Cold Weather Plan
2013/14
Snow Angels CIC
10/13/2013
1
Introduction
Dear Colleagues
Every year as we enter the Winter period, we know that falling temperatures and difficult
external conditions have the potential to create immense pressures both for our residents
and the wide range of care and service providers across Cheshire East who are charged
with mitigating them.
This document therefore represents a co-ordinated response to events as they may arise, in
line with national recommendations and local conditions. In particular, the Cheshire East
Cold Weather Plan is designed to support our older and most vulnerable residents, in order
to improve their overall health and well-being and reduce the number of excess winter
deaths that occur each winter.
Whilst it is not possible to accurately predict the severity of the Winter to come, this Plan is a
multi-organisational response, offering a wide range of interventions to both prepare for, and
implement during periods of cold weather.
I would therefore like to thank our staff and all our partner organisations for their
contributions in the design of the plan, and their committed support in implementing it in the
months to come.
Cllr Janet Clowes
Portfolio Holder: Health & Adult Social Care, Cheshire East Council
.
Contents
Executive Summary ............................................................................................................................. 0
Background ........................................................................................................................................... 1
Strategic Planning ................................................................................................................................... 2
Development of a “list of lists” ........................................................................................................ 2
Keeping warm ................................................................................................................................... 3
Encouraging uptake of flu and pneumococcal vaccinations...................................................... 4
Implementation of brief health interventions ................................................................................ 5
Reducing social isolation............................................................................................................. 5
Healthy Eating............................................................................................................................... 5
Staying Active ............................................................................................................................... 6
Assessment and support to prevent falls...................................................................................... 6
Provision of personal contingency plan e.g. buddy scheme ..................................................... 6
Assessment for assistive technology and cold weather alerts .................................................. 6
Advance warning and advice during the winter months ........................................................................ 7
Levels of Cold Weather Alerts .................................................................................................... 7
Health Impacts and Time ............................................................................................................ 7
Cascade of Cold Weather Alerts................................................................................................ 8
Local Resilience Forum and Local Health Resilience Partnership ........................................... 9
Communicating with the Public and Service Providers .................................................................. 9
Communications Plan .................................................................................................................... 10
Brand ............................................................................................................................................ 10
Press Releases........................................................................................................................... 10
Community Organisers .............................................................................................................. 10
Social media ................................................................................................................................ 11
Leaflets......................................................................................................................................... 11
Engaging with the Community ......................................................................................................... 11
Winter Well Being Portal ................................................................................................................... 12
Making Every Contact Count .................................................................................................... 12
Referral scheme ......................................................................................................................... 12
Training resources ..................................................................................................................... 12
Posters and leaflets etc. ............................................................................................................ 13
Directory of services .................................................................................................................. 13
Cold weather alerts – sign up ................................................................................................... 13
Events Calendar ......................................................................................................................... 13
Executive Summary
Cheshire East has the fastest growing older population in the North West and this presents
opportunities and challenges for service providers and local communities, particularly during
the winter months.
The production of a local Cold Weather Plan (CWP) provides the opportunity to target
services and resources towards people who are potentially most at risk during the winter.
The CWP has been written for partners and stakeholders and does not replace the individual
plans for partners – its primary aim is to reduce the health impacts of cold weather,
specifically excess winter deaths and emergency admissions to hospitals. The plan
specifically addresses Levels 0 – 3 in the Cold Weather Planning process – the Local
Resilience Forum is responsible for implementing Level 4 responses.
The majority of excess winter deaths during the winter are preventable and the plan outlines
a number of actions which will help to reduce health impacts. The population who are most
at risk in Cheshire East are likely to be over 75 years old and will possibly have respiratory
or cardio-vascular diseases.
The plan also outlines a number of research studies which demonstrate the importance of
geographical targeting, for example over half of 85 year olds living in Crewe were admitted
as emergency admissions to hospital during the year in 2011/12 and this figure increased
during the winter months, and the prevalence of off gas properties in the rural areas across
Cheshire East poses particular challenges relating to fuel poverty.
