The Stormont minister in charge of sports has made PPE (personal protective equipment) packages available to organisations across NI.

Communities minister Carál Ní Chuilín announced the project is costing £1m, and said it is designed to assist with the safe re-opening of facilities.
The packs contain disinfectant wipes, hand sanitiser, face masks, gloves, fluid-repellent apron, face shield, and signage (such as stickers reminding people of social distancing).
Sports clubs and organisations are now invited to register an expression of interest to receive one of the 2,500 kits.

Minister Ní Chuilín said: “We all have a role to play in controlling the spread of Covid-19 and the provision of this necessary PPE equipment to sports clubs and sporting organisations will help in our fight against this virus.
“I hope that by providing these Covid Safe Sport Packs to clubs, it will ease some of the financial strain which is associated with a safe return to sport in this new environment.”

Sport clubs and sporting organisations should register their interest for the COVID Safe Sports Pack on the Sport NI website at: www.sportni.net/funding/our-funding-programmes/covid-safe-sport-project/

To qualify, a group must have a governing body recognised by Sport NI, be affiliated to such a body, or be a charity / voluntary group whose main aim is to provide physical activity / sport.

​Ulster Supported Employment Ltd (USEL) will assemble and arrange delivery of the packs.
If you need help or if you have any questions, email: covidsafe@sportni.net or call Angharad Bunt on 07810 183 023, or Mike McClure on 07976 468 914.

A Northern Ireland-specific contact tracing app ‘StopCOVID NI’ has been developed by the Department of Health. The app is now available to download from your mobile app store ~ https://covid-19.hscni.net/stop-covid-ni-mobile-app/.
📲 This free app from our health service will support contact tracing and save lives.
📲 It tells you automatically if you've been near another app user who tests positive. It can also let them know if you test positive.
📲 It never knows or shares your identity or location.
If you use the app, you can:
✅ get an alert if you have been in close contact with an app user who tests positive for coronavirus
✅ get advice on what to do if you've been exposed to the virus
✅ add your test results if you test positive
✅ let the app alert others if you test positive
✅ invite others to take part
✅ get handy links for advice on symptoms and book free tests

The closing date for registering for priority online supermarket delivery slots is closing tomorrow Friday 31 July. If there’s a second wave the supermarkets have said they will honour those who are already registered, so it might be worthwhile signing up now if you haven’t already done so.
 
This is the Northern Ireland service to register for access to a priority online supermarket delivery slot from Asda, Iceland, Sainsbury's or Tesco.
https://consultations.nidirect.gov.uk/dfc-psu/online-shopping/
 
You can register if you:

• Live in Northern Ireland
• You or someone you provide care for have been advised by your/their Doctor (GP) to avoid all face to face contact for 12 weeks; and
• Do not have access to alternative help and support for shopping from family or friends, or other local networks

 
These stores will make every effort to offer an online delivery slot, but it is dependent on demand and cannot be guaranteed.

The Department of Health (DoH) in Northern Ireland have published a document, Coronavirus related health inequalities in Northern Ireland.   
What is the report about?
The report analysed infection rates and hospital admission rates for COVID-19. A number of factors were explored:

• socio-economic deprivation;
• age;
• gender; and
• whether people lived in rural, urban or mixed rural/urban areas.

The report did not explore variations in infection or admission rates of people from black and minority ethnic (BME) backgrounds. It also did not include information about co-morbidities (people who had one or more conditions as well as COVID-19).
It discusses ’standardised’ rates – infection, admission and mortality – throughout. Standardisation makes adjustments to compensate for differences in population structure (such as age), so valid comparisons can be made between geographical areas.  Data was collected up to 9am on 26 May 2020. 

Read rest of article here https://www.cdhn.org/health-inequalities-and-covid-19-ni?fbclid=IwAR2gIHKfyI2qIeuGUKSlXirfvAHuiu7VMJC2H4Ri_G3tBLFR_UixhCTCszk

A New radio station created for people with dementia has become
the “station of choice” for some Care Homes.
The new internet radio station was launched by charity Music for
Dementia during the coronavirus pandemic to lift the spirits of people
living in lockdown with dementia.
It is free to listeners and available 24 hours a day, every day.
https://m4dradio.com/

​Economy Minister announces £1.7m to support online learning for people impacted by Covid-19
Date published: 12 June 2020
Topics:
·         Employment and skills programmes (including apprenticeships)
 
·         Skills strategies
Economy Minister Diane Dodds has announced an investment of £1.7 million for a range of online skills interventions to upskill and retrain people whose jobs have been impacted by Covid-19.

