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Newsletter ¦ 22nd October

Dear friends

I hope this newsletter find you and your loved ones safe and well.

In this newsletter, there is news about the roll out of booster vaccinations, an update about our services, and a description about a new scam I was informed about. Pour yourself a nice cup of tea and enjoy the read!

Part 1: Coronavirus in Bury

As of Thursday 21st October, 369.7 people per 100,000 tested positive for coronavirus over the last 7 days – that is an increase of 2% from the previous week. On the same day, the England average was 465.5 people testing positive per 100,000 over the last seven days– an increase of 21% from the previous week’s figure.

If you are feeling unwell, please help us to stay open by not coming to the Jubilee Centre or our shops. We are asking everyone to use the sanitiser provided and be considerate in giving each other space.  

Vaccine Boosters

You can now book an appointment for a vaccine booster if you are:

  • aged 50 and over or aged 16 and over with a health condition that puts you at high risk from COVID-19
  • it's been 6 months and 1 week (189 days) since your 2nd dose

The rules for booking a booster appointment changed on Thursday. You no longer need to wait to be contacted by the NHS, and you can now book an appointment. 

You can book your appointment using the Government’s online booking service at https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/coronavirus-vaccination/book-coronavirus-vaccination/book-or-manage-a-booster-dose-of-the-coronavirus-covid-19-vaccine/

Plan B or Not Plan B?

The news is full of discussions about the government’s decision not to reintroduce restrictions, despite the rising number of Covid-19 cases. I am not going to get into the pros and cons of this (otherwise we will be here all day) but I do need to say that it makes planning our services, activities and events very difficult.

If government restrictions are introduced and it affects our activities, we will let people know via a special email newsletter, and on social media (Twitter and Facebook). We will also inform people at the centre via the notice boards and leaflets. 

Part two: Our services

Our latest Jubilee Centre timetable is in this link

Digital Skills Drop-in Sessions

Unfortunately, the Wednesday morning sessions have been cancelled until further notice, due to a shortage of staff.

Watch this space for news of future IT sessions coming soon.

Keeping In Touch News

Our Keeping in Touch Telephone service held its first get-together this week at the Jubilee Centre.

The service was created by Jane, our befriending co-ordinator, in April 2020 to support those most isolated during the lockdown with friendly telephone calls. We decided that when the time was right, we would hold an event so our befriendees could meet the volunteers and staff they had been talking to over the last 18 months. The Asda Foundation kindly sponsored the event, a local band, the Cajun Rascals, offered their services for free and Rob took up his new role of Bingo Caller. Our volunteers decorated the hall and Karen and our café staff provided a delicious afternoon tea.

Christine, one of our volunteer telephone callers, said “It was lovely to finally put a face to a voice after all this time.” We heard that people made friendships, agreeing to go for coffee or come the Jubilee for lunch. Our thanks go to everyone who made it such a positive and friendly afternoon.

Our Keeping in Touch service currently supports 140 people and we are seeking volunteers to make friendly calls.

If you would like to know more, please come to one of our café and coffee mornings.

  • 10 am to 12 noon on Monday 25th October at Bury Society For Blind & Partially Sighted People 4 Tenterden St, Bury BL9 0EG
  • 11 am on Monday 1st November at the Jubilee Centre, Mosley Avenue, Bury, BL9 6NJ.

Yoga at the Jubilee Centre

Yoga is an ancient form of exercise that focuses on strength, flexibility and breathing to boost physical and mental wellbeing. The main components of yoga are postures (a series of movements designed to increase strength and flexibility) and breathing.

Yoga is a safe and effective way to increase physical activity – especially strength, flexibility and balance. There is some evidence that regular yoga practice may be beneficial for people with high blood pressure, heart disease, aches and pains – including lower back pain – depression and stress. Balance and muscle-strengthening exercises such as yoga, tai chi, dance, and Pilates, are recommended to reduce the risk of falls, especially in older age.

People often start yoga in their 70s, and many say they wish they had started sooner. Our classes are designed for older people starting out in yoga.

Our Tutor, Melanie has her Teacher Training Diploma with the British Wheel of Yoga and has trained with many internationally respected yoga teachers. Melanie has run yoga classes for older people at the Jubilee Centre since 2013 and her enthusiasm has inspired many to take up yoga and enjoy the benefits

Our yoga classes take place

  • Monday morning: 9.45 to 11.15 - Cost £5.50
  • Monday evening: 6.00 to 7.30 - Cost: £6.50

Please bring your own yoga mat. (Yoga mats may be purchased from Argos and Amazon).

To find out more about yoga, click on these links.

Charity Shop Donations

We are urging everyone to bring their donations to our charity shops at 91 The Rock and Bridge Street in Ramsbottom.

We are now collecting items from your home. Please phone 0161 763 9030 to let us know you have items, and we will try and arrange a date to come and collect.

Job Advert 

We are seeking a Friends Together Care Assistant for our Friends Together groups. 

Our Friends Together service supports up to 60 older people who are isolated. We offer a minibus service, a hot meal at lunch, a range of activities, outings and parties. The centres give people an opportunity to meet friends and support one another. 

  • Rate of Pay: £8.91 / hour
  • Location: The day care service is in North Bury on Monday, Prestwich on Tuesday, Whitefield on Wednesday and Radcliffe on Thursday.
  • Hours: 16 Hours per week. Monday to Thursday from 10 – 2 pm. There are opportunities on some weeks to increase hours to cover for leave of other staff members.
  • Closing Date: Friday 29th October 2021 at noon.

For a full application pack, please go to: https://www.ageuk.org.uk/bury/about-us/work-for-us/

Part three: And in other news…

The Grandparent Scam  

A reader phoned up to tell me about this scam, which I had not heard about before. The scam goes like this.

You get a call unexpectedly from someone who claims to be a relative. This often happens to grandparents with the caller claiming to be their grandson or granddaughter. The caller says there’s an emergency and asks you to send money immediately.

For example, the scammer may say “Hi grandma,” hoping that you actually have a grandson. If you ask, “David, is that you?” the scammer will say “Yes!”. You may ask “why aren’t you calling me from your normal number, David?” to which the scammer says his phone was stolen or fell in some water. They will go on to describe some emergency like they have been mugged, leaving them stranded, and they need your credit card details so they can get a taxi home.

To confuse you more, scammers will call in the middle of the night and take advantage of the fact that you may not be awake enough to ask more questions and you may not want to disturb other people by calling them to confirm the information.

There are many variants to this scam (you may get a call from a long lost friend) so the advice is to be on your guard when people ask for your credit card details and never hand over details unless you are 100% sure the person is genuine.   

The Weekly Quiz

The answers to the last Quiz (dated 8th October) is in the link. 

This week’s Quiz brings you another 30 questions to test your knowledge and the some of the questions are quite topical. This quiz is just for you and your friends to enjoy. The right answers will be sent out with the next newsletter.

Our next newsletter

Our next full newsletter will come out on Friday 12th November. However, we may send out a mini newsletter to let people know who has won this month’s 100 club and inform you of any new activities and events.

If you have any news to share, please send to news@ageukbury.org.uk

Stay safe

Andy and all at Age UK Bury

Ps: The pictures below are from the Keeping In Touch Get-together on Monday, 18th October.