16th November 2020
Keep up with the latest news from the TSL Migration Team on our Facebook Page https://www.facebook.com/TSLMigrationTeam. Follow the adventures of Esmerelda, the newest member of our team
5th November 2020
Last week, Kirklees went up from number 13 in the country in terms of infection rates, to number 9, and this week we have risen further to number 5. We now have the highest infection rate in West Yorkshire.
In light of this, Kirklees Council have asked us to share some specific additional guidance for support groups, with the key message that they:
Read the full guidancestrongly recommend you do not open for face–to-face support for the next
4 weeks to keep people as safe as we can and to reduce infection rates.
The Government have also released new guidance on Enabling Safe and Effective Volunteering During Coronavirus for people who run voluntary groups or manage volunteers. This includes advice for mutual aid groups, and includes things like insurance, safeguarding and testing.
Read the full Government GuidanceThe Government has also today, updated the guidance for community centres and village halls, reinforcing the fact that they can only be open for 4 reasons, which are:
We have had confirmation today from Kirklees Council that meeting in person should be discouraged unless it is essential or an emergency. This is a full national lockdown like the one in March, but with a bit more leeway (to make sure that things like education and healthcare don’t grind to a halt and have a long-term knock-on effect.), and so people should treat it as such. So, for example, schools, colleges and universities are staying open, as are GPs, dentists, opticians, osteopaths and physios.
There are some exemptions to the regulations for ‘support’, but again, the Council says this is only for essential or emergency support, and their preferred pathway for people needing support is:
As with businesses, all third sector organisations should be working or volunteering from home if possible.
The regulations say that we must:
And in fact, that includes some community venues:
And in addition, Kirklees Council has said that groups can’t volunteer on their land during lockdown.
These (businesses and) places will also be permitted to be open for a small number of exempt activities, including:
Please note that:
Gatherings are only permitted between:
The exceptions to this are if ‘the gathering is reasonably necessary for’:
For a gathering to take place you have to take the required precautions including:
Support groups can be an exception to a ‘gathering’ if:
The support group has to be a group or 1-1 support organised by a business, charity, group or public body to give mutual aid, therapy, or support for things like:
3rd November 2020
We are still waiting for full details on the new national lockdown from the Government. These will be published after they are passed by parliament on Wednesday 4th November. Obviously we will update you, and pass on any further and advice from the Government and Kirklees Council when we have it. In the meantime, this is what we know:
This is a full national lockdown, similar to the one in March, where we all have to stay at home, apart from for a few key reasons (like shopping for food or picking up medicines), however, there are a few important differences:
As last time, all non-essential retail, indoor and outdoor leisure and entertainment venues, personal care facilities and hospitality venues have to close, however they can still offer delivery or takeaway and ‘click and collect’ (but takeaway alcohol is not allowed). Food shops, supermarkets and garden centres will stay open. Plus, this time, GPs and NHS medical services, Job Centre Plus, law courts and registry offices will also stay open. And,
Some venues will be allowed to remain open for specific exempt activities, like childcare and support groups. Support groups that are essential to deliver in person can continue with up to 15 participants where formally organised to provide mutual aid, therapy or any other form of support. This includes support to victims of crime, people in drug and alcohol recovery, new parents and guardians, people with long-term illnesses, people facing issues relating to their sexuality or gender, and those who have suffered bereavement.
Places of worship have to stay closed, unless used for:
Registered childcare and other childcare activities (including wraparound care) can continue, where reasonably necessary to enable parents to work, or for the purposes of respite care. Early years settings can remain open.
Some youth services may be able to continue, such as 1-1 youth work and support groups, but most youth clubs and groups will need to cease for this period.
There is no ‘shielding’ this time, however, anyone over 60 or who is clinically vulnerable should take extra precautions and limit the number of people they come into contact with. This will apply to both employees and volunteers, and people in this category may need additional support to be able to continue in their roles and minimise contact with others.
There is a further group of people who are defined, on medical grounds, as clinically extremely vulnerable (CEV) to coronavirus – that is, people with specific serious health conditions. Clinically extremely vulnerable people can volunteer from home; they are advised not to volunteer outside their home. As set out on GOV.UK, the full new (general coronavirus rather than volunteering-specific) guidance for CEV people will be published soon and the Government will write to everybody who is clinically extremely vulnerable to set out detailed advice while the new restrictions are in place.
The advice from the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, Office of Civil Society say that;
Where possible, people should volunteer from home. If they cannot do so, they can volunteer outside their home if they follow the social distancing guidance and no one in their household has symptoms of coronavirus or has tested positive for coronavirus.
