Author: Fran Arnold

Darnall Well Being, Darnall Education & Sport Academy, and Voluntary Action Sheffield are hosting a get together for all organisations or individuals who provide opportunities for people to be physically active in the Darnall and Tinsley areas.

Join us on Wednesday 28th September 2022 from 4 to 6pm at the English Institute of Sport, Coleridge Rd, Sheffield, S9 5DA.

We want to give people who work in the area a chance to meet others working on similar stuff, understand each other’s services better, share strengths and challenges, and possibly spark some ideas on how we could work together more to better serve the area.

We also think it will be a good opportunity to show off the good things happening in the area.

We will structure the session so there is time for:

• Showcasing your work and organisation
• Conversations about common problems or opportunities and what we can do collectively
• And, some time for something fun

We will put on refreshments, and you can come and go as you please. All welcome, just please respond to the invite so we can plan for numbers, by emailing a.batty@vas.org.uk. Feel free to share this information with any community organisations or individuals who may benefit from this.

We are recruiting for a pool of four Activity Sessional Workers to deliver and support our group activities in Darnall and Tinsley.

Purpose of Post

To deliver and support a range of group activities that improve the health and wellbeing of people living in the Darnall and Tinsley areas.

Duties and Responsibilities

• Identifying and understanding health and wellbeing needs in Darnall Ward
• Engaging a broad range of existing and new beneficiaries (all ages, abilities, ethnicities, etc.) and increasing the number of local people ‘moving more’ on a daily, weekly, and monthly basis
• Delivering and supporting activities each week or as and when required (e.g. Health Walk and Chairobics sessions)
• Ensuring appropriate reporting, monitoring and evaluation of activities, including providing updates as and when required
• When the opportunity arises to support with Public Health campaign messaging
• Support Darnall Well Being team in carrying out consultation in partnership with other organisations (i.e Sheffield City Council)
• Undertake all necessary training relevant to the role, e.g. Adult Safeguarding, First Aid.

This is not an exhaustive list of duties and may be subject to change due to organisational priorities.

All aspects of the role must be carried out in line with health and safety guidelines, applying equal opportunities policies, adhering to agreed protocol and procedures when working with activity groups, always ensuring the confidentiality of the service and users.

The successful candidate will work in the Darnall, Tinsley and Acres Hill areas of Sheffield (S9).

We are looking for someone who enjoys working with people to support them making a difference to their health and wellbeing, well organised and able to act on their own initiative. This is a fantastic opportunity to join an exceptional team and an organisation with good standing both locally and citywide.

We are coordinating Healthy Activities & Food sessions once again in Darnall and Tinsley for children eligible for income-based free school meals, as one of Manor & Castle Development Trust’s partners. During summer 2022, we will be running free sport and creative activities, with food provided, at EIS, Darnall Library and Tinsley Allotment in partnership with: On The Move, Ignite imaginations, Darnall Library, Steamworks, and Tinsley Allotment. More details on the posters below:

Please get in touch with DWB or On The Move for more information and to book a place (for children 5-15 years old in full time education; children eligible for free school meals will be prioritised): Sofia Gkika (DWB) 07825288580, sofia@darnallwellbeing.org.uk or Lee Smith (On The Move) 07817699563, lee@onthemove.org.uk

A number of our groups have really enjoyed celebrating the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee in Darnall and Handsworth this June!

There were 2 celebration events at our On The Plot sessions at the allotment, for people with Dementia and their carers. As well as creating royalty-themed art work, at the first session, they talked about what they could remember about the Coronation and about the Silver Jubilee. And at the second, participants shared what they had seen of the weekend’s Jubilee celebrations, whilst enjoying a strawberry cream tea.

Another allotment event, for the whole community, was held at Darnall Allotment Project on Friday 3rd June. Over several hours, on a beautiful, sunny day, fifty people came along to the allotment to enjoy food and games together, whilst celebrating the Platinum Jubilee and exploring the community allotment space and everything that’s being grown there.

Finally, our Making Memories Dementia Cafe in Handsworth held their own Platinum Jubilee afternoon tea at St Mary’s Community Hub. Everyone joined in with fairground games like Hook a Duck and a coconut shy, as well as plenty of Union Jack themed fun – and of course, a royal afternoon tea! There was even live music, thanks to Donna Bell, a local vocalist from Handsworth.

We had some lovely feedback about all the events, including this email from 2 attendees at the Making Memories celebration:

Jo, I would just like to say thank you so much for the Jubilee celebration at St Mary’s community Hub. You made us feel so welcome. Such a pity mum was not up to coming. We will definitely be back in two weeks time. Please pass on my thanks to all your team for all there hard work it is very much appreciated. Thanks again for all you have done and continue to do.

