Blogs & News

Monday 23^rd March 2020

 Dear OPAL Member,

 This is an update to advise you of the services OPAL and other local organisations are providing during the Coronavirus crisis. This information is correct as of the morning of 23^rd March 2020. Please read on for information that you might find useful during this challenging time.

• Please do be cautious responding to offers of help regarding the Coronavirus crisis as there are telephone scams offering help with loans, medical aid, shopping, and other forms of support. There are also people going door to door with a variety of scams including offering virus testing. Please do not give money or personal details.

• We have been informed that Senior bus passes are now valid at all times throughout Leeds and West Yorkshire during the crisis, however bus schedules have been cut back.

• At OPAL, we are starting to offer a phone buddy service, where staff and volunteers will be phoning our members regularly, just for a chat and to see if you need anything. If you do not want us to ring you please call us on 0113 261 9103 or e-mail us at admin@opal-org.uk and let us know. 

• We are aware that its membership renewal time. If you can send in a cheque for £12 made payable to OPAL with your name and address on the back or by bank transfer for £12 sort code 53 70 00 account number 24503274. Please put your full name as reference. If you can’t manage to do this don’t worry.

• We know that isolation and loneliness can significantly impact people’s mental and physical health and we are therefore encouraging older people to keep as active as possible. We are producing information and tips on how they can do this and which will be made available in the near future. We will also be distributing jigsaws, puzzle books and games to members who request this support.

• The Government have made an announcement regarding energy costs as follows:

‘New emergency measures with the energy industry have been agreed by the Government to protect the domestic energy supply of those most in need during the disruption caused by COVID-19. From the 20th March 2020, customers with pre-payment meters who may not be able to add credit can speak to their supplier about options to keep them supplied.

These measures will benefit over 4 million customers and could also include:

1. nominating a third party for credit top ups,
2. having a discretionary fund added to their credit,
3. or being sent a pre-loaded top up card so that their supply is not interrupted.

More broadly, any energy customer in financial distress will also be supported by their supplier, which could include debt repayments and bill payments being re-assessed, reduced or paused where necessary, while disconnection of credit meters will be completely suspended.’

Leeds City Council’s PRESTO Service.

The contact number for this service is: 0113 378 3750. PRESTO offers services which include; Meals on Wheels (7 days a week, 2 meals a day), Food shopping service, Cleaning, Gardening, Window Cleaning and Waste Removal. There is a charge for this service starting at £14 an hour.

Meal Deliveries

Oakhouse Foods

Deliver to the Leeds 16 area on Tuesdays. You can pay in advance or at the door. There is a catalogue to order from and they provide mini meals. There is no delivery charge for orders over £30. They are now offering a ‘no contact’ delivery service in response to concerns about transmitting Coronavirus. Please ring this number to register and place orders for delivery: 01756 796 336 or via their website at www.oakhousefoods.co.uk/

Dinners for You

Hot meal delivered on crockery plate at lunchtime, between 12pm and 1pm (estimated)

• Dinner is a version of meat, potatoes and vegetables. Charge of £4.85
• Dinner and pudding. Charge of £5.30
• High Tea (sandwich, snack and dessert - delivered at the same time as the dinner). Charge of £2.50
• Pay weekly by cash, cheque, invoice or next of kin payment.
• Need to commit to 5 meals and after that can order as little/much as frequently as you like. They operate 7 days per week.
• Order by 2.30pm for next day delivery.

You can contact Dinners for You at Tel: 0113 2877090.

 Access Bus – from Monday 30 March 2020, the access bus will be able to offer more shopping trips. To register please ring on

0113 348 1903.

 Information about Supermarkets - our most up to date information is included here although this is subject to change.

 Aldi - 8am to 8pm from Monday to Saturday, and 11am to 5pm on Sundays. Restrictions in place which allows customers to buy only four of any one product.

 Asda -Temporarily closing its 24 hour stores between 12am and 6am. Holt Park strore is open 8am-8pm Mon-Thurs & Sat and 7am-10pm Fri, Sun 10am-4pm. Between 8am and 9am the store will only be open for vulnerable and older people in the community. There is a limit to purchasing 3 of the same item, at each visit.

