Are you worried about fuel costs this winter?

Are you struggling to pay your energy bills? Do you need advice on ways to reduce energy use at home? Are you getting the right grants and benefits? Citizens Advice Epsom & Ewell (CAEE) can help.
CAEE is offering free appointments for anyone who needs advice about their energy use this winter.
Advice includes:

Reducing energy use in your home
• Help applying for grants and benefits
• Contacting your energy provider
• Switching providers
• Warm home discounts
• Crisis support

image of Lisa Davis, CEO of CAEE,Lisa Davis, CAEE CEO, said: “It is that time of year again when people are worrying about their use of energy. This on-going cost of living crisis is still affecting us, but for some, it can be truly devastating. Don’t sit in a cold house not knowing which way to turn – come and talk to us and we can support you with a way forward.”

 

To book a free, confidential appointment call CAEE on Freephone 0808 278 7963

Drop in 10am-1pm Mondays (from 4 December) and Tuesdays or 10am-3pm on Thursdays at Citizens Advice Epsom & Ewell, The Old Town Hall, The Parade, Epsom, KT18 5AG or visit

 

worried about fuel cost poster

From Banstead to Athens Local Heroes

To mark this year’s World Alzheimer’s Month (September 2023), Signature at Banstead have set themselves a challenge to cycle over 2,000 miles on a static bike with the goal to raise £1,000 for Alzheimer’s Society. If you like to donate CLICK HERE

Signature at Banstead will be cycling the distance from the care home to Athens Panathenaic Stadium – the site of the first modern Olympic Games in 1896 – and a total of 2,086 kilometres!

With the support of the local community, care home staff, residents, family members and volunteers the team are well on their way of achieving their end destination – and have already cycled over half of the distance, with just over a week left to go.

Tamara Juckes, Activities Manager and Regional Mentor at Signature at Banstead, shares the importance of staying connected to the community, whilst raising awareness of Alzheimer’s:

“World Alzheimer’s Month is always a big date in our diary. We’ve done a couple of other initiatives this month including a talk ‘Inside the World of Dementia’ for prospective residents, professionals, and staff. We also ran an immersion workshop for people to understand what it’s like to live with dementia, which can be quite uncomfortable for some.

We were donated the exercise bike by one of the families who has a relative here, so we started to think about a cycle challenge. We were throwing ideas around when we came up with the idea of cycling to Athens where the first Olympic Games was held. We did the maths and thought, is this do-able?!

The whole community has come together – residents, family members, careers, housekeepers. There’s no judgement in this community – we’ve had people come and do as little as 15 minutes. We’ve all pulled together to try and reach our goal by the end of the month – so far, we’ve made it to Hungary!”

The cycling challenge has sparked excitement across the home and residents have enjoyed watching volunteers take to the bike.

91-year-old Robert, a resident at Signature at Banstead, fondly remembers “I could ride a ‘Fairy Cycle’ before I could walk! I used to go to Germany and hire a bike so I could go on the lovely cycle path around the lake. I’ve not cycled in 50 years, but I have watched the Tour de France on television.”

Robert is proud of his family’s contribution to the challenge and proudly shared It’s been a lovely event to watch, my son has been involved, he cycled 50km on one occasion, and my daughter in law did 25km.”

Jakki Mayes, Activities Assistant at Signature at Banstead has also enjoyed getting involved with the challenge.

Jakki shared: “I would normally only hire the odd bike on holiday! But it felt really rewarding getting on the cycle, it’s a good cause and it motivates you to get on! One time I was on the bike and the residents were laughing and singing along at the same time! I’ll probably hop on again today to do a few kilometres.”

Later Living Marketplace Lottie also got involved, helping to clock up some miles on the bike. Earlier in the week, team members, Louise, Dom, Jordan, and Hannah visited Signature at Banstead and added over 100 miles to the journey!

Louise Donnelly, Product Manager at Lottie shared “It’s great to be able to take part in an initiative like this, to get out into the care homes we work with, meet the residents and staff and pull together for a challenger like this, all for a cause close to our hearts!”

This year’s World Alzheimer’s Month, Lottie has been working to dispel common Alzheimer’s myths and misconceptions. Lottie’s new research has revealed over the last 12 months more people have been searching for Alzheimer’s care and support, with online searches surging:

400% increase in online searches for ‘Alzheimer’s carers’*
67% increase in online searches for ‘Alzheimer’s family support’
23% increase in online searches for ‘Alzheimer’s support’

 

Hannah Karim, Care Expert Manager at Later Living Marketplace Lottie, shared, “As we continue into World Alzheimer’s Month and beyond, it’s so important to dispel the biggest myths, stereotypes and misconceptions about living with Alzheimer’s and caring for those with this condition. Negative assumptions can lead to those with Alzheimer’s feeling diminished or isolated, impacting their self-esteem and sense of identity.

With an ageing population it is expected that 1.6 million people in the UK will be living with Alzheimer’s by 2040. So, It’s important we continue to raise awareness of Alzheimer’s and to champion those caring for a loved one living with the condition in the following weeks, months and years.

It’s been amazing to be part of the cycling challenge at Signature at Banstead, it’s so rewarding to see a community come together to raise awareness of an important cause, whilst also bringing so much joy to the residents each day!”, concludes Karim.

Epsom Coffee Morning and Peer Support Group

Mary Frances Trust (MFT) are delivering a weekly group-where you can share your own experiences and develop coping skills from the experiences of others.

Each week, group members will be looking at different wellbeing topics and engaging in some fun activities.

To find out more and register please contact MFT now!

 

Big Help Out

As part of the King’s Coronation Monday 8th May is the Big Help Out. Thousands of organisations across the country are getting together to give us all the chance to help out in our own local communities. But here at What’s On In My Town we don’t want that to be one day we want to help all our local charities all year.

Volunteering can be so rewarding knowing that just a few hours here and there can make such a difference to so many people in your local community. You can help disadvantaged children live a normal life, Help the elderly with their shopping or just offer company. You can help those on hard times get food.  You can also help disabled people go horse riding and other activities. There is so much you can do. Over the coming weeks and months we will be promoting all these opportunities via our website and Social media pages

So, if you are a local charity or community organisation looking for volunteers to help you please fill in the form below and What’s On will help you find these wonderful people.

Do You Have Any Events Coming Up?….If so list them for FREE and let us do the work promoting them for you CLICK HERE

Where are you based?
Best email to contact you on.
This will help us when promoting the rolls
Make sure this is the url for example https://www.facebook.com/yourpagename/