Staying Well Calderdale is holding another Staying Warm with Staying Well event at Illingworth Moor Methodist Church on
Wednesday 1st March 2023 from 11.30am to 2.30pm
Come to our friendly community gathering, enjoy a warm drink and lunch, including a main and cake!
We will have guests from the following local organisations who will share useful advice around keeping yourself and your house warm, as well as providing other ways of supporting yourself during these difficult times.
Vitaminds
Healthy Minds
Newground Together
Ageing Well Team (North PCN)
Social Prescribing Team (North PCN)
The Heat Team
Daisy Chain Café
Smart Move
Age UK/ Dementia Hub
We will share tips on keeping warm, healthy and save money in your home.
The event is free of charge, feel free to come along for some or all of it. No need to book, just drop in.
For those who celebrate it, Christmas can be a magical time of year, coming together to enjoy yearly traditions of food, music, decorations and presents. But this all comes at a cost, both to our purses and the planet and the work that goes into making Christmas special often falls disproportionately to women.
As we begin to understand the challenges posed by climate change and the gathering pace of the cost-of-living crisis, we wanted to get back to the true meaning of Christmas and show that it doesn’t have to be all about consumerism and pressure to create the perfect day.
And so, together with our brilliant partners from across Calderdale, we held the first Thriftmas event on Saturday 10th December at Forest Cottage. There was a wide variety of activities on offer as well as advice and free goodies that aimed to give a different perspective on Christmas whilst maintaining the traditions we all know and love.
Did you know that every year, we spend around £700 million on unwanted gifts and that of all gifts, only 1% will still be in use come June?
When it comes to gifts, it really is the thought that counts so we had NHP’s Tracy hosting a Swishing table where people could bring in something they no longer wanted or needed to swap for something they could use or gift. The table was empty at the end of the day.
Natalie from NHP was there to help people make their own bath salts and bath bombs with recycled packaging good enough to gift to emphasise that handmade gifts can be the most thoughtful, waste free and cost-effective gifts out there.
Dan from NHP showed people how to make unique planters from recycled bottles that also make lovely and unique handmade gifts.
Festive food is another area where we could do better to save money and be greener. With supermarkets employing tactics to get us to buy more than we need, its no wonder we collectively bin enough food to provide 42 million meals.
Rachel from NHP made a delicious turkey chilli from leftovers in the slow cooker with the recipe to take away and try at home. There was also a slow cooker to be won by one lucky attendee.
Every year, we send 165,000 tonnes of Christmas decorations to landfill including 68,488 miles of string lights so we wanted to find ways of decorating that would use natural and recycled materials that will also save money. Nicola from Staying Well hosted a table to make cardboard gingerbread decorations. Nicola from Todmorden Makery inspired people to make their own decorations from tech waste and Calderdale Green New Deal were promoting the use of natural and traditional decorating materials like leaves, twigs, and flowers.
Of the one billion Christmas cards sent each year, only 1/4 will be recycled creating 300,000 tonnes of waste. Sara Nursey from Elland Children’s Centre hosted a table where you could use paint and recycled materials to create handmade Christmas cards which are more likely to be kept and cherished than end up in landfill.
Paul Whiteley Photography was there to take beautiful and fun photos in the Christmas themed photo booth which will make lovely personalised and waste free gifts and e-cards.
Similarly, around 40,000 Christmas crackers are sent to landfill each as many are not recyclable with foil, glitter, and a useless piece of plastic. Sam and team from NewGround were on hand to show people how to make their own reusable crackers that are environmentally friendly and where you can choose your own gift that will be useful and reusable.
All One Collective’s Hillary was there to chat to people about how they’re managing with the cost-of-living crisis and how being a little greener can also help save money.
And of course, it wouldn’t be Christmas without the big man himself – Santa took his place by the beautiful original fireplace to give gifts to all the children who came.
It was a wonderful event, that put a different vibe on Christmas festivities, and we had great feedback from the people who came along. Thanks so much to everyone who was involved organising and hosting and to everyone who came along and participated.
[Article written by Natalie Ratner, Senior Community Organiser on the Place Based Social Action Project]
When I talk to people about their communities, one thing that is mentioned over and over is the lack of things for young people to do. Emma Nicholl, a long time Pellon resident, was one such person and being a big fan of Halloween, decided she would like to organise a Halloween party for the community. Not long after I met Emma, I was put in touch with Julie Jackson who had recently worked with Yorkshire Housing to start Pellon’s first community garden at the top of Rye Lane. After some successful events already, she also wanted to provide a Halloween event for the community.
Together we organised the Pelloween community event in just a month with the help and support from volunteers across Pellon and staff from Yorkshire Housing and North Halifax Partnership (NHP). We were keen to offer the event for free to be inclusive of everyone. We were able to do with this with a successful ward forum grant bid and funding from the Place Based Social Action Project.
This was an ideal opportunity to showcase some of the fantastic community venues in Pellon such as the Pellon Community Garden which is already proving its value in being an accessible outdoor space with huge potential for the future; and St. Columba’s Church Hall, a bright and welcoming space which is well equipped for events and meetings. I really enjoyed chatting with people about how Pellon used to be and how we can bring back some of the community spirit that used to be here.
Up at the community garden, there was a variety of stalls where you could get a glitter tattoo, balloon models, sweets and candy floss, Asian food, and much more. A face painter was there to paint children’s faces for free as well as the incredible birds of prey which you could hold for a donation.
