Foster Care... a BRIGHT and BRILLIANT Art Exhibition
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IS H T N N IO Signs of Child Sexual I IT ED Exploitation centre spread Active Living pages 6&7 p2 unteer e a vol Becom Summer 2016 Taunton Your Somerset Deane A bright and brilliant Foster care... art exhibition created by Somerset 11 to 16 A BRIGHT and year olds who are currently in care has BRILLIANT art launched Foster Care exhibition Fortnight 2016! For more information about fostering see page 9. Our services in demand These figures show the scale of the increasing Couple this with the continuing reductions Last year there were need for, and demand on, these key services in our direct funding from Government - a which, at £80m of our budget, are our biggest £15m cut for the next financial year - and a staggering 61,000 area of spend. the pressure on our finances is obvious. calls and emails to the And it’s a pressure that is not going away. At any one time we support around It’s fantastic that people are living longer County Council about 1,500 people through care home across the county. However, it’s also a placements at an average cost massive challenge as more and more care services for adults. need our help to manage long-term health of £500 per week, and another conditions, such as dementia, or just the 1,000 with nursing care placements That’s more than 160 calls a day to our increased needs that come with getting older. at a cost of around £600 per week. contact centre. Behind each of them We know how highly you value these was an older or vulnerable person asking Nearly 2,000 more people are services, and we will continue to do for help and advice, or looking for care helped to stay living independently everything we can to protect them as we and support of some kind. at home through home care, manage our budget. On page 4 you have averaging about £130 per week. an opportunity to remind us of your priorities It’s also around 5,000 through this year’s Listening Learning more than four years ago. Changing initiative. ...continued on page 4... 02 News Foreword John Osman Become a volunteer Leader It’s only July but we’re already looking ahead to how we’re going to balance the books in next year’s budget. Once again you can help by taking part in our Listening, Learning, Changing survey on pages 4 and 5 , which helps give us a better understanding of your priorities. But reduced funding from government is only half the story… Our front page highlights the increasing demand for our social care services and the costs that come with it. We all want ourselves, friends and family to live longer, but if we and - do something good today! our colleagues in the NHS are to keep up with demand, we need it to be longer and healthier. There are loads of volunteering opportunities All the evidence shows that being active, in that can help support and enhance County body and mind, keeps us healthier for longer. If you want to help Council services. We can make the right lifestyle choices for ourselves, but also help our older relatives and in the community Somerset You can Do will help you find the friends stay active. Encouraging and helping perfect volunteering opportunity, arrange any them get involved in community activities is a but don’t know training and support you on your volunteering big help. The Active Living Centre network (see journey. pages 6 and 7) is fantastic, and there are where to begin, countless other groups out there, whether it’s a Volunteering is great for your community and it can lunch club, walking club or reading group. So, Somerset You can improve your quality of life too. You could: get out there and stay active – and healthy this • Gain new skills and open up career opportunities summer, and let’s hope the weather plays its Do can help you • Keep busy and do rewarding things in your spare part too! time get started. • Meet new people, build confidence and have fun Editor’s Info What our volunteers do To get in contact with Your Somerset or to advertise in this publication, contact Drive Support Help Lauren Fellingham on (01823) 359176 , people peopl elderly people email [email protected] Help e with l get involv or write to us at Your Somerset , to health young families earning ed in appointm disa activities in their Somerset County Council, ents in our bilities FREEPOST NAT 9109, getset centres communities County Hall, Taunton, TA1 4DY. Get in touch today We gratefully acknowledge the support of and find out more about organisations that advertise in Your Somerset , Somerset the Somerset Volunteer Service: but Somerset County Council can accept no You can Do is responsibility for the products or services recruiting people of www.somersetyoucando.org.uk advertised. We advise readers to make their all ages to volunteer [email protected] own enquires before purchasing products or and help improve lives (01278) 664180 services. and communities You can also find volunteering across the Pssst... Your Somerset costs 5p per copy opportunities in your area at county. to produce. www.do-it.org News 03 Adopt a path A new chapter for Library hub Summer paths lovin’ If you love being outdoors in the summer and enjoy walking, cycling or riding on the paths in your local area, we need your help. A new plan to create better buildings The extra benefit for Somerset County for public sector services is well Council is that moving services into one place means we can then sell off redundant underway across Somerset. The idea buildings and reinvest the money to protect is to create ‘hubs’ around our market frontline services. town libraries, where residents can The revamped Glastonbury hub reopens later go to access services like social this month and brings together Glastonbury care, Citizen’s Advice, health Library, Registration Services, getset support, visit a children’s centre Children’s Centre, health visitors and or even to just borrow a book. midwives, Mendip District Council’s Access Point, Citizen’s Advice, Health Connections The first hub to be rolled out will be at Mendip and a nursery. Orchard Court in Glastonbury, where work is already well underway, with proposals being Thank you to everyone who got involved in drawn up for similar schemes in Williton, our recent countywide engagement exercise. Shepton Mallet and Yeovil. Your feedback will continue to help us develop these projects and to make sure that Sharing space for our services with partners the library service is fit for the future, while like district councils, NHS and Citizen’s delivering much needed financial savings. Advice means residents can get all the help they might need in one place, and in To find out more or to see the views Glastonbury this means we can even keep that people shared with us, visit our library open for longer. www.somerset.gov.uk/libraryconsultation By adopting your favourite footpath or bridleway you could help to make sure everyone else gets to enjoy it too. Planning for your AGED: Whether it has amazing views, historical 3 TO 4 connections or access to the pub and future childcare local shop, all we ask is that you use the needs route regularly and report any problems 570 hours of funded that you come across. We can also supply Here’s your last chance to tell us what childcare a year.This is on gloves and secateurs if you want to help your childcare needs are as the keep the path clear. It’s a great way to Council prepares for new top of the existing 570 keep fit and healthy and help the local government legislation that will hours currently available to community if you have the time. give working parents of three and all three and four-year-olds. For more information, email four-year-olds up to 30 [email protected] hours of funded To find out more or to take part in the survey If you would like to find out about other childcare per week. before it closes on volunteer schemes linked with Rights of Wednesday 20 July, visit Way, or look at the path network in the From September 2017 www.somerset.gov.uk/ county on our new interactive Explore parents who work at least 30hoursparents Somerset map, visit www.somerset.gov.uk 16 hours per week each, /rightsofway will receive an additional 04 Listening... Listening, Learning, Changing As our budgets continue Have your say to be squeezed, it’s more When it comes to setting the budget 1 these are the areas that we think are important than ever that most important. We’d like to know 2 which of these are most important we give you the chance 3 to you. to tell us what’s 1 important to you. This is the fourth year that Listening, Learning, Changing has been seeking people’s views on the Council’s priorities and other key issues. Last year Please put a we spoke to well over 4,000 people at our events 1, 2 or 3 in the across the county. Along the way we also gave Help vulnerable and Safer children residents a glimpse into the breadth of services the boxes provided older people and better care Council provides, an idea of the challenges we face to indicate your when making decisions, and our vision for the future. top three priorities (1 being your Last year people put ‘Helping vulnerable and elderly people’ and ‘Attracting jobs top priority).