Thinking About Adopting? Drop-in Event at the George Hotel in Penrith on 24th January from 6pm.

East Cumbria Family Support – Can you Help?  -Eden, Carlisle Area, and now our new Workington project too

East Cumbria Family Support has been providing help to local families for 23 years, and in the current climate the need for family support is greater than ever. Our Home Support service matches volunteers with families who have young children, and who are experiencing difficulties relating to health or disability, emotional wellbeing or parenting.  Volunteers visit usually for a couple of hours each week to give practical and emotional support.  Training and ongoing individual and group support is given to volunteers, and travel expenses paid.

If you are interested in helping to support families with young children and have a few hours to spare each week, we’d love to hear from you.  We already have many fantastic volunteers doing a wonderful job, but the demand for our service is great so we’re keen for more people to join us.  Whether you are retired and looking for a new interest, young and wanting to gain experience, or ‘somewhere in between’, supporting families can help to make a real difference in our community.

If you’d like to know more, please contact:

Family Support Coordinators:

Sarah Craig (Eden) on 01768 593102;

Val McQuillin (Workington) on 01768 593102;

Dan Nicholson (Carlisle) 0n 01228 227348

Suicide is everyone’s business – Suicide Safer Eden (SSE)

We are a small but determined group of volunteers in Eden working towards reducing loss of life to suicide within our local area.

The FACTS

• In Cumbria we lose, on average, one person each week to suicide
• In Eden alone, on average, we lose one person every two months to suicide.

By any measure this is an alarming and potentially avoidable loss of life and we are very aware of the devastating impact this has on a community.

The CHALLENGE in tackling this problem is that people:

• May be scared to check out if someone is alright when they have concerns because they are worried about making things worse.
• May assume that only professionals such as doctors, nurses or social workers can help people who may be at risk.

The AIMS of Suicide Safer Eden are:

• To reduce the stigma of suicide
• Raise awareness of help that is available
• Encourage local people to take an active interest in making sure that information is more widely available in their community.

To achieve these aims SSE is looking for people with a caring approach and commitment to the wellbeing of their local community who would like to volunteer to become local champions.

It is important to be aware

• That people who are willing to talk to someone about suicide will not make matters worse for that person.
• That the majority of people who take their own lives do not have contact with support services.
• That we need to see suicide prevention as everyone’s business
• That we all have a role to play.

The role of the VOLUNTEER CHAMPION is to provide appropriate information within their locality and to promote suicide prevention and awareness training.

If you would like more information about Suicide Safer Eden or If you would like a free suicide awareness session in your community please contact Juliet from Carlisle Eden Mind on 07510 309527 or juliet.gray@cemind.org .

If someone needs to talk about suicidal thoughts they can contact Samaritans on 116 123 or Cumbria Mindline on 0300 561 0000

Ainstable Parish Council now funds three Public Access Defibrillators within the parish.

On Tuesday 20th Feb, from 7.30pm at the Heather Glen in Ainstable, the Community Heartbeat Trust will be demonstrating the use of defibrillators and explaining how the equipment works and its benefits to the community in saving precious minutes in the treatment of Sudden Cardiac Arrest.

The more people that know how to use the portable defibrillator installed in our community, the more chance there is of saving the life of a victim of Sudden Cardiac Arrest.

Everybody is welcome, and no special skills are required, just your willingness to play an important role in the event of a medical emergency.

Please put the date in your diary now.

The Earth from the Air brochure

Croglin Village Hall will be the venue for the premiere of a new play by local author
Sharon Gosling. The Earth from the Air is set to star Sean Connolly — who plays
Keith Horrobin in The Archers — and Bella Hamblin, who has also been heard in The
Archers, as well as opposite her husband Sean in Radio 4’s popular drama Home
Front.

“The Earth from the Air is the story of what happens when Gabe, a woman with a fear
of flying, confronts her fears by trying to learn to fly out of Carlisle airport. Sean
plays Huw, her flying instructor,” says Sharon, who lives in Croglin. “But the play
also encompasses a little of the history of the fells around the village.”

“Because the play was written for radio, that’s how it will be performed, as a ‘live
radio play’,” Sharon adds. “That means the actors will have their scripts with them
and their performances will be augmented by sound effects and music that has been
composed specially for this production.” All proceeds will go to the Village Hall,
which is celebrating its 80th anniversary this year.

Tickets are available from Withnail Books, at the Brunswick Yard in Penrith (opposite
Booths), online at: www.eventbrite.co.uk (search for ‘The Earth from the Air’) or call
01768 896018/07977 830945.

Do you know the missing name on the Ainstable War Memorial?

Local historian, Richard Preston, has been researching the men who are remembered on the WWI memorial at Ainstable Church.

One name has been removed – reportedly someone who was believed at the time to have died but who returned home after the end of the war. Richard has not been able to discover the name of this man – can you help?

If you have any information that might help Richard complete his research, you can contact him care of the Clerk to the parish council, on 01768 254280 or email him:
richard@greatwarcumbria.co.uk

Age UK Carlisle & Eden Services

At Age UK Carlisle and Eden we are fighting for the rights and welfare of our elderly neighbours.

We give free advice on benefits and will visit at home and complete forms on their behalf , inc attendance allowance, pension credits, blue badge applications etc.

We have a helpline of 01228 633331 and can take referrals from anyone concerned that their relatives or neighbours may need some help.

We are also looking for  volunteers to befriend an elderly person by phone or home visits all our volunteers are DBS checked and trained.