Newsletter 31st July
Greetings from the Jubilee!
As I write the sun has finally come out. Enjoy it while you can!
In this week’s newsletter, there are links to the latest government guidance, information about our foot care service and online activities, and some worrying news about scams, which two of our dear readers have informed us about. This is our longest email newsletter so far, so make a nice cup of tea and enjoy!
Changes in government guidance for Bury
Lesley Jones, Director of Public Health for Bury, has written the following to update people on the current situation regarding the Coronavirus restrictions.
As you will have seen, the Government announced last night restrictions on people not meeting others from outside their household or support bubble. Therefore, to reduce the spread of COVID-19, from today, 31st July 2020, separate households in Greater Manchester and other parts of the north including Bury will not be allowed to meet indoors.
Over the past few weeks, we have seen increases in COVID-19 case numbers in neighbouring districts and across Greater Manchester. In Bury, we have seen a rise in the number of new cases over the last week. While the absolute numbers of cases in Bury remain small, there are signs of an upward trend in infections. For the week up to 27th July 2020, Bury had 25 new cases of COVID-19, an average rate of 1.9 per 100,000 per day with most cases spread across a greater numbers of households than was seen in the previous weeks. For the preceding three weeks, the average rate was 1.2 per 100,000 per day.
The new restrictions, which came into force today, advise that in Bury and the other affected areas:
- You should not meet people you do not live with inside a private home or garden, except where you have formed a support bubble.
- You should not visit someone else’s home or garden even if they live outside of the affected areas, and vice-versa.
- You should not socialise with people you do not live with in other indoor public venues – such as pubs, restaurants, cafes, shops, places of worship, community centres, leisure and entertainment venues or visitor attractions. You can go to these venues with people you live with (or are in a support bubble with), but should avoid socialising with others.
All other existing guidance and advice remains in place and is unchanged.
Greater Manchester is working together as a single system and we are actively working with our partners and stakeholders across Greater Manchester and locally to ensure that our local communities know what this change means for them and their families.
For this to work, and to avoid further restrictions being introduced, we need everyone to play their part and take responsibility for keeping our community safe. We need all Bury residents, communities and businesses to redouble their efforts to comply with the existing advice on face coverings, social distancing, getting tested and isolating, if told to do so.
We hope this early intervention will help to reverse the rise in figures across local areas, and avoid the need for more drastic enforcement measures such as a local lockdown as we have seen in Leicester.
Our expectation is that the plans for safe celebrations of Eid al-Adha will not be affected provided this does not involve hosting or visiting friends and family in each other’s homes or gardens. It is recommended that if possible, prayer/religious services take place outdoors, however, people can attend a mosque or other place of worship where COVID-19 secure guidance applies, but they must socially distance from people outside of their household.
We would greatly appreciate your support in amplifying these important messages to encourage local people and communities to redouble their efforts in order to get this situation under control.
The position will remain under review and as we receive further information we will share this with you.
Thank you for your support and stay safe.
Lesley Jones, Director of Public Health for Bury.
Useful links:
- North West of England: local restrictions – what you can and cannot do - https://www.gov.uk/guidance/north-west-of-england-local-restrictions-what-you-can-and-cannot-do
- New rules on gatherings in some parts of Northern England - https://www.gov.uk/government/news/new-rules-on-gatherings-in-some-parts-of-northern-england
Bury Community Hubs
From Saturday 1st August, Government food boxes will no longer be delivered. Bury Community Hubs are still in place to help with getting food and medication. Also, the hubs will now begin to offer support to help people rebuild the confidence to go out again, or to learn how to do shopping online.
If you have already been receiving support from the hubs, your volunteers and the hub staff will offer this support in their regular contact with you.
Find out what support is available from Bury Community Hubs by visiting https://www.bury.gov.uk/index.aspx?articleid=15405
The Bury Community Hubs and their volunteers have done a great job supporting over 1,500 households in Bury with food, medicines and phone calls during lockdown.
Opening up our services
With the new restrictions in place for the North-West, we are now planning on re-opening the Jubilee Centre and our shops at the end of August.
Online memorial will honour victims of coronavirus in Greater Manchester
People bereaved by coronavirus in Bury have been invited to remember their loved-ones through an online memorial book. The GM Remembers website allows people to post a name, photograph and memory of those they lost.
Councillor Tim Pickstone, the Mayor of Bury, said: “This deadly virus has taken a dreadful human toll, in the UK and across the world. For every life that has been lost, there will be many more who are left grieving for their relatives and friends.”
