reflects the diversity and complexity of Yorkshire’s natural world. Using just a mouse and keyboard you can explore this world for yourself. Scroll over the landscape and unlock a rich variety of different sounds. Learn more about them through a simple narrative as you playfully bring to life a vivid and complex ecosystem.

While the forest is imagined, the flora, fauna and wildlife you will discover is all scientifically accurate and native to Yorkshire – though some of it is now sadly extinct. There are thousands of combinations to explore so you’ll never have the same experience twice.

The pandemic has slowed transport and industry and given some landscapes an unprecedented absence of human contact. We’ve seen sea eagles return to the Yorkshire Moors and deer taking over corners of East London. And, for the first time in many years, city-dwellers have heard birdsong all day long. As we contemplate how we live in a world impacted so much by COVID-19, Faint Signals considers our relationship with shared spaces and the natural world, as well as with sound, and how human impact has changed this over time.

Faint Signals is part of the British Library’s growing culture and learning programme in and around Leeds

Council Services during Lockdown

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For four weeks until Wednesday 2 December the Government is asking people to stay at home, except for specific purposes; not to gather with others they don’t live with, except for specific purposes and is closing some businesses and venues.

Residents can leave home for essential reasons such as food shopping, accessing health or critical public services, to work (if unable to work from home), for education or providing care for a vulnerable person.

Leeds City Council parks remain open and people can take unlimited exercise – with members of their own household, on their own or with one other person from outside their household.

Below explains how the new rulings and guidance will impact services here in Leeds and is a summary with full details available at www.leeds.gov.uk/coronavirus/our-services.

 Services planned to remain open:

  • Parks, playgrounds and the Arium, plus car parks and public toilets in parks.
  • Waste services will remain operational but likely to be under pressures.
  • Household waste recycling centres will stay open.
  • Bulky waste collection and forestry continues and litter bins will be emptied as staffing allows
  • Cafes are able to offer takeaways.
  • Funeral services will continue with a maximum capacity of 30 people.
  • The contact centre will continue to operate. As many community hubs as possible will remain open.
  • Civil Registrations Offices remain open.
  • There will be street support for rough sleepers.
  • Food supplies: Fareshare have a new extended warehouse operational. The council has assigned £50k if they need to purchase more food. 300 bags of food a week will increase to 1000 on Thursday.
  • Social care continues, day services are being reviewed.
  • Schools and children and young person settings (incl childcare such as Little Owls).
  • Parks and playground maintenance, responsive highway and winter maintenance, catering and cleaning to support those council venues remaining open; responsive and planned maintenance of council buildings.

Services planned to close or see significant change:

  • Visitor attractions, including museums and galleries, and venues, will close for the duration of the lockdown period.
  • Leisure centres and golf courses and will close in line with Government guidance.
  • Weddings and civil partnerships will be postponed during the lockdown period.
  • General access to libraries will cease but click-and-collect services may be allowed.
  • Face-to-face Welfare Rights service will cease. Doorstep visits can continue.
  • Market stalls selling non-essential item will need to close.

Councillor Judith Blake, leader of Leeds City Council, said:

 “Once again the people of Leeds, along with the rest of England, are being asked to stay at home, protect the NHS and save lives. I know how difficult this will be for local people and businesses who have continued to face unparalleled challenges this year, but the safety of our residents must take priority until we can gain control of this relentless virus. It has been amazing to see the city pull together this year and I know we can do it again.

“The darker nights will no doubt make this lockdown tougher for many people and it is important we all take care of ourselves and look out for friends, family members, colleagues and neighbours who may be struggling. The council is here to offer help to any person or business who needs it and there is a range of support and resources available online.”

The council will continue to work with partners across the city to ensure services are delivered as effectively as possible and to support the most vulnerable members of communities.

Information and support for residents can be found here: www.leeds.gov.uk/coronavirus.

Monday Mind Workout’ answers from yesterday Monday 9th November 2020

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Dear all,

See below answers for yesterday’s Monday Mind workout, how did you do? lisa@caringtogether.org.uk

1. Braveheart

2. Die Hard With A Vengeance

3. Face Off

4. Armageddon

5. Taken 2

6. Edge of tomorrow

7. The Devil Wears Prada

8. The Day After Tomorrow

9. The Truman Show

10. Groundhog Day

11. Summer of Sam

12. Dances with Wolves

13. Marie Antoinette

14. Salt

15. Babel

 16. The Taking of Pelham One Two Three

17. From Here to Eternity

18. Birdman of Alcatraz

19. The Swimmer

20. Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery

21. The African Queen

22. Dr Dolittle

23. The Day of the Jackal

24. Awakenings

25. Cleopatra

26. Gandhi

27. On the Waterfront

28. Shampoo

29. Das Boot

30. Timecop

Sourced: dailymail co uk

Shakespeare Season with The Shows Must Go On – Richard II

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The Shows Must Go On is bringing us a Shakespeare related performance each week in November and this week it is Richard II.  Premieres at 7pm tonight and will be available to view for 7 days.

Deborah Warner’s staging of Richard II with Fiona Shaw as the king stirred up a significant critical controversy when it was presented in 1995 at the National Theatre, and then later in Salzburg and Paris. Among those who recognised its originality and strengths was the critic Paul Taylor who praised the ‘gripping, lucidly felt production’ and Fiona Shaw’s ‘dazzlingly disconcerting… deliberately uncomfortable, compelling performance.’ For the screen version, Deborah Warner and production designer Hildegard Bechtler re-imagined Richard II as an innovative drama that was shot over a fortnight using film techniques. Playing alongside Fiona Shaw is a distinguished cast including Donald Sinden (Duke of York), Richard Bremmer (Henry Bolingbroke), Julian Rhind-Tutt (Duke of Aumerle), Kevin McKidd (Harry Percy) and Paola Dionisotti (Duchess of York).

‘Monday Mind Workout’ Monday 9th November 2020

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Dear all,

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.

Answers to follow tomorrow. Good luck
sourced: dailymail co uk

Leeds Involving People

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Dear all,
At Leeds Involving People (known as LIP) they are dedicated to involving people in the redesign of health, social care and community services.
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They continue to run projects for: people who use public transport in Leeds; the Deaf communities in Leeds and Barnsley; Childhood Sexual Abuse survivors in Leeds; people with long-term conditions; people with experience of mental health; access issues across Leeds; people with Dual Diagnosis; people who use Equipment Services; people who use Home Care services; new mums who receive mental health support, amongst many others!
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Over the last 25 years we’ve enabled thousands of people to have a voice and a say in how the public services they use are planned, delivered and monitored.
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Have you signed up to their mailing list?
You can sign up for more information about what to do and how you can get your voice heard 😀
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View their most recent newsletter here: http://leedsinvolvement.org.uk/…/LIPPY-News-Draft-Sept..
Image may contain: shoes

NHS Services during the pandemic

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Information from NHS in Leeds:

Your GP practice is still open, although initial contact should always be by telephone or online consultation. You will be seen face-to-face if necessary. Our staff are working hard in these difficult times, so remember to be #BeKind         

Thank you for your patience.

Your NHS is working hard to maintain a wide range of services despite a significant increase in demands from Covid. It may take longer to treat you than we would normally want or expect. 
Find out more, including how to access the right service: bit.ly/3nWuDqa