This is a challenging agenda with diminishing financial resources. There are opportunities to
develop community resilience projects, engage with community organisers, ensure that key
messages are transmitted through “Making Every Contact Count”, and have a combined
communications plan throughout the winter months.
A summary of the local Cold Weather Plan is included at Appendix A.
1
Background
The national Cold Weather Plan for England (Department of Health, 2012) includes a
number of key recommendations to improve health and wellbeing including the production of
local Cold Weather Plans (CWP’s). “In winter 2010/11 there were about 23,700 “excess
winter deaths….many of these winter deaths are preventable and the Cold Weather Plan
recognised that more needed to be done to protect vulnerable people during cold winter
months”1.
Cheshire East faces particular challenges through the winter months with a high rate of
excess winter deaths primarily amongst older people and a high rate of excess winter
emergency admissions amongst older people to hospital. There are over 200 excess deaths
each winter which “is an additional 19.7% risk of dying at this time of year”2. The area also
has the fastest growing older population in the North West and England and there are
currently over 75,000 people over 65 years old living in East Cheshire3.
The Ageing Well programme is a five year initiative developed by partners which seeks “to
make the borough a good place to grow old by maximising the opportunities for the ageing
population to prepare for the later stages of like, maintain their quality of life during later life
and have access to person centred services when required.”4 Cheshire East Council is
responsible for ensuring that the Services it provides or commissions are ready for winter
and have in place the appropriate escalation procedures for when cold weather alerts are
received. As part of this wider programme Cheshire East Council began hosting a winter
planning partnership in May this year to ensure that existing resources were focused on
making the most impact and this built on previous winter planning activities since 2010.
Through discussions it became clear that there was a need for both a local Cold Weather
Plan and a co-ordinated communications campaign and Snow Angels – a social enterprise
based in Cheshire - was commissioned through the Innovation Fund to produce these.
The national CWP recommends that “at a local level, a cold weather plan should feature as
an integral element of wider winter preparedness and response measures developed by the
NHS, local authorities and local resilience forums (LRFs).” The report goes on to
recommend that there are six essential elements of a local plan including strategic planning,
advance warning and advice during the winter months, communicating with the public,
communicating with service providers, and engaging the community. This plan concentrates
on these key elements – each of the constituent partners will have their own emergency
plans which will include cold weather.
1
Protecting health and reducing harm from severe cold, Cold Weather Plan for England,
NHS (2012
2
The Annual Report of the Director of Public Health 2011-12, Central and Eastern Cheshire
Primary Care Trust(2012)
3
Mid-Year Population Estimates, Cheshire East Council (2011)
4
Ageing Well in Cheshire East, Annual Report (2012-13)
Strategic Planning
The number of excess winter deaths in Cheshire East has been highlighted in the Joint
Strategic Needs Assessment (JSNA) produced in 2012 and is a key priority for the area (the
rate for Cheshire East is 12% above the average for England). The key recommendations
from the JSNA to reduce excess winter deaths are the production of a local plan dealing with
the health impacts of cold weather, increased uptake of flu vaccinations, and the
development of a referral mechanism for fuel poverty.
Emergency admission rates for hospital for people over the age of 65 years old in Cheshire
East are worse than the national average and this rate is worst in the Crewe LAP which is in
the worst quarter nationally. Across Cheshire East the rates for emergency admissions for
this age group are highest in the towns of Middlewich, Macclesfield and Crewe and a third of
all emergency admissions are for people over 85 years old – in the Crewe LAP nearly half of
those aged over 85 years old were admitted to hospital on an emergency basis during
2011/12. There is a relationship with deprivation – however this only accounts for one third
of emergency admissions.