Voluntary and charitable activities are exempt from a number of the new restrictions. This means that, where volunteers are able to volunteer outside their home (see above) they can:
a. meet in groups of any size indoors or outdoors while volunteering
b. travel to volunteer or while volunteering
As always, it should be a volunteer’s personal choice whether they wish to volunteer, including outside their home, and they should not be compelled to do so by their organisation or group.
Volunteer-involving organisations must ensure their workplaces meet coronavirus safety standards.
Existing GOV.UK coronavirus volunteering guidance pages will be updated in line with the new announcements later this week when the new rules come into effect. We will also work to bring forward the launch of our planned new guidance for volunteer-involving organisations and groups and publish it as soon as possible. This guidance will help organisations and groups understand how to involve volunteers safely in their work during the coronavirus pandemic.
The Government Furlough Scheme (Job Support Scheme) will be extended until December 2nd, with employees being paid 80% of their salary up to £2500pm.
Charities and not-for-profit businesses are all eligible and will only have to Tax and National Insurance contributions for furloughed staff in November.
In addition, you can apply for:
Plus individuals can claim:
Read the full Government Information
Read the full Kirklees Council Information
Get in touch if you need more information or help
30th October 2020
From one minute past midnight on Monday 2nd November, Kirklees and the rest of West Yorkshire, will move into the Tier 3 Very High Alert Level. However, the main difference in moving from Tier 2 to Tier 3 restrictions is that pubs and bars have to close, we can no longer meet in private gardens, and there advice about working from home and unnecessary travel (particularly out of the Tier 3 area) is strengthened. Other than that, the main exemptions to the these rules still apply, for example, you can still:
However, each county/region has it’s own individual tailored extra restrictions as agreed with the Government, and these haven’t yet been announced or published for West Yorkshire.
We will let you know when we know more and will confirm and clarify what the rules mean for the third sector in Kirklees with Public Health officials.
However, from the information that the Government have published so far, it doesn’t look like these will affect most of us in the third sector, as they focus on:
Closures of:
Plus a ban on indoor classes for adults in gyms and sports facilities, although gyms and leisure centres can remain open.
20th October 2020
Kirklees went into Tier 2 (High) of the Government’s new lockdown system from 1 minute past midnight on Wednesday 14th October. The good news is that the rules aren’t that different from the local lockdown ones that we already had in Kirklees, and so if you were already running activities or services you should still be able to continue.
If you hadn’t yet re-opened or restarted, and were unsure whether you could or not, the guidelines are now a bit clearer, plus we are now able to meet in groups of up to 6 outside, including in private gardens, which may give you some other options for how you can operate safely.
Please note:
There are a number of exemptions to that allow charities and community groups to have people from different households meeting inside in groups of more than 6. In summary, you can still do volunteering and charitable services, provide education and training, run any sport or activity for children and young people, give emergency assistance and care and help to vulnerable people, organised outdoor sport, exercise and physical activity, put on indoor team sports for disabled people, and offer support, therapy and mutual aid. (And don’t forget, you can just choose to run an activity with up to 6 people maximum, so that you don’t have to worry about all the different rules and exemptions.)
Let’s look at those exemptions in a bit more detail:
In all three local COVID alert levels, while you are volunteering:
- You can meet in groups of any size from different households, indoors or outdoors.
- You can travel within and between different local COVID alert levels.
8th October 2020
Here are the papers for the TSL Kirklees AGM on 6th October 2020.
18th September 2020
The Government has announced that the whole of Kirklees will be going back into local lockdown, from Tuesday 22nd September 2020. This means that (from 12am Monday night/Tuesday morning) people from different households in Kirklees will no longer be able to socialise and mix in houses and gardens.
This is combined with the new ‘Rule of 6’ Law (see below for more information) outside of those settings. Kirklees Council also have their own policy preventing local gatherings of over 30 people.
Read more about the Rule of 6 Laws
This new local lockdown shouldn’t affect businesses in any way and there are no extra restrictions or curfews in place for them. They have published some basic information and FAQs and will be adding to this, answering questions and looking at the full implications next week.
They will also start to give some guidance on forthcoming events and celebrations such as Halloween, Bonfire Night and Christmas.
Read More – Kirklees Together
read more – Kirklees Council website
18th September 2020
The Government has announced that the whole of Kirklees will be going back into local lockdown, from Tuesday 22nd September 2020. This means that (from 12am Monday night/Tuesday morning) people from different households in Kirklees will no longer be able to socialise and mix in houses and gardens.
This is combined with the new ‘Rule of 6’ Law (see below for more information) outside of those settings. Kirklees Council also have their own policy preventing local gatherings of over 30 people.
