Invitations have now been sent out to all Salford patients aged 65 years and over to book their Covid-19 vaccine.  During the coming days, all those patients aged 16-65 year olds with underlying health conditions which place them in an at-risk group will also start receiving invitations to book in for their vaccine. A list of those who fall within this cohort can be found here.

If you or a family member/friend fall into one of these groups, but have not yet received an invitation, you can visit this website or call 0800 953 0116 (do not contact your GP).

The Government's guidance on enabling safe volunteering, which has been in place since November 2020, has been recently updated to include advice on political campaigning during the local elections and the eligibility of volunteers looking to receive the vaccine. The political campaigning advice follows the guidance set out by the Fundraising Regulator around leafleting. 

We have updated our Covid-19 VCSE guide with this information. Our guide collates links to useful resources on a whole range of relevant topics including testing, vaccination, remote working and furlough.

The Longest Year: Life under local restrictions, a report from British Red Cross, explores the experiences of people living and working in areas under tighter local restrictions across the UK.

It identifies better ways people can be supported to cope and recover from the Covid-19 crisis, and the steps needed to ensure no one is left behind.

Nearly one year on from the UK’s first national lockdown, for many of us, this has felt like ‘the longest year’. But the pandemic hasn’t affected us all equally – it has shone a spotlight on inequalities and made them worse. 

International Women’s Day is fast approaching, and this year Answer Cancer is going to #ChooseToChallenge health inequalities and raise awareness of cancer screening programmes across Salford.

Answer Cancer want to work with local community groups and workplaces to deliver their Let’s Talk Cancer engagement session throughout March. They want women of all backgrounds to have an awareness of what cancer screening programmes are available to them – making sure you are in a position of power over your own health. Interested? Contact Jade by email or 07546093527.

A census engagement manager has been appointed to help support Salford residents in the lead up to the 2021 Census, which is taking place on the 21st of March this year.

Alison Gilbody will help organisations, charities, faith groups and community leaders raise awareness about the census and why it’s so important for everyone to take part. More information on the census and how to get in touch with Alison can be found on our website.

The next Difficult Dialogue will focus on the North South Divide and Covid-19. Join We Stand Together, the International Centre for Integration and Cohesion and partners on Wednesday 3 March at 6pm.

The session will explore questions including: Is geography or poverty the real divide? Why are some communities being more severely affected? How can we create a more equal society? Take part and share your views and experiences.

The GM=EqAl Working Group represents marginalised communities with some of the highest infection and mortality rates from Covid-19.

This group have issued a Position Statement that reflects their concern that the ongoing vaccination programme will significantly exacerbate these disparities unless urgent action is taken. The statement includes calls to actions for national and regional organisations.

The ESOL strand of the Skills and Work Team are creating a brand new ESOL Network in Salford. 

The purpose would be to share ideas and good practice, encourage joint ventures and collaborations, create volunteering, training and work experience opportunities specifically for those with language barriers. The team specifically encourage those organisations who work with local communities to become part of this group.

Salford City Council is working in collaboration with Healthwatch Salford and NHS Salford CCG to create a survey to capture the views of Salfordians, who have used the equipment service in the past six months to aid a better quality of life.  

They are keen to hear from anyone who has used any equipment from bath lifts, hoists, grab rails, beds to mobility aids such as walking frames. The five-minute online survey is for service users, family member or a carer to complete. The closing date is 28 February.  

The British Islamic Medical Association (BIMA) have produced an FAQ for Muslim communities regarding fasting and Covid-19 vaccinations.

They have also produced a graphic you can share on social media, which shares the key message that taking the Covid-19 vaccination does not invalidate the fast during Ramadan. 

Charles Kwaku-Odoi, Chief Officer at the Caribbean and African Health Network has shared his experience of getting the COVID-19 vaccine.

Charles encourages anyone who is invited to attend for their vaccination to take up the opportunity. Please watch and share this short video.

Sarah Key, NHS Digital Comms Manager shares some of the most common mistakes when it comes to making communications accessible in this handy twitter thread. Happily, these common slip ups are also easily fixable, from adding ALT text to your images to avoiding moving text in your Instagram stories. You may also find this blog about accessibility a useful read on good practice for communications.

Grants of up to £10,000 are now available for Salford-based VCSE organisations who are supporting communities most affected by COVID-19 including:

- Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic people
- Disabled people
- Economically most disadvantaged

Applicants must be full members of Salford CVS and have a turnover of less than £2m/year.

In Salford, devolved budgets are allocated to local communities. Any grant application that delivers improved wellbeing and health outcomes for the local population will be considered. All applicants will be expected to demonstrate and provide evidence of a minimum of 25% match funding or match funding in kind in relation to the service / activity / project that they are applying for funding for. 

Closes 5pm tomorrow - Friday 19 February. This fund is open to grassroots youth clubs, uniformed youth groups, and national youth and umbrella organisations, to help to mitigate the impact of lost income during the winter period due to the coronavirus pandemic. Please note that they are only looking for information that is proportionate to the size of your organisation - if you can't answer a question or provide information still submit your application.

The Live Well this Winter Fund closes for applications on Tuesday 23 February at 10am.

The fund is open to VCSE organisations to undertake Covid-response activities during January - March 2021. Grants of up to £1,000 are available. Applicants must be existing members of Salford CVS. The Funding Priorities are to support those most in need in Salford stay:

• Well nourished
• Well connected
• Warm and well

Rosa and Smallwood Trust have launched the Women Thrive Fund for women’s and girls’ organisations in the UK. This partnership fund will give grants of up to £40,000 to organisations supporting women and girls to improve their mental health and wellbeing and/or improve their financial resilience. Webinars for applicants are being held for further information.