web analytics

Dickens Heath Heroes

Dickens Heath Heroes The Parish Council would like to say a huge thank you to some of our Dickens Heath Heroes who have been making a difference to the village by litter picking.  To the couple who live near the Village Green and litter pick most days, and to the young man who is volunteering as a litter picker for his Duke of Edinburgh award – you are very much appreciated

Age UK

Age UK Solihull is the first point of call for any concerns or needs of older people.  We can provide advice, information and refer on to support from our own services or from other local organisations, including Adult Social Care. 

Phone number 0121 7047840 or email info@ageuksolihull.org.uk, during office hours

We’re also happy to talk to relatives, carers, friends or neighbours to give advice. 

Our services include:

·         Telephone Befriending – Volunteers are matched with an older person who lives alone to make calls once a week or more.  We are supporting around 400 older people in this way.

·         Volunteer Shoppers – Volunteers are matched with an older person to shop for once a week, and to deliver to the doorstep. We also have volunteers available for urgent shopping needs.

·         Home Support Service – Staff members with PPE will provide services to people who need support within the home.  This has traditionally been a paid-for service, although we now have some funding to provide this to people in need. This is for people unable to take shopping from the doorstep who need help with putting away shopping, preparing food, or other tasks.

·         We can make referrals to food banks

·         We can provide emergency food parcels in some urgent circumstances, eg for people discharged from hospital 

·         Winter Warmth Advice service – We provide advice on issues such as reducing energy bills, applying for Warm Home Discount, and we can provide emergency electric heaters and electric blankets to people in need, or if their heating has broken down.  This service is available for people over 18 as well. 

·         For older people who have had a fall, we have a Postural Stability Exercise Programme.  This is currently provided with telephone support over 20 weeks, with guidance on paper by post or on YouTube.  This is free with a referral from a GP or physiotherapist. 

·         We are about to start a small pilot with volunteer Digital Champions supporting older people to learn to use a touchscreen tablet. Please contact us if someone needs this help.

  •           We may be able to help people to get to Covid vaccination appointments.   If a vulnerable person would have to cancel their vaccination appointment due to not being able to get there they can contact us and we will try our best to help.  We may have a volunteer or staff member who can give them a lift, if the vulnerable person can independently get in and out of a car.  For those not able to do that there are other options we can explore. 

·         We are also the lead partner in the Solihull Community Advice Hubs delivering Universal Information, Advice and Support to all age groups over the age of 18. This includes: benefits, debt, direct payments, care and support, health and wellbeing. The  Advice Hubs are the gateway to services in Solihull and we have over 700 referral partners. The Community Advice Hub number is 0121 7097590.

·          As well as our own services, we have links into other voluntary and statutory services –  if you don’t know where to go to find a service just give us a call. 

Vaccination Update from Solihull MBC Community Champions

Covid Vaccination Leaflet

Some positive news on the vaccine front: we are making good progress in Solihull, with the effort to vaccinate in care homes pretty much complete, and the vaccinations of over 80s likely to be complete within the next week. A few key points:

·         There is no issue with vaccine supply.

·         Vaccinations for the housebound are now starting. This is being managed centrally for Birmingham/Solihull (not through local GPs).

·         Vaccine is not being wasted. The Pfizer vaccine does have a very short life once defrosted, but missed appointments are rare and any surplus is used up for other priority patients, etc.

·         People who don’t want to go to Millennium Point can wait to get their vaccine locally.

·         Don’t ring your GP unless it’s really necessary.

·         Local vaccinations in Solihull are being managed through four distribution points (i.e. not every GP surgery). This is to manage the logistics as part of a nationwide operation (there are 600 vaccination locations across the country). It’s likely to become more localised in the future but, for now, some centralisation is better to facilitate speed.

·         Recruitment for support jobs at Millennium Point is underway. More details at https://www.wmjobs.co.uk/job/86710/Covid-19-mass-testing-support-programme/.

Highways England M40/M42 Interchange Scheme – survey works update

We’re upgrading the M40/M42 Interchange to reduce congestion and improve journey times. We’ll shortly start some overnight survey work to gather information to inform the final design of the scheme.

How will the survey work affect road users?

We’ll put the following closures in place overnight from 9pm to 6am:

M42 Northbound to M42 Northbound Link at J3a – January 5, 6, 7, 8 & 11

M42 Southbound to M42 Southbound Link at J3a – January 12, 13, 14,15 & 18

M40 Northbound to M42 Northbound Link at J3a – February 15, 16, 17, 18 &19

M42 Southbound to M40 Southbound Link at J3a – February 22, 23, 24, 25 & 26

In addition, we’ll continue our main carriageway surveys in the following locations:

·         M42 J3a – M40 J16 from mid-January for 6 weeks

·         M42 J3a – 4 from end-February for 6 weeks

Vandalism of Village Green Christmas Tree Lights

The Parish Council are devastated to report that 2 brand new sets of lights on the Village Green Christmas tree have ‘failed’ because of acts of pure vandalism.

After such a terrible year, the Councillors had really wanted to bring some Xmas cheer to the village – they arranged for a new safe mains power supply to be installed, and Councillors Trevor Eames and Alan Scholes, along with members of our community, spent hours installing the tree and decorating it.  When the lights failed after just 5 days, the Councillors rushed out to buy another set and hang them on the tree.  When the second set also failed after a few days, Councillor Scholes investigated and found that both sets of lights had been cut – which an electrician has confirmed is undoubtedly a deliberate act.  The Parish Council are at a loss as to why anyone would do this – when the lit tree was simply there to brighten up the village and bring some Xmas cheer.  As things stand we are unsure as to whether there is any point in replacing the lights again only for them to be vandalised in the same way.  

Village Christmas Tree

You may have noticed that the village Christmas tree is now up and decorated. It is in a new location on the Village Green with a new low volt mains power supply, new lights and with decorations made by children at Dickens Heath School.The tree has been provided by the Parish Council, and we would like to thank all the volunteers who helped to get the tree in place, to the Village Hall committee and to the Community Church group for their support this year. Thank you also to the Tickner family who added the children’s decorations on Saturday.Appreciation also goes to the LAYCA Community Association for lending us the scaffolding tower and working on the tree, plus Barrie the truck owner who provided the transport. And not forgetting Parish Councillor Trevor Eames who has worked so hard co-ordinating everything.We will miss the usual official switch on this year, along with the carol service in the Village Hall, mince pies and refreshments. Hopefully our usual festivities will all be back in 2021.