November The newsletter of Carers Northumberland. Friday 30th November. 10am - 12noon. This year's theme is: Caring for your future

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1 Caring Matters November The newsletter of Carers Northumberland Are you a carer? Do you know your rights? Why not pop into our FREE event? Friday 30th November 10am - 12noon This year's theme is: Caring for your future Berwick Town Hall, Guild Hall, Marygate, Berwick-upon-Tweed Come along and get information and advice on: Carers Rights, Paying for Care, Welfare Rights, Employment, Local Carer Support and much more Stallholders include; Healthwatch Northumberland, Welfare Rights Unit, Adult Services, Age UK, Alzheimer's Society, Citizens Advice Bureau, Hospice Care North Northumberland, Bridge Project, Northumberland Cancer Awareness, NTW mental Health services, Escape Family Support. Try a relaxing therapy or a craft and have a cuppa with a Key Worker. Call for more information Improving the lives of Carers in Northumberland...

2 What s on : November 2018 Listed below are all of our groups and activities for November Carers are welcome to attend any activity in any area. If you haven t been to a group before why not come along to one and see for yourself how welcoming and supportive they are? For more information or to book an event please call our Information Line on or info@carersnorthumberland.org.uk Nov Groups / Activity Time st Ponteland Support Group, Merton Hall Activity : Energy Awareness 10.30am 12noon Session 1st Felton Support Group, Felton Village Hall 1.30pm 3.00pm 6th Carers Drop In, Ashington Offices 11.00am 12noon 14th Caring Crafters - Berwick, William Elder Building *Booking Essential* 10.00am 12noon Activity Bede Stars, Carer Led Activity, Free (donations appreciated for Westie Rescue) 14th Morpeth Support Group, Northumberland County Blind Association 10.30am 12noon 15th Blyth Support Group, Buffalo Community Centre 10.00am 11.30am 21st Bedlington Support Group, Salvation Army 1.00pm 2.30pm 22nd Hexham Support Group, Adapt Building 1.30pm 3.00pm 26th Alnwick Support Group, St Pauls Court 1.30pm-3pm 28th Berwick Support Group, William Elder Building Activity : Energy 11.00am 12.30pm Awareness Session 29th Cramlington Support Group, Community Room, Concordia Leisure 1.00pm 2.30pm Centre Activity : Energy Awareness Session 30th Carers Rights Event, Berwick Town Hall 10am-12noon Carers Support Groups run by our partners: Groups / Activity Berwick Mental Health Carers Support Group, Northern Spirit Hexham Mental Health Carers Support Group, Scout Hut (behind Marks & Spencer's), Hexham Details 20th November 1.30pm 3.30pm New Beginnings Group, ring for details Wooler Carers Group, Terrace Café, Wooler Bellingham Carers Group, Bellingham Practice 21st November 10am 12 noon 27th November 1.30pm 3pm Mental Health Forum, Wooler Contact Jane Pannell on or jane.pannell51@btinternet.com Please note activities and talks may be subject to change without notice.

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4 Are you worried about your memory? Come and have a chat with a Dementia Adviser from The Alzheimer's Society on the: first Monday of every month between 11am and 1pm at Adapt Café, Burn Lane, Hexham, NE43 3HN from the first Monday in December 3rd December 2018 Carers Christmas Meals Our annual carers Christmas meals will be held in:- Morpeth - Wednesday 28th November at Lollo Rosso in Morpeth. Bedlington/Blyth - Wednesday 5th December at Raffaello's in Guide Post Cramlington - To be confirmed please call the Info Line for info Berwick - To be confirmed please call the Info Line for info Alnwick - To be confirmed please call the Info Line for info Ponteland - To be confirmed please call the Info Line for info Carers Northumberland will contribute 5 towards the cost of the meal. Please call to book. Limited availability. FREE Energy Awareness Session Would you like to know how to: Get a better deal on your electricity or gas supplies? Understand your fuel bills? Save energy and money on your heating, hot water or appliance use? Find out if you are eligible for insulation and heating schemes, fuel discounts and other services? Deal with fuel debts? Reduce condensation, damp and mould at home? Then why not come along to a Take Control session. The sessions will be led by Josh Sawyer, Energy Advisor from NEA the national energy efficiency charity. 1st November 18 - At the Ponteland Support Group meets at Merton Hall 10.30am 28th November 18 - At the Berwick Support Group meets at the William Elder Building 11am 29th November 18 - At the Cramlington Support Group meets in the community room at Concordia Leisure Centre - 1pm

