Dennis

Last year Gloucester Road Women’s Institute adopted Carers Support Centre as its charity of the year. They’ve been hard at work with their knitting needles to create colourful twiddle muffs as comfort for people with dementia at the Southmead Hospital Memory Café. Ran by our staff, memory cafés take place regularly at Southmead, the BRI, and South Bristol Community Hospital. Contact CarersLine for details: 0117 965 2200

Do you live in Bristol and care for someone with a learning disability?

The next Bristol Learning Disability Carers Discussion Group will be held on 4th July at 10:30AM -12.30PM at Carers Support Centre in Fishponds.

This is a good opportunity to meet up with other carers in a similar situation. The group meets four times a year to support each other, discuss issues of common concern and invite guest speakers. It is informal and friendly and a sandwich lunch is provided. Carers who attend the group say that they learn a lot about local services and also value the opportunity to chat with other carers.

To find out more or book please contact Chris Chart chrisc@carerssupportcentre.org.uk 0117 958 9970.

Each year CarersUK tries to find out what life is like for people who are caring and what needs to change to make their lives better.

The information gathered from last year’s survey was used to:

• Submit research to the UK Government’s Carers Strategy.
• Demonstrate that the Care Act in England is not making enough of a difference to carers’ lives.
• Argue for the needs of carers to be central in housing policy.

Your response can make a real difference. Please fill out  the survey, it takes only 20-30 minutes to complete.

Age UK are looking for older volunteers (50+) to help develop driverless cars in Bristol.

Older people often decide to give up driving because it’s no fun any more, or perhaps they’re losing confidence in their ability to drive safely. In an ageing population, there will be people with poor eyesight or perhaps cognitive difficulties who shouldn’t be driving. However, social activity is important and mobility needs to be protected. This is where driverless cars come in.

Flourish, led by University of the West of England, is set up to develop driverless cars in Bristol. Age UK Bristol is part of this group to help make sure the cars meet the needs of older people.

They need the input of volunteers over a number of months to years. The first workshop takes place on 21st April.

Find out more and how to register here.

Are you over 55? Have some DIY jobs that need doing?

LinkAge are working in partnership with Catch 22 to offer this FREE service.

Catch 22 works with young offenders, encouraging them to become involved with the community and reintegrate into society, by completing repair jobs of wide community benefit, whilst learning new skills.

Volunteers from Catch 22 will complete both external and internal tasks including painting and gardening. Depending on the type of work required, volunteers can spend between a day and several weeks on an individual project.

Catch 22 will carry out full risk assessments and all young people will be supervised at all times whilst completing a project. They will also provide all labour and equipment.

To find out more or to book an appointment please call LinkAge on 0117 353 3042.

One of the country’s largest urban walking festivals is set to return this May as the Bristol Walk Fest gears up for another year of strolling, scrambling and hiking with something for all ages and abilities.

Whether you like historical tours, nature walks, exploring street art, finding out about your neighbourhood, or you just want to get fit and enjoy some fresh air, you will find something to suit your taste in the programme.

The festival kicks off on 27th April with a special measured mile event on College Green and continues during May with activities throughout the city, including an event on the health benefits of walking on 11th May.

Full details on the Walk Fest 2017 website.

Tai Chi for Health is a charity running tai chi classes in Bristol. They are looking for volunteer instructors. Free training is offered; experience is helpful, but not essential.

Tai Chi for Health provides volunteer instructors for young people, older people, or anyone who wants to improve their health.

To volunteer or find out more see the Tai Chi for Health website.

These are quieter sessions at swimming pools with trained staff and appropriate facilities. The sessions are for people with dementia and carers of all abilities; you don’t need to be able to swim. Staff attending are specially trained by St Monica Trust who provide a safe and supportive environment.

When you go to a swimming pool tell staff you are there for a dementia friendly swimming session. You will be ask you to complete a registration form.

Sessions are available at Jubilee Pool, Henbury, Bristol South, Hengrove, Easton and Horfield.

More information available here.

Over the last six years, Contact the Elderly has started 15 new tea party groups across Bristol. Once a month on a Sunday, small groups of volunteers and older guests get together for an afternoon of tea, cake and companionship. Just a couple of hours really does make a big difference to everyone’s weekend.

Contact the Elderly are currently working on new groups in the Stockwood and Avonmouth areas, but are in urgent need of new volunteers. They especially require volunteers to act as drivers and reserve drivers who help out when a regular can’t.

If you would like to find out more about volunteering, or refer an older guest (usually 75 and over) to a group, please contact Helen: 01225 873812 or helen.ker@contact-the-elderly.org.uk

Existing ROADS contracts are coming to an end in 2017 and they are re-commissioning a wide range of treatment and support for people affected by drugs/alcohol use in Bristol. There is a consultation (until 14 April 2017) to seek all stakeholders views on their proposals.

You can view the published Substance Misuse Commissioning Strategy and supporting documents here.

How to give your feedback:
Your views are very important as they will help shape future services and commissioning arrangements.   You can give them feedback on the commissioning proposals by completing an online survey here.  Please note, any personal information you provide will be anonymous, and will not be shared wider than the project team. A summary of all responses after the consultation period is over will be circulated.

You can also join their email list or give them additional feedback on other proposals in the commissioning strategy by contacting them at: smtrecommissioning@bristol.gov.uk

There will be a meeting of Bristol Carers who support a family member with a learning disability at the Carers Support Centre on Tuesday 25^th April 10:30AM -12.30PM.

This is an opportunity for Carers of someone with a learning disability to meet together, find out what is happening in Bristol for people with a learning disability and to influence local policies and services.

At the meeting Dominic Box from The Hive in Kingswood will be talking about a new project they are setting up to support carers of someone with a learning disability and the people they care for to live more independent lives.

For booking information click here.

An eight month research project focusing on the experiences of Black and Minority Ethnic (BME) carers of people with dementia found that more awareness and culturally appropriate services are needed.

Bristol and Avon Chinese women’s Group (BACWG) initiated the research project due to a lack of existing BME related research concerning dementia and carers.

The research focused on the experiences of people from Caribbean, South Asian and Chinese communities in Bristol.

You can watch a video of a number of the study participants discussing their experiences here.

The report found that more awareness of risk factors and prevention amongst BME communities and GPs is needed, as well as more culturally appropriate services.

A steering group supervised the work, including representation from BACWG, Bristol Black Carers, Bristol City Council, University of the West of England, Alzheimer’s Society and Bristol Dementia Wellbeing Service. Other partner organisations include Dhek Bhal.

You can read the full report here.

As part of its 5th year anniversary, South Bristol Community Hospital will be holding an Earth Day Celebration event. Spend a spring morning learning about healthy eating and growing your own plants and vegetables. Everyone will have the opportunity to ‘grow your own’ plants from seeds.

The event takes place at South Bristol Community Hospital community garden on Saturday 22nd April, from 10am-12pm. Everyone is welcome to attend and there is no need to book.