Supported by the National Lottery through the Heritage Lottery Fund, and running until June 2009, the project is based on the story of Leicester suffragette Alice Hawkins and her fight for women’s rights in the early 1900s.

The project will document the experiences, achievements, challenges and triumphs of women throughout Leicester, Leicestershire and Rutland over the last 100 years. Their inspirational tales will be told to a group of approximately 50 young volunteers, who will then record and document the stories, turning them into a lasting archive that will be kept at the County record office and used to create curriculum materials for future use in schools throughout the county.

The interviews will be recorded and interpreted using a variety of different mediums including oral history, drama, dance, video, photography and radio. The stories will use heritage to help young people make connections with their own circumstances and help them to understand the importance of life events and decisions, as well as providing professional training that will help them in the future.

We are looking for approximately 150 women from all backgrounds and walks of life to share their stories with our young volunteers, and I wonder if anyone from your organisation would be interested in contributing to the project.

The stories can be about any challenges that women have faced and overcome and how they have shaped the people they are today. We would love to hear from anybody who has an interesting life experience that they would like to share. We also want to hear about the barriers that are currently facing women in today’s society, and from anybody who has an interesting family history and can share the story of their ancestors.

For further information, please contact Lara Thomas on 0116 257 5615 or lara@leicestherday.org.uk

Age Concern Leicester Shire & Rutland’s Handyman Service has completed in excess of a phenomenal 1500 jobs in the last 10 months – proof if proof were needed of the gap which the service is filling for local older people.

The increasing demand has prompted the local charity to appoint extra staff to cope with the huge workload for this competitively priced service which (with a few exceptions) carries out most basic maintenance tasks around the home, including minor decorating jobs.

In the last week or two, coinciding with the approach of the festive season, calls have slowed a little so that the charity is currently able to respond very quickly if someone needs them – indeed several sons and daughters have already taken the opportunity to treat their parents to a couple of hours of the handyman’s time as a present!

The contact number for enquiries is:
0116 299 2254.

Peter Ralphs

Sense, a national charity for deafblind people, is now operating a project in Leicestershire aimed at supporting older people who have acquired dual sensory loss.

Deafblindness is a combination of both sight and hearing difficulties. Some people are completely deaf and blind, but others have some remaining use of one or both senses. Someone is regarded as deafblind if they have a severe degree of combined visual and auditory impairment resulting in problems of communication, information and mobility.

The effects of acquired dual sensory loss can be catastrophic in many ways and can lead to depression, isolation and loss of confidence and independence. Imagine not being able to hear what is said and not being able read what is written. Imagine not being able to communicate your feelings. How would you get about, especially outside the home? You can’t drive but dare you venture onto public transport, or even risk walking in the street?

With a single sensory loss, the other senses can be used to a degree to compensate. However, the loss of both sight and hearing presents massive problems for the individual. People in such situations therefore have a vital need for support services that can help with their losses.

Fortunately, there are answers to many of the difficulties. With support, help to learn a few new skills and with special equipment, many people adapt successfully. Older people with sight and hearing loss can carry on many of their previous activities with support, but can be isolated without it.

Sense are able to visit people who have been identified to them as having problems due to dual sensory loss. We can assess the degree of hardship being faced and advise and support individuals to get the help they need. There is a lack of awareness that older people with sight and hearing loss are entitled to support and this support can dramatically improve their quality of life.

Please contact Burt McNeill from Sense if you know of an older person who is having difficulties due to loss of both hearing and sight. Telephone 0773 908 4111 or burt.mcneill@sense.org.uk

The Holiday Club service at John Storer House offers a wide range of short-break holidays in the U.K. The scheme was introduced to encourage older people to make good use of their leisure time and judging by the amount of support it has received over the years that’s precisely what so many have done.

The holidays are carefully selected to suit all needs, and competitively priced including en-suite accommodation, return coach travel, excursions and entertainment with departures from John Storer House (others by arrangement).

The holidays have proved very popular with many booking several trips a year, and to quote some of the ‘regulars’: “ We don’t know what we’d do without them.”

For more information or a free brochure, call in and see Doreen at the Travel Desk on Thursday morning at John Storer House or telephone 01509 631750.

In October, the Bridge, in partnership with Hope House, CIYA, and Loughborough Foyer, launched a brand new Young Parent’s Resource Pack after securing funding from the Leicestershire Teenage Parent Partnership.

The pack includes information on where to get help and support while pregnant, what will be needed, preparing to become parents, what to expect, what help there is once the baby has arrived, as well as other issues such as:

Finance – including benefit entitlements and budgeting.
Housing – including how to afford a house, accessing furniture and safety equipment for children, setting up utilities.
Health – including accessing pregnancy resources, sexual health, local places for child health.
Education, Employment & Training – including childcare options, how this effects benefits.
Fathers – including paternity leave, paternal rights and emotions around pregnancy.

The pack also has tips from other young parents and answers to many questions. There are real -life case studies from young people about the problems they faced.

The pack is being distributed through health visitors, midwives, Sure Start, Connexions, the Youth Service, Children’s Centres and the Job Centre. It is specifically geared to those living in Charnwood, but with a possibility of distributing it county-wide if funding can be secured.

