Be Mindful in May, says county

Denbighshire County Council is running a campaign urging residents to Be Mindful in May.

The campaign is encouraging everyone, particularly the over 70s and those with underlying health conditions, to look after their physical and mental health and wellbeing during these times of uncertainty.

Staying at home and reducing contact with others can be difficult and we need to get used to doing things differently which is why our campaign focuses on staying positive, helping to take care of yourself and of course those you care for.

During the month of May, the council will be launching themed weeks with a host of ideas, and  suggestions for home based activities.

The campaign kicks off on 3 May with Wellbeing Week, followed by Love Your Local Area Week which aims to highlight the local area and appreciate what’s on your doorstep. 

Love Reading Week starts on 10 May with lots of inspiration and ideas for reading at home and finally Your Community Week will be celebrating the people and activities in your community during the last week of May.

Cllr Bobby Feeley, the council’s Lead Member for Wellbeing and Independence, said: ‘‘During these very difficult times, we can all take steps to make a difference, while spending more time at home and following the social distancing advice. Staying connected is particularly important to our overall wellbeing and nowadays we can choose numerous options to keep in touch with friends and family.

“Doing what we can to encourage everyone to stay physically and mentally active whilst at home is also essential, and I encourage everyone to join in with this campaign and share their ideas with others.”

Denbighshire Council says it will be extending their proactive calling campaign beyond those people who are receiving the shielding letters, to people in Denbighshire who are over 70 and those who are living alone.

Old Vicarage people send out testing plea to Health Minister

UPDATE: See comment from Clwyd South AM Ken Skates at foot of story

* From left, Old Vicarage carer Arfona Hughes, residents Jill Lidgett, 84, and 89-year-old Pat Preston and carer Tammy Callaghan hold up a banner outside the home which says in Welsh “Come on Wales – we need testing.” 

A Llangollen care home owner has put out an urgent personal plea to Wales’s Health Minister to extend coronavirus testing to her residents and staff.

The Welsh NHS is testing both groups who have symptoms but not those who do not.

That is not the case in England, where all residents and staff will now be covered after the policy changed on Tuesday.

But Wales’s First Minister Mark Drakeford said there would be “no value" to providing tests to everybody in the country’s care homes and that to do so would "divert capacity".

Bethan Mascarenhas, who runs The Old Vicarage care home in Llangollen strongly disagrees and says the lack of testing is creating “huge levels of anxiety” there.

And she has today sent out a strongly-worded letter to Wales’ Health Minister Vaughan Gething AM.

In it she says: “Residents, staff and I are very concerned about the disparity between Wales and England on the decision to test all residents and staff in care homes whether they are showing symptoms of COVID-19 or not.

“The impact of the Coronavirus Pandemic is weighing heavily on the well-being of all staff and residents, each worried that they may be carrying the virus and unintentionally spreading it - with fatal consequences.

“Testing is the only way to know if we are carrying the virus and would allow us to act to prevent further spread.

“Providing testing to all care homes and staff may be largely rhetoric on the part of the UK government. However, both residents and staff listen to the news and are at loss to understand why the same opportunity that is available to people, living 10 minutes away over the border, is not being offered to them.

“Daily reports of deaths in care homes and reports that care homes are the most dangerous place to be in creates huge levels of anxiety for residents who are fragile and currently unable to have visits from relatives who are also understandably concerned.”

Ms Mascarenhas goes on to explain how one of her elderly residents, who was being treated for a known and diagnosed infection, ended up being taken to hospital by ambulance after developing a cough, different to that of Covid-19, and a high temperature.

She says: “There is now a high risk of her contracting COVID-19 with a little hope of recovery. This could have been avoided with testing.

“The care staff are also on the frontline. They have families and responsibilities but come to work each day.

“NHS staff are rightly lauded for their dedication, but care staff seems to have be forgotten and unsupported. Testing them would raise their status and give them some peace of mind while they continue to provide a demanding and dangerous service.”

Ms Mascarenhas attaches to her letter some comments from her residents about the situation. These say:

* ‘We're the United Kingdom and it should be inclusive to all, not breaking countries up with their responses, we should be united in our approach together' - resident aged 99.

