Author: Kirklees Council

The ‘rule of 6’ and community buildings

Kirklees Council

stay two metres apart where possible

If you’re in the process of trying to re-open your community building safely, please take a few minutes to read through the latest guidance. We’ve included links to Government updates and an example risk assessment document.

The Government have updated the rules for social distancing for meeting people indoors and outdoors.

From 14th September 2020, people from different households must not meet in groups of more than 6, either indoors or outdoors. This limit does not apply to meetings of a single household group or support bubble which is more than 6 people.

If you live in an area subject to local restrictions, we continue to advise that you should not:

  • socialise with people who you do not live with, unless they’re in your support bubble, in any public venue. This applies to inside and outside of the affected areas. Examples of public venues include pubs, restaurants, cafes, shops, places of worship, community centres, leisure and entertainment venues, or visitor attractions and parks.
  • visit friends or family in care homes, other than in exceptional circumstances. Care homes should restrict visits to exceptional circumstances only.

The ‘rule of 6’ doesn’t apply to local restriction areas. Community centres within areas that are under local restriction should take steps to make sure people do not socialise with people who they do not live with, in line with Covid-19 secure guidance.

In areas where there are local restrictions, risk assessment is key. This might mean it is not viable for you to open your community building. Nurseries running from community centres are subject to the government guidance on early years settings.

If you are in an area where there are no local restrictions, community facilities can host more than 6 people in total, but no-one should visit or socialise in a group of more than 6 – and you must follow the Covid-19 secure guidelines and ensure you have the appropriate risk assessments.

 

Government links and example risk assessment

Updated, 15th September 2020

The Government have updated their guidance for community facilities since we published this post. This new guidance says that activities and social groups where there is a significant likelihood of groups mixing and socialising (and where it will be difficult to prevent mingling and therefore breaking the law) should not take place in a community facility.

We encourage you to read Section 3c in this latest Government guidance for community facilities:

Guidance for the safe use of multi-purpose community facilities

Further information on social contact rules, social distancing and the exemptions that exist can be found on the UK Government website. We encourage you to read Section 3:

Guidance on meeting with others safely

These rules will not apply to workplaces or education settings, alongside other exemptions. There is more information on the UK Government website.

Details on what has changed

 

People who are using Covid-19 secure community facilities should limit their social interactions with anyone who they do not live with. Where activities have 6 or more people participating (where it is safe to do so and capacity permits) it is important for all parties to maintain social distancing, 2 metres or 1 metre apart, with actions taken to reduce the risk of transmission (where 2 metres is not viable) between households. You should encourage the use of face coverings and good hand hygiene on entering premises and throughout a person’s visit.


Most community buildings can continue to open, provided that you follow the guidance. However, if direct social interaction is key to the activity (and if the activity is not a support group such as victim support or mental health groups) then you probably shouldn’t be doing it.

Gatherings of over 30 in public outdoor space are not allowed in Kirklees at this time.

Please feel free to use this risk assessment as learning to support you to complete your own risk assessments:

Thornton Lodge Community Centre risk assessment (Doc)

 

Who to contact for advice

Local organisations are welcome to contact Third Sector Leaders Kirklees if you have questions about safely re-opening your community building.

Bridget Hughes – bridget@tslkirklees.org.uk – 07540 434 573

Becky Bracey – becky@tslkirklees.org.uk – 07776 588 691

 

Art-based Wellbeing sessions online

Kirklees Council

PJ Arts Hub logo

Like many organisations delivering learning during the coronavirus lockdown, PJ Arts Hub have taken to delivering their weekly arts based wellbeing sessions online.

In between Motivational Monday and Feel Good Friday sessions, PJ Arts Hub have guest speakers to motivate you on such things as gaining employment and skill development, to skills swap sessions to either learn new skills or share your own skills to help others.

Everyone needs a bit of encouragement and mental stimulation sometimes, and everyone is welcome to join the sessions.

