12 JUNE 2020 | VOL 5

LOCALITY HUB NEWSLETTER

Supporting residents of Barton, Risinghurst, and Sandhills through COVID-19

WELCOME! Our team at Barton Locality Hub is working to support residents of Barton, Risinghurst, Headington, and Sandhills during the COVID-19 crisis, alongside some amazing and inspiring partners across the area. The aim of this newsletter is to share the great work that our partners are doing, and to keep you up to date with what we have been up to at Hub Statistics the Hub, share important information, and good news stories. We hope to 11 June you enjoy it and please do get in touch if you have any questions or have any stories or photos to add! A FEW ITEMS FROM US Total referrals to date Let us know what your hopes are for your community! The coronavirus lockdown has created major challenges for people and communities, such as being able to access food and essential items. As the pandemic stretches out, there are other issues that communities will be facing, but there are also opportunities to improve the quality of life in our areas. We are working together with the community to conduct a needs Needs analysis that identifies the concerns and hopes of our communities so we can identify priorities for our work in the future. To have your say, click on the survey link here: www.surveymonkey.co.uk/r/7L5HRH2

What if you could do more of what you love? The PopUp Business School are running a free online course next week that shows you practical ways to run a business, wherever you are on your journey. Support given If you’re already established, they'll be covering how to adapt and be more resilient during times of change. The course runs from 15 – 19 June. Sign up at PopUpBusinessSchool.co.uk/

A reminder: If you know anyone who is in need of urgent assistance, they can be referred to us by filling out a form at: www..gov.uk/CommunityAssistance, or by calling our contact centre on 01865 249 811.

GOOD NEWS STORIES

Risinghurst Community Association has kicked off a food drive to collect typical food cupboard items and other daily essentials to give back to people in the community who need it most. The RCA are two weeks into the drive and already the community have been very generous in their donations. All donations received are distributed through food banks and the Hub.

Shay, from Risinghurst Community Association , said “Although we’re aware that this is a small drop in the ocean, we hope to keep going as long as the community keeps giving. If you’d like to get involved, please bring your donations to the Community Centre, where we have a table to place your items every day between 10am and 6pm. Whether it’s a packet of Jaffa Cakes or a tin of soup, your donations will be sure to put a smile on someone’s face!”

We reported in our last newsletter that Barton Community Association, Beautiful Barton, St Mary’s Church, Barton Allotment Association, and Oxford City Council have partnered up to launch three competitions under the banner of ‘Love the Place You Live.’ We’ve had an amazing response so far; the kids' creative competition has already had over ten submissions of fantastic 'Barton Bees'! It’s not too late to take part - you have until Friday 26 June to submit your Bee to be in for a chance of winning a £10 voucher and of course the kudos of the community! Solvita Coker-Shuiab's lovely 'Barton Bee' and friends

Head over to the ‘Barton Community’ or ‘Beautiful Barton’ Facebook pages for more details, and to get involved!

Headington Market, with support from Headington Action, are providing 25 meals a week for four weeks to the volunteers and staff at Sobell House Hospice to boost morale with a huge thank you!

Cari, Headington Market Co-chair, said: "Headington Market are delighted to be able to support the Sobell House, thanks to funding from Headington Action. Even though we've had to suspend our weekly market for the time being, this initiative brings our traders and our local community together. We wanted to give something back to the staff at the hospice during these very difficult times, as they are working so hard to support the wider Oxfordshire community." FROM LOCALITY HUB TO FOOD DISTRIBUTION CENTRE...

Back in March, Oxford City Council arranged with local partners to distribute food boxes through a network of community larders as well as a council run food distribution centre. Over 1600 food boxes a week are now distributed to those in need. The food boxes are supplied by SOFEA, a charity that works to ensure that everybody has access to quality food. Supplying this volume of food, not only to the residents of Oxford but the whole county, has been a huge undertaking for SOFEA and has required them to quickly expand their operations to cope with this new demand. Staff and volunteers at SOFEA have done a great job keeping the operation running smoothly under enormous pressure for 10 weeks straight!

So in order to give SOFEA space to take a well-earned break, two teams from the City Council volunteered to take on the packing of the food parcels for a week. As part of this effort, last week saw Barton Community Centre become a food hub as council volunteers, led by members of our Barton Locality Hub team, took delivery of seven pallets of food and worked fast to pack everything into 900 boxes over two days. Community larders around the city then distributed the boxes, including 300 distributed by the Barton Community Association. A huge well done and thank you to everyone involved, and special thanks go to Dan Barker for all his hard work swiftly transforming the Hub into a well-oiled production line!

GOVERNMENT GUIDANCE ON SOCIAL GATHERINGS In this fast changing situation, there's a lot of advice and guidance coming out and it can be confusing trying to keep on top of the updates. We've pulled together a summary of the most recent guidance from the Government:

From the 13 June, single adult households are allowed to form a support bubble with one other household. This support bubble should not be changed. You should continue to maintain strict social distancing rules at all times when leaving the house. You should limit interactions with people outside of your household or support bubble. You are allowed to meet outdoors with no more than six people from different households or support bubbles. You are allowed to play sports in a group of no more than six people from different households or support bubbles. You are allowed to meet outdoors in groups larger than six, as long as everyone is a member of your household or support bubble. You must not meet in a group of more than six people that you don’t live with or who are not in your support bubble – it is prohibited by law. The police and relevant authorities have the powers to enforce the law, including by dispersing gatherings and dispensing fines.

For more detail, and to keep up-to-date on official guidance, visit the Government website here: www.gov.uk