 COOP - To help to make sure there is enough for everyone in your community they are limiting selected products to 2 items per person. The following branches are prioritising serving older and frail customers at the hours specified below. Butcher Hill 9am-11am every day of the week. Spen Lane are prioritising older and frail customers 8am-9am Mon-Saturday and 10am -11am Sun, Adel Coop 8am-9am has limited stock.

 Iceland - Typically open from 8am-7pm. Each day, elderly shoppers can visit between 8am - 9am to buy their shopping before other shoppers arrive.

 LIDL - Typically 8am -10pm, Monday to Friday and Saturday and Sunday 10am- 4pm. Quantities may be restricted to 6 per item.

 Morrison’s - Morrison’s have increased the stock being sent to stores from warehouses, extended the home delivery service and introduced temporary purchase limits on high demand products. There will be a call centre for people without access to online shopping, this number is 0345 322 0000. Also, a new range of simple-to-order food parcels will be available to order from March 23^rd 2020.

 Sainsbury’s - Typically open from 8am - 10pm from Monday to Saturday. Stores open from 10am to 4pm on Sundays.

The first hour of opening is reserved for elderly or vulnerable customers. Online customers who are over 70 years of age or have a disability will have priority access to online delivery slots. For any online customer who can travel to the stores, they will operate an expanded 'click and collect' service. They are significantly increasing the number of collection sites across the country over the coming days in preparation for this.

Customers can place their order online as usual and pick it up from a collection point in the store car park. This may suit people who are self-isolating. Customers can buy a maximum of three of any grocery product and a maximum of two on the most popular products including toilet paper, soap and UHT milk.

 Tesco Express - Usually open between 7am -10pm Mon-Sat & 8am-10pm Sun.

Vulnerable and elderly customers will have priority to shop in-store for one hour every Monday, Wednesday and Friday morning between 9-10am (except in the Express stores). To help free up slots for the more vulnerable customers and those who are self-isolating, Tesco are encouraging customers who shop online or choose Click+Collect for their grocery home shopping, to prioritise shopping in-store where possible.

Horsforth Community Café - St. Margaret’s Parish Centre, Church Lane, LS18 5LA.

Pay as you feel Shop Only Service

Every Monday from 9am-3pm

Bring your own bags/boxes

Wash your hands on arrival.

Café’s offering take away service

Sorisso Adel 0113 267 2671

Residence 74 Cookridge including delivery 0113 293 7946

Le Bistro Horsforth  0113 345 0110

Cats PJs Headingley 0113 274 2618

Voujon Headingley 0113 226 1422

Kuala Lumpar Café  0113 345 5770

Bramhope Deli  0113 261 4776

Heaney & Mill Headingley 0113 278 1640

Salvos Headingley  0113 275 5017

Corner Cup Bramhope 0113 267 3400

Sweet Basil Valley Rawdon 0113 267 8877

Alexanders Otley Road 0113 267 8877

Cragg House Farm – Farm Shop only extra dishes and meals. 0113 2303618

West Park Café including delivery 0113 274 2222

Normal working hours contact for Adult Social Care

For enquiries during normal office hours (Monday to Thursday, 9am to 5pm and Friday 9am to 4:30pm) contact 0113 222 4401.  Or you can email us at general.enquiries@leeds.gov.uk

 Out of Hours Support by Adult Social Care

The phone line for the out of hours service is normally staffed by one worker on duty. They will undertake urgent Mental Health Act assessments and respond to care management and safeguarding emergencies which cannot wait until the next working day.

Phone 0113 378 0644 Email edt.ss@leeds.gov.uk

Opening hours

• Monday: 5pm to 8am
• Tuesday: 5pm to 8am
• Wednesday: 5pm to 8am
• Thursday: 5pm to 8am
• Friday: 4:30pm to 8am
• Saturday: 4:30pm to 8am
• Sunday: 4:30pm to 8am

For bank holidays they cover from 5pm the day before, to 8am the day after the bank holiday.

You can also call the Samaritans for free on Tel: 116123 if you are feeling anxious and need someone to talk to.

Please do contact OPAL office if you have any queries. We are doing our best at OPAL to help everyone and we will respond as quickly as we can. If when you ring, you are taken to the answerphone please do leave a message and we will call you back.

 If you need assistance or emergency food please contact us and we will do our best to help.