For more details you can visit:

Proper Job Theatre Co website

 

If you think this is for you, or might benefit someone you know, all you need to do is get in touch with Cheryl for more information.

You can email: cheryl@properjob.org.uk or telephone 01484 514687.

 

Cooking up ideas in the Colne Valley – recipe book

Kirklees Council

Header image

Mutual aid groups in the Colne Valley have added something a little extra to their food deliveries after local organisations got together to create a recipe book. As well as being value for money, the recipes in the book are easy to make and are nutritionally balanced.

Third Sector Leaders Kirklees supported the groups with funding from One Community and One 17 Charitable Trust have produced the book. The recipe books will now be given out with food packs in the Colne Valley.

Liz Quinn, a director of Pride in Linthwaite, has put together the recipes. She says in the book:

“I’m an NHS dietician in my day job and I felt that this was something that I could help with. I tried to keep the recipes nutritionally balanced and easy to prepare, inexpensive and accessible for everyone. Tinned, dried and frozen foods can be a fantastic source of nutrients. We hope you enjoy the recipes.”

Among the 18 recipes are the likes of Sausage and Bean Stew, Pea and Pesto Soup, Tuna Pasta Bake and Tinned Meat Hash. If you fancy a dessert there is Banana Flapjack.

Just as different ingredients come together to make a healthy meal, it is the many different groups within a community working together who can make useful projects like this happen.

Co-operative Care Colne Valley are the community anchor organisation who are working with community groups and citizens to respond to needs and priorities across the Colne Valley. Along with mutual aid and community groups, they have been at the heart of support for the community during the Covid-19 crisis, providing food supplies, supporting isolated people and developing community activities in Linthwaite, Slaithwaite, Marsden and Golcar.

Community anchor organisations such as Co-operative Care Colne Valley play a significant role in bringing local groups together to help make healthier and happier communities.

See the recipe book

Delicious! Quick and easy great value family meals to make at home (PDF)

 

Community Buildings webinar, 8th September 2020

Kirklees Council

Chestnut Centre

Community buildings in our local places are vitally important hubs for our communities. They are places which support people’s physical and mental wellbeing, as well as being welcoming spaces that connect people and organisations. The re-opening of these buildings in a safe and practical way is a key part of our recovery from the coronavirus outbreak.

On Tuesday 8th September at 6.30pm, Kirklees Council are hosting a second webinar to provide guidance on how to safely re-open your community building. We will also be sharing and discussing some more of the lessons we’ve learnt from community buildings that have already opened in local places across Kirklees.

If you have questions that you would like answering at this webinar then please send them through before Tuesday 8th September. Even if you can’t make the session, please still send your questions through as it will be possible to watch the recorded session on YouTube after the event. Please email your questions to: tamsin.macdonald@kirklees.gov.uk

The webinar panel will include:

  • Joanne Bartholomew, Chief Operating Officer, Kirklees Neighbourhood Housing – Chair of the meeting.
  • Donna Roberts, Lead Infection & Prevention Control Nurse, Kirklees Council
  • Emily Parry-Harries, Head of Public Health, Kirklees Council
  • Jaime Nalson, Venue Management, Kirklees Council
  • Jane O’Donnell, Head of Health Protection, Kirklees Council
  • Jill Greenfield, Director of Customers and Communities, Kirklees Council
  • Jonathan Quarmby, Facilities Manager, Kirklees Council
  • Lisa Newbold, Community Services Manager, Local Service 2 You, Chestnut Centre (To be confirmed)

There will also be an opportunity for you to ask questions to the panel via the YouTube chat system during the session, but it would be great if you can share your questions in advance so that we can do our best to help.

Watch the webinar live and see the chat on YouTube

We look forward to seeing you there.

Message from Joanne Bartholomew, 9th September 2020
Shortly after this session, the government made an announcement which we were not aware of in advance. It’s likely that this will change some of the points discussed in our webinar. It will take a few days for us to digest the information in the guidance when it is released. When it does and we have got our heads around it we will update the information on this page.

