Campaign for all Mobile Phones to be Driver Safe

 The campaign was started by the RAC Foundation and, so far, it has been supported by the road safety charity, Brake which has recently launched, Be Phone Smart. Brake has written to several mobile phone companies including Android and Microsoft and it has also written to the Groupe Speciale Mobile Association, a body which supports mobile operators worldwide, to ask them to support the campaign.

The Director of Campaigns at Brake, Jason Wakefield said: “As a society, we have become addicted to our mobile phones, but a split second distraction caused by a call, text or notification behind the wheel can be deadly. The industry must play its part and include technology as standard which helps keep drivers’ attention on the road, saving lives and preventing serious injuries.” Statistics show that people who use their mobile phones while driving are up to four times more likely to be involved in accident.

Tips: How to take good care of yourself as a carer

It’s not just us who are saying it…there’s research that actually says that things that make us feel better and help us stay that way.

Who says? Researchers from The New Economics Foundation* found that there are five factors to feeling and staying well:

Connect with other people

Feeling close to, and valued by, other people is a fundamental human need and makes you function better. Talking really does help. Try taking five minutes to get in touch with someone. Talking instead of texting or emailing ask how they are and really listen when they tell you. If you’re out talk to someone new,

Be active

Can a walk to the shops or mowing the lawn really be that good for you? The researchers say yes, the chemicals it releases called endorphins actually make you feel better and more positive. If you meet someone while you’re out even better.

You can do it at work too, walk to someone’s desk instead of calling or emailing. It’s simple but it works.

Take notice

We all get bogged down in our own thoughts and feelings. Stop and take notice of what’s around you, enjoy the moment – the researchers say being aware of what’s around you this can make you think more about what’s really important in your life – and make decisions based on what you want from life

Learn

It’s often said you’re never too old to learn – and the research says it’s true!

Starting a course when you’ve not studied for years isn’t easy – but the confidence and satisfaction is worth it and you’ll meet new people. Study something you think you’ll enjoy. It’ll help you to set goals and look forward which will help as part of your recovery plan.

Give

It’s official -people who give to others rate themselves as happy. Become a volunteer, maybe at a charity shop, through your local Council for Voluntary services or with Mersey Care.

• Become a volunteer 

More stuff to help you feel better and stay that way….

• Find groups and support where you live
• Ten Ways to look after your mental health
  
• Useful guides on abuse, alcohol addiction, anxiety & more
• MIND tips for staying well
• Anxiety UK
• Big White Wall
• CALM: Campaign Against Living Miserably
• Depression Alliance
• Family Lives: support and advice
• Mental Health Foundation
• Mind
• Rethink Mental Illness
• Samaritans
• Turning Point
• Young Minds

*New Economics Foundation is the UK’s leading think tank promoting social, economic and environmental justice.

Southwark Council agrees to keep housing repairs line free

Cris Claridge, chair of the SGTO, explained to cabinet that many tenants and residents were signed up to pay as you go tariffs rather than landlines. The SGTO presented convincing evidence that highlighted the considerable impact that introducing a paid line would have on the most vulnerable Southwark residents. The group also highlighted there was disparity in what a resident would be charged to call the repair line depending on what service provider they were with. The tenant organisation also presented concerns that not all residents had access to the internet and that could present a barrier to people accessing vital repair services.

Southwark Council had been proposing to switch the repairs line to an 0300 local rate number to save the £65,000 annual cost of running the freephone line.

Cllr Fiona Colley, cabinet member for Finance, Modernisation and Performance said: “Our decision to keep the free repairs phone line is another example of Southwark Council listening to its residents. We do need to save money, but STGO presented a really eloquent and well reasoned case to keep the freephone service and the council responded. I am pleased that we have been able to address our tenants’ concerns.

“Southwark Council remains committed to improving and modernising our services. Many residents like to contact us online and we will continue to improve our My Southwark web services. However, in an increasingly digital world we recognise that some of our residents are at risk of being left behind. Keeping our freephone number will ensure that all our tenants can continue to access housing repairs, but we also need to continue helping residents gain the digital skills and confidence they need through things like our free Introduction to IT sessions in libraries and the forthcoming SGTO Digital Tea Party.”

Cris Claridge, Chair of Southwark Group of Tenant Organisations said: “I am thrilled that Southwark Council have decided to keep the repairs line free of charge. Had this charge been introduced the very poorest would have been hit the hardest. In some cases, the amounts charged would have been considerably more than what tenants and residents could afford. This was not something that I or the SGTO were expecting but it is hugely welcome.”

