Blog Entries 2022
Blog Entries 2022
Blog Entries 2022
January 22: Healthy Changes Start with Little Changes
Whether you want to lose weight, get active or even quit smoking, Bury has a whole host of services and advice to help you take your first step towards making healthier lifestyle choices in 2022.
If you want to find ways to help lift your mood and improve your mental health, The Bury Directory Health & Wellbeing Hub is a dedicated section devoted to mental and emotional wellbeing services and advice!
What is available in Bury?
Helping Yourself to Wellbeing Course- 7-week course to help individuals to self-care and improve their health and wellbeing. The course provides participants with the knowledge, skills and tools to improve their confidence and motivation to set realistic goals for making changes to their lifestyle. New course dates are available soon so if you are interested email HY2W@bury.gov.uk
Bury Live Well Service- a broad range of support services to help keep you in the best possible health, physically, mentally, socially and emotionally.
Stop Smoking Service- Free confidential service that will support you to quit smoking.
Getting Help Line- Free telephone service for residents of all ages in Bury who are experiencing difficulties with their emotional wellbeing.
AgeUK Bury Telephone Advice Line- Age UK's advice line is a free, confidential national phone service for older people, their families, friends, carers and professionals.
Creative Living Centre- A wide range of courses, activities and 1:1 support (including counselling) to help people better understand and manage their mental wellbeing
Older People’s Staying Well Team- A project for over 50's provided by Bury Council. The Staying Well Team will help you to ensure you are receiving great all-round care and support, so that you can enjoy good health and maintain your independence.
Bury Carers Hub- Bury Carers’ Hub provides a single point of access for all adult Carers (18+) supporting another adult living in Bury. The Hub exists to ensure that Carers have access to information, advice, and a wide range of support services.
Beacon Social Prescribing Service- Our service helps improve an individual’s wellbeing by connecting them to support through VCSE organisations. Our aim is to address support social, economic and environmental factors affecting people’s health, where medication alone is unlikely to provide a sustainable improvement.
What is available nationally?
NHS Better Health- free tools and support.
Every Mind Matters- You can find simple ways to lift your mood
Kooth- Online counselling and emotional well-being platform for children and young people aged 11 to 18 years has been available in Bolton, Manchester, Oldham, Trafford Rochdale and Wigan.
Alcohol Change UK- Works with individuals to change their unhealthy drinking habits.
Anxiety UK- works to relieve and support those living with anxiety disorders by providing information, support and understanding via an extensive range of services, including 1:1 therapy.
Drink Aware- Advice and resources to reduce alcohol misuse and harm in the UK.
February 2022: The Beacon Social Prescribing Service
The Beacon Social Prescribing Service helps improve an individual’s wellbeing by connecting them to support through VCSE organisations. Their aim is to address support social, economic and environmental factors affecting people’s health, where medication alone is unlikely to provide a sustainable improvement.
The Beacon Service Health and Social Care Manager, John Aikin, states how The Bury Directory helps his clients:
“The Bury Directory is a fantastic resource which we share with our Beacon Service Social Prescribing clients. We have worked closely with The Bury Directory Team on a number of initiatives – including the ‘While You Wait’ webpage and a number of other Health and Social Care related priorities.”
“The Directory has been really useful for clients, particularly those new to Bury and wanting to connect to services in their communities. The mobile phone app which is being developed will be something we’ll encourage all social prescribing clients to use and look forward to the launch of this.”
To access more information about the Beacon Social Prescribing Service visit https://theburydirectory.co.uk/services/beacon-service-social-prescribing
March 22: Family Information Service
The Family Information Service (FIS) is a free council service providing information for parents, carers, children and young people and those working with families in Bury.
This is the main contact for updating and searching information for Children and Families and is based on The Bury Directory.
The FIS service supports families looking for;
childcare providers
after school care
holiday care
holiday schemes
wrap around care
information regarding activities and support available for parents and professionals alike
Using The Bury Directory, the service provides lots of useful information and this information can be broken down into specific areas as well as specific age groups. Information on the Directory is held for children and young people aged 0-19 from searching for Childcare Provision to even a section for Teenagers.
There is also information on activities for children and families such as Guides and Scouts etc., community activities and details of leisure and recreation opportunities including sports.
The majority of families are able to access the information they need without assistance; however, a brokerage service is available for those who may require it.
This service is for parents and carers who:
have exhausted the normal routes of finding childcare and are still unable to find childcare which meets their needs
need extra support to understand the options available to them, this may be because of individual child's circumstances such as a disability or special educational needs
need childcare as an emergency/short notice
Are unable to find a free early learning or childcare place for their child.
For further information, please contact Janet Watts on childinfo@bury.gov.uk or visit theburydirectory.co.uk/services/family-information-service-fis
April 22: Don't Brush it Under the Carpet Campaign
The first step to feeling better is to talk to someone, it could be a loved one, a health professional or a neighbour.
