Welcome to the Autumn 2024 Think CO e-newsletter from the Gas Safe Charity. Autumn certainly seems to have arrived early this year and may have taken people by surprise. Many boilers and gas appliances may not have yet had their annual service; chimneys and flues may not have yet been swept – all of which increases the risks of CO. Read on
The Agents of Change Team would love to invite you to join us to celebrate the past, present and future of the Agents of Change programme!
We’ve had the privilege of seeing four amazing cohorts of women graduate from the Agents of Change Women’s Leadership Programme since it began in 2018. This year the Agents of Change team has taken the time to listen to your feedback about the programme and we deeply appreciate all of the Agents who took part in our feedback sessions and interviews. We are incredibly grateful for the personal journeys we’ve been part of, and we would love to share with you some highlights about what we’ve learned and how it will impact the future of the programme
Please join us for an evening of storytelling, celebration and networking. You can register for free using the Eventbrite link here, or by emailing agentsofchange@imperial.ac.uk.
The evening will also feature more information about a new collaboration between Agents of Change and Westfield. The Westfield Workshop Skills Sessions have been created exclusively for members of the Agents of Change Network. Running throughout October, you’ll have the opportunity to attend workshops designed to develop the skills you need to tackle social media, marketing pitches, negotiation and standing out in your job search. Spaces are limited for each workshop, and you can register for free using the links below:
Westfield Workshop: Session One – How to Build a Successful Marketing/Brand Pitch Wed 9 Oct 3pm-4.30pm
Westfield Workshop: Session Two – Employment Skills Wed 16 Oct 4pm-5.30pm
Westfield Workshop: Session Three – Growing Your Social Media Skills Tue 22 Oct 3pm-4.30pm
Westfield Workshop: Session Four – Negotiating Skills Wed 30 Oct 4pm-5.30pm
We look forward to seeing you soon and thank you for being part of our inspiring network.
Charity Intelligence is a unique free website with the simple aim to help charities and not-for-profit organisations find the right professional team for investment, financial or legal support.They aim to provide a cost effective and efficient way for charities and their advisers, to select, review and compare investment managers, lawyers, accountants and insurance services.With helpful insights from partner firms, we provide a constantly updated knowledge base to empower charities. They also offer a free tender service to match your charity’s requirements with the right professional support and Consolidated Reporting to give you a complete overview of all your investments. Find out more here.
“Kallista Jayasuriya interviewed Thalia Beaty, Foundation Administrator at a funder that can award at least £300,000 to organisations – the KFC Youth Foundation…” Read more from Kalli Jayasuriya here.
September is the month worldwide to raise awareness of sickle cell disorder – known mainly as sickle cell disease. The condition is a genetically inherited condition that affects the red blood cells is prevalent mainly in individuals from the African diaspora community.
The condition was first described by American physician, Dr James Herrick in 1910 written in medical journal with the title “Peculiar elongated and sickle-shaped red blood corpuscles in the case of severe anemia”
As one can imagine, living with the condition on a day-today basis can be and usually is described by those affected as debilitating as it affects mainly the muscles and joints and other parts of the body. Despite this, local community champion, Feyona continues to raise awareness of her lived experience and provide support to others throughout the borough and beyond.
We met when we worked together on the borough`s recent Hammersmith and Fulham Council project “Building Trust” that focused on inequality of health within the black African and Caribbean communities in the borough. The project hosted a series of Listening Events one of which covered the condition sickle cell. Some of the feedback from the event included the following:
- Concerns that the condition is not recognised as a disability when interacting with welfare benefits systems
- Lack of cultural awareness
- Not “being believed” – the burden to proof on the person living with sickle cell to be believed that one is in pain.
I have found Feyona to be a phenomenal advocate of sickle cell condition as she is involved in a range of forums and societies seeking to raise awareness and affect change at the local community, policy and parliamentary levels.
We recognise that more needs to be done to raise awareness of this condition across sectors in the borough.
The above was written with permission of Feyona.
For more information and if you wish to be involved, please contact Sharon by emailing sharon.tomlin@sobus.org.uk.
Please see below some useful links:
Sickle Cell Society: lived experiences, reports, campaigns – https://www.sicklecellsociety.org/
Hammersmith & Fulham:
- LBHF Directory: https://www.lbhf.gov.uk/living-independently/living-independently-service-directory/sickle-cell-society
- Imperial College Healthcare – Red Blood disorder clinics – https://www.imperial.nhs.uk/our-services/haematology/red-blood-cell-disorder/clinics
- Shepherds Bush Medical Centre: https://shepherdsbushmedicalcentre.co.uk/conditions/sickle-cell-disease/
- LBHF Directory – Family Hubs: https://www.lbhf.gov.uk/children-and-young-people/family-hub/health-and-wellbeing/medical-and-nursing-support/haemoglobinopathy-specialist-nurses
Work of Dr James Herrick: https://web.archive.org/web/20101119100223/http://archinte.ama-assn.org/cgi/content/summary/VI/5/517
In an effort to reduce smoking rates within the community, a new initiative has been launched offering free stop smoking support through local pharmacies. The Community Pharmacy Smoking Cessation Service (CPSCS) is designed to support residents on their journey to quit smoking by providing easily accessible support.
Currently, nine local pharmacies have joined the programme offering both face-to-face and telephone consultations with trained stop smoking advisors. These advisors provide personalised advice and guidance tailored to each individual’s needs. Participants in the programme will also benefit from free e-cigarette starter kits, which have been recognised as an effective tool for quitting smoking successfully.