Government accused of ’empty promises’ on mental health as NHS plans to slash funding

Cash-strapped Clinical Commissioning Groups (CCGs) in England said they will reduce the proportion of their budgets spent on offering mental health support in 2017/18, despite previous commitments from Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt that spending would increase.

New figures show that 50 per cent of CCGs would see their mental health budgets squeezed next year, compared to 57 per cent in 2016/17 and 38 per cent the year before.

Theresa May has made high-profile pledges to improve mental health support and ensure it has parity with physical health, yet critics said she has presided over cuts to NHS budgets that are putting patients at risk.

Labour MP Luciana Berger, who obtained the data through freedom of information requests, said: “Theresa May claims to be committed to improving mental health but her cuts are harming mental health services.

“This is the second year in a row that half of our cash-strapped CCGs have not increased their proportion of spend on mental health.

“Ministers must ask themselves how long this can be allowed to go on for. They are overseeing a system which puts patients at risk and staff under unbearable pressure.

“Enough empty promises. At the very least Jeremy Hunt must urgently introduce a ringfence around mental health budgets.”

Vulnerable people still face a post code lottery over treatment, as South Cheshire plans to spend 5 per cent of its budget on mental health, compared to 16 per cent in Lewisham, in South London, the figures reveal.

Official NHS guidelines say all CCGs must increase their spending on mental health in line with their overall budget increase.

Consultant psychiatrist Dr Gary Wannan, who is deputy chairman of the BMA consultants committee, said: “The government has been very keen to talk about its commitment to bring the funding and accessibility of mental health services into line with other forms of NHS care which is why it’s so frustrating to see that CCGs plan to reduce the proportion they spend on these vital services.

“It’s very easy to promise investment but it only matters to patients if the money translates into the best care possible, fairly and evenly provided across the country.

“Without increased spending, mental health services are struggling. If patients are fortunate enough to live in an area which has invested in specialised services, the standard of care and support they receive can be pioneering.

“Meanwhile another patient somewhere else in England may have no choice but to be treated in a bed hundreds of miles away from friends and family.”

A Department of Health spokesperson said: “This government has increased, not decreased, investment in mental health services. Since 2010, spending on mental health has risen to a record £11.6bn this year, with a further investment of £1bn every year by 2020/21 and we expect CCGs to increase their spending as set out in NHS England’s Five Year Forward View.

“We have also started one of the biggest expansions of mental health services in Europe, creating 21,000 new posts by 2021 to make sure we have the right staff to deliver high quality care.”

The Truth about Unpaid Caring at 65+

‘Support carers in all possible domains’, calls AGE at expert meeting on care and employment

Informal care from the perspective of carers and international frameworks

The expert meeting looked at different dimensions of support for carers, including care leaves, financial support, flexible working time arrangements, advice and counselling. Experts from several EU member states took part in the meeting and the frameworks existing in non-EU OECD countries that also face an ageing population were reminded by Prof Yeandle of Sheffield University. Dr Birta of the family organisation COFACE-Families Europe highlighted the preliminary results of a survey among over 1,000 carers carried out over the summer: in all EU member states represented, carers expressed the same needs for supporting services, recognition, flexible working time arrangements and care leaves, training and financial support.

Good practices from different EU member States

Examples presented  for care leaves included the German ‘Pflegezeit’, the Austrian ‘Pflegekarenz’, the Belgian time-credit system. The Netherlands showcased the Dutch framework for requesting flexible working time, which is much used and valued by carers. Carers Scotland presented an innovative model to work with employers to make them ‘Care positive’. The Swedish and Austrian efforts to inform, counsel and train family carers by different means were also presented. Many of the presented examples were good practices that could inspire other EU member states.

AGE calls for developing quality and accessibility formal long-term care services

Philippe Seidel, AGE Policy Officer, summarised the discussion and recalled the importance of adopting the currently proposed directive on work-life balance, which includes a right to request flexible work and five days of carers’ leave for each worker per year. To AGE, this proposal represents a major step to recognising and supporting carers, but this should not be looked at in isolation, without looking more generally at the formal long-term care systems. Many of these are still underfinanced and investment is needed in many EU member states – and formal services have the capacity to make the care burden of family carers bearable, so that family care remains a choice and does not conflict with employment.