If you would like us to send or email a pdf copy of the pack, please call Emma at the Bridge on 01509 220565 or email her on emma.bull@bridgehousingservices.co

Christèle Hérissé, a French teacher at Burleigh College, is breathing new life into the College's links with our French and German twin towns. She was the inspiration behind the recent short visit by 39 Burleigh pupils aged 14-18. They were warmly welcomed in the Town Halls of Epinal and Schwäbisch Hall, where the officials of both municipalities responsible for international relations share her keenness to revitalise their links with Burleigh.

Members of the Family Link Group visited their German twin in July and were given an extremely enthusiastic welcome. The Mayor of Schwäbisch Hall received them in the town hall Council Chamber and the host group provided them with a varied and enjoyable programme, including visits to Wackershofen Country Museum, Mercedes-Benz automobile museum and the Bad Rappenau Garden Exhibition. The group also enjoyed the Jakobimarkt Festival which was in progress at the time of their visit. They were entertained by their hosts with an evening in the 3600-seat Festzelt (beer tent) in the town and a good time was had by all, with many new friendships made and old ones renewed.

Events in 2009
There will be visits to Loughborough by groups from Epinal (May 1st to 5th) and Schwäbisch Hall (t.b.a.).
Groups from Loughborough will visit Gembloux (Belgium) (May 21st to 26th) and Zamosc (third week in August).

If you would like to share in any of these activities, please contact Hazel Meredith on 01509 212008 or creedmeredith@tiscali.co.uk

Colin Salsbury

E-Learning underpins the CLASH Access Project which aims to meet the wider needs of people with arthritis by linking them with their local group and national organisation.

Our laptop computers are purchased from Cooke e-Learning Foundation. The equipment is on permanent loan for members subject to an initial AbilityNet accessibility assessment and subsequent training provided by LCIL – Leicester Centre for Integrated Living. This enables members of CLASH to participate more fully in the activities of their local communities.

Beryl Wilby says: “I am the treasurer for CLASH. As I knew nothing about computers, I was very apprehensive about going to the Leicester Centre for Integrated Living (LCIL) for tuition. I needn’t have worried! The staff there are all very helpful and, after being given basic details, I am now doing simple exercises and looking forward to having my own computer on which to practise. In time, hopefully, this tuition will be of benefit for our group.”

“Lynda and I have attended the LCIL three times now and we are working through lots of learning situations on the computer, how to go on the internet etc. We moved on to send emails and what to do when we receive an email. We hope we can only get better as the weeks go by and become more efficient for our work with CLASH. There is still a lot to learn, so we will continue to learn as much as we can.”

Monthly meetings for Adults are held on the second Wednesday of the month: Wednesday January 14th, 7.00pm–9.00pm at Longslade Community College, Wanlip Lane, Birstall LE4 4GH.

Meetings for Children, Young People & Families are held the first Sunday of the month: Sunday 7th December 10.00–12.00pm at Sunday 4th January 10.00am–12.00pmat Peepul Centre, Orchardson Avenue LE4 6D

To visit the website, please go to: www,leicestershirevillages.com/birstall/clash.html

Charnwood has a wide range of extended schools services available to its residents. All parents and children from all Charnwood schools have access to a wide variety of services. These include:
· information regarding childcare
· various parenting support services
· activities after school for children
· community facilities, and;
· access to specialist services.

For further information, please contact Rachel Hughes Tel: 01509 234887

Shepshed Toy Library recently received a donation of £2000 from the Helen Jean Cope Trust to buy a new carpet for the Toy Library play room. During the summer holidays a team of volunteers gathered together to repaint the room beforehand and make it look much more inviting.

The carpet was fitted by N Berwick Contract Flooring and, as can be seen from the picture, all the children are enjoying the new-look room during a free-taster session by Jo Jingles.

New members are always welcome at the Toy Library; there is a one-off joining fee of £2 and toys are 50p per item to borrow for a month.

Story sacks are available for £1.50 per month, as well as DVD's, books, games ride-on toys and trampolines. Set your child's party off with a bounce - with our special Party Rate - Pay a £10 security fee and hire up to 12 items at 50p per item.

Visit the Toy Library on Hind Leys College Campus, Forest St Shepshed, during any of the sessions and you'll be most welcome. There is also a craft shop and refreshments are always available. Opening times are: Monday, Wednesday and Friday morning 9.30-12 and the last Thursday evening of each month during term time.

Rachel J Boneham

Our children and young people’s services are open to all aged 4 to 18, who have a family member with cancer in Leicestershire and Rutland.

We provide support, guidance, friendship information and emotional support by trained youth workers and volunteers.

For children and young people who have a family member with a cancer diagnosis, it can appear at times, that they go unrecognised and that the family are focusing on the patient, many can feel isolated, forgotten and alone.

Our children and young people’s services aim to help improve their outlook on life, give them opportunities to feel valued, respected and to do things that they may not have the opportunity to do. They can be with children and young people who identify with them, a chance to meet new friends and share thoughts, ideas and offer each other support.

For these children it’s not a luxury, It’s a vital link away from a life most of us would find intolerable. Coping With Cancer can give them a few hours of much needed freedom and fun, a glimpse of a better world and perhaps a brighter future.

There are many other support groups and services that take place at the Helen Webb House, for anyone affected by a cancer diagnosis in Leicestershire and Rutland.

For more information on any of these, please feel free to contact Chaz Ram, Services Co-ordinator for Children and Young People, on 0116 223 0055 or
childrenandyoungpeople@c-w-c.org.uk www.c-w-c.org.uk