 Contact us on telephone- 0113 261 9103

or email: admin@opal-project.org.uk

Website: www.opal-project.org.uk

Facebook: Older People’s Action in the Locality

Kind regards,

The OPAL Team and OPAL Volunteers.

For the pdf of this leaflet click here

LATEST UPDATE 18/3/20

In response to the Government’s advice that all over 70’s should social distance themselves, OPAL have suspended all social activities until further notice.

Thank you to all the lovely people in the community who have offered their help and support - we will be in touch with you soon. In the meantime, if anyone can make donations of UHT milk, soup or tinned food, we would be glad to receive them at Welcome In main entrance between 10am – 1pm. We will be distributing emergency food parcels as necessary – the first two parcels have gone out today.

Also, if anyone has any jigsaws, puzzle books, etc that you are willing to donate please bring them to the main entrance of Welcome In between 10am – 1pm.  We plan to distribute these over the coming weeks.

At the moment, the staff team are focusing on contacting all of our members to update them, check they are ok and to reassure them that we are here if they need help.

If you know of an older person who is concerned or who wants us to keep in touch with them through this situation, please ask them to contact OPAL on 0113 2619103.

Please note:

 One You Leeds Smoking Cessation sessions (Tel: 0800 169 4219) &Youth Groups (Tel: 0113 275 9282) on Mondays and Wednesdays are still operating from the centre.

This is an evolving situation and things are likely to change.    We will do our best to keep you updated.

If you have emailed us, please be patient for a response - we will reply to you as soon as we can.

Yours sincerely

Ailsa Rhodes

OPAL will be celebrating the 75th Anniversary of VE Day at most of our activities at the Welcome In from Fri 1 May until Thu 7 May - come and join us.

The Making a Match Club, helps people aged 50+ to meet new friends and matches them with people with a shared interest.   The blub meets wevery week for local walks, cinema trips, meals out and anything else you may find of interest!   In March we will be visiting Harewood House, Temple Newsam and plenty more in-between.   Also, it's free to join!      Call Lisa on 07498 614258 or OPAL 0113 261 9103 for more details.

Sorry no transport is availabel for this club.

Now the Sunshine Room is complete, we've started fundraising to refurbish our final room the bar room, which will cost around £80,000 and we aim to start these works in June 2020.

Thank you to everyone who has helped with the fundraising the past, we really appreciate it.   So it's that one final push.    We are doing the 'Buy a Brick' again where for £50 a brick is displayed with the name of your choice.   Alternatively, collect a tube of Smarites formt he Drop In, eat and enjoy them and then fill the tube with 20p pieces.   Once full this is £12 towards the works.   Thank you to the folks that have already return them.   Your first name will go on the Smarties Saver board.

Most of you will have had a telephone call from Mandy Moran who is our newest staff member.   Mandy will be helping out with administration for us for a year.

The Christmas Banquet at Ralph Thoresby School was a brilliant night with around 120 members attending.   Lots of good and laughter plus a change to catch up with friends.   Thank you to all of the staff, governors, PTA and students at the school for all their hard work.  Thank you also to the OPAL volunteers who transported ourmembers there and back safely.

Thank you to everyone who supported us by visiting, donating items or helping out on the day.  We raised £900 towards the restoration of the bar room

Great News .....We've heard our application to the 'Co-op Local Community Fund' is successful for the Community Garden.   From 27 Oct 2019 - 24 Oct 2020 Co-op Members can choose the Welcome In Community Garden as their local good cause.    

If you are not already a member of the Co-op please join and then you can choose the garden to benefit when you shop in a local Co-op.   Please join online click here.  It costs just £1 to join and there are other community benefits too.

You've done so well helping us raise money for the renovation.  So far we've reached around £500,00 in total towards the works at the Welcome In.   

Now that the Sunshine Room is complete, we've got the Bar room next to the cafe to renovate, which is the final room.  We need around £75,000 to complete this room and, as before, we will be starting the Buy a Brick fundriasing again, where for £50, a tile with the name of your  choice, will be displayedin the new room.

We've also decided to start Smarties Savers and we'd be thrilled if you could join in.   Pop into OPAL for a free tube of Samrites (subject to availability) and once you've enjoyed the sweets, keep the tube and fill it with 20p pieces.   Return the filled tube and leave us your first name and initial and this will be displayedon the Smarties Savers board in the new room.