‘We need to know what positive things they are putting together for the people, why is testing not one of them and why? We don’t want to be left out. We are writing to you, to ask you to protect our futures. We must be kept up to date and informed’ - Bill Gosson aged 89

* ‘Please think about us, we want this done for our safety. If we are doing our part by staying indoors and isolating ourselves from our families and community you should be doing your part by protecting us. All our relatives are anxious to know what’s going on and what our status is and if there’s a way to help prevent the spread’ - Joan Fell aged 96

* ‘If every home in England is being tested, then it’s being classed as essential – are we not essential too? Why are you choosing not to test? Is it financial? Can you not afford it? Is our safety not seen as valuable enough? Please don’t leave it until it’s too late, if we know we have confirmed cases, we can do something about it – Jill Lidgett aged 84

* ‘I feel very isolated from my family, they are all very worried for me as they don’t know for definite how I am without testing. I myself am regularly ill but with the pandemic, every time I am ill it raises concerns for them not knowing my status or if it may be COVID-19, everyone gets upset and worried about the unknown. Please test us all in Care Homes’ - Iola Roberts aged 86

‘* I’m very angry – why should we be left out? We are not different, we are all people, all the same. It’s awful knowing that a care home 10 minutes away from us are able to test everyone and we are left here not knowing. I love my life; I have never been so happy as I am here in this home – I have a life to live and I deserve to have that protected. I want our wonderful staff and their family members protected too. We need the same treatment as England, we need to know!’ - Amy Lawton aged 98.

‘* Our duty of care means we need to know whether we might be putting our residents at risk by bringing the virus into the home. The Health Minister has a duty of care towards us to make it possible to test, so we can put residents’ minds to rest and be able to provide the safest care possible’ - Staff member.

Clwyd South AM Ken Skates said: "Bethan has been in touch with my office and I'm aware she has written to the Health Minister on this important issue. 

"I completely understand the anxiety residents and staff in care homes are experiencing during this crisis and will be raising the matter with the Welsh Government on behalf of everyone at The Old Vicarage and the other care homes in our area." 

Caravan parks urged to stick to lockdown regulations

Denbighshire County Council’s Public Protection team is working closely with North Wales Police to remind owners of caravan parks and campsites to adhere to national regulations to remain closed and to continue protecting local communities.

Welsh Government’s First Minister Mark Drakeford made the order last month to close all campsites and caravan parks.

This came after significant concerns were raised across the country about the number of visitors and holidaymakers that had made their way to these sites during the outbreak of coronavirus, placing extreme added pressure on vital services.  

They must remain closed until further notice, unless specifically exempt or requested and approved by the Welsh Government or the council.

Now Denbighshire and police have issued a reminder for these sites to remain closed until the order has been lifted.

Councillor Mark Young, Cabinet Lead Member for Safer Communities, said: “We are living in unprecedented times due to Coronavirus Covid-19 and clear guidelines have been issued by the Welsh and UK Governments that people should adhere to social-distancing, self-isolation and only undertake essential journeys.

“Welsh Government made the order to close campsite and caravan park accommodation immediately to assist in preventing the spread of the virus, and to limit the impact of visitors on our health and care services locally which are already under considerable pressure. Asking customers to stay at their main home address is helping to protect their safety, that of the people of Denbighshire as well as our vital health and care services.

“We are extremely grateful to those owners or caravan sites and campsites that have shown great co-operation and it is a timely reminder with the current good weather to continue adhering to these regulations until further notice."

Darryl seeks funding to continue making shields for key workers

* Darryl Maxwell at work on his 3D printer.

* A key worker gives the thumbs up to one of Darryl's face shields.

A community-minded Llangollen man who has already made 600 face shields to protect key workers from Covid-19 is looking for funding to go on producing them.

Former bus driver Darryl Maxwell has been using the 3D printer he and partner Clare MacPartland bought to turn out toys for their children to fashion the plastic shields which he has so far donated to hospital and care home staff.

Cash to pay for the raw materials necessary to make them has just run out, so Darryl has started an online funding appeal to carry on with the good work.

Clare said: “Darryl and I have lived in Llangollen for two years. He used to be a bus driver until I started to get ill with bad back pain and nerve damage and he had to stop work to help with our family.

“We came to have 3D printing equipment because our children love anime and the stuff they like and want to buy is expensive as it isn’t a common thing you see in every shop.

“So we invested in a 3D printing machine to make things that our children like.

“Darryl started making the shields because his mum works for the NHS and the personal protective equipment was under-supplied.

“So he used the printer to make some for his mum and it went from there.”

Clare added: “We did what we could out of our own money and what filament we had before setting up a fundraiser on Facebook which has now finished after bringing in £600.

“We now have a gofundme page after speaking to family and people who have supported him.

“He has made about 600 face shields and a few little bits like door pullers and ear savers and each shield costs about £1 to make.

“We have handed out these out to the chemist, the doctors, care homes and Home Bargains, all in Llangollen, and also to Wrexham Maelor Hospital. We have even been sending some to Bangor as they need them too.” 

Darryl’s new funding appeal has so far raised less than £100 of his £1,000 target figure.

He says on the page: “Any money donated will be used to purchase more filament, acetate sheets, material and elastic.

