Blakelaw & North Fenham Community Council

Vaccinations update

Please see key updates in relation to covid 19 vaccination programme following recent announcements:

• All evergreen (1^st and 2^nd doses) will cease from 12/2/23
• Autumn booster campaign ends on 12/2/23
• The 2021 booster offer (third dose) for persons aged 16 to 49 years who are not in a clinical risk group will not be available after 12/2/23
• We may see a surge in demand as a result over the next two weeks
• Older people and immunosuppressed to get a Spring booster but more detail will follow soon
• People at high risk of covid to get an Autumn booster 2023
• Evergreen (1^st and 2^nd doses) will be offered in a primary course COVID-19 vaccination should move, over the course of 2023, towards a more targeted offer during vaccination campaigns to protect those persons at higher risk of severe COVID-19. This would include:

residents in a care home for older adults and staff working in care homes for older adults

frontline health and social care workers

all adults aged 50 years and over

persons aged 5 to 49 years in a clinical risk group

persons aged 12 to 49 years who are household contacts of people with immunosuppression

persons aged 16 to 49 years who are carers

Available clinics listed below are for flu vaccinations and blood pressure checks only. Covid vaccinations can still be booked via the national booking service. Please check our website for updates.

For up to date information on clinics please visit https://www.newcastle.gov.uk/services/public-health-wellbeing-and-leisure/public-health-services/coronavirus-covid-19/how-get

To find a walk in clinic please click here https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/coronavirus-vaccination/find-a-walk-in-coronavirus-covid-19-vaccination-site/

Book your covid vaccination via the National Booking Service https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/coronavirus-vaccination/book-coronavirus-vaccination/

Latest Covid Data for Newcastle

A confirmed case is someone who has tested positive for coronavirus.

Between 15 January 2023 and 21 January 2023, 0 - 2 people had a confirmed positive test result. This shows a decrease of N/A% compared to the previous 7 days.

Some people with coronavirus have to go into hospital.

Between 17 January 2023 and 23 January 2023, 33 went into hospital with coronavirus. This shows a decrease of -31.2% compared to the previous 7 days.

There were 33 patients in hospital with coronavirus on 25 January 2023.

Some people in the hospital need to use a special device called a mechanical ventilator to help them breathe.

There were 2 coronavirus patients in hospital beds with a mechanical ventilator on 25 January 2023.

Between 15 January 2023 and 21 January 2023, there have been 3 deaths within 28 days of a positive coronavirus test. This shows no change compared to the previous 7 days.

Information from https://coronavirus.data.gov.uk on Thursday 26 January 2023.

Information on meetings in February

Please find attached information provided by Jo Black, who spoke about the Kooth and Qwell services at our meeting on 12 January.

In February we will be joined by:

9 February 10-11am – Rab Ferguson from The Literacy trust

22 February 6-7pm – Amanda Holmes, Learning disabilities and sexual health nurse at New Croft Centre.

Please get in touch if you haven’t received invitations to these meetings

The difference you make

Thank you to all our Community Champions who have supported the Winter Wellbeing Get Together. Some of you have been involved by promoting and helping out at these events across the city. Some of you have even hosted your own events. Below we hear from Bryan Beverley at Tyne Housing.

We were honoured, with support from Newcastle City Council, to support the Great Winter Get Together campaign this year, hosting our very own Great Winter Hot Dog Bananza! The doors to our Joseph Cowen Health Centre were open all day (8am - 4pm), offering tasty hotdogs, homemade soup, and hot drinks to help fight off the bitter winter chill - all before hosting a fun quiz in the afternoon for everybody to get involved in. When asked about how he found the event, John, one of the attendees, said ‘It's been great - tasty food, good craic with the lads and the staff were very friendly”

Our Resident Consultation Group meets monthly and acts as a voice for the wider residents and visitors at Tyne, ensuring that resident views are always included in all aspects of Tyne’s activity. One of the members of the group, Barnie, brought his own expertise in helping facilitate the event, making sure we put on the best event we possibly could.

When speaking on the event, Barnie said: “you could see that the people who attended found it a break from the streets. The snacks and hot drinks seemed very welcomed especially given the cold weather on the day. I helped a few visitors to take some warm clothing from the clothes store which they appreciated. Several of the visitors asked me if this will happen again and I said I hope it does.”