The aim of this project is to reduce excess winter deaths in Cheshire East and to reduce
emergency admissions to hospital. The main target audience is older people over 75 years
old who are the most likely group of people to be adversely affected by cold weather,
particularly if they have respiratory or cardio-vascular diseases. A provisional analysis of
excess winter deaths in England for 2010/11 demonstrated that people who died were more
likely to be female and the majority were over 75 years old – however the number of deaths
of people under 75 years old was increasing5.
The JSNA includes an analysis of excess winter deaths by LAP area and the highest rates
are found in the Nantwich LAP and the Wilmslow LAP although these differences are not
statistically significant. “The risk is also higher for people with certain chronic health
conditions, for example it is 55.9% higher locally for respiratory disease and 22.3% higher for
cardiovascular disease” according to the Annual Report of the Director of Public Health
(2011-12).
A key element of effective winter planning is enabling the communication of key messages
through a wide range of means and integral to this is the development of the portal to ensure
that people have access to resources and referral mechanisms to ensure the effective
implementation of “Make Every Contact Count” – a key recommendation from the National
Institute of Health and Care Excellence.
There are a number of actions which are recommended by the NHS and associated
toolkits6 and these are outlined below.
Development of a “list of lists”
5
Excess Winter Mortality in England and Wales, 2010/11 (provisional) and 2009/10 (final), Office for
National Statistics,(2011)
6 The Systematic Delivery of Population Interventions to Protect Vulnerable Older People from
Preventable Seasonal Excess Deaths”, Health Inequalities National Support Team (2007)
In Cheshire East there are a number of organisations who have details of older people who
could benefit from additional support during the winter months. A “list of lists” has been
developed which includes the main contact details of the list holder and this will ensure that
relevant information is cascaded to various groups and in the event of cold weather will
provide a mechanism for providing more active support. The list includes a wide range of
service providers including statutory, voluntary and private sector providers.
This range of services covered by this “list of lists” is included on the portal and the list
holders will be encouraged to register to receive text or email alerts through the portal.
During periods of cold weather and/or snow fall the main contacts will be texted with
advance cold weather alerts.
The “list of lists” covers older people who are registered with various services including
assisted bins and adult social care clients and provides coverage for those older people who
are in receipt of a range of services. The cold weather alerts will also be cascaded to a
wider range of community networks who will be able to alert other older people in their
communities.
This “list of lists” approach also gives the potential to target key messages at specific people,
for example the priority service provided by the utility companies includes customer profiles.
A good example of this is the electricity companies who hold information about customers
who rely on respiratory aids which need power, e.g. nebulisers.
Keeping warm
Keeping warm during colder weather is a key factor in reducing excess winter deaths. There
are clear recommendations on the optimum inside temperature for older people and this is a
major part of the communications plan.
The Housing Strategy for Cheshire East highlights that “older people are more likely to have
Category 1 hazards present in their homes (40.1 per cent) posing a significant risk to their
health and safety. Excess cold and falls on stairs pose the greatest risk to older owneroccupiers in Cheshire East”7.
The JSNA report on fuel poverty8 and key recommendations demonstrated that fuel poverty
was highest in the Nantwich LAP. Suggested actions from the JSNA include targeting home
repair loans at vulnerable households, assessment for affordable warmth, winter warmth
campaign, and raising awareness amongst front line staff, Snow Angels community
resilience projects, and assistance for people to access the Green Deal.
There has been a revised definition of fuel poverty and this illustrates that there are a
number of Lower Level Super Output Areas (LSOA’s) in Cheshire East which have higher
rates than the North West average of 12.5% of households living in fuel poverty. The revised
definition is that total income is below the poverty line (taking into account energy costs); and
that energy costs are higher than typical (the previous definition of a ‘fuel poor household’ is
that a household would need to spend 10% of their income on energy a year).
The highest rates of fuel poverty in Cheshire East using the revised definition of fuel poverty
are in Crewe and the town centre of Macclesfield. However there is a correlation between
7
8
Cheshire East Housing Strategy Moving Forward 2011-1016, Cheshire East Council (2011)
Fuel Poverty JNSA Cheshire East, September 2012
the rural areas which have higher rates of fuel poverty and the rural areas which are off gas,
and most of these areas have rates of fuel poverty which are higher than the average for
Cheshire East.
