Category Archives: Community News

Free Wills Month

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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,

Free course for over 60s from Leeds Mindfulness Cooperative

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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/

Leeds Mindfulness Cooperative

Cost of living payments

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£150 cost of living payments for those receiving disability benefits are starting to be paid from this week and everyone who is eligible should have received it by beginning of October.

You are entitled to this payment if you receive one of the following benefits (note you must have been entitled to it on the qualifying date – 25th May 2022)

  • Attendance Allowance
  • Constant Attendance Allowance
  • Disability Living Allowance
  • Personal Independence Payment
  • Armed Forces Independence Payment
  • War Pension Mobility Supplement

It will be paid into the same bank account as your benefit – you do not need to do anything it will be paid automatically.

Scam warning

There have been reports of people receiving text messages asking them to follow a link to claim this payment. This is a scam – you do not have to claim this payment it should be paid to you automatically.

Please be aware and don’t click any links on a message like this, or give any details out to anyone for payment of this, the DWP will not need to ask you for any of this as they will be paying you with the same details they use to pay your benefits.

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Bank Holiday – need to knows

You will be aware that Monday 19th September has been designated a bank holiday for the funeral of Queen Elizabeth II.

If you are due to be paid your Pension or any benefits on Monday 19th, they will be paid into your bank on Friday 16th.

Many shops, including most supermarkets, and cafes/restaurants, food outlets and even some pubs will be closed – even those who usually open on bank holidays, so if you need shopping plan to do it beforehand. If you were expecting an online grocery delivery on Monday 19th it is likely to be cancelled, hopefully the supplier will have been in touch – if not it’s probably best to contact them and find out what alternative arrangements you can make.

Most GP practices will close as on a normal bank holiday but you will still be able to access health care if you need it – call 111 or use https://111.nhs.uk/. If you need a pharmacy on Monday you should be able to find out which are open on https://www.nhs.uk/service-search/pharmacy/find-a-pharmacy.

Leeds Teaching hospitals have said they are trying to continue with planned appointments and operations as much a possible so if you have an appointment and haven’t been contacted to say it is cancelled please attend as normal.

LCC bin collections will be suspended on Monday 19th and so bins will all be collected one day later this week – including Sunday 25th September.

Finally, the queens funeral will be shown on most TV channels – coverage will be most of the day but the funeral itself is 11am. You can also watch it on the big screen at Millennium Square. This is free and will be from 10am – 6pm more details here https://www.millsqleeds.com/…/live-coverage-of-the…/…

Reading of the West Yorkshire Proclamation

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Sunday 11th September at 12:45

The public are invited to the formal West Yorkshire Proclamation of King Charles III will take place on Sunday 11th September at 12:45 at Leeds Civic Hall.

The High Sheriff will be accompanied by the Lord Mayor of Leeds, Councillor Robert W Gettings MBE JP and Lord Lieutenant in proclaiming the reign of King Charles III in a historic moment for Leeds and West Yorkshire. Flags at all Leeds City Council civic buildings will be raised to full mast to mark the occasion. Following the proclamations flags will be re-lowered to half-mast where they will remain for the duration of the period of national mourning.

The short historic service will be live streamed on Leeds City Council’s YouTube channel https://www.youtube.com/user/Leedscouncil for people who are unable to attend. Attendees will have the chance to sign the book of condolence after the service.

Leeds Civic Hall

Heritage Open Days 2022

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9th – 18th September 2022

Heritage Open Days

Heritage Open Days is England’s largest festival of history and culture, bringing together over 2,000 local people and organisations, and thousands of volunteers. Every year in September, places across the country throw open their doors to celebrate their heritage, community and history. It’s your chance to see hidden places and try out new experiences – and it’s all FREE.

The events this year are a mix of in-person and online events – many are both so you can choose between getting out and about in the local area or taking part in something further afield without needing to leave home.

Leeds Inspired have pulled together a selection of what is happening in Leeds: https://www.leedsinspired.co.uk/collection/heritage-open-days-leeds-2022

All the events can be found here https://www.heritageopendays.org.uk/visiting

Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II

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Sad news today, the death of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. Monarch for 70 years and also a mother, grandmother and great grandmother – our thoughts are with the family.

Civic buildings in Leeds will be lit in purple in the hours of darkness during the official period of mourning and the flags have been lowered to half mast.

Leeds City Council have opened an online book of condolences for residents who wish to leave a message and pay tribute https://bookofcondolences.leeds.gov.uk/

A physical book of condolence will be available at Leeds Civic Hall

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

“Mayor’s Fares” start today on West Yorkshire buses

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From today fares for single bus journeys within West Yorkshire will be capped at £2 and a day ticket will be reduced to £4.50 as part of the Mayors Fares project introduced to make public transport more affordable.

Of course this won’t affect you if you are able to travel for free with a senior or disabled bus pass but for those who don’t yet qualify for one of these, or if you need to travel before 9.30am when the pass can be used, this will be the most you now have to pay

The Mayor's Fares Illustration Graphic

The maximum single fare of £2 and maximum daily fare of £4.50 will apply across West Yorkshire, on all service operators, on journeys within West Yorkshire. These are not applicable to Park & Ride services, football and other events specials, or the parts of journeys that are outside West Yorkshire.

More information about this and other bus tickets here: https://wymetro.com/mayorsfares