 

Our blog post from 14th July 2020 includes the YouTube footage of what happened at the first webinar and links to Kirklees Council and Government guidance on community buildings at that time:

Community Buildings Webinar – 14 July 2020

Free support for local groups from TSL Kirklees

Kirklees Council

opening doors, connecting people, supporting you

Third Sector Leaders Kirklees are a local charity who support and represent charities, community and groups, and social enterprises anywhere in Kirklees. They have been working incredibly hard to support local organisations and informal groups during Covid-19 and are keen for you to know what free support is available for groups in all our local places. Groups and organisations do not need to become members in order to access this free support.

How local groups can access free support

Support with volunteering

TSL Kirklees offer a free volunteer matching service. The TSL Kirklees Volunteering team (formerly known as Volunteering Kirklees) work with organisations to develop their volunteering programmes and opportunities. They can promote volunteering opportunities from local groups via their volunteering website:

Volunteering – TSL Kirklees

Support for local projects

Organisations can get involved in various TSL Kirklees projects which are designed to fill gaps in service and delivery and support communities. TSL Kirklees have some small pots of funding that groups can access to try out new ideas and activity in their local place.

TSL Kirklees membership – free to April 2021

In addition to all the free support on offer, any group or organisation can choose to become a member in order to help lead and promote the voluntary and community sector in Kirklees.

The benefits of membership include access to a Members Area on the TSL Kirklees website where groups can:

  • Add their own news and updates (these will appear on the TSL Kirklees website and will also be shared via email updates and social media)
  • Add job vacancies to the jobs board (again, these will be shared with the network)
  • Find member offers
  • Find details of other members
  • Join a members-only Facebook group

Members can also take part in additional networking meetings and will receive extra communications.

In March 2020, TSL Kirklees offered 3 months free membership to support local organisations who might be struggling financially during Covid-19. This offer has since been extended twice. The free membership offer is now available until April 2021.

Regular membership costs are:

£12 per year for micro or start-up organisations
£36 per year for any other organisations

Third Sector Leaders Kirklees

Find out more

TSL Kirklees

Works Better – get help to find work

Kirklees Council

Works Better header

This post was updated on 6th August 2020

If you’ve volunteered as part of the coronavirus lockdown over the last few months, helping to make sure the more vulnerable people in the community are looked after, you may be considering your next steps. It might be to do more volunteering, find employment or looking for a career change.

Help with finding work is at hand through Works Better. The team understands that this is a stressful time for job seekers and especially those who have recently been made redundant.

The support available includes:

  • Help to apply for Universal Credit
  • Mentoring
  • Advice on updating your CV
  • Searching for jobs
  • Preparing for interviews
  • Support with Job Applications and much more.

Works Better is an employment support programme that has been designed to help residents in Kirklees tackle barriers into work and find new employment opportunities in the future.

Currently, due to Covid-19, services are only being delivered via telephone and digitally, to make sure they comply with government guidance and that residents can still access this crucial support.

To access support from Works Better you must be out of work or unemployed and be a Kirklees resident aged 18+

Find out more

Works Better

or call 01484 221000 (and ask for Works Better)

 

Works Better Enhanced is part funded by the European Social Fund and managed by Kirklees Council. It is delivered across the Kirklees District in partnership with Fusion Housing, Paddock Community Trust, Proper Job Theatre Company and Kirklees Neighbourhood Housing.

 

Grief and Loss Support Service

Kirklees Council

Grief and loss support service

The West Yorkshire and Harrogate Health and Care Partnership Grief and Loss Support Service is for anyone suffering any form of grief and loss, or those worried about losing someone, whether this relates to a family member, friend or member of their community.

Practical and emotional support and advice is available from 8am to 8pm, 7 days a week via a freephone number 0808 1963833, or online chat facility. The team can offer support and help connect you with organisations local to you, who can offer additional help where needed.