Age UK in their recent report “Later life in rural England”9 stated that “fuel poverty is a huge
problem across England, but it is particularly prevalent in rural areas. Due to the high
number of stone-built, solid wall properties and off-mains gas households, household energy
bills in rural areas are on average 27 per cent higher than in urban areas”.
As part of the winter plan partners will work together for a concerted campaign – Big Energy
Week – during the first week in November. This will include key interventions for older
people living in rural areas and LSOA’s with higher rates of fuel poverty than the regional
average. There will also be a joint referral scheme on the portal and training resources
aimed at front-line staff and volunteers to support the “Make Every Contact Count” approach.
There are a range of services provided through the Care and Repair team and other partner
organisations including grants for urgent home repairs including heating, heater loans,
prioritisation of home loans for heating, and activities carried out by registered social
landlords.
Encouraging uptake of flu and pneumococcal vaccinations
The analysis of excess winter deaths in 2012-13 by Public Health England concludes that
“statistical regression modelling of excess mortality over the past few seasons, including
2012-13, has shown influenza to be a major contributory factor”10.
The key target audiences for this action in the context of reducing excess winter deaths are
people over 65 years old, and people with certain chronic conditions. Older people with
respiratory or cardio-vascular disease are particularly at risk.
The Public Health report (2012) shows that the take-up of flu vaccinations across Cheshire
East is good in all areas for people aged over 65 years old. The rates are lower in the
Crewe and Wilmslow LAP areas at 77.6% for both areas compared with a Cheshire East
average of 79.4% - however these rates are above the England average for this age group
of 74%. The rate of seasonal flu vaccination uptake for clinical risk groups is lower than the
England average in the Wilmslow LAP area.
There has been a distribution of leaflets through community networks including Cheshire
WI’s, Town and Parish Councils, Neighbourhood Watch etc. In addition there are a range of
community transport providers in Cheshire East and they will be asked to distribute leaflets
to their membership. The communications plan includes press releases encouraging people
to take up the flu vaccinations.
The flu clinics also provide a clear opportunity to engage with older people and there are a
number of services including Neighbourhood Watch who will be visiting them during October
and these services will be asked to distribute key messages during their visits.
9
Later Life in Rural England, Age UK (2013)
Excess Winter Mortality, Public Health England, 2012-13
10
Implementation of brief health interventions
There are a number of brief health interventions which are recommended as part of the
overall approach to maintaining wellbeing throughout the winter months, particularly for older
people. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) recommend that “by
investing in initiatives to promote healthy living, and training staff and volunteers to offer lowlevel, simple advice about changing their lifestyle, council can reduce hospital admissions
and unnecessary healthcare visits, ease the burden on social services…”11The “Next Steps”
guide gives more details to ageing well and is currently being updated.12
Reducing social isolation
In 2010 Central and Eastern Cheshire PCT and Cheshire East Council hosted a conference
“Living well in Cheshire East: a call to action” and highlighted the impact of social isolation
on health including information from the Marmott report “Individuals who are socially isolated are between two and five times more likely than those
who have strong social ties to die prematurely. Social networks have a larger impact on the
risk of mortality than on the risk of developing disease, that is, it is not so much that social
networks stop you from getting ill, but that they help to recover when you do get ill”13
Through an analysis of the 2011 Census, Experian’s Mosaic data, and the General
Household Survey it is estimated that 20% of older men aged between 65 and 74 years old,
and 34% of men aged 75 years old and older live alone in Cheshire East. For women the
percentages rise to 30 % for those aged between 65 and 74 years old and 61% for women
over 75 years old.14 There is a partnership working group which is working to help to reduce
social isolation and events are being held in November to raise awareness of these issues
and to develop local projects including Connect 4 Community and promote national
initiatives such as Silverline.
