PCG Blog

The Kindness of Strangers  I am a young man who suffers with Anxiety and PTSD as well as chronic pain. I am tall and I have not been self assured for some of my life and so used to stoop. I now carry myself tall but can still freeze up when in a crowd or doing something I haven’t done for a while. Because of the coronavirus pandemic, and without my usual supports and ways of coping, I had been taking daily exercise and sometimes shopping at my local small shops or in places where there weren’t queues. On this occasion I decided to do my shopping in Waitrose. However when I got there I saw a lot of people and staff managing a long queue. On seeing this a panic attack started so walked away and I sat on a nearby wall. I could neither go on nor go back, the panic overwhelming me so that I froze. I sat there for an hour calming myself gradually, doing my breathing exercises and eventually managed to phone a friend. I explained that I really needed shopping but could not face the cro...

The physical health impacts of Covid-19 are well recognised, but anxiety about health, job security and finances, social isolation and changes in routines and family relationships can have an impact.   Alex Burrage, Consultant Psychological Therapist with the county’s NHS Let’s Talk service, said: “This is a really difficult time for all of us in different ways. None of us will have experienced anything like this in our lifetime and it’s only natural that we will be worried, unsettled and frightened about what lies ahead. “While it’s normal to feel anxious and down, if it starts to take over and it stops you from functioning or feeling like yourself, it’s important to get help. The earlier you speak out about how you are feeling the sooner you can take steps to get better, so our message would be – don’t suffer in silence.” Siobhan Farmer, Deputy Director of Public Health with Gloucestershire County Council, said: “It’s really important to try and maintain our m...

In these times of isolation and worry, here’s something fun to keep us all busy - Stroud Valleys Project’s new interactive wildlife spotting website www.wildclassrooms.org A recent Dutch study found that primary aged school children have difficulty identifying common native animals, with on average the children in the sample identifying only 35% of the species correctly! It is so important to be able to recognise the animals and plants around us because, to quote the acclaimed nature author, Robert Macfarlane, 'We find it hard to love what we cannot give a name to. And what we do not love we will not save.” So to help plug this gap in the knowledge of species or ‘Species Literacy’, Stroud Valleys Project has developed www.wildclassrooms.org . It is based around the challenge to see if participants can spot 60 different plants and animals in a year. When individuals or groups register, they are given a virtual tree with bare branches. Each month they will be given five species to sp...

Many families may be finding the current circumstances difficult and worrying.  Whilst having more time together as a family can be a pleasure, the additional pressures of home schooling, managing your child’s anxiety and not seeing friends and loved ones is a challenge for us all.  We can help you….  We have time to listen to you.  Let us know what is going on for you and what is causing you concern.  No worry is too small or too big for us to support you with.  Once we fully understand your concerns we can think through together how you and your family can overcome your problems.  This may involve us recommending someone else to help you, we may help you access useful websites or resources or we might agree together some practical approaches you can try and call you back to see how you got on.  Unfortunately we are not able to offer legal, financial or medical advice but can always put you in touch with someone who can. How to contact us…. Our ser...

Help keep children safe from harm and neglect Published 23.04.2020 The county council is urging people to continue reporting their concerns if they think that a child or young person could be at risk. With more time being spent at home during lockdown, some of the most common signs of harm and neglect can be more difficult to spot, but just because a child is out of sight, it doesn’t mean that they are out of harms way.   Despite stringent social distancing measures in place, the county council continue to make essential visits to the most vulnerable children in the county, where it has been deemed safe to do so. In addition, schools remain open for vulnerable children and those at risk children who are already known to the council. To help keep children safe during these unprecedented times, the council is asking the local community to make themselves aware of potential signs of harm and neglect and to report any concerns about a child’s safety or welf...

Age UK is kindly keeping us up to date with information on services in each area.  We've updated our file each time we receive it but you can find it here. We will have some posters going up in the flats in Paganhill shortly, asking for volunteers to take responsibility for the waterless mops that the Council would like to trial to support cleaning there.  They have reinstated some cleaning, however, which should make things better.  We will also have some more flyers going around with details of how to contact the person for your area. We now have a clear method of recruiting and enrolling volunteers, and as they are interviewed, they will be given ID badges so that you can easily identify them.  They also have a letter to let the police know they are working for us, and a permit for their car, so that you know your neighbours are not just driving around for no reason!  I wanted to introduce some of our volunteers today so that you might know a little mor...

Welcome to our page!  Right now, we are working hard to set up systems that allow us all to help but also protect both volunteers and those needing help. Here in the blog will be any updates that we learn about.  Hopefully, there will soon be new leaflets coming through your doors, a podcast you can listen to made by a local, and a few other things to keep you safe and amused.

Jaqui has been getting together an information sheet of local contacts for people who need help. Below are the contacts that have been sent to her but if there are more that you know of that may be of use to people please let me know so we can add them. We can initially send it out to our email list but can always leaflet it as well. Hope you are all able to enjoy our lovely sunshine and are keeping well, Jaqui Paganhill Community Group. Contact information re services If anyone in Paganhill would like to help or deliver leaflets please contact Jaqui – 07971819097 Haydn – 01453 766061 P3 Charity – Freephone number 0808 168 2443 https://www.p3charity.org/ Glos careers Hub – If you look after someone – who looks after you? https://gloucestershirecarershub.co.uk/ Glos county Council info for Parents and carers https://www.gloucestershire.gov.uk/media/2097261/2020-04-01-covid19-info-for-parent-carers-issue-1.pdf Clean Slate – Financial Guidance and reassurance for thos...

You may or may not be aware that the CO-OP Stores are teaming up with local volunteering organizations to allow food shopping to be delivered to the most vulnerable people in their area. We have received a lovely recommendation from Irena of Leonard Stanley Parish Council. “I would like to acknowledge the fantastic help given by the Co-op in Stonehouse, where those residents can email/ring them and they will pick, pack and give me a call to collect their orders.” Residents are able to phone their local store and the Co-op staff are able to take a click and collect style payment over the phone so that no money needs to change hands between residents and volunteers. The shopping will therefore already be paid for prior to collection. The phone number for our local co-op is 01453 751585 Below is a link to the main Co-op website where you can find your local store contact details and get updates on the support they are providing at this time. If you have a store near your area or wit...

The University of the West of England are inviting people to take part in “Apart but not Alone: Neighbour Support and the COVID-19 lockdown” At this time, they would like your help to find out how neighbours are supporting each other. Your replies will help show where communities, public and voluntary services need to channel their efforts to reach vulnerable people. https://uwe.eu.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_7OMOgMcy1YxVEC9