5 BEFRIENDING VOLUNTEERS WANTED Volunteers are required in the North of Northumberland to support our new befriending initiative. If you have time to meet a carer on a regular basis for a cuppa and a chat we would love to hear from you. Please get in touch with Gail on or gailpurvis@carersnorthumberland.org.uk Tynedale Mental Health Family & Friends Group Are having a birthday event on 20th November pm Hexham Scout Hut For more updates follow us on Facebook and Twitter. We post regular updates and share information useful to carers. Just search Carers Northumberland on or Get together with professionals, support staff and carers for information, advice and support Refreshments will be provided Do you need information or advice? Come along to our monthly carers drop-in to meet our Information Team. The Drop-in meets monthly in Ashington on the 1st Tuesday of each month from 10am-12noon at our Ashington Office on Station Road. Appointments are available on other days, call to book. We look forward to seeing you there! Next Drop-in is Tuesday 6th November 2018 Meet the Lions We are pleased to announce the Lions Club of Morpeth have donated 2 pairs of tickets to the meet the Lions event in Morpeth on 18th November starting at 2pm at St George s URC. We are delighted to be able to offer these tickets to two lucky carers who can bring along 1 guest with them. We will be holding a prize draw for this afternoon of food and entertainment! If you would like to enter please either call or info@carersnorthumberland.org.uk Raffle tickets are also available to purchase from our Ashington Office at 1 per book, the Lions will match any money raised from the sale of books and donate this back to Carers Northumberland, prizes include a mini break and a weeks holiday.

6 MAKE YOUR VOICE HEARD HAVE YOUR SAY AS A CARER! Do you care for an older person with a long term or chronic health condition? Would you like to take part in a study that aims to look at health and social care through your eyes as a carer and to have your views fed (anonymously) to the Council, Healthcare Trust and Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG)? What does it involve? EITHER taking part in a focus group of 6 to 8 carers, lasting up to 60 minutes, or having a telephone interview with the researcher. You will discuss questions about what it is like to be a carer and suggest questions for the researcher to ask the Council, Healthcare Trust and CCG. What happens next? The information will be used to inform questions put to people in the Council, Healthcare Trust and CCG about how services look through your eyes and to find out how services look through their eyes. How will I find out what they say? You will either be invited to a second focus group, to hear what the Council, Health care Trust and CCG have to say or have a second, brief interview with the researcher. Who is doing this study? This research is being undertaken by Rita Stringfellow, a postgraduate student in the Faculty of Health and Life Sciences at Northumbria University, who is also a carer. To take part, and to find out more, contact Rita directly on or rita.stringfellow@northumbria.ac.uk Northumberland Joint Musculoskeletal and Pain Service. Complete our survey! The CCG is looking to develop a new musculoskeletal (MSK) and pain service in the county. The aim is to provide a service that will improve access for patients and provide an opportunity to choose care based on a patient s desired outcomes and personal preferences. To ensure the new service is centred on people s needs we want to hear your views by taking part in our short survey if you have ever suffered from: Neck pain Back pain Ligament injuries Osteoarthritis Sprains and strains Rheumatoid arthritis Over-use injuries Osteoporosis Chronic pain management, or Fibromyalgia Another MSK related condition A copy of the survey can be found and you have until 28th October to complete it.

7 Carers Training Sessions It s not too late to book for the following workshop sessions either in Cramlington or in Morpeth so please think about attending. We hate cancelling courses but they can only run if there are sufficient people booked on to make it worthwhile. Cramlington: Beaconhill Community Centre Good Life Good Death Wed November 28th All the practical information you might need to plan for the inevitable future event. YOU know what you want but how do you communicate this to others? MS Society, Benmar House, Morpeth Only for carers of people with MS Confidently Caring Wed Nov 14th pm Morpeth NHS Centre Gas House Lane Surgery Confidently Caring / Carer drop-in clinic Thu Nov 22nd pm To join any of these sessions please contact our office on or info@carersnorthumberland.org.uk. Encourage a friend to join you and spread the word to any carers you meet. We love to talk about what we can offer!. You will see that we are working closely with other organisations to make sure that as many carers as possible find out about what support is available to them. Do you belong to or know of an organisation or group that you think would benefit from finding out more about the reality of life as a family carer? Let us know and we ll see if we can do something about it!

8 Caring Matters - September 2018 Closing of Cornhill Support Group Due to decreasing numbers attending the Cornhill Support Group, and following consultation with the regular attendee and support group facilitator this support group will close with immediate effect. For any carers wishing to attend a local group, there are other support groups in the area (please see support group list and groups run by our partners), as well as access to key workers and the information team. As part of our regular evaluation of services, we remain open to re-starting this group if carer numbers in the area increase, as we do in all areas of Northumberland. Carers Northumberland would like to thank Julie Birkin-Nicholl, the volunteer support group facilitator who has facilitated this group with humour and enthusiasm over the years, and continues as a trustee with Carers Northumberland. How to join our online forum: Visit our website Select the Carers Forum Button at the top of the page Then you will find the register button at the top of the page. Complete the registration process as prompted. Don t forget to read the forum guidelines and conditions. Once registered you can post and view other discussions. Enjoy! If you no longer wish to receive this newsletter please contact Disclaimer - Carers Northumberland has tried to ensure that the information in this newsletter is accurate. However, Carers Northumberland will not accept liability for any loss, damage or inconvenience arising as a consequence of any use of or the inability to use any information in this circulation. Charity number Company number Improving the lives of Carers in Northumberland... 2