Mum says thanks for the treats.

Dementia Cafe attendees

Darnall Well Being coordinated four Sheffield Healthy Holidays activities over the 2022 Easter holidays, funded by the Holiday Activities & Food programme.

All 71 places were filled by children who live in the S9 area and are on free school meals, the majority of whom go to primary school. We were supported in providing these sessions by STEAMWorks and Ignite Imaginations, and we worked with local venues Darnall Library, Tinsley Community Allotment and Kickabout Sheffield to run the sessions. Some of our staff and volunteers went along to support the activities, supervise, and hand out free, healthy lunch bags to all children who attended, too. We also supported Phillimore Primary School to organise two 4 hour activity sessions for local children.

In the first week of the holidays, children came to Darnall Library, where they made and painted plaster figures with support from Ignite Imaginations.

Children also came to Tinsley Community Allotment to take part in activities there, including decorating their own bunting together and planting seeds, supported by STEAMWorks.

In the second week of the holidays, the children enjoyed making slime and playing football at Kickabout Sheffield.

As well as giving out healthy lunch bags to every child, we also gave their families information about how to eat healthily, including these leaflets from Public Health England:

Update for colleagues, partners and beneficiaries – August 2021

From the very start of the pandemic, DWB has put the safety and wellbeing of the organisation and community as our top priority.

The rules around Covid-19 and the law changed from 19^th July, and again from 16^th August. 

Despite the easing of many legal restrictions, which means

• there is no legal requirement to wear a face covering in England (19^th July),
• double-vaccinated people do not have to isolate if they come in to contact with some who has tested positive for Covid (16^th Aug),

national and local government still expects and recommends that people to continue to wear a face covering in crowded or enclosed spaces and DWB will continue to ask staff and beneficiaries to stay at home if they have recently developed symptoms, tested positive or identified as a contact for Covid-19.

Sheffield Public Health team and Voluntary Community Sector are taking a more cautionary approach than central government.

Infection rates remain quite high in Sheffield, compared to other parts of the UK and at the same time, significant levels of the population have yet to either have their first or second vaccination dose. 

Even when fully vaccinated, people may still contract Covid-19, become unwell or pass it on to others who may be more vulnerable.  Removing the safety nets of mask-wearing and social distancing risks the emergence of new variants that are vaccine-resistant.

We are mindful of the differences in how people may feel about the changes but ask that our beneficiaries and partners continue to wear face coverings and keep social distancing measures in place when attending our group or 1-1 sessions.

We are adding to our existing best practice by requesting booking prior to some activities – even those outside – to ensure consistency and record-keeping. We understand that this may feel new or different to some people.  We thank you for cooperation with this.

To protect the most vulnerable children, young people and adults in our community, we will continue to support and encourage our team to:

• Stay at home and get tested if they have symptoms or have come in to direct contact with someone with Covid –  vital tools for limiting Covid’s spread
• Benefit from a flexible mix of home-working and time-tabled return to office
• Ventilate indoor settings by keeping windows and doors open
• Maintain social distancing where practical
  • This may mean we have to reduce the numbers in groups to ensure we can keep a distance from one another.

• Wear a face mask in indoor settings when moving around, if not exempt
  • This helps protect against infection but also positively contributes to social norms; making it ok for people who still want to wear a mask and help reassure those who may fear going out if others were unmasked.
• Maintain regular handwashing, enhanced hygiene and cleaning practices
• Promote the benefits of getting double-vaccinated for the individual and wider community (as well as significantly reducing their risk of getting ill with Covid or suffering from Long Covid, a vaccinated person is also about 70/75% less likely to pass on Covid).
  • As well as promoting benefits of getting tested if displaying symptoms.

• Offer community activity outdoors or remotely, in preference to indoors – making use of helpful alternatives like online (zoom) sessions, doorstop visits and phone calls, walks etc.
  • We will continue to develop our approach and plans for indoor activity going forward (such as volunteer training or small group sessions and meetings), where there is a clear service need, appropriate venue and reduced risk.

The above measures will be reviewed on an ongoing basis, either gradually easing or becoming stricter, subject to the global, national and local Covid-19 context, scientific guidance and best practice.

The above also helps to maintain service continuity. The more we work together to limit the spread of Covid 19, the more we can continue to deliver activity with fewer disruptions.

Thank you for working with us to help keep our communities safe.

The Darnall Well Being team

We put together a newsletter this summer to update everyone on our services. See below to view or download it.