News

As part of our new service agreement with Southwark Council we are being asked to complete full registration and support plans for all new and existing carers.

If you would like to complete your own registration and support form, they can be found below. The Word version can be downloaded and filled in on your computer for you to email back to us or you can choose to print off the pdf file to complete and mail using our freepost address.

If you have any problems with the form please let us know and we will help you to complete it.

Carers Registration and Support Form to print

Carers Registration and Support Form (word)

Please find attached a ‘template’ letter which we would like to suggest you use as a basis for letters you can send to all General Election candidates for the parliamentary constituency where you live.

For Southwark residents aged 40 – 74

Friday 16th April

(provided not already being treated for high blood pressure, diabetes, chronic kidney disease, heart disease, or have had a heart attack or stroke).

East Dulwich Community Centre, 46-64 Darrell Road, East Dulwich

Contact: Ashley Alcock

Blood Pressure Association

0208 772 4997 07778893500

aalcock@sgul.ac.uk

Carers Week is again organising a photography competition for young carers 18 and under.

This competition is a great chance for young carers to escape from their daily routine and use photography to give a snapshot of their lives.

Your photo can be about any aspect of your life. Entries must be received by Monday 31st May.

The winners this year will all receive cash prizes, a digital camera and accessories, and also on offer is an all-expenses paid trip to Parliament.

Send your photo and entry form to zoom@carersweek.org or by post to Zoom 2010, Carers Week, 20 Great Dover Street, London SE1 4LX

Download your entry form from www.carersweek.org/carers or call 0845 241 2582.
Zoom 2010 leaflet

St George is not only patron saint of England, he belongs to other countries too.

On St George’s day in Barcelona, books are given away at train stations and roses are on sale to give to lovers.  This 23 April, The Friends will be bringing this tradition to the St George in Southwark Festival by selling second hand books in the churchyard- and giving away a rose too.

Read more

The Childcare affordability programme 2009 (CAP09) has been set up to help parents moving into employment with childcare costs. Started in December 2009 the scheme helps eligible Southwark residents who are on low income move into employment, by offering up to 12 months worth of childcare bursaries, paid directly to the childcare provider.

To be eligible for CAP09 funding, parents must meet the following criteria:

• Southwark residents (with recourse to public funds)
• With child/children aged between 0-14 years old (16 years for those with SEN)
• Income less than £20,000 in the last 12 months
• Entering full time employment (in excess of 16 hours per week)
• Accessing childcare at an Ofstead registered childcare provider (with a minimum Ofstead rating of satisfactory)

To make it really easy for the person you wish to refer to the childcare support scheme simply ask them to call the freephone number below for an informal chat about accessing CAP09 funding.

Freephone: 0800 013 0639

The Prime Minister has announced plans to reform Britain’s social care in a three-stage plan for a national care service.

In a podcast, Gordon Brown said the Government will be setting out the route to a national care service that will benefit every family in the country meaning a much better deal for our older people.

• Listen to the podcast

The reforms will be introduced on three stages starting with a “radical overhaul” of care in the home which will help more of our old people cope longer at home.

Secondly, building up the care service, so that people who have been in care homes for more than two years will get their care for free.

And thirdly, paving the way towards the introduction of a comprehensive national care service available to all.

The PM said:

“Our current care and support system is no longer adequate for these challenges we see ahead. It cannot meet all our needs, nor match our aspirations. And if left unchanged, it would not cope with the extra demand in years to come.

Our answer is bold, ambitious reform to create a system firmly rooted in the proudest traditions of our national health service: personal care, there for you when you need it.”

Lambeth and Southwark are joining forces to promote dance through the Lambeth and Southwark dance network. The dance network has been developed to give dance artists, companies and teachers living and working in both boroughs the opportunity to engage with each other, share ideas and develop partnerships. The network enables the exchange of information and offers support to anyone involved or interested in dance.

Big Dance 2010 is a biennial celebration of dance and dancing, with nine days of dance events in unusual places throughout London, such as shops, parks, galleries and museums, showcasing the diversity of dance styles and attractions from 3 to 11 July. The aim of big dance is to encourage people to get into dance, increase fitness levels and generate a legacy of dance for all.

For more info and application forms

The Carers Poverty Alliance has been active for over 2 years and has successfully organised a Carers Poverty Protest in both 2009 and 2010 when many Carer Groups worked together towards a single goal, that of the first ever Carers Poverty Protest in London and Edinburgh, simultaneously.

Starting off a the Carers Poverty Protest group, after the 2009 protest proved to be successful that all concerned wished to continue in bringing Carer issues to the fore and so the Carers Poverty Alliance came into being.

Their aims are to keep up the pressure for Financial and Social freedom from poverty for Carers, the only group of people who have to fight on all fronts every day of their lives for the most basic of necessities.

Carers have almost no chance of improving their circumstances due to the limitations placed on them by the benefits system and by the lack of affordable, reliable and approriate respite.

Carers save the NHS, the Government and the tax payer over £87 billion every year.

For more information about the Carers Poverty Alliance click here

To join the CPA Facebook group click here

NHS Lambeth and NHS Southwark have agreed to integrate with Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust to become part of King’s Health Partners.

The three organisations will now work together to engage with patients, stakeholders and the public before formal integration takes place in April 2011.

Community health involves services such as district nursing, health visiting, reproductive and sexual health, school nursing, specialist child health, elderly care and therapies such as physiotherapy and occupational therapy. These services are provided in GP surgeries, health centres, schools, children’s centres, patient’s homes and residential and nursing homes.