Read more about the new lockdown restrictions
The new ‘Rule of 6’ laws that came into force on Monday have created more confusion for third sector organisations, particularly those who were in the process of re-opening community groups and buildings. TSL Kirklees has been looking into the new rules on your behalf and trying to get some clarification on what this means for the sector across Kirklees and how the charitable, voluntary and community groups are affected, and what you need to consider.
We hope to have more information over the next few weeks, and plan to be able to address your concerns and answer questions at our next People Helping People Network meeting on 13th October at 1pm. We’d already planned that this session would look at issues around the re-opening and running of early years groups and activities (as requested at our last PHP meeting), and we will have experts from the Chestnut Centre and Kirklees Council who will be able to answer your questions. We’re now also looking into having experts who can answer questions and give advice on the new laws.
In the meantime, if you have issues or queries, please get in touch and we will do our best to help.
Find & book events on our website
Find & book events on our Facebook page
Here’s what we know so far:
Limits on the number of people you can see socially have changed. From Monday 14 September, when meeting friends and family you do not live with (or have formed a support bubble with) you must not meet in a group of more than 6, indoors or outdoors. This is against the law and the police will have the powers to enforce these legal limits, including to issue fines (fixed penalty notices) of £100, doubling for further breaches up to a maximum of £3,200.
for work, or the provision of voluntary or charitable services
registered childcare, education or training
supervised activities provided for children, including wraparound care, youth groups and activities, and children’s playgroups
providing support to a vulnerable person
providing emergency assistance, and to avoid injury or illness or to escape risk of harm
elite sporting competition and training
organised sport or exercises classes or licensed outdoor physical activity. This does not include informal sport or fitness activity with family or friends – this must be limited to a group of 6
support groups – formally organised groups to provide mutual aid, therapy or any other form of support. This includes support to victims of crime, recovering addicts, new parents, people with long-term illnesses, those facing issues relating to their sexuality or gender, and those who have suffered bereavement.
Managers of community facilities will have discretion over when they consider it safe to open for any activity permitted by legislation and may decide to remain closed if they are not able to safely follow the advice in the relevant guidance, to make the space COVID-19 secure.
Many community facilities are also workplaces and those responsible for the premises should therefore be aware of their responsibilities as employers. The government is clear that no one is obliged to work in an unsafe workplace.
Organisations also have a duty of care to volunteers to ensure as far as reasonably practicable they are not exposed to risks to their health and safety and are afforded the same level of protection as employees and the self-employed.
It is against the law for people to gather in a group of more than six, whether indoors or outdoors, unless covered by an exemption.
Community facilities following COVID-19 Secure guidance can host more than 6 people in total, but no one should visit or socialise in a group of greater than 6.
Informal or formal adult social groups, clubs and activities can gather in groups no greater than 6 in adherence to social distancing rules. However, for activities where there is a significant likelihood of groups of six interacting, and therefore breaking the law, should not take place in a community facility.
Support groups ( such as victim support and mental health groups) can take place in gatherings of any number (subject to capacity) in a COVID-19 secure community facility if organised by a business, a charitable, benevolent or philanthropic institution or a public body to provide mutual aid, therapy or any other form of support to its members or those who attend its meetings.
If partaking in permitted activities users of COVID-19 secure community facilities should limit their social interactions with anyone they do not live with.
A risk assessment should determine the maximum capacity of a hall or hire space while able to maintain social distancing according to the relevant guidelines.
…for activities and social groups where there is a significant likelihood of groups mixing and socialising ( and where it will be difficult to prevent mingling and therefore breaking the law) should not take place in a community facility. These may include but are not limited to:
formal or informal clubs and hobby clubs (e.g. women’s institute, veteran’s associations, freemasons, sewing clubs, book clubs, crafts clubs, reading groups)
amateur choirs and orchestras
informally organised sport activities on facilities grounds (professionally organised sport activities are exempt)
We continue to recommend that where meetings can take place digitally without the need for face-to-face contact, they should continue to do so.
Read the new guidance in full
Read the community buildings guidance in full
Our Volunteer Development Manager, Becky Bracey has been asking NCVO for some further guidance and they have said:
Formally organised support groups (organised by a business, a charitable, benevolent or philanthropic institution or a public body) are exempt from the 6 people rule which says:
“This includes (but not limited to) support to victims of crime, recovering addicts, new parents, people with long-term illnesses, those facing issues relating to their sexuality or gender, and those who have suffered bereavement.”
Whereas social groups as listed in 3c are not.