Existing projects include befriending and companionship schemes across the area and the
Men in Sheds programme,
Healthy Eating
Making sure that older people have a hot meal and enough to drink are both key issues
throughout the winter. There are a range of services which distribute hot meals including
Wishing Well in Crewe and this provides an opportunity for other key messages to be
passed on to older people.
There are a number of Food Banks operating throughout Cheshire East at Alsager,
Congleton, Crewe, Macclesfield, Prestbury, Wilmslow, and Nantwich who provide
11
Making Every Contact Count, NICE, Local Government Chronicle (2013)
Next Steps – Your personal guide to ageing well in Cheshire East, Central and Eastern PCT
(2012)
1313 The Marmott Review, Fair Society, Health Lives, Institute of Health (2010)
14 LSOA’s with residents most of risk of loneliness”, Cheshire East Council (August, 2013)
1212
emergency food supplies depending on eligibility and referrals can be made through
Cheshire East Council.
Staying Active
There are a range of activities promoted throughout Cheshire East and the falls programme
is outlined in more detail below. Other initiatives include Activeage which provide “Walking
for Health” and a range of exercise classes, the Healthy,Wealthy and Wise programme in
south Cheshire, Singing for the Brain, and discounted access to leisure centres across the
area.
Assessment and support to prevent falls
On a national basis around 30% of people over 65 fall each year, and this rises to 50% in the
over-80s. and falls account for more than half of hospital admissions for accidental injury.
Age UK Cheshire East report that “on average over 250 people in Cheshire East don’t want
to leave the house because they fear falling. This statistic rises significantly in winter.”
Partners in Cheshire East have developed an integrated community falls prevention
programme “Be Steady Be Safe” and further details of the programme are included in the
portal including training resources for front line staff and volunteers and referral schemes.
The various handyperson schemes are particularly valued by older people and “older people
are by far the main recipients of help with home adaptations” (Cheshire East Housing
Strategy) which are provided through Care and Repair. The Independent Living Centre in
Handforth provides a range of equipment and information to help people retain their
independence whilst living at home.
Provision of personal contingency plan e.g. buddy scheme
Personal contingency plans can include a variety of projects which are able to respond in
cold weather including good neighbour schemes – for example Connect 4, community
resilience projects such as Snow Angels, companionship schemes for example Age UK,
neighbourhood schemes such as Haslington and Winterley Good Neighbour and Middlewich
Good Neighbour schemes, a social support network in Macclesfield as part of the Ageing
Well programme, as well as sources of information about services which are available to
help people during the winter weather. Key information about services and responder
services are included in the portal.
Personal contingency plans are also available through schemes such as Message in a Bottle
provided by the Lions. During last winter a number of snow kits were distributed to Town and
Parish Councils to enable local volunteers to help to clear snow in their communities.
Assessment for assistive technology and cold weather alerts
Assistive technology can include a wide range of solutions to enable people to retain their
independence at home and includes both telecare and telehealth. The Be Steady Be Safe
falls programme includes advices about equipment such as personal alarms, bed sensors,
and hip protectors. The telecare service is provided by Cheshire Peaks and Plains through
Cheshire East Council and further information about the service is available through the
portal including a referral form.
Advance warning and advice during the winter months
The national Cold Weather Plan outlines five main stages of cold weather planning. Level 0
refers to year round planning and Levels 1 -4 apply to the period I November to 31 March.
These levels are underpinned by a series of alerts produced by the Met Office based on low
temperatures or ice and/or heavy snow.
Levels of Cold Weather Alerts
Level 0
Level 1
Level 2
Level 3
Level 4
Long term planning – all year
Winter preparedness programme 1 November – 31 March
Severe winter weather is forecast – Alert and readiness
Mean temperature of 2 C and/or widespread ice and heavy snow are
predicted within 24 hours, with 60% confidence
Response to server winter weather – Severe weather action
Severe winter weather is now occurring; mean temperature of 2 C or less
and/or widespread ice and heavy snow
Major Incident – Emergency response
Central government will declare a Level 4 alert in the event of severe or
prolonged cold weather affecting sectors other than health
Health Impacts and Time
The cold weather alert system relies on forecasting cold weather on certain days – however
it is important for partners to ensure that support reflects the differing time periods for
differing conditions.
