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Harrow Carers

Harrow

In this edition:

Heroic Key Worker Story

pg.6

Supporting Together With

Super Volunteers pg.10-11

Virtual Carers Week 2020

pg.19 +more

JUNE 2020

Registered Charity

No. 1062149

harrowcarers.org carers.harrow @harrowcarers

Carers

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Harrow Carers

CEO’s Message Hello,

I hope you are keeping well in these

most difficult of times. I have heard

that many of you have found the

circumstances very tough and I hope

this edition of our newsletter will bring

some cheer to you. As I take up my

new role as CEO, I am inspired by the

amazing stories about the care that

you give. The kindness of relatives,

neighbours, friends and strangers has

led to the feeling of community, which

has uplifted the Harrow Carers team.

We will continue to support, help and

advise you with all our hearts.

We are able to bring you all our usual

services including counselling, benefits

advice, Homecare, Homeshare,

Working for carers and support for our

young carers. In addition, our new

services include “shop and drop”,

medication pickup and befriending.

Coffee mornings, support groups and

training sessions are running through

Zoom. We are also making out-bound

calls to check how you are.

Excitingly, Carers Week is going to be

quite different from all other years. We

are bringing you many varied and

interesting activities (despite the

challenges of social distancing) and

there is something fun for everyone, so

please join in, meet old and new

friends. Highlights include letting your

inner self loose by joining in the

wellbeing workshops, virtual games,

quizzes, bingo and

more.

All the staff at

Harrow Carers

have been working

tirelessly to deliver

services to you, but

our Care Support Workers in the

Homecare department have been

particular stars. They continue to

deliver respite and personal care in

difficult circumstances, with personal

protective equipment and a rigorous

approach to health and safety. If you

need some respite care, have a chat to

us. In addition, our brave band of

volunteers have been fantastic –

helping support us to support you.

We need to know what you want from

Harrow Carers and would like to

involve you in shaping the services for

the very different future that seems

likely. You will find a page in this

newsletter which gives details of how

you can help us, so that we can help

others. As a charity we have no

automatic funding given to us and we

welcome all the support that you can

give.

Wishing you all good health and safe

keeping,

Charmian Boyd

CEO of Harrow Carers

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Harrow Carers

What’s

going on

. Find out about our homecare services

Read about what our new COVID-19

volunteers have been up to

See what’s on offer for Virtual Carers

Week 2020

Check out why Homeshare is unique Page 16

Look at the fun ways to

fundraise from home

Page 17-18

For regular updates, follow

our social media pages at:

Facebook (why not leave a

review?):

www.facebook.com/

carers.harrow/

Twitter: www.twitter.com/

HarrowCarers

Instagram: @HarrowCarers

or www.instagram.com/

harrowcarers/

All services in one place!

Homecare

Well-being calls and befriending

Counselling

Support Groups

Benefits Advice and form filling

Homeshare

Shopping and medication pickup

Young Carers

Working for Carers

Get on line support

Training Courses

We are still running and remain committed

to supporting carers. We are providing the

following services while we hope to move

out of lockdown! The centre will remain

closed until further notice. Please check our

website or give us a call.

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Page 10-11

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Editor: Karman Dhupar

For advertising enquiries

please contact us on

info@harrowcarers.org

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Harrow Carers

Support from Harrow Council

Harrow Council are working with the government on a range of measures to support residents dur-ing this time.

“We understand that many of you will be worried about the impact Coronavirus will have on your household - and many will already be feeling it's effects.

There will be concerns about when you may be able to return to work, and also about salaries being re-duced or stopped altogether. The Government has introduced a raft of measures to support households experiencing financial disruptions.

We’re also working on other measures such as help to buy food and help to reduce your Council tax bill for 2020/21 if you are in receipt of Council Tax Support.

To view the measures currently in place by both the Government and from the local authority to support you during the Coronavirus go to: https://www.harrow.gov.uk/coronavirus-covid-19/support-residents”

Allie Brice has recently been appointed Carer Lead for Harrow Council.

For any Carer related enquiries please contact carers@harrow.gov.uk. Allie is hap-py to add you to the current email mailing list to receive information / advice & updates.

Stay up to date by following our social media pages at:

Facebook (Like our page): www.facebook.com/carers.harrow/

Twitter: www.twitter.com/HarrowCarers

Instagram: @HarrowCarers or www.instagram.com/harrowcarers/

LinkedIn: Harrow Carers or www.linkedin.com/company/harrowcarers/?

