News

Helping Hands Wellingborough was set up on 19th July 2017, four and a half years ago, by founder Samantha Oakley. Her aim was to create a support network for those in the most urgent need and begin a community helping each other in difficult times.

The group now has 4 admins, Samantha, Gemma, Kat and Catherine; and it has grown to 1800 Facebook members, all listing, requesting and donating unused, outgrown and unwanted items in exchange for food, toiletries and laundry product donations to support the Helping Hands Foodbank facility, which is open to anyone in the Wellingborough area in need.

95% of donations are non-perishable food items, tins, packets, boxes and jars, and 5% are cash donations that are put into a community pot to purchase urgent fresh, frozen foods and baby items for those without the ability to do so themselves.

Helping hands also offer a baby and children’s clothes swishing service, run solely by group admin Gemma, where any clean, reusable clothing can be exchanged for the next size. Children’s coats and uniform are always offered for free as these are essentials and no child should ever be without a coat.

Helping Hands is a not for profit, volunteer led group, not a charity. No admin receives a wage, expenses or bonuses. They do this because they care for the community, and because it’s the right thing to do in this age where support services are stopped or denied funding.

Wellingborough’s local forum is for everyone, that’s why we try to make it available for everyone to use. We have reinstalled our online forum, with a simpler, more user friendly program, and added new security features that are easy to use, but protect you from scam bots. Have a look and join in at wellingborough.org/forum

Share your activities, publicise your events, promote your services or just chat. Wellingborough Forum is for all, for local people, for businesses, for community organisations and for conservation/eco groups. This is your forum, feel free to share it!

Wellingborough Forum is also available on Facebook at facebook.com/groups/wellingboroughforum and on Nextdoor at nextdoor.co.uk/g/z3y32wwid too, plus we will be hosting in person forums in 2022. Watch this space for details. Join in, share and support local people, places and services. We’re looking forward to seeing you post!

Wellingborough Forum is a discussion group, online and on Facebook to share activities and to debate issues. To start the conversations off, we will be posting a poll at the start of every week; and to start off with we are asking about the lockdown roadmap. Are restrictions being lifted at the right speed? What do you think?

1. Is the Lockdown roadmap taking us down the right track?
2. With cases rising in Europe are we moving to quickly?
3. With the success of our vaccination program are we relaxing rules too slowly?

This is how will lockdown is planned to be lifted in England:

What’s already changed?

• Schools and colleges have reopened, and university students can return for practical courses
• Two people from different households can meet outside for recreation, which can include “a coffee on a bench”
• Care home residents can have one nominated visitor, with testing and social distance precautions

From 29 March:

• People will be allowed to meet outside, either with one other household or within the “rule of six”, including in private gardens
• The stay at home rule will end, but the government will urge people to stay local as much as possible
• Outdoor sport facilities will reopen, including golf courses and tennis and basketball courts, and formally organised outdoor sports can restart
• Weddings attended by up to six people can take place in any circumstances

Stage two (no earlier than 12 April):

• All shops allowed to open, along with close-contact services, including hairdressers and beauty salons (including in people’s homes)
• Restaurants and pubs allowed to serve food and alcohol to customers sitting outdoors
• Gyms and spas can reopen, as can zoos, theme parks, libraries and community centres
• Members of the same household can take a holiday in the UK in self-contained accommodation
• Weddings attended by up to 15 people can take placeA waitress serving food in a pub garden

Stage three (no earlier than 17 May):

• People can meet in groups of up to 30 outdoors
• Six people or two households can meet indoors
• Pubs, restaurants and other hospitality venues can seat customers indoors
• Up to 30 people can attend weddings or other life events, like christenings
• Remaining outdoor entertainment, such as outdoor theatres and cinemas can open
• Indoor entertainment such as museums, theatres, cinemas and children’s play areas can open
• Performances and large events can restart, but with limits on audience numbers
• Hotels, hostels and B&Bs can reopenInternational leisure travel may resume
• Adult indoor group sports and exercise classes can restart

Stage four (no earlier than 21 June):

• All legal limits on social contact will be removed
• No legal limits on the number of people who can attend weddings, funerals and other life events
• Nightclubs will be allowed to reopen

What are the four tests for easing restrictions?

Each stage will be a minimum of five weeks apart and four conditions must be met at each stage before proceeding to the next one:

1. The coronavirus vaccine programme continues to go to plan
2. Vaccines are sufficiently reducing the number of people dying or needing hospital treatment
3. Infection rates do not risk a surge in hospital admissions
4. New coronavirus variants do not fundamentally change the risk of lifting restrictions

Please choose one of the options online or on Facebook, and if you want to share why, add a comment.

It goes without saying just how challenging the times we live in are for people and organisations right now, and we want to thank you for everything you or your organisation have done to help the people of Wellingborough during the pandemic.