Find out more

Grief and Loss Support Service

(includes posters in community languages and a British Sign Language video)

 

Community Response Hubs – take part in our evaluation

Kirklees Council

hand reaching out behind glass

Many people have contributed to the amazing community response to Covid-19 in our local places. Mutual aid groups, voluntary and community organisations, ward councillors, Kirklees Council officers, volunteers and partners have been working alongside each other to keep people safe. We are all part of the co-ordinated Community Response in Kirklees – and we all have a stake in our local places.

Our response has been supported through place-based Community Response Hubs, with people working together in new ways. We really value the relationships that have been so vital for this work. We want to grow and strengthen those relationships as part of our recovery and for the future. We are still in the very early stages of beginning to work with and alongside citizens in a meaningful way in our local places. Your insights can help us go much further.

On behalf of our Place Based Working Board (which includes council, voluntary sector and health colleagues), I’d like to ask for your support in helping us to think about what has gone well and not so well with the hubs.

How to take part

If you’ve been part of the co-ordinated Community Response in our local places, please take part in the Community Response Hubs Evaluation by 21st August 2020 to share your personal experiences:

Community Response Hubs Evaluation – take part now

Thank you for helping us learn how we can work together well in our local places in the future – and thank you for everything you’re doing to help keep people safe.

Getting help when your circumstances change

Kirklees Council

Get Help Now Assistance Road Sign

We know lots of people’s circumstances have changed since lockdown. Many people have been placed on furlough schemes and others have been made unemployed or unable to work.

A range of support and advice options are available for people who have had a change in their employment circumstances.

Where to get help and advice

If you’re helping someone who is concerned or unsure about what support they (or their family) can access, please share this information and guidance.

BetterOff Kirklees

BetterOff provides information on benefits entitlement for people who live in Kirklees, as well as help with applying online. BetterOff also provides information on how to find and apply for jobs.

BetterOff Kirklees

Kirklees Citizens Advice

Our local Citizens Advice is still operating and can provide general advice. Citizens Advice also have specialist services for issues like benefits entitlement, debt, homelessness and employment.

Kirklees Citizens Advice & Law Centre

What to do when your circumstances change

Where someone’s employment circumstances have changed, they should inform all relevant organisations and services. This could be Government services such as HMRC and the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), and Kirklees Council services such as Housing Benefit, Council Tax Reduction or the Local Welfare Provision (LWP) team. Not reporting these changes could result in benefit overpayments, which will need to be repaid.

By declaring any changes, people will be able to access the right support.

Not declaring a change in circumstances means potentially creating benefit overpayments. It could also mean missing out on Free School Meals, Universal Credit, support with Council Tax, rent or mortgage interest relief, and other financial support.

The best way to be sure is to encourage people to visit BetterOff Kirklees or our local Citizens Advice websites or helplines. This is where people can get help with working out what they are entitled to.

The Welcome Centre – help with food and more

Kirklees Council

The Welcome Centre food bank and more

Do you know someone who needs help to get food?

The Welcome Centre is a food bank and more. This independent charity can help anyone in Huddersfield and South Kirklees. They can supply food, toiletries and household cleaning items. The Welcome Centre also offer advice and guidance.

If you know someone who cannot buy the food, toiletries or other household items they need, please advise them to contact someone who can make a referral for them (or seek their permission to contact someone on their behalf). This person could be their GP, teacher, health visitor, housing worker, counsellor or church.

These organisations can also offer help and can make a referral for a food parcel if necessary:

  • Local Welfare Provision team at Kirklees Council: 01484 414 782
  • The Mission advice workers: 01484 421 461
  • Kirklees Citizens Advice: 0344 848 7970

Advice leaflets

Do you need help to get food? (PDF)

More than a food bank (PDF)

 

Find out more

The Welcome Centre

How to get help from the Welcome Centre