Park and Warley Project Weekly Digest 17.12.21

Hello! With so much going on we couldn’t wait for our next newsletter so here is a quick update of some of the latest opportunities in Park and Warley that you might be interested in.

Improve your confidence and employability skills in the New Year

Calderdale Adult Learning has teamed up with award -winning Proper Job Theatre Company again to offer the LAB Project Online. For those who want to start making that first move back to training or work, the online LAB Confidence, Communication and Teamwork course may be ideal. LAB Online uses drama and media communication techniques to develop confident communication skills for interviews and work – online and off.

Online LAB Confidence, Communication and Teamwork course – 21st January – 4th February.

This 2 week online course offers a nationally recognised qualification in Communication and Team work for Further Learning and Employment.

For enquiries or to book a registration appointment please email Phoebe at Phoebe@properjob.org.uk Mobile: 07716638757

To see the Proper Job leaflet, click here.

Star Boxing club looking for ladies boxing and fitness coaches

Halifax Star Boxing Club is looking for Ladies interested in coaching Boxing Fitness. They will develop, train and help you attain England Boxing Coaching badges for FREE and in return you will assist/lead coaching training sessions to children and adults. We have a specific need for delivery to our Ladies Only Classes.

You may be currently partaking in Boxing training and wish to develop as a coach? You may be already be involved in an alternative sports and fitness delivery? Perhaps you are in need of a gym to develop and build your own brand? Come speak to us, we are open to discussion and ideas.

We are Community Sports Club run by volunteers and we believe money should not be the deciding factor in participation and that the club’s activities should be accessible and affordable to all, as well as supporting those who can grow the most by participation and inclusion in the community.

Interested? Please contact Tony – starboxingclub@live.co.uk

Omicron – what do we need to do?
It is becoming clear that the Omicron variant of COVID-19 spreads more quickly than previous strains. In some parts of the country the number of Omicron cases is doubling in two days, and it appears that West Yorkshire is only 7 to 10 days behind the areas with the highest number of cases.
This is a good time for us to remind ourselves of what we need to do if we get COVID-19 and what we should do to protect ourselves and each other.
Here are 8 things we are asking everyone to do:

If you have symptoms of COVID-19 – If you have one of the three main symptoms of COVID-19 (new continuous cough, change in or loss of taste or smell, temperature) get a PCR test. Lateral flow tests should not be used if you have symptoms. Get a PCR test even if you have done one recently that was negative. A basic rule of thumb, if you’re not sure, is that PCR tests are for when you feel unwell and lateral flow tests are for when you feel fine.
If you get a positive test result – you’ve tested positive for COVID-19 on either a lateral flow test or a PCR test – this means you have the virus and you should self-isolate straight away.
If you are a contact of someone with COVID-19 – You may be notified that you are a contact of a confirmed case of COVID-19 by NHS Test and Trace, Public Health, your workplace, a colleague or a friend or acquaintance. If you’re fully vaccinated (you have had at least two jabs, and the second one was more than 14 days ago) you do not need to self-isolate but should take daily lateral flow tests for seven days. If any of the lateral flow tests show positive you should get a PCR test and self-isolate immiediately. If you are not fully vaccinated you will need to self-isolate (stay at home, don’t go out, don’t have visitors) for ten days from last point of contact (with the day of contact being day 0).
Boost your immunity – Get your booster vaccination as soon as you can – it will reduce your risk of catching COVID-19 (including Omicron) and it will reduce your risk of getting seriously ill if you do catch COVID-19. Don’t forget to get your flu jab too – see if you can get one for free here https://www.calderdale.gov.uk/v2/free-flu-jabs
Wear a face covering – Wear a face mask when you’re out and about. They protect you and they protect others. Don’t forget, disposable ones only last 3-4 hours. Reusable ones should be washed regularly.
Take lateral flow tests – Take regular lateral flow tests. If you’re visiting crowded indoor settings, it’s a good idea to take one before you leave home to go.
Wash your hands – You can pick up all sorts of bugs from surfaces that other people have touched, not just COVID-19, and regularly washing your hands protects you from catching those bugs. You can see how to do it here.
Keep your distance – Keep your distance from others and ensure there is plenty of fresh air if you are with others. You might have COVID-19 and not know it, and they might have COVID-19 and not know it. If you can keep at least two metres away from others that reduces the risk significantly.

Get Boosted Now!

A booster dose of the coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine helps improve the protection you have from your first 2 doses of the vaccine.