Cascade of Cold Weather Alerts
The Cold Weather Plan produced by the NHS (2012) recommends that the following groups
should be in receipt of cold weather alerts and the respective responsibilities for ensuring
that this happens.
Clinical Commissioning Groups
Local Authorities/Local Resilience Forums
Hospital Trusts
Residential Homes
Community Health Service Providers
Social Services
Ambulance Trusts
Day care centres
Walk-in Centres
Voluntary organisations
Pharmacies
Schools, Nurseries and Kindergartens*
Mental Health Trusts
GP/District Nurses
Prisons
Care and Nursing Homes
Independent Hospitals
*This element is carried out through Children’s Services in Cheshire East Council
Agencies which are included in the “list of lists” include residential homes, social services
clients, day centres, and voluntary organisations. There are a number of other service
providers who are also included in the “list of lists” – assisted bin service, nominated
neighbour scheme, registered social landlords, dementia support. It is important to ensure
that people are not bombarded with alerts as the impact can be reduced and the CCG’s will
be responsible for either cascading alerts or signposting the above agencies to information
sources , for example the alert sign-up service in the portal. .
Cascading information will be managed through the portal and will include additional sources
of information. The system will be monitored to ensure that the relevant people have
received alerts during the cold weather and there will be a back-up system to the portal
provided by Snow Angels.
Local Resilience Forum and Local Health Resilience Partnership
During the winter months it is important that close contact is maintained with the Local
Resilience Forum (LRF) and the Local Health Resilience Partnership15 and winter planning is
one of a number of sessions being held with town and parish councils in late October
through the Community Resilience Speed Training events being organised by the LRF.
From an operational point of view close contact would be increased as the weather worsens
and in the event of a Level 4 alert issued by central government the LRF would implement
the emergency response.
This plan addresses Levels 0 – 3 in the cold weather planning system.
Communicating with the Public and Service Providers
The communications plan concentrates on the key actions recommended by the National
Support Team on Health Inequalities to prevent excess winter deaths. The main target
audience for these messages are people over 75 years old, formal and informal carers, and
their families and friends. Local newspapers, press releases, events, and community
organisers will be used to relay key messages.
15
Responding to Major Emergencies in Cheshire East, Health and Wellbeing Board (2013)
Communications Plan
• Local newspapers
• Local Radio
• Leaflets/posters
• Social media
• Events
• Home visits
• Cold Weather Alerts
• Portal
• E Bulletins
• Partnership meetings
• Social Media
• Events
• Press releases
• Members newsletters
• Social media
• Portal
• Cold Weather Alerts
• Events
Target
Audience
Partner
Organisations
Service
Providers
Community
Networks
• Direct Mail
• Cold weather alerts
• E Bulletins
• Events
Brand
The brand for Cheshire East is “Winter Wellbeing in Cheshire East” and this will be used
throughout all the communications this coming winter. The brand can be used by all the
partners and jointly branded with organisational logos when required and is available on the
portal.
Press Releases
Key messages will be developed including updating previous press releases and these will
be distributed to the four main local newspapers through the media team at Cheshire East
Council. The press releases are to be scheduled from the launch of the campaign in early
October and will be in two distinct phases – Get Ready for Winter (which reflects Levels 0 –
2) and Act Now for Winter (which reflects Level 3).
Community Organisers
There are a number of network organisations throughout Cheshire East who have agreed to
convey key messages to the target audience including the Cheshire Federation of WI’s,
Town and Parish Councils, members of the CVS Cheshire East network, Homewatch Coordinators, Cheshire East Faith Network, community transport providers, and Community
Agents.