The service is open to all residents, as well as those who work or study in the borough. The process is simple with self-referral options that empower individuals to take that first step. By simply visiting any of the participating pharmacies you can initiate your journey to smoke-free life.
The Pharmacy Smoking Cessation Service is available at the following locations:
- Faro Pharmacy, 16 Swanscombe Road, W11 4SX
- Fulham Pharmacy, 608 Fulham Road, SW6 5RP
- Goldhawk Pharmacy, 9 Goldhawk Road, W12 8QQ
- Jays Pharmacy, 175 Uxbridge Road, Shepherds Bush, W12 9RA
- Lime Grove Pharmacy, 66 Goldhawk Road, London, W12 8HA
- Myhealth Pharmacy, 392-402 North End Road, SW6 1LU
- Oza Chemist, 9 Fulham Broadway, SW6 1AA
- Bush Pharmacy, 334 Uxbridge Road, W12 7LL
- Healthside Pharmacy, 90 Shepherds Bush Road, W6 7PD
With Stoptober just around the corner, the council is urging voluntary and third-sector organisations to promote the smoking cessation service to residents they work with. This is an excellent opportunity to encourage smoking residents who use their services to take advantage of this offer and move towards a healthier smoke-free life.
For more information on the Community Pharmacy Smoking Cessation Service, organisations can reach out via email to Tohel Ahmed, tohel.ahmed@lbhf.gov.uk.
In H&F it is a very easy process to apply:
- Agree a date/time with a few neighbours
- Drop a letter to all affected properties advising of your plans (templates and other resources, tips available here: https://londonplaystreets.org.uk/car-free-day-2024/)
- Apply to the council: https://www.lbhf.gov.uk/transport-and-roads/street-parties-and-events/play-streets
In several H&F Cost Of Living Alliance workshops, local voluntary and community sector organisations have requested a single point of information for local VCS services and organisations. Such a centralised system would enable residents and referrers to find local community groups more easily, and raise the profile and accessibility of local community organisations.
To achieve this, Hammersmith & Fulham Council has been working with Sobus and other VCS Alliance Partners to develop an online signposting service: H&F Community Compass
What will H&F Community Compass do?
H&F Community Compass will connect people with the right services, support and advice that they need. It will also offer small and large VCS organisations opportunities to connect by providing:
- A searchable directory of services
- A digital platform to share accurate and reliable information in one place
- Information that is accessible and visually engaging
- Warm signposting and early intervention
- Community “what’s on” space
Who is providing the service?
Sobus is working with Ayup Digital to deliver the platform, in partnership with the Cost of Living Alliance partners and H&F Council. The data will be legally held by Hammersmith & Fulham Council.
To see examples of what H&F Community Compass might look like please have a look at these examples:
https://connectedkingston.uk/ https://hounslowconnect.com/
What will this mean for your organisation?
With more and more information and activities being online, having a digital presence promoting your organisation has become increasingly important. Accessing funding opportunities and a chance to showcase your service and what you do to support residents is vital but hard to do if you do not have an online profile.
Sharing your information
Sobus holds a directory of local VCS organisations. We would like to share some of this information with Hammersmith & Fulham council to load onto H&F Community Compass – but we need your consent to do so. From our database, we would like to share with the council ONLY the following information:
- Your organisations name
- Your organisations contact details and website
- A contact name at your organisation
- A short summary (2 or 3 sentences) of the services you provide.
Can we share your information?
Please click on the survey link – which will take less than one minute to complete! You will be asked if you agree to Sobus sharing your organisation’s name, contact info and service summary. You’ll have the options of Yes, No, or that you would like to review the information before deciding.
https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/RLQ3XBT
Time is of the essence!
We want to get H&F Community Compass up and running by the beginning of September – so would ask you to respond to the survey as quickly as possible!
If you would like further information, please contact Sobus at info@sobus.org.uk or telephone 020 7952 1230.
“An expansion of the Dormant Assets Scheme may make millions more available for the charitable sector. In a second phase of expansion, the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has amended its rules to enable dormant investment assets and client money to be part of the scheme…” Read more here.
We are really pleased that despite much publicity, some true and a great deal fake, there were no ugly scenes across our Boroughs on Tuesday evening. Your West London Chambers of Commerce has close communication with all Councils, Police, businesses and community groups in the boroughs of Ealing, Hammersmith & Fulham and Hounslow, and we are well placed to be a reliable source of accurate information.
However, in light of recent protests please find advice from the Police, to businesses of all sizes and sectors: Crime_Prev_Business_Advice-General-Aug-24.pdf (ukhospitality.org.uk)
The advice remains – “check your risk assessments and if not recently updated, update them. If you have lockdown procedures review these and if needed rehearse”.
Any issues/incidents call the police via 999 as there are additional, dedicated resources assigned to addressing these issues at this time.
For non-emergency situations, dial 101 to receive guidance and support from your community safety team.
Any hate crime witnessed or experienced should be reported, either directly to the police or via Tell MAMA on 0800 456 1226
For anti-Muslim hate crime, contact Tell MAMA on 0800 456 1226 or via www.tellmamauk.org
For antisemitic hate crime, contact Community Safety Trust on 0800 032 3263 or here Report Antisemitic Behaviour – CST – Protecting Our Jewish Community
You can also report hate crime here How to report hate crime | Metropolitan Police
Safeguarding your business during public events
Keep safe!
The team at West London Chambers of Commerce
