Useful links – January 2021
Help for people who may find themselves in hardship:
– Food Bank Isle of Wight (http://isleofwight.foodbank.org.uk/) created a great stock of food. Please refer people to them for support if you already have such arrangements in place. If not, and you would like to be able to issue referral/vouchers for Food Bank, Please call Hannah James on 01983 292044 to arrange this for your hub. Phone: 01983 292040 Email: info@isleofwight.foodbank.org.uk
– The Help Through Crisis (HTC) https://www.iow.gov.uk/HelpThroughCrisis – project of Citizens Advice aims to assist island residents who are in genuine hardship, enabling them to quickly access help with essentials such as food, gas and electricity, and replacing white goods and furniture. The project also has a small pot of money to help families who might need help to buy school uniform, shoes and coats and for people needing to move quickly due to being in Domestic Abuse situations. Applications can be made by families themselves or by someone referring them: helpthroughcrisis@iwcab.org.uk or 01983 823859.
COVID Winter Grant Scheme: Connect4Communities programme will be delivered across the Island through a range of sources including schools and voluntary groups and will comprise:
– Providing food vouchers
– Providing vouchers/payment cards for fuel, energy and water bills
– Expanding the Christmas school holiday support, for the school holidays in 2021 to include providing a daily hot meal and fun, educational activities/play schemes
– Supporting organisations to help vulnerable households through community grants
– Setting up a connect4communities online directory for residents to search by postcode to find where they may be able to access financial and other support and subsidised food.
Other activities include grants for community and voluntary organisations, such as the Citizens Advice Bureau. These funds will help those in need with food, energy and water bills and essential items such as warm clothing, bedding or slow cookers – for households who do not have basic cooking facilities. Please apply for Connect4Communities grants via the website: www.connect4communities.org. (https://www.hants.gov.uk/socialcareandhealth/childrenandfamilies/connectforcommunities)
Guidance on transporting people during the pandemic: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/coronavirus-covid-19-taxis-and-phvs?utm_source=4827c586-5579-4b45-aeb2-302f890eb8ae&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=govuk-notifications&utm_content=daily
Self-isolation toolkit IW: https://www.iow.gov.uk/documentlibrary/download/covid-19-self-isolation-toolkit
An interactive map showing COVID-19 infection rates in local areas (search by a post code). The map displays weekly data, which are updated everyday: https://coronavirus.data.gov.uk/details/interactive-map