1st March 2021

Hello Everyone

How are you doing today?  How was your weekend?  Anything exciting happen?

On Friday afternoon we had an amazing Creative Writing Group Session – where we had three carers submit their ‘letter to their younger self’, all three were absolutely amazing and what an incredible insight it was to our participants.

 

Notes to my 15year old self.

Life keeps moving, changing,
Good today – bad tomorrow?
Accept-
take it for what it is – today.

 People will love you, like you,
hate you!
Accept
take them for who they are today.

 Will future me remember this day?
I remember the swinging day.
The blue shoe day
The giving birth days

This is just one day.
More behind, more to come.
Accept
take them for what they are- specs on a page!

What a lovely poem and thank you to the carer – you know who you are.

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Vaccine News

It is now full steam ahead with the roll out of the national Covid-19 vaccination programme. Unpaid carers are in priority group 6 and are currently being offered the vaccination.

To be eligible for the vaccine you should meet one of the following criteria:

• Are in receipt of, or entitled to, a carers allowance and/or
• If you provide personal care to someone who is clinically vulnerable.

The Carers Centre Tower Hamlets are collecting information (NHS number, DOB, postcode etc.) from unpaid carers that meet the eligibility criteria for the vaccine and sharing this list with the council and NHS England who will add you to the vaccination list. NHS England will then contact the carer inviting them to book an appointment, we do not know how long this will take, cannot provide you with an estimated time or chase up when you will be offered a vaccination.

The simplest way to get on this list is to go to www.ccth.org.uk and complete the Carers Covid-19 Vaccine Registration form. You will need to have some details ready such as your date of birth, full address and NHS number as well as some details of the person you care for such as their date of birth and postcode. You will need to do this even if you are already registered with the Carers Centre.

If you are unable to complete the online form due to language barriers or because you are unable to access information online, then you can call the Carers Centre Covid-19 Vaccine Registration line 020 7791 5559 during office hours and give your details over the phone.  Please be patient as this phoneline is likely to be very busy.

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• We remain in a national lockdown.
• The Prime Minister has unveiled a ‘roadmap’ for easing lockdown.
• A new four-step plan – if strict conditions are met, we could see all legal limits on social contact lifted by 21st June 2021.
• There are five weeks between each step – four weeks to see how we go – see what the data tells us, and a further weeks’ notice to the public & businesses ahead of any further changes.
• Prime Minister Boris Johnson said every stage decisions would be led by “data not dates”.

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Street Access Issues – we need your views, £20 gift voucher for anyone who participates!

We have been asked by Ross Atkin Associates (who we have worked with before on similar projects) to consult disabled people about better street access.

Ross wants to know what you think is helpful and what is not helpful in terms of street design.

The research consists of a one to two hour interview using a video call.

There’s a £20 voucher as a thank you for taking part! (Amazon, others may be possible)

There are still places available.

Ross needs people from various impairment groups so, if possible, please also let me know which impairment group or groups you fall into

For example: physical, mobility, sensory, mental health, learning disability etc.

We don’t need more specific information about your health issues / conditions and all the information you share is confidential.

You can still take part even if you don’t want to give this information.

To summarise I will need to share the following information if you wish to take participate.

• your email address,
• answer to above questions.
• your impairment groups (optional, but very helpful)

If you wish to participate please let me know by Tuesday 2^nd March, 12:00 pm

Email: rob.johnson@real.org.uk

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As part of DTA’s commitment to unpaid carers and the carers centres that support them, we are delighted to provide another free online exercise class entitled Toning Through Tension. The class is specifically for low-impact exercise and perfect for people with joint pain. Our level 4 instructors will be leading this class as usual and the advert to this is attached to this email.  The link is as follows:

https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZUrce-tqTktHN0-9Ic30qQNLPD8J7nH4EIx

In addition, International Women’s Day is on the 8th of March 2021, and DTA will be putting on a two special events:

(1) The first event is a special interactive class at 10am. It will be led by one of our female instructors and involve messages of motivation and empowerment. The advert for this is also attached to this email and the registration link is as follows:

https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZwuc-2qpzMtEtOthGRcOGNwMgFAVzCHHJWE

(2) Later in the day, DTA will also be hosting a women-only, discussion and Q&A panel session with two of our female board members (who have been carers and are leaders in the charitable sector), our female staff (strong and motivated professionals), and unpaid carers (superwomen). The session’s topic will be Women’s Wellness and the Impact on COVID-19. The session will last an hour, take place over ZOOM and start at 12.30pm. The advert to this is also attached to this email with the following link:

https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZEudeiuqjkuGdChatG50wweiukUaY6oZ1el

In addition to all of this, we will continue to run our subsidised online exercise classes (advert attached) and will be in contact with more events and activities for carers in the coming weeks.

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