Social media
Partners will tweet key messages throughout the winter including Cheshire East Council and
the Clinical Commissioning Groups. South Cheshire CCG are developing a social media
community and this will be operational in November and it is hoped that other partners will
build on this approach. In addition partners will be encouraged to “re-tweet” messages
through the portal.
Leaflets
There will be a range of leaflets available through the portal which will be able to be modified
by partners to include their own logos and contact information. These will also be targeted
through certain list holders for specific messages to ensure that different communication
channels are used, for example the assisted bin list, and further details are included in the
Action Plan on the portal.
Engaging with the Community
There are a wide range of locally run projects in Cheshire East which involve older people
during the winter months and all of these can contribute towards winter wellbeing through
awareness raising of key actions, distributing information, targeting certain messages in
particular geographic areas, and signposting people to further sources of information.
Key examples of this type of project include the Street Safe project with Park Homes across
Cheshire East where older people may be particularly vulnerable, Big Energy week in
November, the Senior Health and Wellbeing Fair in Crewe in October, Older People’s Day
celebration event in Poynton with Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service, events in GP
surgeries, and a winter campaign being organised through the mobile library service. Other
specific health projects include the Colshaw Farm Healthy Living Project, the Healthy
Lifestyles project in Radway Green, winter warmth projects in Bromley Farm, Buglawton and
Cledford. Poynton Town Council employ and Health and Well-Being Co-ordinator and Age
UK Cheshire and Age UK Cheshire East both have Health Co-ordinators based at two GP
surgeries in Crewe and Knutsford.
Discussions have been held with the Community Matrons and District Nurses about referrals
to other sources of information and with South Cheshire CCG about potential referral
schemes with GP surgeries supported by Age UK Cheshire.
A range of events will be included in the portal as they are finalised.
Winter Well Being Portal
The portal will be hosted on the Snow Angels website snowangels.org.uk and as the host of
portal data, Snow Angels CIC operates a strict data processing agreement to ensure we
meet our obligations as data processors under the terms of the Data Protection Agreement.
All access to data within the portal is governed by access rights to ensure that only properly
authenticated users can access information
Making Every Contact Count
The aim of the winter wellbeing portal is to ensure that a wide range of front-line staff and
volunteers have access to material to enable them to support older people during the winter.
Referral scheme
The referral scheme provides a single point of contact for services and organisations will be
able to provide basic information about the individual and select from range of services
including energy advice, falls awareness, benefits and financial advice, companionship
schemes etc. The main organisations involved in this scheme are Cheshire East Council
through the Hot Spots project and the Be Steady Be Safe falls programme, Cheshire Fire
and Rescue Service through the provision of Home Safety Assessments, and Age UK East
and Age UK Cheshire for information and advice. Referrals to other organisations will be
made through both of the local Age UK’s to more locally provided or specialist organisations
when required, for example Community Agents. This system will be monitored throughout
the year to ensure that referrals are taking place and to assess outcomes for older people.
A longer term referral scheme is being developed with Cheshire East Council and Plus Dane
Housing to enable five key questions to be asked and this will provide the basis of a more
integrated scheme in the future.
Training resources
The portal provides access to training resources which are aimed at front-line staff and
volunteers and it will also be possible for partner organisations to access the Learning
Lounge – an on-line training site provided by Cheshire East. Training resources will include
fuel poverty awareness and falls awareness.
Posters and leaflets etc.
The portal will include a series of posters and fliers which can be adapted to include local
contact details, for example flu vaccination take-up.
Directory of services
This directory will include organisations who deliver services in relation to older people
during the winter months and discussions have taken place with Cheshire East CVS about
the Partners in Practice project. A brief description of services and contact details including
the web-sites will be included.
Cold weather alerts – sign up
This enables organisations and their staff and volunteers to sign up for cold weather alerts
which will be sent by email.
Events Calendar
The events calendar will allow a wide range of events to be promoted to a range of
organisations.
For further information please contact:
Cathy Boyd
Director
Snow Angels CIC
0788 151 0304
cathy@snowangels.org.uk