We at One Wellingborough Plus know the importance of having strong connections across and within our communities, and we can also see the enormous strain the impacts of the ‘Covid Crisis’ have had on our lives and our personal and community connectedness.  So much of what we have been used to as people, families and communities has fallen away in our combined efforts to tackle this virus.

However, this period has also witnessed inspiring personal and community action, with so many people and groups selflessly stepping forward to help or to lead in these difficult times.

Back in July 2020 some local people and groups came together to see how we might work to help each of us after the pandemic.  Many of us expected we would now be in the ‘recovery’ phase for our community.  Unfortunately, this is not so.   But even as some of the immediate challenges of Covid-19 may soon gradually begin to lift, all of us are left to pick up the pieces and try and cope with the legacy.

Coping with Our Present and Building for Our Future

For some of us this is coping with the loss of a loved one, or still recovering from the illness itself, coping with losing a job and much needed income, coping with family stress or an interrupted education, or just feeling safe enough to try and come out of our homes back to life.  The road we have to climb is considerable, and it is going to require an enormous effort from all of us to help lift us ‘up’ again and also to ensure no one is left behind.

Prior to Covid-19, many people in our area were already struggling, now this number has considerably increased.  We want to invite you to join us in working to create ways to continue to help people cope now and to work together to ensure that the future for all of us in this Borough is so much brighter than it has been.

One Wellingborough Plus – Community Resilience Project

One Wellingborough Plus is a project that has been funded by the Borough Council of Wellingborough and Power to Change CCLORS Project, to help build community resilience in our area.  The project is a partnership of local organisations led by the Victoria Centre with the support of Dostiyo, Wellingborough Eco Group, GLJ Theatre, Karon’s Support Services.  These organisations are providing a range of services and activities that help people cope at this testing time.

This project was borne out of the successful collaboration between Victoria Centre and Glamis Hall to create the One Wellingborough urgent community response service, which has been operating since April 2020, and has helped more than 1,000 vulnerable people get the urgent help they need.

If you would like to find out more about One Wellingborough Plus and the many actions we are already taking to help build personal and community resilience then please, visit our website at onewellingboroughplus.wordpress.com or on our Facebook page at facebook.com/onewellingboroughplus

Creating a ‘Community Resilience Forum’

The main aim of the One Wellingborough Plus Community Resilience Project is to bring people and groups from across the borough together, to hear people’s concerns and ideas, and see what practical steps we can take to collectively help to meet some of the emerging needs, and provide some coordination and direction for our efforts where possible. 

One Wellingborough Plus partners invite you to a series of ‘Community Resilience forums’ that we are hosting for local people and organisations to work on community resilience planning.  These Community Resilience Forums are on Zoom for us all to discuss how to help people in the borough during and after the pandemic. 

Do join us for our first Community Resilience Forum on Friday 26th February at 2:00pm.

To take part register at https://wellingborough.org/site/community-resilience-forum. If you have any questions email jonathan@victoriacentre.org.uk or if you prefer to talk to Jonathan, call 07311 705705.  If English is your second language you can call Jaya on Wednesdays and Fridays between 10am and 3pm on 07977 558898.

We also recommend that you register as a user of Wellingborough Forum (if you haven’t already?) and join in on the online Community Resilience Forum.

One Wellingborough Plus Partners include:

Do you have anything you want to swap or are you looking to give something away?

Live on Zoom, Wellingborough’s first ‘Saturday Swap Shop’ will be hosted by Wellingborough Eco Group at the Victoria Centre. They will have a selection of items to swap and invite you to swap with them and others on Saturday 20th February, between 10:30 and 12:00 midday. It’s going to be fun and it’s free!

Wellingborough Swap Shop is a free and local exchange where members of the public can pass on things they no longer want, in exchange for something they need. You could describe it as a kind of cashless bring-and-buy sale. Participants do not need to bring anything in order to take away goods, and vice versa.

Saturday Swap Shop is at the Victoria Centre, but due to lockdown, this is a Zoom only event. Wellingborough Eco Group will be using their Facebook Group and their forum to share pictures, start posting today or you can simply just hold up you item(s) during the event.

What you offer is entirely up to you, as long as it’s legal, not hazardous or not a pet. Examples include: books, DVDs and CDs, kitchenware, pictures, tools, gardening items, curtains and other soft furnishings, children’s toys and baby items.

Register for the event at Wellingborough Eco Group’s Blog

Staying in means you can JOIN IN! 

Wellingborough Forum is an online forum of forums for you, and everyone is invited to join in.  Created by Wellingborough Organisations and managed by the One Wellingborough Plus partners, this is a community resilience project designed to get local people talking round a table. 

You can view the forum without registering, but to take part in any of the discussions you will need to register.  It’s free, it’s a website so no apps are needed and it’s not just on social media so everyone can socialise; plus, there’s no invasive advertising to interrupt you.  Register and then confirm your email to join in, create topics, comment and discuss. 