We also have a new weekly email that goes out to all of our carers to up-

date everyone on a more regular basis, if you would like to receive these

emails please let us know by email or telephone.

Website Address: www.harrowcarers.org Email Address: admin@harrowcarers.org

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Harrow Carers

Your Mental

Health

Address: 376-378 Pinner Road, North Harrow, Middlesex, HA2 6DZ Tel No. 020 8868 5224

© Sussex Partnership NHS Foundation Trust

We understand that being a carer can have a toll on the state of your mental health. The current circumstances have made it even more challenging.

To help look after your men-tal health we can support you with:

Mental Health support groups (via online video conferencing)

Wellbeing workshops

Advisory services

Counselling Services

Befriending calls

We aim to make you feel better. We can help you with stress management, mindfulness and wellbeing to boost your confidence and positivity.

No one is healthy all the time and many of us need help at some point in our lives. So if things get too much, please just give us a call.

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Harrow Carers

Heroic Key Workers

Website Address: www.harrowcarers.org Email Address: admin@harrowcarers.org

Last week we sadly lost our dear Deborah who we have been caring for 2 years. Her son said “We want to say a heartfelt thank you to yourself, Har-row Carers and express our grati-tude to Rosie, Marsha and Lorna in particular. It is thanks to you all that Deborah was able to live out her final days at home with the level of care and respect that she deserved. Deborah was a wonderful woman and the way you cared for her meant so much to us as a family. In these particularly challenging times carers are often the unsung heroes but we couldn’t be more grateful for all that you do; the songs you sang to her, the music you played and the psalms you read to her in her hour of need.

You went over and above the duty of care and to us you really are our heroes! We will miss Deborah deeply but take great comfort in knowing that she was so well cared for and passed away peacefully in her home.”

*Names have been changed to protect the privacy of the individual.

Visit: https://harrowcarers.org/homecare/

“Carers go beyond and are unsung heroes”

“You went over and above

the duty of care and to us

you really are our heroes!”

One of our Care Support Staff was going to visit a client last week and was wearing her ID badge, when she got stopped.

“I was on my way to a client when a neighbour stopped me. She said good on you girl you are amazing and

saluted me. It brought a lump in my throat: I thought

this was all worth it.”

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Harrow Carers

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Harrow Carers

Coffee mornings, support groups and

training sessions are running through Zoom.

We are also making out-bound wellbeing

calls to check how you are. If you haven’t

had a call yet, but you would like some help

or just a chat, please call us.

For many, a friendly chat can take your mind

off the present and we love to hear how you

are doing.

Both Anne and Bunny, Benefits Advisors, are still active at the Centre and available to provide support and advice relating to benefits and grants that carers may be eligible to apply for. As with all benefits, each case is unique and has its own set of circumstances. So please contact us and we can discuss your needs. We have access to and information on support that is available during the Covid-19 pandemic. There are also other organisations within the borough that have been set up specifically to provide information and advice during this period. Should you have issues around shopping, collecting medication or other needs relating to a vulnerable person please contact the centre or you visit the following websites www.gov.uk www.harrowgiving.org.uk

Adult Services’ Update

Address: 376-378 Pinner Road, North Harrow, Middlesex, HA2 6DZ Tel No. 020 8868 5224

Free grants for IT

equipment and

other essential

items such as extra

freezers are

available through

us (courtesy of the

Carers Trust).

COVID GRANT

ONLINE

SUPPORT

If Zoom or IT is new to

you, do call us and we

can help you with the

technology, step by step.

Benefits Advice

We would like to hear

from more of you. So

please get in touch if you

would like to be part of

thinking about our future

services or if you have any

suggestions to make.

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Harrow Carers

Missing our monthly

outings?

Are you interested?

Create arts are kindly offering to

run a 3 week programme with

us soon (dates and times to be

confirmed) and the topics they

will cover are:

Photography

Drama

Music

If this is something that you

would like to join or you would

like more information, please

contact us.

We miss them too! Please see the list

below of places offering virtual tours.

Enter the keywords below into Google

to find the tour and you can go on an

outing, from your sofa!