Down at St. Columba’s Hall, everyone enjoyed the buffet kindly provided by Julie and family for the cost of ingredients – there was a queue for the burgers and hot dogs! The children enjoyed a fascinating bug show where they met all manner of bugs and beasties. There was also a craft table and prizes for the best dressed in three age ranges and the best dressed adults.
Julie J said ‘Without the volunteers who gave up their time to help, including our amazing young helpers (shout out to Louie who arrived at 09 30am to help!) this wouldn’t have happened. It was wonderful to see kids and adults alike enjoying themselves. Looking forward to hopefully coming together to hold many more events in the future. Thanks also for loaning us some wonderful decorations to help fill the garden area, Paul Tait.
The feedback we received made all the hard work worthwhile. Many people asked us to make this a regular event and to organise more events with children in mind, with lots of offers for help next time. Here is some of the feedback we received:
Thank you for today my kids have loved it
Absolutely amazing
Thank you for having us. My boys have had a great day It’s been lovely watching all the children get together playing & having fun!! The smiles on all the little ones faces today was priceless 😀
I’m pleased it went so well, I had a lovely time
Thank you for today! Was an amazing event and a much needed one in our area! The kids and adults loved it!! Hope to see more events upcoming!!
We are truly grateful for all you did and more. Our two were so so happy and loved it
‘I’m so pleased it went so well, I had a lovely time and hope the kiddies (and adults weren’t too grossed out at putting their hand in the Trick or Treat Scare box) I’m looking forward to our next event.
Pelloween! Was good to get out and about and the kids bloody loved it!!
Loved the bugs! Kids really enjoyed it all – thank you x
Enjoyed the birds and creatures
I was forced to go but it was good
The kids really enjoyed
Excellent for the community
Everything and everyone was amazing so much to do
Son really enjoyed the day. Thank you
Thank you again to everyone who helped or came along to make it such a great community event!
Emma Nicholl would also like to give thanks to all the volunteers for their help!
Staying Warm with Staying Well
Written by Zain Ghani – Staying Well Worker & Event Lead”
“Interesting Fact 1: Did you know an air fryer uses one tenth of the energy used by a gas cooker?
On Thursday 3rd November, the grand hall of Christ Church Pellon was home to the “Staying Warm with Staying Well” event, a community event to raise the awareness of support available from different services in Calderdale for people who may struggle to keep themselves and their homes warm this winter.
The event began at the 11:00 sharp with staff from NHP and volunteers from Christ Church Pellon and VSI arranging the room, getting the food and drinks ready and preparing to welcome the public and different services into this space.
Throughout the day, the public, staff, and clients had the opportunity to visit different stalls and hear how they can keep themselves and their homes warm this winter. Lunch was served by the amazing Kath from Christ Church Pellon who made four different homemade soups: Nana’s Soup, Lentil Soup, Cauliflower Cheese and Leek and Potato. In addition to this, there was homemade sweet treats from Cherry Bakewell to Parkin and teas and coffees available. Allowing people to reminisce classic traditional British bakes and memories with their own grandparents cooking. We can say there were conversations amongst everyone on which soup was the best! That answer is still unknown, but we can say everyone thoroughly enjoyed it!
We had 3 talks from 3 different services: Anna Dawson-Jones from the Greener Together Project at Newground, Sarah Buczynski from the Housing Energy Action Team at Calderdale Council, and Emily Madigan from the North Halifax Primary Care Network all took to the mic and gave a talk on what their service is and what support they have available.
The event came to a close with a quick team effort in returning the hall back to normal and the departure of all services present (with some sneakily taking more of Nana’s Soup and Cherry Bakewell’s home! As you can see, we don’t like food going to waste). Although numbers at the event could have been higher, the opportunity to network, build on new and existing relationships and find out more on what the locals want in the area was very beneficial for all who attending. I would like to thank:
Craig Watson, Nic Webster and Georgia Oikonomidou from NHP for your support on the day with setting the room, taking pictures, and supporting with registering new arrivals and encouraging the public to engage and leave feedback
Interesting Fact 2: Did you know contractors that perform internal insulation through Calderdale Council’s HEAT support will redecorate that same wall for you with your requested paint or paper at no extra cost?
The Staying Warm with Staying Well event took place on November 3rd at Christ Church in Pellon. Members of the public had the opportunity to meet with the Staying Well Team, VSI, Vita Minds, Healthy Minds, Newground Greener Together, Calderdale Council, North Halifax PCN and Citizens Advice for helpful information around what’s available to keep energy bills down while keeping themselves and their homes warm.
Are you part of a group of residents or a community group who has a burning ambition to get a project off the ground but don’t have the money to make it happen?
If so, we may be able to help fund groups that want to make a difference to their neighbourhoods by giving money from our Community Grants which are considered during the year by our Area Committee Panels.
Pennine Housing has grants of up to £1000 available for local groups to apply for – you don’t have to be a Pennine Housing tenant to apply for one and you can apply at any time throughout the year so why not request an application form today!
To request an application form or for more information please contact one of our Resident Involvement Officers below:
On Thursday 3rd November, the grand hall of Christ Church Pellon was home to the “Staying Warm with Staying Well” event, a community event to raise the awareness of support available from different services in Calderdale for people who may struggle to keep themselves and their homes warm this winter.
Are you part of a group of residents or a community group who has a burning ambition to get a project off the ground but don’t have the money to make it happen?
Halifax North & East Blog 