The distinction in this context is primarily between support groups and social groups i.e. support groups are providing an essential service on issues related to health, wellbeing, whereas social groups such as hobby groups are not.
Access more free information & resources from NCVO
Kirklees Council has given this additional guidance for those areas with additional local restrictions:
…if you live in an area subject to local restrictions however we continue to advise that you should not:
socialise with people you do not live with, unless they’re in your support bubble, in any public venue. This applies to inside and outside of the affected areas. Examples of public venues include pubs, restaurants, cafes, shops, places of worship, community centres, leisure and entertainment venues, or visitor attractions and parks
visit friends or family in care homes, other than in exceptional circumstances. Care homes should restrict visits to these circumstances
The rule of 6 doesn’t apply to local restriction areas so community centres within the affected areas should take steps to ensure people do not socialise with people they do not live with, in line with COVID-19 secure guidance. As always risk assessment is key; it is acknowledged that this might mean its not viable to open. Nurseries running from community centres are subject to the government guidance on early years settings.
This means that most community venues in local lockdown areas will probably not be able to open unless they run a nursery or other early years provision, or a business from the premises. However the council is encouraging everyone to read section 3 of the guidance for community buildings.
More details about the new guidance, risk assessment template and details about the new Government support grants for businesses affected by local lockdowns can be accessed below.
Download a sample risk assessment for your community building
more advice from Kirklees Council about the Rule of 6 & Community Buildings
Find out about new business support grants
10th August 2020
We are delighted to present Growing Works with the Kirklees Volunteering Quality Award. Growing Works is a charity based in Huddersfield, delivering therapeutic outdoor activities for families with different needs as well as people in isolated and vulnerable circumstances and those with mental health issues.
Through this programme of gardening and other outdoor activities the charity also works to educate the local community about the importance and benefits of the
natural environment.
As part of the quality award process Growing Works were supported to review their volunteering offer to ensure they are following national good practice and offering high quality volunteering opportunities.
We presented the Quality Award at their Almondbury Community Allotment which was bursting with produce and colour.
Sian Taylor, Volunteer Coordinator at Growing Works commented:
“Working towards the volunteering award helped us to create a good structure for volunteering at Growing Works with clarity around the roles on offer, how to apply and what to expect. TSL Kirklees Volunteering supported us through the process and provided advice and guidance wherever needed.
Volunteers are vital to Growing Works, they guide our work, support our projects and events, and share our news. They are an essential part of the Growing Works team.”
To find out more about Growing Works visit www.growingworks.org.uk/
For more information about our quality award contact Becky Bracey, Volunteer Development Manager email: becky@tslkirklees.org.uk
31st July 2020
How fantastic are our friends at the Chestnut Centre? We contacted them as one of our clients was due to deliver and had nothing for the baby. A quick call to their new Baby Boutique servie, providing urgent support and baby essentials to parents across Kirklees, and this treasure trove was delivered!
We can’t thank them enough and would urge anyone who has spare baby clothes or equipment to donate they and help out families in need, particularly refugees, asylum seekers and recent migrants.
Find out more about the Baby Boutique
Find out more about LS2Y
Find out more about TSL Kirklees Migration Team
24th July 2020
Our accounting and finance partners, West Yorkshire Community Accounting Service (WYCAS) are offering organisations in Kirklees a free half hour phone call, or Zoom meeting with Kirklees Community Accountant. Lis Beverley. These sessions are open to any organisation in Kirklees that needs information or advice, and are replacing the face to face monthly surgery (normally held at the TSL Kirklees offices) for the time being.
WYCAS is a unique local charity that offers expert help to address the specific needs of your organisation., from new groups that are just starting out, to more established ones.
23rd July 2020
22nd July 2020
Our services have had to change to make sure that we can still support people and keep them safe, but we are still here to help.
Our Welcome Mentors are now supporting people in Kirklees by phone. Our volunteer mentors speak over 50 different languages. If you know someone who is isolated and needs help, you can make a referral via our online form:
14th July 2020
Obviously, our traditional members’ meetings have been postponed for the foreseeable future. We are however, running virtual meetings via Microsoft Teams with important updates on the funding and support that’s available during the coronavirus pandemic, plus the opportunity for you to share news and updates, support each other and discuss issues. At the moment, we’re booking these meetings in depending on demand and need.
You can download the notes here
You can download the short Christmas Quiz and games here
You can download the Christmas Music Quiz here
14th July 2020
14th July 2020
TSL Kirklees member and local not-for-profit leisure provider, KAL, would like to offer other member organisations a discounted corporate membership rate. This discount applies to Standard or Plus Membership, and is available for all staff and volunteers.
14th July 2020
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