It helps give you longer-term protection against getting seriously ill from COVID-19.

Everyone eligible aged 18 and over in England will have the chance to get their COVID-19 booster vaccine before the New Year.

We now know that three vaccines are the most effective way to protect ourselves and loved ones against the more contagious Omicron variant.

If you’re aged 18 or over and had your second COVID-19 vaccine over 2 months ago, book your booster now here http://nhs.uk/covid-booster.

Let’s keep up the good work, Calderdale

Leaders across Calderdale, including our Director of Public Health, Debs Harkins have recorded a message of thanks to you all, for your continued efforts to help reduce the spread of COVID-19.

Watch here…

Park and Warley Food and Culture Festival 2022

The Inclusive Economy Team and local organisations are working together to plan a Park and Warley festival in spring/Sumer 2022. The festival will promote local business, celebrate the diversity and culture of local communities and support Calderdale’s vision for distinctive and enterprising places. We are currently looking for local people, businesses, schools and community organisations to help us plan and design the event.

If you would like to get involved, please email us at inclusive.economy@calderdale.gov.uk

Christmas Day Lunch at St Judes

Don’t be alone this Christmas, come and join us for Christmas lunch with all the trimmings!

St Jude’s Church Hall, Free School Lane, Halifax

FREE! To book your lunch contact Samantha Potter, spotterjones1@gmail.com or call 07760471652

Fresh food deliveries by electric bike

From local shops straight to Halifax residents who are isolating or at higher risk, in partnership with TotallyLocally and Cargodale & with funding from @DHSCgovuk. Find out more: https://crowd.in/lJSMk0

Get help to buy food and milk (Healthy Start)

If you currently receive paper Healthy Start vouchers, you will soon be invited to apply online to get your prepaid card. If you’ve received your letter, you can apply online today: https://crowd.in/uJ85o6

Find out if you quality here…

BE Prepared. Stay Winter Wise!

Look out for our Winter Wise booklet being delivered to your door over the coming days. There’s lots of useful advice on how you can prepare for travel, floods, as well as information on staying active, energy saving tips and much more. Lots more advice here… https://crowd.in/fDvDK1

Singalong screenings of the Greatest Showman at Square Chapel December 18

Experience the Greatest Showman in the greatest way possible with our Sing-A-Long screenings at Square Chapel Arts Centre.

Saturday December 18^th – Matinee screening 2:00pm, Evening Screening 7:45pm

In our relaxed and inclusive screenings aimed at families you’ll be able to sing away to your hearts content and children will be invited up to dance along. Our maestro will get you ready with a vocal warm before the film and ensure the festivities continue all the way through.

Fancy dress is of course encouraged and there’ll be a prize for the best costume and dancing! Plus! There’ll be glowsticks given to every child to make the screening extra fun!

Tickets from £10 available at – https://squarechapel.co.uk/whats-on/

Together Housing Christmas Card Competition

Want a chance to win £50? You have until the 20th December to enter!

To celebrate the festive period, Together Housing and Newground Together are running a Christmas Card Competition – the winner could win £50 in Love2Shop vouchers and will feature in our annual Christmas e-card! PLUS two runner up entries will receive £30 Love2Shop voucher (second place), £20 Love2Shop voucher (third place).

All you need to do is create your own design that has a festive theme and illustrates your favourite thing about Christmas! Your artwork can be hand made on a piece of A4 paper (portrait or landscape), or if you’re more technically minded create a piece of digital artwork on your tablet or phone.

To submit your artwork, take a photo of your entry then either:

Share on social media by tagging @togetherhousing and including the hashtag #XmasCardComp21 on Facebook, Instagram or Twitter.
Send a DM to @togetherhousing via Facebook Messenger, Instagram Direct or Twitter DM.
Email communications@togetherhousing.co.uk and include ‘Christmas Card Competition’ in the subject line.
Drop off artwork with our Newground Together Youth Team at the Pellon Hub, Rye Lane.

Read more here….

Over 50s Pellon Luncheon Club entertainment schedule January – March 2022

The over 50s Luncheon Club, organised by the Halifax & District Irish Society has entertainment lined up from January 2022 to March 17th, St Patrick’s day. See the attached flyer

The Over 50s Luncheon Club meets at Pellon Social Club every Thursday of the week from 12pm to 3pm.

Admission is £5 per person and includes lunch.

Consultation deadlines extended

You now have more time to tell us what you think of proposals for walking and cycling improvements in north and west Halifax.