The clocks go back by one hour on Sunday 27th October at 2am

Sunday 26th & Monday 27th May 2019 Non till 5pm

Collect your Scarecrow trail sheets (£1 for adults and free for children) from Leeds Modernians Clubhouse on Cookridge Lane and walk the trail through Cookridge to spot the 40+ figures.

In the Clubhouse between noon and 5pm will be games in the bar, entertainment, afternoon tea and, of course, the bar!

Keep your eyes peeled for the Welcome In & OPAL scarecrows.

OPAL is helping organise a sponsored run in Cookridge on Sunday 19th May as a legacy for Gareth Dunn, a courageous young man who sadly passed away before Christmas. 

Join us and Ronnie the Rhino for the fun run/walk, we'll do it together.   All money raised from the run will go towards OPAL and Cancer Research.   There is also a  6 mile run if anyone would like to enter.

OPAL volunteer Chelsea is looking for sponsors and OPAL staff member Rowan will also be trotting along.

We are open as normal on Thursday 18th April and will re-open on Tuesday 23rd April.

Yes, it's that time of year when we ask you to renew your Membership of OPAL.  We haven't raised the membership since 2008 and have decided that this year we need to raise membership to £12.  If you find it hard to pay this amount pleae talk to Ailsa and we will work something out.

For more details on membership please go to  page 10 of the Mar Apr 19 newsletter

  https://www.opal-project.org.uk/index.php/newsletters

Loneliness and social isolation can affect people at any age, but over one million older people say they always, or often, feel lonely.

That’s why as a sector we have a big role to play in addressing the physical, mental and social needs of people who feel isolated in our communities,

Ailsa Rhodes is CEO at Older People’s Action in the Locality (OPAL). This Leeds-based charity provides practical and emotional support for older people in their local community and offers a range of social activities so their members can get out of their homes and socialise. Most people find out about OPAL through their friends, neighbours, doctors and other health professionals.

Ailsa sees first-hand the negative impact that loneliness and isolation can have on older people.

“Our biggest challenge is reaching those lonely, isolated older people who perhaps don’t often visit their doctors and don’t have family, friends or neighbours looking out for them,” notes Ailsa. “When we first come into contact with an older person, we often find that they can be depressed, anxious about meeting people and their physical health is suffering. This can be a result of them being on their own for long periods of time, with very little social interaction.

“Older people join OPAL for many reasons, but mostly it’s about widening their social network, so the day trips, coffee afternoons, lunch clubs and exercise classes are all very popular. Each week, we arrange for over 100 older people to attend exercise classes that include yoga, tai chi, gentle exercise and chair exercise. Over 100 people attend our weekly lunch clubs and get a freshly cooked two-course meal.”

Alisa’s team uses its experience of tackling social isolation to put in place practical support to help address loneliness in their area.

“For some older people, OPAL’s information and support is important, whilst for others it’s the more specialised support such as the Dementia Support group, Carers group, Men’s group or assisted shopping.

“We also send birthday and Christmas cards to all our members and Christmas hampers to those members aged 90 and over. We have 102 members in this age bracket! It’s so heart-warming to see how much this small gesture means to people.” 

Sharon Allen, CEO of Skills for Care added: “We know social isolation can cause significant physical and mental damage, so the hands-on work charities like OPAL are doing transform and improve lives for the better. Sometimes the smallest of gestures and acts of kindness can make a huge difference to an older member of our community and our 1.47 million strong workforce can have a really positive impact in tackling this sector-wide challenge.”

To help other organisations around the country, Ailsa offers her top tips to address loneliness in the community.

• Call in on an isolated neighbour

If you need an excuse, tell them you’re taking a walk to the postbox and wondered if they wanted anything posting or you’re nipping to the shops and wondered if you could pick anything up for them.

• Offer to make a meal

You could either take a meal around or invite them to have a meal with you.

• Offer to take an isolated neighbour shopping

For many older people, shopping is a great opportunity to remain connected to society and quite often their only opportunity to talk to people. It could make a big difference to how they feel.

• Pop a contact card through your elderly neighbour’s door

You can leave your contact details, inviting them to call if they need help.

