The CVS Carers Support project has published its Summer Newsletter. It has lots of useful information for carers including local support groups, information on local organisations and dates for your diary. Read it here.
The ‘Level Crossing’ project has run for the past 18 months as an intervention project to support local people diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes who struggle to make behaviour changes to prevent further health problems. West Lancs CVS has been working in partnership with Skelmersdale Community Food Initiative and the University of Central Lancashire.
The Level Crossing project has been training people across West Lancashire as health champions and local connectors to sources of help, and has now trained 45 people as fully qualified health champions. A further 21 individuals have completed a short course on how to promote health.
The Level Crossing twitter account has been posting news and health tips (@levelcrossingwl), and the project now has a webpage with details of the health champion role and a story of change – it only needs to start with one person!
For more information, go to www.wlcvs.org/level-crossing
Dr Dawne Gurbutt, Clinical Lead for Interprofessional Education, Faculty of Clinical and Biomedical Sciences, University of Central Lancashire, says “This was a complex project involving community engagement and liaison across a wide geographical area of West Lancashire. Whilst maintaining a focus on the key issues that the project sought to address, West Lancashire CVS was able to utilise its role as an umbrella organisation to maximise other links and enhance the project in various ways via establishing connections, mapping against other projects and creating an interface between this and other projects which was mutually beneficial.
The links made via West Lancashire CVS and the willingness to listen, engage and adapt led to some good insights into the area, as well as the development of training which was fit for purpose for the client group and a sustained engagement across the community for the duration of the project. This project has given good insights into the locality, the communities and the challenges of provision and has taken a solution-focused approach to developing initiatives.
There is scope to build not only on the project, but on the connections and links which were developed around this piece of work”.
The Tawd Valley, often described as the ‘jewel in the crown of Skelmersdale’ could be developed to improve its appeal and accessibility to local people. Give your views on what should happen there!
A wide ranging consultation is taking place between now and October culminating in a Master Plan to guide future development and look at how the park can be sustainable.
Your views are important! Fill in the online questionnaire today and be entered in the prize draw to win a 50” flat screen TV: www.wlcvs.org/tawd
A new project is being launched to look at how the Tawd Valley, often described as the ‘jewel in the crown of Skelmersdale’ could be developed to improve its appeal and accessibility to local people. A wide ranging consultation will take place between now and October culminating in a Master Plan to guide future development and look at how the park can be sustainable.
The Tawd Valley, a lush wooded valley running for 2km through the heart of Skelmersdale is an underutilised local resource with huge potential to provide opportunities for both wildlife enthusiasts and those simply looking for recreational activities to enjoy.
As well as being a beautiful and restful country escape in the heart of the town, the valley is a haven for wildlife. Tests over recent years have indicated that the water quality of the river is generally very good, providing a healthy home and habitat for a variety of fauna. Last year, 1,500 fish, mainly Roach, Chub and Dace, were released into the Tawd in the Park. Kingfishers have also been spotted there in recent times. The hope is that the future development of the valley will further improve the natural environment including the creation of sustainable wetlands in specific areas beside the river to further improve the quality of the water running through the Tawd into the River Douglas.
As well as looking after the ecological interests of the valley, the Park needs to provide recreational opportunities for local people such as walking, jogging, and cycling, as well as fishing and bird watching. The overall aim of the project is look at how to provide opportunities for people to enjoy the valley to the full, whilst at the same time generating the financial resources needed for the area to be looked after and maintained.
The first phase of the project will involve a community consultation with local residents and people who already use or have an interest in the park including local primary schools, secondary schools and colleges, to see what direction future improvements should take. The results of these consultations will help to inform the content of a questionnaire that will be issued later in the summer to seek the wider views of other members of the public as to how the Tawd Valley might be developed.
Members of the public are invited to attend a consultation event being held by Groundwork Cheshire Lancashire and Merseyside, with support from West Lancashire Council for Voluntary Service on Wednesday 21st June, from 6.30pm in the main hall at the Ecumenical Centre, Northway, opposite the Concourse. As well as gathering people’s views as to how the Tawd Valley should be developed, one of the main aims of the consultation event is to identify people with an active interest in the Park who might wish to go on to form a ‘Friends of the Tawd Valley Park’ group to look after the park in years to come.
The project is being led by West Lancashire Borough Council supported by a Project Steering group with representatives from the Environment Agency, County Council, the River Douglas Catchment Partnership, Groundwork CLM, West Lancs CVS and SHARES.
For more information on the consultation event on the 21 June, contact the CVS on 01695 733737.
The CVS Carers Support project has published its Summer Newsletter. It has lots of useful information for carers including local support groups, information on local organisations and dates for your diary. Read it here.
The CVS welcomed 81 representatives from community, voluntary and statutory organisations as well as the public and private sectors, to the CVS AGM and Health Network Event at Haskayne Village Hall recently.
The event featured presentations from a variety of speakers including Greg Mitten, CVS Chief Officer, who outlined the ongoing struggles faced by the VCFS in the current climate. He detailed the role of the CVS as an umbrella body and highlighted the five core areas of CVS work: Volunteering, Funding Advice, Information, Training, and Partnership.
Details of the presentations can be found in the following links:
A full report of the day can be found here.
West Lancs CVS is working in partnership with Citizens Advice Lancashire West and West Lancs Borough Council to enable people to access help with using digital tools and getting to grips with navigating online.
Through this new Buzz-IT project there are 3 ways to get involved:
As part of the launch of the Digital Health Hub, Citizens Advice is offering the following courses to anyone aged 18 and over:
The sessions will be held at the Digital Health Hub (next to Citizens Advice), Unit 47, The Concourse Shopping Centre, Skelmersdale, Lancashire, WN8 6LN.
Book your place through Citizens Advice 0344 2451294 or via the Eventbrite links in the course title.
If you are looking for information online, wanting to apply online or make better use of your smartphone, tablet or computer, Buzz-IT is offering one-to-one support.
More information is available from West Lancs CVS 01695 733737 or Citizens Advice 0344 2451294
This is a great way to share your digital knowledge and skills with others who may be less confident. There are two roles available, Digital Buddy and Digital Champion. Both volunteering roles involve supporting others to gain and develop digital skills, to understand Data protection and security as well as find information online. Training for both roles is provided.
To find out more, contact Jan or Sarah at West Lancs CVS on 01695 733737.
The CVS Carers Support project has published its latest Newsletter. It has lots of useful information for carers including local support groups, information on local organisations and dates for your diary. Read it here.