2 consultations are now open on Your Voice until Sunday 30 Jan 2022:

West Halifax: yourvoice.westyorks-ca.gov.uk/west-halifax-2
North Halifax: yourvoice.westyorks-ca.gov.uk/north-halifax-2

Could you be the next VAC Trustee?

Voluntary & Community (also known as VAC) are looking to continue building their board of trustees to reflect the diversity and expertise of the great communities they work with.

They are looking for passionate people with an interest in the development & success of Voluntary & Community Sector. If you also have professional and/or lived knowledge or experience in Local Government, Estate/Property Development or Management that would be an added bonus.

Closing date for Trustee expressions of interest is Friday 31st December 2021.Read more on the HX Central Blog here…

Festive fun at Halifax Borough Market with Mr Bloom and ‘Let’s Grow

Families can share the joy of laughter, learning and festivities in the magnificent Victorian Halifax Borough Market and surrounding streets this December, as the ‘Let’s Grow’ team return with a Christmas theme.

The Let’s Grow Ho, Ho, Ho! Merry Little Christmas Party follows the successful debut of the two-day pop-up allotment event at the market during the October half-term.

On Monday 20 and Tuesday 21 December, Halifax’s stunning market hall will welcome back the charming family of baby fruits and vegetables, their friendly ‘Vegetable Nannies’ and a host of performances, games, crafts, festive tunes, prizes and more.

The FREE event is brought to the market by Ben Faulks – co-creator of the award-winning TV series, ‘Mr Bloom’s Nursery’ – and his wife, Mimi, in partnership with Calderdale Council. It is funded by the Government’s Welcome Back Fund, supported by the European Regional Development Fund, which aims to help high streets and tourist attractions recover from the pandemic and welcome back shoppers and visitors.

For more information about ‘Let’s Grow’ and the full programme of activities and performances, please visit www.letsgrow.org.uk and www.visitcalderdale.com/the-lets-grow-ho-ho-ho-merry-little-christmas-party

This Weekend! Pimp my Pellon Christmas fun filled weekend December 18-19

Pimp My Pellon invite you to the planting ceremony of Pellon’s first community Christmas tree at 3pm Sunday 19th December on the green on Pellon New Road, next to Peckish. There will be carols and mince pies, a guest performance by Pellon’s own punk poet, Keiron Higgins, and the opportunity to dedicate a tree decoration to someone you love or have sadly lost. The event will be outdoors and will follow COVID safety precautions.

And to get us in the Christmas mood, we will be running a free decoration making workshop on Saturday 18th 10am – 12 noon at St. Columba’s Church Hall, Highroad Well Lane. Come along and make some decorations to take home or to hang on the community Christmas tree.

After a difficult couple of years, we hope to bring the community together to celebrate and give thanks to our lovely community. Please share this event with your contacts and on social media. I have attached the posters for the two events. We have some printed versions if you’d be happy to display on your premises – please get in touch if you’d like us to drop off some off for you.

And don’t forget! In spirit of the season and to mark the shortest day of the year, local Community Organisers want to give thanks to our community, our planet and our home. We are organising a community litter pick on Tuesday 21^st December starting at 8.20 am (sunrise) and finishing 3.48 pm (sunset),meeting at the junction of Queens Road and Pellon Lane to clean Queens Road top to bottom! We would be delighted if you could come along, for the whole thing or as long as you want. We will have all the equipment you’ll need so just turn up – we’ll be somewhere along Queens Road and its side streets! COVID safety precautions will be adhered to. We hope this will be a really successful day of community action and would be very grateful if you could promote this event with your networks, social media accounts, colleagues and friends.

We hope to see you there! Natalie, Senior Community Organiser, Mob: 07881952542

Time Out Christmas Fun Days at the Orange Box

The weather outside is frightful, but our festive kid’s activities are so delightful! Time Out is back at Orange Box on Monday 20th and Tuesday 21st December with lots of fun, FREE activities! Check out the full schedule of activities for our festive fun days, and book for individual workshops via the link: https://bit.ly/3rNMjZx Or find out more about individual workshops at our website: https://www.timeoutcalderdale.co.uk/timetable.html

Join the fun this winter with Healthy Holidays

The Healthy Holidays Calderdale Winter Programme bookings are now OPEN!

