Category: Good News Stories

We met with Rachel B and Rachel M to discuss a campaign idea. On our initial meet they presented to us their idea of creating sessions to help individuals who are struggling with their mental health. However they don’t want to create a normal or typical experience where someone comes to talk to you and presents in a boring manner, they want to host an interactive seminar that’s fun with sensory experiences such as dancing, music, props and full of energy and they want to call it GO MENTAL! They have made so much progress over the month we have worked with them and are aiming to be constituted in the coming months. The long-term plan is to be able to deliver this across the borough but the short-term goal is to continue create focus groups to create enjoyable sessions before rolling it out as a larger initiative. They have a presentation and are looking into their own GO MENTAL website and have already begun scouting potential partners.

They want to use their own life experiences and stories of personal struggles to engage with audiences who might not usually attend the usual type of talk or event. This isn’t the conventional method and won’t be for everybody but it is created though real experiences and what they have learned through their own journeys. The aim of the group is to educate and teach techniques that lots of people don’t use or know about that could impact their mental health positively and their day-to-day life. GO MENTAL also want to be able to link relevant partners and groups that teach positive mental health techniques. They want to achieve this by directing attendees to a partner’s room where they can speak to partner representatives about activities and sessions that best suites them. By doing this they take out the “I’ll call them tomorrow” as it is part of the overall experience.

The effort and time they are already dedicating to this project has been amazing. They are 2 very self-motivated individuals who are an absolute joy to work with. We have been able to offer support and set actions for meetings and they have completed them and much more.

“We all struggle sometimes, because let’s face it, life can be hard. But when we have a few tools in our toolkit and if we know we’re not alone, then the rough times can get a little easier. ‘Go Mental’ is an interactive event designed to empower YOU with a collection of tips, tricks and techniques to help you handle everyday stress.

But this is no snooze-fest seminar! Be prepared to boogie*, sing* and be wildly entertained. *No actual talent required. Hosted by Rachel and Rachel (yep, you read that right), they share their own mental health struggles and the extraordinary circumstances that turned them into the mental health mavericks they are today.”

This client was referred to Energy Know How by Social Prescribing as requiring urgent support. The client was heating their house with candles, had no income for heating other than Universal Credit and having to choose between utility bills and food.

Contact was made straight away although the client did not answer, a voicemail message was left saying who we were and who had asked us to call. We also said we would call again if she was not able to return our call for any reason.

Client called back shortly after the message was left and was offered a call-back just in case she was on a pay as you go phone however the client confirmed she had available minutes in her mobile contract.

Karen lives in a rented council flat with 2 bedrooms. She started to become ill towards the end of last year and was off sick from her job as an ambulance driver (non NHS employment/through another company) and had to claim Universal Credit. She has required food parcels to help her manage and by not having a gluten free/well controlled diet her health had deteriorated further to the point she collapsed and had to go to hospital.

She has had numerous tests and hopefully some results will come soon. She had received only £500 from universal credit and £300 of this was needed to pay her rent. She is also having a deduction for an advance which I informed her she can request is temporarily suspended and explained how this can be done.

She had had emergency top up vouchers via citizens advice and was expecting another however it had not come through. I offered to chase this for her, her first vouchers were issued over a month ago, she had no electric and was using emergency credit for gas – she was heating her home with tea lights.

We also discussed the possibility of her applying for help from the ambulance workers charity (TASC) – I gave her the contact details from internet, she had nothing to lose by asking for temporary help with her situation. She had applied for PIP – explained the importance of the assessment and offered a referral to Citizens Advice via our Money project however client declined this as she struggles to engage with lots of different people.

She is temporarily in receipt of dhp to cover the bedroom tax. She was worried about hospital appointments and has been asked to enquire re refund of travel costs to hospital as she is in receipt of u/c she should be able to reclaim these (or mileage).

Energy saving issues were discussed and Karen already does most things, she has installed led lightbulbs and radiator foils, she had a particular issue with her front door which is very draughty and leaks in water making her entrance wet and this in turn makes it harder to keep warm. She lives in an upstairs flat and has issues with the tenants below, sometimes the windows are broken so this impacts on draughts in her upstairs flat.

Karen was offered a visit from Green Doctors to see if there are any measures they could install around her door and whether they could check to see if the radiator foils have been installed correctly. She mentioned fans that had been installed for her heating so I was not sure if this is a heat pump style system – if it is I explained the green doctors would be able to give advice about using it correctly as she says it is completely in-effective.

I chased the Top up vouchers with Citizens Advice immediately and received an email confirming the client would be contacted in the next 24 hours to issue her second of the three allocated top up vouchers to enable her to reconnect her electricity and have some hot water.

