Newsletter ¦ 11th December

Greetings from the Jubilee Centre

I hope you and your loved ones are safe and well. Happy Hanukkah to all our friends in the Jewish community at this special time.

This week’s newsletter is split into three parts. The first two parts are about Coronavirus in Bury and our services.

In part three, there is information about how to get an energy check and free items to reduce energy costs, how to join our new 100 Club, and news about what the criminals are getting up to for Christmas. And there is the quiz at the end. Happy Reading.

Part 1: Coronavirus in Bury (11^th December)

This week, the bad news is that the number of people in Bury being tested positive for Coronavirus is rising again. Bury now has the highest coronavirus case rates in Greater Manchester, and the fourth highest in the North West.

Last week in Bury, 215.7 people per 100,000 were tested positive for coronavirus. This has now risen to 231.4 per 100,000 people (Figure for 10th December - source Manchester Evening News). In comparison, the figure of England is 156.2 per 100,000 people.

The borough of Bury is placed under Tier Three rules. There is an announcement about the review of the tiers due on Thursday, but the smart money is on Bury remaining in tier three.

In general, the rules are that you must not meet anyone you do not live with socially indoors, or outdoors in a private garden or at most outdoor public venues, but you can see friends and family you do not live with in a group of up to 6 in some outdoor public places such as parks.

Non-essential shops are open again, but restaurants, pubs and cafes, such as our Jubilee Centre, must remain closed.

Please go to the Bury Council Website for more information about the new rules under tier three: https://www.bury.gov.uk/index.aspx?articleid=15594

The official Bury Council / Bury CCG update is available here in this link.

For help with shopping and collection prescriptions, click onto this site https://www.ageuk.org.uk/bury/our-services/coronavirus/shop/

To find out about how to get a test for coronavirus, please go to the Bury Council website: https://www.bury.gov.uk/index.aspx?articleid=15451

For all those questions about Coronavirus, and how it affects your life, please check out the Age UK FAQ website: https://www.ageuk.org.uk/information-advice/coronavirus/

Christmas Bubbles – What’s best for you?

Between 23rd and 27th December, you can form an exclusive ‘Christmas bubble’ composed of people from no more than three households to spend Christmas with.

Age UK has compiled some key questions families should be asking themselves to make the safest decision for them.

Read it here: https://www.ageuk.org.uk/discover/2020/11/things-to-think-about-when-making-christmas-plans/

Vaccine

It is great news that the first safe and effective vaccine for COVID-19 has been approved by regulators, and very soon, vaccination centres will open up in Bury. The vaccine will be offered to priority groups - people aged over 80, and residents and staff in care homes.

People will receive an invitation to get the vaccine by a letter or a phone call from their GP or the national NHS. This letter or call will include all the information needed to book appointments.

Please do not contact your GP for a vaccine.

Part 2: Our support to you, your family and friends

Due to government restrictions, our activities and Friends Together have closed until further notice.

We have taken the decision not to open the café at the Jubilee Centre until the New Year, even if Bury is moved from tier three to tier two.

Whilst we can legally open our two charity shops, we felt the behaviour of some customers, particularly the ones who refused to sanitise their hands or wear a face mask, made it an unsafe work environment for our staff and volunteers. We will reopen both in the New Year, if it is safe to do so.

We will be answering the Age UK Bury office telephone – 0161 763 9030 - from 10.00 am to 2.00 pm every weekday throughout the pandemic. If we cannot help, we are sure to find someone who can!

A list of all our services is available here: Click on this link.

The services that are available through the lockdown include

Part 3: ...and in other news...

Our new 100 Club

The purchase of one number in our new 100 club is the safest present you could buy someone this Christmas!

Our 100 Club is taking off and the first draw will be at the end of January 2021. Numbers are available at £60 for the year or £5 per month.

If all numbers are sold, then the prizes will be

First Prize: £125
Second Prize: £75
Third Prize: £15

You can download the membership form and rules below.

Alternatively, you can pick up all the forms at the Jubilee (Monday to Friday 10.30 to 2.00) or we can send them out if you call us on 0161 763 9030 or email admin@ageukbury.org.uk.

All funds raised from the 100 Club go to supporting our services in Bury.

Free energy checks and equipment to reduce your energy bills

Older people in the borough of Bury can receive a free home energy check and goods worth up to £30 through our new Handyperson service.

Andrew, our handyperson manager will assess the energy efficiency of a person’s home, give tips on how to save energy and, where appropriate and abiding by Government rules on social distancing, install simple and practical energy efficiency measures such as draught proofing, low energy light bulbs and radiator reflector panels to help reduce energy bills. These goods are free and worth up to the value of £30 per household.

The Warm Homes Programme is funded by E.on, Avro energy, Octopus energy and Shell energy and is co-ordinated by our national partner, Age UK.

For more information, contact Louise on 07872 067662 or email Louise@ageukbury.org.uk. Louise’s office hours are 08:30 am – 4:00 pm, Monday to Thursday. At other times, please leave a message on the answer machine.

We can support up to 50 people with this offer, so the offer is on a “first-come, first served”.

Digital Skills

The realities of lockdown and social distancing have shown how invaluable Digital Skills are, with shopping, work, education and connecting with family and friends all happening online.

Courses on digital skills are taking place in January.

More information is at this link: http://bury.gov.uk/digitalskills.

Bridge Online

A new reader highly recommended the Bridge Base Online (BBO) as a way of enjoying the game online.

The Bury Athenaeum is now registered as a Virtual Club and members are able to join and play with their friends using Bridge Base Online (BBO).

There are videos available to show you how to use the site and play games.

https://www.bridgewebs.com/buryathenaeum/

Christmas delivery scams

If you’ve done your Christmas shopping online, you’ll now be swamped with text and email delivery updates. Be aware that there are fake delivery notices being sent by criminals after your life savings. Fakes emails pretending to be from DPD or Royal Mail have been circulating.

The messages state a driver has tried to deliver your parcel and asks you to click a link to reschedule. If you are then asked to enter sensitive information, like your date of birth, mobile number and card details, do not!

How to stay safe:

Double and triple check delivery messages.
Make sure they link up to genuine orders. Does the message mention the goods you ordered or the company you ordered from?
Check the message addresses you by name rather than just your email address or a basic ‘Dear customer’.
Look for tell-tale signs such as spelling and grammar mistakes.
Don’t submit any personal info like date or birth, card details or mobile number. Genuine delivery messages don’t ask for this and don’t ask for payment to re-deliver parcels.
Delete anything dodgy, especially if you’re not expecting a delivery, and if you’re not sure, don’t click the link. Delete the message and get in touch with the retailer you purchased from.

For more information about the latest scams, click onto https://www.actionfraud.police.uk/

The Quiz

Last week's quiz was a festive Xmas Quiz. The answers are in the link.

This week’s quiz is Festive Films and Music..

The quiz is just for fun and to keep you out of mischief. We sadly don’t have any prizes but you get the warm glow of success, if you get all the answers right. Thank you to Eleanor for preparing these quizzes for us and keeping us busy.

Keep Safe

Andy and all at Age UK Bury

PS: Did you hear that production was down at Santa's workshop? Many of his workers have had to elf isolate.