“If you can donate any filament, acetate sheets of 240 micron or more, elastic or material then please contact me.

“This will help loads of people massively and we would be very thankful for your support.”

* The link to Darryl’s funding page is: gf.me/u/xy54xf 

Sun Trevor's virtual pub quiz goes international

* Team Barflies on their weekly pub quiz at 

the ‘virtual’ Sun Trevor pub, Llangollen.

A charity pub quiz organiser is attracting online visitors from across the UK and parts of Europe to  Llangollen - and raising vital funds for people with life-limiting illnesses.

Maggie Smith is quiz master for the weekly showdown at The Sun Trevor pub. 

Every Wednesday evening they host a quiz with the entry fees being donated to Nightingale House Hospice in Wrexham. 

And  quizzers have raised a whopping £1,800 in the past few months.

Following the Covid-19 restrictions when pubs and restaurants closed their doors Maggie took the decision to keep the quiz going and set up The Sun Trevor ‘virtual’ quiz. 

As people have struggled to find a sense of routine during the pandemic the game has been attracting new entrants - many of them have previously visited the pub during holidays, day trips and weekend breaks, including a man from Catalonia in Spain.

Nightingale House is the quiz group's chosen charity following the death of Maggie’s sister-in-law, Sandra Cragg in 2015. 

Sandra spent her final days at the hospice receiving what Maggie described as "the most unbelievable care and attention.” 

To date the quiz has raised £15,000 in Sandra’s memory.

She said: “When Sandra passed away I realised how important the hospice had been to her and our family during such a difficult and sad time. 

I know how much Sandra appreciated the care and attention the clinical team gave to her and the sensitive and thoughtful way they supported my brother. The family had already set up an In Memory fund so it seemed the right thing to make Nightingale House our chosen charity through our fun quiz nights.

“The hospice is such an invaluable facility but one that you probably never know you need until it is necessary. We are just happy to help them out. We would normally wait to give the donation and donate a few times a year but we felt that more than ever the hospice needs the cash in the bank now. It is our privilege to be able to enjoy a fun night and help the charity as well.”

Paul Jones, owner of the Sun Trevor, said: “The quiz has been an amazing success, not only as a chance for locals and visitors to get together but also to raise money for such a good cause like Nightingale House. 

"We were all so sad when we had to close the pub but we hope that once lockdown is over we will all reunite either in person and perhaps with even more people on line so we can continue to help those with life-limiting illnesses."

* If you want to join The Sun Trevor quiz for Nightingale House Hospice - the questions are posted on their Facebook page(@TheSunTrevorLlangollen) at 8pm every Wednesday night and answers given at 9pm.

Wales will not test all care home residents, says BBC

The BBC is reporting this afternoon that the Welsh Health Minister has said Wales will not follow England in providing tests to all care home residents and workers.

The Welsh NHS is testing residents and staff who have symptoms, but not those who do not.

The policy was expanded in England on Tuesday.

* For the full story, see: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-politics-52470272#

Council staff continue wellbeing checks on vulnerable residents

Denbighshire County Council is contacting vulnerable residents to check on their wellbeing and offer community support during the coronavirus outbreak.

Everybody receiving shielding letters from the Chief Medical Officer for Wales is being called by a council officer to arrange community support or food box deliveries if required.

So far more than 3,000 residents have been contacted and support provided has included referrals to community groups or local charities for help with, for example, advice about finances, grocery shopping or dog walking.

A number of residents have contacted the council to offer their thanks to staff as well as posting their thanks on social media.

One resident said: “I recently received a call from the council advising me I was on the NHS shielding list and I was given valuable information about the available services for myself and my wife. This included food and medical deliveries.

“We later received a food parcel with much needed essentials. I would like to pass on our thanks and appreciation to the staff for everything they are doing for the community and everyone else making deliveries and other jobs during these difficult times.”

Another resident said: “I would like to applaud what Denbighshire County Council is doing and I’d like to thank the council for the call. We really appreciate it and we really appreciate all those still going to work and everything that has been done for us. Well done.”

Cllr Bobby Feeley, the council’s Lead Member for Well-being and Independence, said: “We have been getting some fantastic feedback from residents receiving these calls, it is encouraging to know the calls are providing the right support for our residents.

“Staff are extremely appreciative of the comments and I would like to thank them for their outstanding work during this time.

“We will continue to stay in touch with residents who have received a call throughout the lockdown period. We also understand it is not only those in receipt of a shielding letter that need support. If anyone is worried about themselves or a friend, relative or neighbour they can call the Council on 01824 706000 and a call-back will be arranged as soon as possible.”

* Residents who are concerned about the legitimacy of these calls can hang up and call the council back direct on 01824 706000.