£1.7m to support online learning for people impacted by Covid-19
The funding will be used to deliver a range of online learning for individuals whose jobs have been impacted by Covid-19.
This initiative will create almost 2,000 free places on short courses, delivered by the local further education colleges and universities.
 
These courses are fully accredited and include opportunities from entry to postgraduate levels, focussing on skills identified by industry, including digital skills, essential skills, employability skills, and leadership and management.
In addition, a range of courses aligned to work in the health and social care sector have been funded. This is in direct response to the demands placed on this sector throughout the public health emergency.
All courses will be delivered online and participation will be flexible to fit around the busy lives of individuals, many of whom may be working from home or providing support to children or vulnerable relatives. All courses include an accredited qualification and be complete by the 30 November 2020.
Courses will be advertised directly by the colleges and universities and a full portfolio of the available courses will be included on nidirect website

Online Webinar
Wednesday 24 June  11am - 12pm
Volunteer Now is delighted to be partnering with
Change Your Mind and Inspire to deliver this webinar
 
WHO FOR?  The webinar is aimed at organisations that are supporting volunteers who are making or receiving calls with people who are vulnerable.
 
During COVID-19 many services have had to change their delivery methods or indeed new services have been developed.  These have included helplines, telephone befriending or check in and chat calls.  Volunteers have been instrumental in all of these services and organisations have had to deal with a variety of difficult issues arising from the calls.  Having the right policies and procedures in place as well as good systems for ensuring the emotional wellbeing of the volunteers is essential.  We are delighted to be partnering with Inspire to deliver this short webinar to explore 3 key themes:

1. Emotional support: supporting those who are giving and receiving advice, guidance and assistance.
2. Effectiveness: assessing the impact of dealing with specific issues through telephone support.
3. Ethical considerations: the importance of quality governance in administrative and clinical management (such as procedures/ policy documents, confidentiality, risk assessment, evaluation, training initiatives).

For each of these themes the emphasis will be to engage in ways to improve effectiveness of telephone support.  There will be time to share experiences and learn from each other with the aim of improving practice and the support we can provide to volunteers.
 
We would also like to explore with attendees the potential for a webinar with volunteers themselves to help them deal with challenging calls and look after themselves.
 
Please register your interest with Julie-ann.ashe@volunteernow.co.uk and joining information will be sent out the day before the event.  Numbers are limited but please express interest as we will run this again if there is demand.

In response to the coronavirus pandemic, RoSPA have launched Accident Free, Avoid A&E, a new campaign aimed at helping our amazing frontline NHS workers by keeping people free from accidental injury.
We have accident prevention hints, resources and information for everyone, no matter their current situation.
😰Trying to look after children while working from home? Check out our keeping kids safe pages.
👵Worried about an older relative who's self-isolating? Find out how to ensure they don't have a fall.
🚴‍♀️Cycling more as part of your daily exercise? Then discover how to check your bike is in working order.
Remember: Prevent accidents, Protect your family, Help the NHS.
Check out www.rospa.com/AccidentFree

​The Southern HSC Trust bereavement helpline is now live. This has been developed by the bereavement team; a collaborative partnership across practitioners in bereavement, social work and nursing services brought together in response to the Covid-19 pandemic.
 
They are so aware that grief is difficult under ‘normal’ circumstances, but the current context brings added challenges at the time of death, limitations to our rites of mourning and when social distancing restricts our capacity to be with family and friends.
 
They have a team of colleagues from social work, nursing and allied health professionals with knowledge, skills and insight into grief and loss responding to calls.  The helpline aims to come alongside bereaved people, to hold their grief and offer emotional support through compassion and empathy. We hope, in some small way, it will prove beneficial for some people at this time.

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The grant scheme is targeted at businesses with one to nine employees facing immediate cash flow difficulties due to Covid-19 – this includes eligible social enterprises.

Minister Dodds said:
"The Hardship Fund will provide much-needed support to micro-businesses which have so far been unable to access other regional and national coronavirus support measures.
“This new fund should mean that over 40,000 businesses in Northern Ireland will have been eligible to apply for support under the Northern Ireland Covid-19 grant schemes."
The funding is available to businesses unable to access the £10,000, £25,000 and Covid-19 Childcare Support grant schemes.
 
The eligibility checker, further information and some Frequently Asked Questions are available at@ nibusinessinfo Coronavirus: NI Micro-Business Hardship Fund page
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