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Befrienders, Roads and Ending in Tiers

Befrienders, Roads and Ending in Tiers

This update covers four topics starting with Befrienders Week and then addressing:

Befrienders Week

Did you know that 1 – 7 November is Befrienders Week?  The local groups that make up the Colchester Befrienders Network Group are taking this opportunity to let you know about them, what they do, and most importantly how they can support you!

They can give someone a friendly phone call, invite you to a virtual coffee morning or afternoon team; also, where possible they can meet face to face!

They do this with the help of wonderful volunteers and are always looking for more so if you are interested please give them a call.

For more details on who they are, what they do, and how to contact them please see below:

  • Community360, virtual pub lunches, walk and talk sessions, welfare calls, and for patients leaving Colchester hospital light touch support from volunteer befrienders to help you get back on your feet.
    Please call us on 01206 505250 or email us on [email protected]
  • Reengage, call companions telephone befriending service. Our call companions love a good chat and they’re great listeners too. They’ll enjoy getting to know you and telling you a bit about their lives too. Whatever you talk about, the phone calls will give you a real boost. Call companions is a free service. Please do give us a call on 0800 716543 or email us at [email protected].
  • Action for Family Carers: providing information, advice and support for Carers – including counselling, support getting back into work. online Carers café and activities to help Carers with their emotional and physical wellbeing e.g. mindfulness, walks, meditation
    Please call us on 0300 770 80 90 or email [email protected]  website affc.org.uk
  • Essex Befriends: providing befriending for Carers, older people, people with mental health issues or a learning disability
    Please call us on 0300 770 1263 or email [email protected] website essexbefriends.org.uk
  • Age UK Essex, Our weekly telephone calls are the perfect opportunity to relax in your own home and have a good catch up over a cup of tea with one of our befrienders.
    This service is free of charge so please call us on 01268 525353
  • Independent Age, telephone befriending and virtual morning coffee sessions
    Please call us on 0800 319 6789
  • Royal Association for Deaf People, remote support via FaceTime, Whatsapp, Skype and Zoom and coffee mornings and afternoon tea sessions via Zoom
    Please call us on 0300 688 2525 or email on:  [email protected].
  • FUTURES in MIND, telephone befriending, virtual social groups and allotment sessions. Please see our website https://www.futuresinmind.org.uk/or or email us on: [email protected]
  • Warm & Toasty Club, on-line friendship afternoons and regular newsletter full of trips down memory lane, name that tune, joke corner and personal stories.
    Please call us on 07594154709 or email us on [email protected] or you can find us on facebook: www.facebook.com/thewarmandtoastyclub

Service users have talked about the difference the services make:

I enjoy my weekly calls with my befriender as – I feel he understands me and my mental health”

 

My call is a lifeline because I cannot go out and have no family close”

 

I did not know that there was such a thing as your service and even if there was I did not think it would be something that I would ever need. I feel blessed to have my Befriender, she has become her proper friend”. 

 

I feel like a weight has been lifted from me, my mum is getting back to normal as she no longer feels like a burden to me and we enjoy our normal conversations as before”

So, why not take the opportunity during Befrienders Week to ring them and try one of their services?  They look forward to hearing from you.http://roads

Road Closures

Bourne Road

The Essex Streetworks Team have advised that Bourne Road will be closed for 4 days starting from 2nd November.  As ever, these dates are subject to some delay if weather is [particularly adverse.  The work being undertaken is surface dressing which can be particularly susceptible to extremely cold or wet weather.  Firstly any potholes or other defects are patched and the surface made level. Then crews spray the existing road surface with a coating of hot bitumen and cover it with stone chippings.

It is normal practice during these works for access to be maintained for residents.

Bakers Lane

Starting on Monday 9th November a 360 metre section of road and footpath will subject to significant improvements taking up to 4 months to complete.  These improvements will include:

  • Upgraded kerbing,
  • Lamp column replacements, &
  • Carriageway repairs and replacements.

The majority of the improvements will be carried out during the daytime between the hours of 8 am and 5 pm, Monday to Friday.  Traffic restrictions will be adjusted according to the activities being carried out however during the first phase of the works the road is likely to be closed to through traffic only, with resident access managed by temporary traffic lights.  Diversions will be in place for traffic diverted locally however pedestrian access on Bakers Lane will be maintained throughout.  Later on in the scheme during road surfacing, a full road closure will be necessary.

COVID-19 Alert Level Goes Up a Notch Tonight

In a move to slow the current rates of infection across our county, from 00:01 am this Saturday, Essex will be placed into the high level of restrictions (tier 2 on the new COVID system).  The biggest single change this introduces is that there can no longer be any household mixing INDOORS.  The Rule of Six still applies outdoors.  Read more details about ‘The ‘Rules’ here.

Why?

Cases of coronavirus are rapidly increasing all over Essex. Analysis has shown that all areas (except Maldon at the time of the analysis) had moved to epidemic growth. This means that cases have been doubling every week, as evidenced in Colchester increasing from 15 cases per 100,000 on 1st October to 50 on 11th October

Additionally, while hospital admissions are thankfully low, the fact remains that there are currently 57 people with coronavirus in Essex hospitals, while a month ago there were none. There have also been 13 deaths due to COVID-19 in Essex hospitals in the last three weeks, following a month with no deaths.

While these numbers remain low, they are increasing at an alarming rate and if we don’t take action soon, we are likely to see a doubling in line with the increasing cases soon.

The County Council has a responsibility to make decisions based on what the evidence tells us, in order to protect residents, local health services, schools and businesses, and we have considered how best to do this for the people of Essex. The interventions implemented within the ‘High’ tier of measures have been devised by SAGE to reduce the rate of transmission and reverse case growth.

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