Museums:

The Louvre Virtual Tour

Van Gough Museum Virtual tour

The Vatican Museum Virtual Tour

The British Museum Virtual

Tour

Metropolitan Museum of Art

Rijksmuseum Virtual Tour

Gardens:

Kew Gardens Virtual Tour

Zoo:

London Zoo Virtual Tour

Palace/Castle and Stately Homes

Buckingham Palace Virtual Tour

Edinborough Castle Virtual Tour

Chatsworth House Virtual Tour

Other

Tower Of London Virtual Tour

Stonehenge Virtual Tour

Loch Ness Virtual Tour

St Pauls Cathedral Virtual Tour

WEEKLY EVENTS

Social and Support Groups

Tea and Coffee social

group : every Monday

10am -11am

Mental Health Support

Group: every 2nd and 4th

Friday of every month

1.30pm - 2.30pm

Why not?

© Carers UK & Mind in Harrow

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Harrow Carers

Our amazing Harrow volunteers have been instrumental in providing essential support to carers, their loved ones and our vulnerable community members during the pandemic. Volunteers have carried out a critical and essential role and have helped to bring about a sense of hope, re-duced social isolation and showed real compassion in the support they have provided. Volunteers have been instrumental in making sure carers, their loved ones and our vulnerable community members have remained safe and free from contracting the virus. Volunteers have assisted with

100 shopping trips

70 food parcels

50 medication pickups

Helped us to make

over 1000 wellbeing

calls

Donations of food and

PPE supplies

Laptop and educational material

donation

Steve Keyes and Varsha Patel

made a very kind donation with the

purchase of a brand new laptop,

printer and computer support materi-

al for our young carer who had been

using her mobile phone to do her

homework. She was completely

blown over by your kindness and

help.

Volunteer coordinators

Harrow Carers want to say a huge

thank you to Sonal Popat and Geoff

Broomhead for all of their efforts in

the support of our volunteer service.

Their efforts in setting up volunteer

systems and coordinating our re-

sponse has been truly amazing.

There are many volunteer names to

mention, we thank you all for your

tremendous efforts!

Volunteers step up to meet the challenge

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Harrow Carers

As we are all aware, there may only

be a change and a getting back to

some new form of “normality” when

a vaccine is finally found. As Steve

Keyes, one of our volunteers said to

me, “Colin, we are in this for the

long haul, it’s not a sprint!”

I have kept Steve’s comment at the

forefront of my mind and this has

assisted me to stay focused and

committed to the long term

challenge of keeping our vulnerable

as engaged and as safe as

possible.

Hidden carers flyer drop

Tim Dalton at Harrow School

assisted with the printing of

essential hidden carer flyers. These

flyers were posted through letter

boxes in Wealdstone with the

assistance of 8 volunteers.

Driving care workers

Thank you to all of our volunteers

who have assisted to keep our staff

and the cared for safe by driving

them to and from work. This support

has helped to keep our homecare

service safe and able to keep on

going through a difficult time.

“You were there when I

needed you the most,

delivering important

medication straight to my

door”

Address: 376-378 Pinner Road, North Harrow, Middlesex, HA2 6DZ Tel No. 020 8868 5224

Volunteers step up to meet the challenge

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Harrow Carers

Working for Carers

“ More Carers need

Working for Carers to start

them back into

employment ” - Anna

Anna is 35 and has been caring for

her mother since the age of 14 years

old. Anna’s Mother suffers with

multiple health issues and is bed

bound. She did not get support for

many years as she didn’t recognize

herself as carer. Anna has to support

her mother 6 hours a day and

support with the regular doctor and

hospital appointments on a weekly

basis while managing supporting her

kids within the house.

Anna always wanted to go back into

teaching as an ESOL teacher, but

felt she did not know where to start

or build structure around her busy

caring role. Anna lacked the

confidence in herself as she had the

skills to go back into employment.

Anna has been volunteering but

didn’t feel she could step into paid

employment.

Anna got in touch with Carers

Network and was referred to the

Working For Carers project. Anna

met with her Employment Personal

Advisor (EPA), who started to find

out precisely what Anna wanted

regarding employment and skills she

wanted to improve on. Her EPA

identified Anna’s lack of confidence

in certain areas and advised her

firstly to attend the CV workshop and

secondly to participate in the Job

Club. Then later helped her to

recognise the skills she had gained

over her years as a carer and how

she could use them in the working

environment. Anna attended all of

the workshops and One-To-One

sessions on a weekly basis. Her

EPA saw Anna grow in confidence

and skills.