There are five main forums to interact with: 

1. General 
2. Events 
3. Remembrance Wall 
4. Community Resilience 
5. Wellingborough Eco Group 

1. General 

Is the main forum for everyone with everything to discuss!   Topics can be added by all users for general discussion, be they news, services, business or community.  If you have something that everyone needs to hear about, share it as a topic.  Sub forums can also be added on request. 

2. Events 

This is for what’s on in Wellingborough, which is more than you might think, even during lockdown!  Events can be added as topics by all users for promotion and discussion.  Sub forums for different types of events can be added on request. 

3. Remembrance Wall 

The Victoria Centre is devoting a wall of their Sanctuary Hall to remembering those whom we have lost during the Coronavirus pandemic.  You can pay an online tribute to them on this forum, which will be available for everyone to see virtually, plus they will update the wall at the Centre for you. 

4. Community Resilience 

One Wellingborough Plus is a community resilience project that is working with partners to help people in the town and borough during and after the Coronavirus pandemic.  They are hosting forums on Zoom and here online for local people and organisations to work together. 

5. Wellingborough Eco Group 

Wellingborough Eco Group have a forum here to share environmentally friendly tips, news and information; plus, a sub forum for their Swap Shop and another for their Repair Club.  You can share, repair and go eco-friendly here. 

Staying in means you can join in, join us at wellingborough.org/forum and on Facebook at facebook.com/groups/wellingboroughforum too! 

About One Wellingborough Plus

One Wellingborough Plus is a community resilience project led by the Victoria Centre, with partners Karon’s Support Services, Dostiyo, GLJ Theatre and Wellingborough Eco Group providing community resilience activities and support in the Borough of Wellingborough.

The project has been funded by the Borough Council of Wellingborough and Power to Change. Find out more at onewellingboroughplus.wordpress.com or at facebook.com/onewellingboroughplus

Welcome to our new website. We have set up this to add functionality to our site, to bring you new features and improve the look of the site. It will include profiles of businesses and community organisations plus updates from them. This site has been set up as a news magazine, where the latest blog posts will be featured on the front page.

This is all about Wellingborough, what’s going on locally and who does what in our town and borough. We’re here to share Wellingborough by featuring local organisations including businesses, charities, groups and services.  They could do anything, as long it is in Wellingborough we will blog about each and every one in a simple set format so you can compare them.

This website now includes a forum for everyone to share information and discuss services. We have set this up to encourage discussion, to improve communication and to increase collaboration between Wellingborough’s organisations, but it can also be used to seek assistance or support, and to get better engagement with other organisations locally.

We are also on Facebook and Twitter @wellyorg to share what’s happening locally with everyone, please do like and follow us for the very latest updates from us and other locally. You can join in and contribute too on our Facebook Forum Group or contact us via our contact form. We look forward to hearing from you soon.

COMMUNITY CENTRES TEAM UP TO OFFER SUPPORT DURING THE CORONAVIRUS EMERGENCY

Two community centres in Wellingborough have teamed up to offer a helping hand to vulnerable people and families across Wellingborough during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Victoria Centre and Glamis Hall have come together to form the One Wellingborough project, to provide a range of essential community services across the town in these challenging times. Working alongside other local partners, One Wellingborough will help people and groups, and offer more coordination and support across the whole community.

Victoria Centre Manager, Marion Turner-Hawes, said: “Across our area we saw people struggling and wanted to help. When the lockdown happened, our centre had to close and we lost all of our income. However, as difficult as it has been for us, we know that many people have had much more of a struggle. People and groups across Wellingborough are renowned for stepping up during difficult times.

“This crisis has seen a massive number of people offering their time, skills and resources, and we thought we could do the same. Together with Glamis Hall, we can provide practical help and work to improve co-ordination, providing clear information about the help that is available and how people can access it. I hope the the One Wellingborough project will be able to help any people to make the best of all the resources and support available in our community.”

Project Leader Jo Peploe, the Centre Manager at Glamis Hall, is very excited by the project. She said: ” The project provides two community hubs, Victoria Centre and Glamis Hall, from which we are coordinating support to all nine wards in Wellingborough. We know that some areas are already well served by volunteers but other areas need more support.

“We see this project directly supporting people in practical ways, and assisting groups who might need extra help or advice to support people in their area. One Wellingborough is offering help to people who are self isolating, those who may be experiencing economic hardship and those affected in other ways. Young, old, disabled, BAME or LGBT, we are here to help. It’s in our DNA at Glamis Hall.”

One Wellingborough, funded by the Borough Council of Wellingborough, offers services such as delivering hot or frozen meals, doing shopping for people, picking up medicine or just ringing people for a chat. It also aims to deliver food parcels and other support whilst following social distancing rules.

One Wellingborough is also looking at how they might work with the Daylight Centre, Wellingborough Homeless Forum, faith and other local groups to help as many people as possible in a ‘joined up’ way. The services are free, but donations are welcome and will go towards helping many more people get the food, meals or support they need.

Anyone seeking help or wanting to volunteer can contact One Wellingborough by calling 01933 677326 or emailing info@glamishall.org.uk