• Get involved with your local care home or charity

There are many groups in your community, such as lunch clubs, church group and specialist groups. Get in touch.

For further ideas on how your service can engage with people, staff and the wider community, look at page 377 of Skills for Care’s Good and outstanding guide that can be downloaded at www.skillsforcare.org.uk/GO.

Community Builder

If you can build good relationships with people, and you believe in the advantages of having a strong community, this role could suit you.

Working in Leeds16 area of Leeds, the main purpose of the role is to connect local people through their skills, passions and assets and support the creation of new connections and promote community activity.

As a Community Builder, your role will be to identify assets within neighbourhoods, finding positive ways to utilise these often unseen or overlooked resources for the benefit of local communities.

Experience in a similar role is desirable.

Job Title: Community Builder

Responsible to: CEO, OPAL

Hours of work: 22.5 hrs per week (2 year Fixed Term Contract)

Salary: £19,000 to £23,000 per annum (pro-rata)

Other terms: 20 days holiday (pro-rata) a year plus bank holidays and pension scheme

Closing date for applications: 1^st February 2019

How to Apply: To request an application pack please email admin@opal-project.org.uk or download an application pack here

Advert Community Builder

Job Description Community Builder

Application_Form_2019.doc

OPAL is a company limited by guarantee Registered in England No 06961204. Registered Charity No 1131792

OPAL, Welcome In Community Centre, 55 Bedford Drive, Leeds, LS16 6DJ.

We are very excited, as the Young at Arts are going to help us, along with people from the local community, create murals for the Welcome In.

Do come along and get involved at the workshop sessions on 

Thursdays 14th and 28th February and 14th & 28th March 11am - 1pm

They would love to have a cup of tea dn chat about how we can 'build' this project together!   

No need to book or sign-up, just come along

We are having changes to the heating from Mon 28th January until Friday 1st February so there will be no cafe or activities at the Welcome In that week.   Do still ring us at OPAL as we will still be working.

Thank you to everyone who supported us by visiting or helping out at the Christmas Fair.  We raised £1150 towards the restoratin of the function room

Im sure quite a frew of you will have come into contact with Emily over the last couple of months.  We would like to say a big thank you to Emily for all her hard work and wish her well in the future.

In conjunction with Connections, we are offering a free weekly course for 4 weeks for over 50s on Apple iPads.   These classes are aimed at beginners.

The course will start on Friday 18 January and run for 4 weeks until Friday 8th February from 10:30 til 12 noon.

Please contact OPAL to book your place.   There will be a few iPads to borrow, but if you have one please do bring it along with you.

OPAL subsidises as many of our activiites as possible with money from grants and donations.   Unfortunately, price increases to us means that some of the activities are costing more than we can afford.   For this reason we hve had to increase the price of the activities listed below.

• Shopping      £6
• Transport      £5
• Lunch Club    £5

We hope you still feel they are great value.   If you find these prices (or indeed any other OPAL activities) too expense for you, please contact us.

Thanks to some of our amazing volunteer, OPAL are offering a Christmas day meal for older people who will be on their own over Christmas. If you know anyone who would like to join us (for the meal or as a volunteer), please let us know.

Winter Wellbeing

OPAL were successful in our application to the Winter Wellbeing Grants. We are now working with a range of agencies from the police, fire service, social workers, doctors, libraries and churches to reach as many older people in Leeds16 who are vulnerable to the cold, so that we can help ensure they get the support they need.

It’s a Wonderful Life, Tuesday 18^th December at Welcome In Community Centre.

A talk by James Rhodes on the history of Christmas in Leeds from the time when Royalist cavalry stole a Christmas dinner in Horsforth during the English Civil War to visiting Santa’s grotto at Lewis’s. James has a passion for local history and is a very talented public speaker (yes I am biased but he is my husband!).

All proceeds will go to OPAL.

£10 per head plus booking fee. Glass of mulled wine & mince pie on arrival.

If you would like to book tickets, contact me (Ailsa@opal-project.org.uk) or go to https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/its-a-wonderful-leeds-tickets-51782504866?fbclid=IwAR1BmjBN5P8hFuKZzWCn-Fs33CO0KTya5LiBQSrRApOj9xnBUdDVbzmg4I8