As an outcome, Anna has a clear

updated CV and the knowledge of

how to write application forms and

carry out job searching.

Anna wanted a job as an ESOL

teacher at a local school

part-time. Her EPA found a position

matching her skills and the job

requirements, even helping Anna

write the application.

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Harrow Carers

Anna was invited to

interview. The EPA

gave Anna extra

confidence for the

interview by referring her to

SmartWorks, where she was

able to get new clothes plus

extra interviewing tips.

As a result of the extra help,

Anna was offered a contract

to start working within the

community centre as an

ESOL teacher full time.

If you need help getting

into employment or advice

call us 020 8868 5224.

CARERS WEEK EXCLUSIVE

Mindfulness Taster Session sched-uled for Monday 8th June 2020, 11.30am-1.30pm

To attend contact us:

wellbeing@harrowcarers.org

workingforcarers@harrowcarers.org

You and your CV

Your CV is the first thing an em-ployer will see when hiring for a va-cancy, and how it looks at first glance will be the reason they de-cide to read it in more detail. Even if your skills match the role perfectly, a messy and confusing CV proba-bly won’t even get a second look. To ensure you’re painting yourself (and your skills) in the best light, you should always:

Keep it short and succinct – two sides of A4 will almost always suf-fice.

Choose a clear, professional font to ensure that your CV can be

easily read (leave Comic Sans and Word Art back in the 1990s where they belong)

Lay it out in a logical order, with sufficient spacing and clear section headings (e.g. Work experience, Education)

Order your experience and educa-tion in reverse chronological order to highlight your most recent experi-ence and achievements. Check your grammar and spelling thor-oughly

Information source (reed.co.uk)

For help with your CV please con-tact Working for Carers on 020 8868 5224 Ext 218/208 or email workingforcarers@harrowcarers.org

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Harrow Carers

Website Address: www.harrowcarers.org Email Address: admin@harrowcarers.org

Stay Connected

Over the last few weeks we

have been working hard for you.

Even though we can’t get

together in person our support

for you continues. We are

passionate about young carers

and will keep each of you

connected.

Sign up to our regular updates

by emailing us:

youngcarers@harrowcarers.org

Phone: 02088685224 ext. 222

School Drop In: Nisha has been

working with your schools to

arrange drop in sessions over

Zoom. She will be in touch to let

you know when your session is.

Stay tuned for the summer

programme!

Young Carers

Young Carers Committee

The young carers committee

meets every two weeks on

Wednesday from 13:00- 14:00.

It is your opportunity to speak

out about the work we do and

help make this service better

for young carers.

YC Connect

This is a weekly space on

zoom for young carers to

connect with us and one

another.

Ages 6-10 Tuesdays

Ages 11+ Thursdays

SOCIAL MEDIA

Connect with us on:

Insta : @Harrow.youngcarers Facebook: Carers.harrow Twitter: @HarrowCarers

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Harrow Carers

Nutrition for Managing

Stress: Tuesday 9th

June 10.30 to 12.30

How we can use

different foods to

manage stress and

boost our immune

system.

Understanding Bereavement: Thursday 2nd July 10.30 to 12.30 Focusing on the important feelings and emotions that arise when a loved one is dying or if you are bereaved.

Understanding Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD): Thursday 6th August 10.30 to 12.30 What OCD is, symptoms, and how can it be managed. Will help carers espe-cially who are looking after someone who suffers from OCD.

Introduction to building resilience: Wednesday 10th June 13:00-15:00 Helping you understand what resilience is and how you can become more resilient.

Understanding Emotional Eating: Tuesday 7th to 21st July 10.30 to 12.30 Looking at factors that make us into an emo-tional eater and how we can control it.

Stress and Mood Management: Monday 3rd to 24th August 10.30 to 12.30 Understanding how we can manage the stressful situations in our life and relax.

Colour therapy and

effect of colours on our

Moods: Thursday 11th

June 10.30 to 13:00

We will do some colour-

ing for relaxation and try

to understand how our

mood changes due to

the colours we see.

Sleep Management: Wednesday 15th July 13:00 to 15:00 Helps carers to under-stand the sleep cycles, how to manage their sleep and how sleeplessness is affecting their health.

Self Awareness: Wednesday 19th August 10.30 to 12.30 Looking at how can we become more aware of the hidden parts of our self, personal development strategies and many more.