Thank you all for the amazing work you are doing (in paid, voluntary and neighbourly capacities) to support our residents through the winter.

Other updates

Winter Wellbeing Hubs – We are continuing to promote our Winter Wellbeing Hubs across the city. These are community venues that can offer a hot drink, a friendly face and activities for free throughout winter. A full list of hubs is available here https://publichealth.newcastle.gov.uk/WellbeingHub/Directory.

Sexual Health services survey - Newcastle City Council are undertaking a review of the clinical sexual health service provision across the city and as part of this process we would like to hear from you. Your thoughts will help us to define a new model for delivering clinical sexual health services within the city.

If you have already responded – thank you. The survey is confidential and we will keep your answers private. The link to the survey is https://forms.office.com/e/QFtyKuWX6e

Details relating to this review are given in the introduction to the survey.

Please disseminate via your networks.

Health & Digital Literacy at Community Hubs and Libraries

With funding from Health Education England, Newcastle Libraries are running a year-long pilot to explore ways in which health literacy, underpinned by digital literacy, can be embedded in local information provision. The project is supported by Get Online Newcastle which has a long history of providing digital skills support. In 2023 we are running a range of events, classes and courses across different library sites. If you would like information about events and classes in your area, please contact: information@newcastle.gov.uk. Information about Fenham health drop in is attached.

Every Mind Matters Loneliness Campaign - Loneliness can have a huge impact on our wellbeing, but there are lots of simple actions you can take to help lift yourself or others out of loneliness.

Following the success of last year’s national campaign, which saw some very positive steps towards people taking action to help feelings of loneliness, the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport will soon be launching their new loneliness campaign activity as part of the Better Health - Every Mind Matters campaign.

The campaign primarily aims to reach 16-34 year olds by encouraging them to ‘Lift Someone Out of Loneliness’, knowing that this will likely help their own feelings of loneliness. This is based on recent research that shows that people in this demographic are at higher risk of feeling lonely compared to other age groups, but less likely to seek advice and support.

We will once again be pointing people towards the Every Mind Matters loneliness webpage where there is advice for ways to help yourself or others who may be feeling lonely and suggested support routes. Please find attached a loneliness poster and a top tips for improving mental wellbeing to share within your networks. Please visit https://www.nhs.uk/every-mind-matters/ for more information and resources.

Youthwatch Gateshead and Newcastle launch event - Interested in sharing your views about health or social care services? Do you want to help improve health or social care services? Interested in sharing your views with Healthwatch?

We are looking for 16-25 year olds who live, work or study in Gateshead or Newcastle to join our Youthwatch Project and share your views about health or social care services.

Our Youthwatch Project will be launched on 7 February 6-7pm, via Zoom. We are looking for organisations involved in working with young people to attend this event to find out more about Healthwatch and helping involve young people in our work.

We will then be holding online events for 16-25 year olds to attend, share views with Healthwatch and feed into our future work.

If you’re interested in either the Youthwatch launch event on 7 February or Youthwatch online events, please email lesley@healthwatchnewcastle.org.uk text 07498503497 or Freephone 0808 801 0382.

Monday Matters - The Bostey holds a drop in for parents and all community members every Monday (termtime only) from 10-12.30pm. They invite you to pop along for a cuppa and a friendly chat and there will be new activities to try out every week.

Venue: The Bostey, Church Street, Walker.

The Newcastle Fund - Please see below recent funding opportunity.

Newcastle small grants fund applications are open Deadline for applications is 24th February 2023 at 5pm.

The Newcastle Fund is available to constituted VCS organisations, registered charities and social enterprises. Funded activity must take place in Newcastle and benefit Newcastle residents.

You can find out about the aims and priorities of the Fund here.

Speak their name memorial quilt - Please see attached regarding next steps and awareness raising for the North East Speak Their Name Suicide Memorial Quilt.

We are delighted to announce that the North East Speak Their Name suicide memorial quilt has an official launch date of 11th November 2023 2-4pm at Newcastle City Library.

We are going to be hosting workshops in May and June in the region to support people to create the fabric squares.

We are looking to raise the profile of the project and direct those bereaved by suicide to our social media sites and information page.

Attached is a flyer to promote the project with your contacts and communities.

For further information or support to engage with the project contact northeastspeaktheirname@gmail.com