There will be a documentation of the expert meeting developed by the BMFSFJ in the months after the meeting.

Share your views on accessing Met Police services

Sign up for a transferable skills and Dragon’s Den workshop

By the end of the session, you will:

• Be able to articulate your transferable skills and use them in job interviews and on your CV
• Have presented an enterprise idea to a Dragon’s Den as part of a team
• Have extended your network by meeting Deloitte professionals and other carers from across London

“It helped me to build my self-confidence and figure out my strong sides I can rely on and even be proud of” (attendee)

Please get in touch with Working for Carers by phone (0208 699 8686) or email ([email protected]) to sign up and for more information.

Deadline to register your interest is Tuesday 19 September 2017.

Workshop: Friday, 6th October 2017 10:00 am – 4:30 pm

Address: Carers Trust, CAN Mezzanine, 32-36 Loman Street, London SE1 0EH

Number of people switching energy supplier up 30% in a year

The number of people switching energy supplier has leapt by 30% in a year as consumers vote with their feet following high-profile price hikes.

Just under 445,000 customers switched electricity supplier last month, compared with the 342,000 who moved in August 2016, taking the total number of customers switching so far in 2017 to almost 3.5 million, according to Energy UK, which represents suppliers.

Britain’s biggest energy supplier, British Gas, is increasing its electricity prices by 12.5% in a move affecting 3.1 million customers from Friday. The increase means the company’s average annual dual-fuel bill will rise by 7.3%, or £76, to £1,120.

The price comparison site uSwitch.com said: “The sheer number of people who switched in August is clear evidence that customers are not taking price hikes lying down.”

However Energy UK said the figures suggested that “progress is being made” following concern in some quarters about the millions of people sitting on poor-value standard variable tariffs. Theresa May had pledged to impose a price cap to address the “injustice” of families collectively paying £1.4bn over the odds.

There are now more than 50 energy companies vying for people’s custom and almost a quarter of all last month’s switches involved people moving to small and medium-sized suppliers from the larger players.

According to uSwitch, at least 10% of people who switched energy supplier for both gas and electricity between June and November 2016 saved £618 or more.

Campaigners have called on the government to do more. The prime minister had pledged a price cap on energy bills for 17m families during the general election campaign but the policy was missing from the Queen’s speech.

At a private meeting in late August, the energy regulator Ofgem told the big six energy suppliers and dozens of challenger companies that it was planning a price cap for 2 million people. The cap would apply to vulnerable customers who are eligible for the warm home discount scheme. While full details are due to be outlined later this month, the cap is expected to be introduced in January, sooner than expected, so that hard-pressed consumers receive relief during the winter months.

In the Commons on Tuesday the business secretary, Greg Clark, said he expected the energy regulator to “do [its] job and stand up for consumers” by curbing prices.

MPs heard that Ofgem had yet formally to respond to the government’s letter, sent in June, which asked for details on how the regulator would act to protect customers on the poorest-value tariffs. Clark said he believed it would be “excessive” to compel Ofgem to implement an energy price cap, adding that “the ball is in their court”.

Meanwhile one of the newest arrivals to the sector, Fischer Energy, claimed the government should open an inquiry into whether people on standard variable tariffs should receive refunds if they have been overpaying.

To find out more about home energy advice check out our guide here

Exciting new play area for Peckham Rye Park

The exciting new play area was inspired by the Tumbling Bay Playground at the Olympic Park, and will bring some of its best play activities to Peckham Rye Park.

Work has started on the new children’s play area. But, while we were clearing the site of the old car park, we discovered contamination of low grade asbestos. A thorough investigation has revealed this to be the least serious type, it is not airborne and the site was, and is, completely safe. But this does mean there will be a delay in opening the new play area, while we clear the ground.

We hope to bring you your exciting new children’s play area by spring 2018. It will include a water play zone (April to Oct), which will encourage children to use hand pumps to help the water flow around streams and damns, which they can play in. More fun will be had with a push button water spray, and a sand pit with little diggers. In addition we will be introducing a big climbing frame with tunnel slides, all sorts of wonderful swings and comfortable seating for parents and carers.

Cllr Barrie Hargrove, Cabinet Member for Communities, Leisure and Safety, said: “The revitalisation of Peckham Rye Park is coming along nicely and although the delay with the new children’s play area is frustrating, I am excited about the plans for the amazing new playground, which promises to be a lot of fun for local children.”