Free Wellbeing Workshops Dates

All session are online until further notice. To attend please email us on wellbeing@harrowcarers.org so we can send you

a zoom invite link which you simply click to join the web conference.

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Harrow Carers

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Harrow Carers

Address: 376-378 Pinner Road, North Harrow, Middlesex, HA2 6DZ

Tel No. 020 8868 5224

Recycling for Harrow Carers

Make the most of your time at

home & have a clear-out!

Your unwanted items can be

recycled at no cost whilst raising

money.

Any jewellery – including costume

jewellery, watches, broken and

damaged items (like odd earrings,

snapped chains or items with miss-

ing stones).

Any unwanted banknotes – old and

new, UK and foreign banknotes.

Simply wrap, pack, print label and

send!

Our partner at Recycling For Good

Causes will reuse and recycle

giving the proceeds to us

You can also donate your used

stamps. All kinds of stamps are

welcome. Send stamps to: Harrow

Carers, PO Box 16992, Sutton

Coldfield, B73 9YA (*postage needs

to be applied for stamps*)

If you have more items than will

fit into an A5 sized envelope for

Harrow Carers

Then please call 0800 633 5323

or email customerserv-

ices@recyclingforgoodcauses.org

to find out more information on

our polybag / sack recycling

projects where you can recycle

larger items.

@ info@recyclingforgoodcauses.org

T: 0800 633 5323

Freepost address

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Harrow Carers

How YOU CAN help us help you!

Fundraising has never been

more important.

This is a challenging time for so many families and we are doing everything we can to be there for you. We have come up with some fun ways that you can help to raise money for us without even leaving your home. From Cake bakes to Netflix nights there is lots to entertain you.

Some Ideas include:

Virtual Pub Quiz

Readathon

Dress Up Day

Walking Step Challenge

Games of childhood

Want to be inspired?

We will send you our free ‘Isolation Fundraising Ideas’ pack with lots of ideas to get involved. Just contact us at admin@harrowcarers.org or call us 020 8868 5224.

As a charity we have no automatic funding given to us and we wel-come all the support that you can give. Every penny that you raise will help to fund the work that we do in our community .

So much of the vital work that we have done has been possible because of the kindness and generosity of people who leave us a gift in their will.

Your will is an opportunity to leave a gift to not only your loved ones but to causes close to your heart. The process is easy and this kind gesture can help to ensure the longevity of Harrow Carers. So please don’t forget about us.

Reducing Isolation With Fundraising

Legacies

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Harrow Carers

For more information visit : www. harrowcarers.org or call 0208 868 5224

Save the date: 8–14 June 2020

Mon 8th

June

Carers tea and coffee social group: 10am – 11am

Trivia Quiz: 2pm -3pm

Tues 9th

June

Nutrition for managing stress workshop10.30am – 12.30pm

Looking at how nutrition can support our stressful life.

Wed 10th

June

Introduction to building resilience workshop1pm – 3pm Looking at how stress impacts resilience.

Recipe sharing and dinner ideas 10.30am – 12.00pm

Thu 11th

June

Colour therapy and the effects of colour on your mood workshop 10.30am – 12.30pm

Make own designs or colour in pre made designs for relaxation. Discussion on how colours effect our moods & stress levels

Virtual Pictionary Game 2.30pm – 3.30pm

Fri 13th

June

How can caring be made visible and carers rights

information session: 10am – 11.30am

Mental Health Support Group 1.30pm – 2.30pm

Virtual Carers Week 2020 This year we are looking at making caring visible.

Come along and celebrate Virtual Carers Week with us. A week of

fun, relaxation and information.

All events are online using Zoom Web conferencing which is easy to use. To attend please book via email: communications@harrowcarers.org & we will send you an unique invite. If you need help using zoom please contact us.

You are all invited to:

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Harrow Carers

27000+ pieces of

PPE

sourced

1000+ welfare

telephone

calls

70 food

parcels

delivered

14 sessions of

carers

support

groups

400+

easter eggs

delivered

140 hours of

employability

support

provided

35 hours of

wellbeing

workshops

94 hours of

counselling

provided

£900 grants for

carers

77 sessions

of benefits

advice

50+

COVID-19

volunteers

4774+

hours of

homecare

services

provided

OUR COVID-19 RESPONSE