A Green Doctor visit was also requested.

The client sent a thank you text the day after saying she had spoken with the ambulance charity and was being sent an application form to request support and that she had chased up outstanding issues with DWP to get her health assessments completed.

The Social Supermarket Rotherham Minster runs every Wednesday and Thursday.  Those struggling to make ends meet can become members and come to our shop in the town centre each week for just £3.  Our team of volunteers chat, make tea, stock shelves, collect food and support members in all sorts of ways. We started 18 months ago after chatting to people who needed food support for a few months and wanted to be able to choose their food and make a contribution to the cost. It has become a place of opportunities:  friendships are made, money skills are learned, people start to save money and find help with benefits, housing etc. They also realise they have skills to share and start to volunteer. We have fun working out how to cook different meals, with some joining our cooking course.  Our next step is to have a go at growing veg and getting active with a Pilates class.

I first met Client L when they were a member of the Social Supermarket and we referred them into Citizens Advice for benefits and debt support. Once they graduated from the Social Supermarket, they became a volunteer helping at the Catch-Up Café and food sessions. I spoke to them about work opportunities and referred them into WorkingWin. They found some part time work, but the hours did not provide them with a regular income so left them still reliant on benefits. They have now managed to secure a full-time job and although feeling a bit nervous about managing their own budget, they are very excited to be taking control of their finances again.

When I first met Client M at the Social Supermarket, they were very quiet and withdrawn and it was their friend who spoke on their behalf about money support, which we referred them into Citizens Advice for. Over the past couple of months, I have seen their confidence soar and become much more engaged with everyone, and after being asked to help one day when they were short of volunteers, they now volunteer there on a weekly basis. They have also taken the lead to help run the allotment at the Clifton Learning Partnership building for the Social Supermarket.

Rotherfed hosted a community solutions event on Tuesday 5^th April at the New York Stadium, which was open to all Rotherham residents. The event was mostly aimed at showcasing/promoting the Money Management and Energy Efficiency teams at RotherFed, with other organisations also in attendance. Present were many people from the befriending service we provide, as well as some volunteers who make the calls to these people. A lot of the service users really enjoyed putting faces to the voices that have supported them throughout their time on the service. As well as this, the event allowed staff to put faces to the names of organisations that we refer to or who refer into us. This has ultimately strengthened relationships with organisations such as Green Doctor and Live Inclusive.

In attendance were 11 council tenants, 38 Rotherham residents and 13 providers from around Rotherham who offer services to Rotherham residents. RotherFed providers Energy Know How, Make Our Money Go Further and Heart of the Community were highlighted as well as South Yorkshire Fire and Rescue, Rush House, and RUCST.

In total, around 70 people connected to RotherFed attended. 14 households managed to get energy advice or a referral from our team, 50 people spoke to and engaged with money management and their advice and taste tests. As well as this, good connections were made with other providers around Rotherham.

A participant on the Connex project said; ‘I’ve found it so useful and got so much information that I wouldn’t have known about without coming’

Multiple providers expressed their gratitude for being invited as it was good to be able to speak to people face to face again, and it was a great opportunity for providers to showcase their projects.

As part of the Heart of the Community project, management had met local building contractors in discussions about how they could better engage with the local communities within which they are working. In the Dalton/ Thrybergh ward the Friends of Dalton, East Herringthorpe and Thrybergh Green Spaces group already have regular litter picks on the estates. It was suggested that all of the partners come together to do a litter pick around the building works on Oldgate Lane.

The litter pick was really successful, as you can see from the amount of bags that were collected. So fantastic to see proper partnership working within the community.

In February Dayle pledged to pick up 30 bags of litter within her community with Keep Britain Tidy and has been litter picking throughout the week in Canklow. Dayle has supported the annual KFC Canklow Franchise litter picking event.  The activity was led by KFC and Dayle advertised it amongst the Canklow areas social media groups to gather support for the community action.

Working hard to meet her pledge Dayle also organised a Spring clean event for her area inviting RMBC love where you live and Andrea Mason. The Spring Clean event was a litter picking event in Canklow for residents and partners to clean up the greenspaces around the pavilion. The event had an attendance of 11 people as well as achieving a massive 61 bags of refuse in a few hours.

The difference these litter picks have made to the area is huge because the litter within the woods surrounding the Canklow pavilion could be described as astronomically dense. The woods still need further picking but the difference that Dayle and residents have made has been fantastic. Accumulatively Dayle has been part of Litter picks that have picked 87 bags of refuse in Canklow and wants to carry on cleaning up Canklow.