Please visit : https://gmremembers.org.uk/
Foot Care Appointments
Dougie, our Foot Care Practitioner, will be at the Jubilee Centre from 11.00 am to 2.00 pm on Tuesday 4th August 2020. Each appointment costs £20. Please call in advance to make an appointment. Call 0161 763 9030, Monday to Friday, from 10.00 to 2.00.
Online Activities
Diana will next be live on our Facebook page on Monday and Wednesday next week.
- Monday: 11.00 to 11.30 am: Gentle Exercise / Seated and Standing
- Wednesday: 11.00 to 11.30 am: Pilates
These sessions are free and many thanks to Diana for setting them up. Please tell your friends they are welcome to join us. If you can’t make these times, Facebook will let you watch at a later time. Join us at https://www.facebook.com/ageukbury/
Sue holds a Tai Chi class online on Fridays at 11.00 am. This class is aimed at those who attend the 12.15 Tuesday class and 11.00 Friday class at the Jubilee. (We are planning a class for beginners soon). Send an email to taichi.college@yahoo.co.uk or message Sue via Facebook at m.me/taichiandwildgooseqigongbury for the access code.
A big thank you to Diana and Sue for running these classes.
TV Licence scam
From this Saturday, free TV ends for most over 75s. Scammers will take advantage of this. Please make sure you and your older friends and family are clued up on how to spot a scam. For more information, please go to https://bit.ly/2P7cmWW
We would like to show you what an official letter from the TV Licencing looks like, but they haven’t got their act together yet. For now, if you are over 75, please ignore any emails or letters you receive asking you to pay your TV licence as they may be a scam.
Telephone Scams
A member phoned up to let us know that she got conned into buying insurance for white goods. A very convincing criminal piled on the pressure until he got her details, after which he took a load of money from her account right away. The matter is now with the police.
I was informed of a new fraud this week. This is a bit long, but it is worth knowing about.
You receive a call from someone claiming to be a police officer from the Met in London. They tell you that your card details have been used (e.g. A laptop been brought on your card details at Argos). The police officer then gives you his name, and rank and number.
Before you know it, they are putting you through to the “local police”. Someone answers, asking what service you require “Fire, Ambulance or Police”, so it sounds all very convincing Then you get another person pretending to be a police officer who says they will check to see if the original police officer works at the Met. Of course, they confirm that the police officer works there and you then tell them what has been said
They give you a false crime number (insisting you write it down) and say a member of the fraud squad will phone you back. Within 5 minutes, someone phones you, gives you their name and rank and says he works in New Scotland Yard in London and they are investigating fraud in the local banks in your area. They claim it is a national operation and they suspect people who work in the banks in your area are targeting the older people.
They then ask you about your bank, which bank you are with, and how much money you have in the bank, as they are going to insure it, in case of fraud. They don’t necessarily ask for your bank details at this stage, they may arrange to ring you back the next day.
It is all very plausible and the scammers string it out until they are sure you will give them relevant details to access your cash. Should you get one of these calls, please record everything you can, especially telephone numbers, and pass them on via the Action Fraud website: https://www.actionfraud.police.uk/
To cheer us all up!
The Manchester Evening News headline read “33 reasons why Bury is the worst place in England”. After a lot of muttering, I clicked on the page to find a surprise.
The Quiz
Last week the topic was Sitcoms and Cocktails. The answers are at this link. Well done if you got all twenty answers.
And this week, we focus on Programmes and Presenters.
The quiz is just for fun. We sadly don’t have any prizes but you get the glow of success, if you get all the answers right. Good luck!
…and finally the essential stuff
For help with getting food deliveries and prescriptions, please phone Bury Community Hubs on 0161 253 53 53, every day of the week.
Our Keeping in Touch telephone service offers older people in Bury a regular friendly phone call from one of our volunteers. For more information, call 0161 763 9030 (Monday to Friday 10.00 am to 2.00 pm) or email jane@ageukbury.org.uk to sign up. Alternatively, call Jane Lees, our Befriending Coordinator on 07541 741891.
The Age UK Advice Line is 0800 678 1602 from 8 am to 7 pm, every day of the year.
If you would just like to have a friendly natter with another person, please call The Silver Line 24 hours a day on 0800 470 80 90.
Our previous newsletters are online at https://www.ageuk.org.uk/bury/about-us/coronavirus/
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/coronavirus-guidance/coronavirus-faqs/
We are in the office on Monday to Friday and our phone lines will be open from 10.00 to 2.00. Call us on 0161 763 9030.
Please share this newsletter with your friends. If you know someone who is not on the internet, please phone and tell them the news. Enjoy the sun while it is here!
Keep Strong, Stay Safe.
Andy and all at Age UK Bury
