Are you seeing more/greater safeguarding concerns related to the Cost-of-Living crisis with the children, young people and adults that you work with? Have you had to change the way you work, or the things you do, in order to help more people, or helping those you already support in a more in-depth way, in relation to risk and safeguarding?
We are aware the impact of the cost-of-living crisis is being felt disproportionately by individuals and within communities that are most deprived. The Local Authority Anti-Poverty Partnership has been working hard with communities over many years to mitigate the worst of the harm that poverty causes. However, we are all conscious that the sheer scale of this crisis means that there are likely to be issues that we aren’t aware of.
To help us all to understand the impacts and challenges faced by your organisation and the service it offers, we would really like to hear from you…
How is the current cost-of-living crisis impacting on demand for your service?
Are you seeing a change in the type of safeguarding support you are being asked to provide?
What challenges are you currently facing due to cost-of-living crisis?
What challenges do you foresee in the next 12-18 months?
Are you able to share any stories that illustrate the issues you are dealing with?
You can use the form if that’s easier for you to complete, but please feel free to feedback within an email to Julia.caldwell@calderdale.gov.uk
Many more people than ever before are experiencing money worries with the increased cost of living. Calderdale Council’s Money & Wellbeing web pages are updated regularly and cover all money related matters.
Whether you are looking for help with bills, budgeting tips, benefits calculators or information about Government schemes, you can find it all here in one place.
Visit calderdale.gov.uk/mwic call 01422 288005 or scan the QR code for more information.
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.
A cancer diagnosis has a huge financial burden, with many people facing extra and often unexpected costs. For example, people living with cancer face higher energy bills as they go through treatment as it’s harder to keep warm, and there is often additional costs associated with getting to and from appointments.
The cost of living has reached its highest level in decades and many people living with cancer are really worried about the spiralling costs of energy bills, food prices, rail fares and fuel. This is on top of the expected financial and emotional pressures of a cancer diagnosis.
Macmillan Grants are a one-off payment of £350 to help with the extra costs that living with cancer can bring.
They can be used to help with things like:
energy bills
home adaptions
cost of travel to and from hospital
any extra costs you might have because of cancer.
You can call Macmillan Support Line on 0808 808 00 00 and talk to the Welfare Rights team about Macmillan Grants. You can speak with the Welfare Rights team:
• Monday to Friday, 8am to 8pm
• Saturday to Sunday, 9am to 5pm
Criteria
Both of the following must also apply:
• You have no more than £6,000 in savings for a household of one person or no more than £8,000 for a household of two or more people.
• You have a weekly income of no more than £323 per week for a household of one person or no more than £442 per week for a household of two or more people.
We do not count Personal Independence Payment (PIP), Disability Living Allowance (DLA) or Attendance Allowance (AA) when we work out your weekly income.
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.
One of the ways Calderdale community is trying to help with the current cost of living crisis is by running Warm Spaces.
Warm Spaces are initiatives where a company, group or organisation open their centre to the residents of their community, offering a place for them to stay warm and where possible, have a warm drink, enjoy a chat, even engage in activities.
The link will take you to Calderdale Council’s Directory for Warm Spaces in the Calderdale Area.
Are you seeing more/greater safeguarding concerns related to the Cost-of-Living crisis with the children, young people and adults that you work with?Have you had to change the way you work, or the things you do, in order to help more people, or helping those you already support in a more in-depth way, in relation to risk and safeguarding?
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