Continue reading “Heart of the Community Litter Pick”

Warreners and Elizabeth Parkin has received funding from Pivotal Wellbeing and Fitness centre to be able to deliver exercise sessions at their centres. They also received funding from Councillors in the area to be able to add on an extra wellbeing and mindfulness session after the exercise. The ladies and gents are loving these sessions and can’t thank the councillors enough for funding the project. They all feel more energised and generally happy when they leave the centre. Some would like to continue their exercise either at the centre or by attending the gym which Abbey from pivotal owns.

I have been working with this group now for the last 18 months. They are only a small group but are very active and passionate about the area where they live, they have worked together for a number of years now, however, would always welcome new members from the village joining them. They meet on a monthly basis in the Barn at the Rockingham Arms pub. 

The group carry out regular litter picks, with Rotherham Council providing the bags and collecting the rubbish. They are also trying to get some something done about the speed of the traffic through the village. The volume of traffic to the village is also a concern that they have. They have agreed to write to John Healey MP and copy in the local councillors to see if he can help. The group also plants bulbs, shrubs and hanging baskets around the village, new plant boxes have been purchased to replace the old ones in Alms House Gardens. The group works closely with the Parish Council and the Fitzwilliam Estate, who both contribute with funding for the group.

In November 2021 I encouraged them to apply for the COMF funding available through VAR. I helped them with their application form, and they were successful and received £780. This money enabled the group to pay for this year’s public liability insurance and put on some defibrillator training with lunch afterwards.

The group designed some leaflets which we printed for them to advertise the training, and these were distributed through the village. The training was held in the Barn at the Rockingham Arms on Tuesday 22 March, it was very successful, and it was attended by a good number of people. Everyone said how useful the training was and how they’d enjoyed getting together for some lunch and a catch up. As the group still have some of the funding available, they are going to look at putting another first aid course on for the local community in the near future.

I will continue to work with and support this group as required. 

Sunnyside Supplies was set up in response to the covid pandemic, this was as a food bank to help people struggling with the impact on their finances this caused as well as people who had to isolate in the Sunnyside area. The group worked closely with RMBC who helped identified people in need of help and referred them into the group for essentials while they were shielding or isolating.

Over the last two years the group has continued to grow and evolve as restrictions and the need of the community changed. The group now run a social supermarket where residents pay a small amount for their shopping and can enjoy a meal or other refreshments in the onsite café. This is helping to keep the project sustainable and less reliant on funding. Currently the group are thinking about becoming a registered charity. The group started with a small core of volunteers but has doubled in size since then as the community has come together around this project.

The group are currently supporting around forty-five families in the area with weekly shops and the café.

I was contacted recently by a lady of very mature years (92) who was given my number by a friend who had also had support from our project. She was very upset when she called me and did not know where to turn or what to do about her energy issue.

She had been with a company that went out of business in November 2021 and had been paying regularly by direct debit. A payment was taken by them in December even though they were no longer supplying her with energy.

Her service was transferred to Scottish Power. She had called them on many occasions to set up a direct debit for her ongoing usage and they had called her at least 3 times asking for bank details which were provided. Due to some technical issue that they were unable to explain they seemed unable to set up the direct debit for my client and instead said she would have to pay quarterly and that she already owed £700.00.

This was quite upsetting for my client as she had tried numerous times to sort out the direct debit but without success, she was also unable to obtain meter readings herself due to an issue with the ramp to her property. The handrail for the ramp was blocking access to both the gas and electricity meters so the gas could not be turned off in the case of an emergency, this issue had only been noticed when the new supplier had asked for meter readings.

After discussion with a colleague two complaints were made on behalf of this client – the first to the local authority stating that the client was not safe due to being unable to access her meters to turn off the supply.

Several phone calls and emails resulted in the swift alteration of the ramp which has had to be moved to allow access. Unfortunately, the contractors subsequently flooded the clients’ garage with water after leaving a tap turned on, damaging some of her belongings and the charging pack for her mobility scooter – this issue has been referred to the local authority.

The second complaint was made to the Chief Executive’s office of Scottish Power for their failure to set up the direct debit for the client despite many contacts with her, they also failed to act on her vulnerability despite being told of her age and concerns.

With the intervention of the CEO’s office a direct debit was set up for my client, she was placed on the priority services register and will have her meters read regularly by Scottish Power. They have also given £100.00 in compensation and will review the account upon receipt of the credit balance from the previous supplier.

Except for the damaged personal effects (the issue of which is ongoing), the energy issues for this client have been satisfactorily resolved and the client was very grateful for our help. She now has a direct debit set up and can, if need be, access her meter boxes to turn off her gas supply in the event of an emergency.