Category Archives: Caring Together

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

Little London Community Fun Day

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An absolutely fantastic day at the Community Day In Little London on Saturday. Given that there was a gap of 2 years when the day was unable to go ahead due to the pandemic we were all unsure what the turnout would be like. We needn’t have worried! The crowd in fact was bigger than ever. There was a great number of stalls present catering for people of all ages and the talent show, as always, was a highlight of the afternoon.

A big thanks to all who were instrumental in the organising of the day, who volunteered, who ran a stall, and no lesser thanks to all who attended, making the day the success that it was.

RED Warning Extreme Heat / Level 4 RED Heat Health Alert !!Leeds Impacted!!

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Update received from Leeds Older People Commissioning Team

! Update. Previously issued warning for EXTREME HEAT has now escalated to RED status. Parts of the Leeds District area are included in the warning area.

Additionally, the Heat Health alert has also escalated to Level 4 RED = national emergency status. The first time ever issued in the UK.

Map Description automatically generated

Warning type:

Extreme heat RED warning – valid from 00:00 Mon 18 Jul to 23:59 Tues 19 Jul.

Heat Health Level 4 RED warning – valid from 00:00 Mon 18 Jul to 00:00 Weds 20 Jul.

Extreme Heat AMBER warning (locations outside the RED area) – valid from 00:00 Sun 17 Jul to 23:59 Tues 19 Jul. 

Weather summary: An exceptional hot spell on Monday and Tuesday leading to widespread impacts on people and infrastructure.

Potential impacts: 

  • Population-wide adverse health effects experienced, not limited to those most vulnerable to extreme heat, leading to serious illness or danger to life. Government advice is that 999 services should be used in emergencies only; seek advice from 111 if you need non-emergency health advice.
  • Substantial changes in working practices and daily routines will be required
  • High risk of failure of heat-sensitive systems and equipment, potentially leading to localised loss of power and other essential services, such as water or mobile phone services
  • Significantly more people visiting coastal areas, lakes and rivers, leading to an increased risk of water safety incidents
  • Delays on roads and road closures, along with delays and cancellations to rail and air travel, with significant welfare issues for those who experience even moderate delays.

Keep updated at: UK weather warnings – Met Office.

Be Scam Savvy….

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Thanks to support from Age UK Leeds. We have two informal discussions about ‘Scam Prevention and Awareness’ coming up to help us all stay ahead of the scams and thus less likely to be caught out.

Venue: Caring Together Offices, 127 Woodhouse Street, Leeds LS6 2PY

Date: Monday 11th July 2022

Time: 11am to 12.30pm

and

Venue: Little London Community Centre, Main Hall, Oatland Lane, Little London. Leeds LS7 1HF

Date: Thursday 29th September 2022

Time: 2.30pm to 4pm

Open to all, no need to book just pop in and grab a cuppa

Standing and Seated Yoga

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We have some seated and standing yoga happening on the below dates. The sessions are adapted for us so no need to get down on the floor. Just come, relax and feel the benefits of Vera’s many years as a Yoga instructor. Each session is standalone so no matter if you join this week.

Venue: Main Hall, Little London Community Centre, Oatland Lane, Little London LS7 1SR

Dates: Thursday 23rd & 30th June and Thursday 7th, 14th, 21st & 28th July 2022

Time: 2.30pm to 3.30pm