Whatever your age and however you might be feeling, this campaign has been set up to highlight that you aren’t alone in how you are feeling and help you take the first steps to getting the right support and guidance.
There are lots of things you can do to help improve how you are feeling:
1. Talk to someone
Tell a friend, family member or someone you trust how you are feeling.
2. Speak to your GP
Your GP can arrange for you to receive support from the right services. If you need support out of hours call NHS 111
3. Visit The Bury Directory Health and Wellbeing channel
Here you will find a range of local, community support, therapy and local/ national helplines readily available right at your fingertips!
4. Text Shout
If you prefer to talk to someone over text message, Shout offer confidential support 24/7. Text: SHOUT to 85258
5. Call the Samaritans on 116 123
Whatever you are going through, a Samaritan will face it with you. They are there 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.
June 22: Carers Week 2022
The COVID-19 pandemic had a monumental impact on unpaid carers’ lives – not only because of the increased amount of care that many provided, but because of the far-reaching effect that providing this level of care has had on unpaid carers.
Many people also took on new caring responsibilities for their relatives and friends who are disabled, ill or older and who need support.
During Carers Week 2022, we are coming together to make caring Visible, Valued and Supported.
Find out what is available in Bury during Carers Week 2022!
July 22: 'Let's Live Well' Programme of Activities
With strong links to Bury Council’s LET’S Do It! strategy, the ‘Let’s live well’ programme offers residents throughout the borough of Bury, lots of different ways to live well.
The key aim of the programme is to support communities to recover from the serious impact of Coronavirus, inspiring local people to make better lifestyle choices that will allow them to:
improve their health and wellbeing;
thrive and flourish; and
live their best life.
Activities offered as part of this programme are funded by the LET’S Do It! Health Improvement Fund and delivered by:
community/voluntary groups;
charities;
social enterprises;
clubs and societies;
schools;
Bury Leisure sports centres;
Bury Library Service.
‘Let’s live well’ activities programme
The activities available are extensive, ranging from guided walks, litter picking and cooking classes, to advice sessions for parents and everything in-between.
Find activities and services available in Bury on The Bury Directory:
Across Bury- https://theburydirectory.co.uk/services/across-bury-lets-live-well-activities
Bury North- https://theburydirectory.co.uk/services/bury-north-lets-live-well-activities
Bury East- https://theburydirectory.co.uk/services/bury-east-lets-live-well-activities
October 22: Eating Healthy on a Budget
The household food shop can be a big expense for many families, and that pressure is increasing with prices rising. To continue to stock up on tasty ingredients and make delicious, healthy meals it takes extra thought, planning and creativity, but it is worth it.
Where you can shop local
Living in Bury we have a wide choice of supermarkets, discounters, independent stores and markets on our doorstep.
We are really lucky to have the fantastic Bury Market with over 300 stalls offering a diverse range of products and fresh ingredients with some great bargains to be had. See how this reporter from the Manchester Evening News got on with £10 at Bury Market.
Plan, Plan, Plan…
Meal planning can bring many benefits. Not only does it play an important role when it comes to sticking to a budget (by making sure you only buy what you need), it also helps prevent food waste, saves time and money, and helps you stick to healthy eating.
Meal planning gives you the opportunity to use up left over food that you have in the house to stop it from going to waste.
You can find some other useful ideas here.
Cracking Good Food - Power up the Flavour
Consider plant-based days when drawing up your meal plan, this is just one way you could save some money and help the environment.
You can find some other useful ideas here.
Cook fresh meals from simple ingredients
There are many free family recipes at your fingertips these days. The BBC Good Food website for example has a section dedicated to budget healthy recipes. Whether it's dinner recipes you're after, or breakfast ideas, there is something for everyone, from stir fries to soups to curries - the list is endless. If you want something more structured, then the Family Budget Meal Plan and the Vegetarian Budget Meal Plan does the hard work for you.
If you would like support with increasing your culinary confidence, then check out Bury Adult Learning’s FREE ‘Improve Your Mood Through Food’ courses. Learn how to cook simple meals, understand how what we eat can affect how we feel, and how making small changes to the way we cook can develop a healthier lifestyle. Look at their website or ‘Like’ them on Facebook to see what other opportunities are available.
Bury Cares about you and Good Food
Did you know that Bury has its very own Food Partnership? The Bury Food Partnership connects community organisations and individuals across Bury and Greater Manchester to challenge and help shape the way Bury sources and provides good food for all.
Bury achieved the prestigious Sustainable Food Places bronze award in June 2022. The award recognises Bury Food Partnership’s work to promote healthy, sustainable, and local food and to tackle some of today’s greatest social challenges, from food poverty and diet-related ill-health to the disappearance of family farms and the loss of independent food retailers.
Check out the Bury Good Food Charter and discover how you can get involved.