Including:

Fantastic Healthy Holidays mixed sports sessions at North Bridge Leisure Centre, Halifax 20-23 Dec, 10am-2pm. Suitable for ages 7 – 12. Free places available for children eligible for free school meals.
Art & craft activities at King Cross Library, Halifax, 20 & 21 Dec with Rainbow Factory Kids Co. Hot meal and snacks provided. Ages 6-11. £5 per day, free places for children on free school meals. 15 places available each day.
Rugby, Team Games, Squash, Art, Well-being, Pantomime and more at Warley Road Academy. 20th – 23rd Dec. Suitable for ages 7 – 11. Pay if you can.
Multi-Sport and indoor activities at The Shay Stadium. 20th – 23rd Dec. Suitable for ages 7 – 11.
Loads of fun cricket based games and activities suitable for ages 7 – 14 at St Augustine’s Primary School. 20th – 23rd Dec and 27th – 30th Dec
Indoor and outdoor sports coaching & fun games at Calderdale College and 3GI . Suitable for ages 7 – 18. Sessions are split by age group. 20, 25, 26 Dec and 1, 2 Jan

See the full Winter Programme here https://crowd.in/TmEL70.

Latest vacancies! Fab new part time role at St Augustine’s Centre

We have a great, flexible two-day-a-week freelance role (6 months initially) up for grabs in partnership with Calderdale Valley of Sanctuary.

We are looking for someone to develop our awareness raising activity with schools and other community / statutory based organisations who want to understand more about people seeking asylum. It’s a wonderful opportunity to enlighten the debate, bust myths and continue developing a welcoming Valley.

More details here: https://www.staugustinescentrehalifax.org.uk/blog/685/job-vacancy-awareness-raising-coordinator

Do please spread the word with people who might be keen. Deadline is Friday 7^th January so a good chance during the break, to mull on the opportunity.

Latest vacancies! Now Hiring Care Assistants – Bluebird Care Calderdale & Bradford

NEW YEAR, NEW CAREER! Working with Bluebird Care offers the opportunity to make a real difference to people’s lives. You’ll know that you’ve played a vital role in supporting someone to remain in their own home 🏡

We have full and part time CARE ASSISTANT roles across Calderdale (Halifax, Brighouse, Elland, Illingworth, Shelf) and Bradford (Clayton, Wyke, Wibsey, Queensbury and surrounding areas).

Full training provided. Must have own car to use for work, bt we do offer option to rent a company car.

We PAY YOU FOR EVERY SINGLE MINUTE YOU WORK including travel time! With Bluebird Care you are paid for the whole shift and not by contact time. Shifts are 7am to 2pm and/or 4pm to 10pm. Earn from £57.12 up to £66.64 per shift.

For more information or to apply today please contact our friendly team at Bluebird Care Calderdale & Bradford on 01422 230055 or visit: https://bit.ly/BbcCLDCareers or http://bit.ly/BFDVacancies.

HOT Kickstart Opportunities

The Kickstart scheme is now closed for new applications. We are an approved government gateway and are currently supporting over 20 employers and 30 young people with their placements.

We are still looking for interested young people for the following placement types:

– Reception & Admin

– Support & Guidance

– Trainee Labourer

– Marketing & Social Media Assistants

– Passenger Assistant

Roles are paid at national minimum wage, for 25 hours per week, for 6 months and could give you some great experience for your CV and future career prospects.

If you are a young person aged 16-24 and claiming universal credit, please get in touch to find out how to apply…….

employment@regen.org.uk 01422 347392

New Year, New Courses, New You – Courses starting at the University Centre Calderdale College!

Looking for a new challenge or need a qualification to be able to progress in your current role? It’s not too late to make a change! Kick off 2022 the right way with one of the University Centre Calderdale College courses starting in the New Year:

Further education courses also available – visit https://www.calderdale.ac.uk/courses-starting-in-the-new-year/ to find out more!

Want further information about any of the above courses? Get in touch with the College’s Admissions Team by emailing admissions@calderdale.ac.uk or calling 01422 399 316.

T Levels

Calderdale College is an official provider of T Levels! The most up to date qualification designed by the Government with businesses, to make sure students walk away with their qualification and all the current skills and knowledge they need to get on the job market and start their career.

This two-year qualification for 16-18 year olds combines industry experience with classroom study – think of it as a mixture between an apprenticeship and a BTEC! All T Level students get to spend 45 days on an industry placement where they will get the opportunity to put skills into practice, with the help of a local employer.

Calderdale College are currently looking for local businesses to come on board and deliver high quality industry placements for T Level students. Those getting involved can claim £1,000 incentive payment for every placement student – this incentive is open to businesses of all sizes and is available for any placement that commences between 27 May 2021 and July 2022.

Apprenticeships