Please see attached Christmas Tree Appeal for Arthur Rank Hospice.

Hospice needs volunteers, vans and van drivers to support Christmas Tree recycling scheme!

Arthur Rank Hospice Charity is asking the local community for their support with its annual Christmas Tree collection, sponsored by Cooke, Curtis & Co (Trumpington) and Cyber Business Growth (Royston). The ‘treasure hunt for trees’ will be taking place on Thursday 6, Friday 7, Saturday 8 and Sunday 9 January 2022.

It is the seventh year of the fundraising scheme which last year saw more than 2900 pre-loved trees collected and composted, raising over £54,000 for the Hospice’s vital frontline services! The scheme depends on a unique collaboration between the Arthur Rank Hospice Charity team, Just Helping, Cambridge City Council and South Cambridgeshire County Council, local businesses and scores of volunteers who generously donate their time.

This year’s recycling scheme covers the CB1, CB2, CB3, CB4, CB5, CB21, CB22, CB23 and CB24 postcodes. An additional area for this year will also be CB25 postcodes situated in Waterbeach. In exchange for taking away your tree, the Charity welcomes a donation to the Hospice.

The trees will be chipped at temporary drop off points and either used as mulch or chippings in the Hospice gardens, or at the drop off sites.

There is one element of the plan which still requires some extra support. Alison Pinney, Community Fundraiser explains:

“We are appealing for more volunteers who can drive (preferably their own van) and crew members, to help us this January so we can achieve our target. We will be running the scheme in line with the any current government guidelines, to ensure the safety and wellbeing of all our volunteers.”

If you, and/or someone you know, might be able to help, please contact the Hospice’s fundraising team on 01223 675888 or email christmastrees@arhc.org.uk. A video illustrating what is involved when you volunteer as a tree collector can be found on Arthur Rank Hospice Charity’s YouTube channel (short watch – 1 min 36 seconds).

If you live within the postcode areas listed and would like to register your tree for collection, we can do all the hard work for you! Visit arhc.org.uk/tree-recycling and register your tree to avoid awkward tree handling, needles in your car, queuing at the tip and petrol costs! Registrations close at 10am on 4 January 2022.

Ends

Photos 1-4: Volunteers assisting with last year’s Christmas Tree Recycling scheme, which raised over £54,000 for the Hospice’s vital frontline services! (Photo 1 is available in high resolution at: https://arthurrank.sharefile.eu/f/fo887c08-0c0b-4008-8b0c-6093ed7dfdab)

For further information, please contact: 

Dawn Easby, Head of PR & Communications, Arthur Rank Hospice Charity

01223 675875 – dawn.easby@arhc.org.uk – 9.30am-7.30pm, Monday-Friday (excluding Wednesdays)

OR

Alison Pinney, Community Fundraiser, Arthur Rank Hospice Charity

01223 675888, christmastrees@arhc.org.uk, 9.00am-5.00pm, Monday-Friday

Notes to Editors:

1. Arthur Rank Hospice Charity (Registered Charity No 1133354) supports people in Cambridgeshire, living with an advanced serious illness or other life-limiting condition and those who need end-of-life care. Services are provided free of charge to patients and their families, helping them to make every moment count. 

The Hospice provides care and support to around 4,000 patients each year at the Hospice in Cambridge, the Alan Hudson Day Treatment Centre in Wisbech and in patients’ own homes via the Arthur Rank Community Team. This ‘Outstanding’ care supports people to improve their quality of life and fulfil their end of their life choices. 

Alongside the care provided by the Inpatient Unit, Living Well services and Hospice at Home teams, patients can access: patient and family support (including counselling, bereavement and spiritual support); lymphoedema care; complementary therapy; medical and pain outpatient clinics; and advice from the clinical nurse specialists within the Specialist Palliative Care Home Team.  In recent years the Charity has also launched a transitioning young adults programme supporting people as they move from children to adult services, a Caring Communities initiative to help reduce isolation and the Palliative Care Hub, which is a phone line operated via the 111 service for anyone who needs specialist palliative care advice or support.

Programmes are practical, holistic and tailored to the individual patient, family member or carer. Depending on need, length of support can vary from a matter of hours to a period of years and may also include rehabilitative support, physiotherapy, occupational therapy and psychological support.

2. It will cost £10.5 million in 2021/2022 to run services, which are provided free of charge to patients and their loved ones. Contracted services from the NHS are budgeted at £6.98 million, meaning that £3.52 million needs to be raised through donations, fundraising activities and trading. The Charity is extremely grateful to the local community for the continual dedication, commitment and generosity they show in supporting towards meeting this target.

For further information, please visit arhc.org.uk

Enabling two-factor authentication (2FA) is the single most important thing you can do to improve the security of your online accounts. What is 2FA? Two-factor authentication (2FA) is a way of strengthening the login security of your online accounts. It’s similar to how an ATM works. You need both your debit card (first factor) and your PIN (second factor) to get access your account and withdraw cash. The main objective is better security. If your card is stolen, they still need your PIN. If your PIN is stolen, they still need your card. Enabling 2FA will help to stop hackers from getting into your accounts, even if they have your password. How do I enable 2FA on my accounts? Here are links you can use to enable 2FA on some of the most popular online services and apps: Gmail Yahoo Outlook AOL Instagram Facebook Twitter LinkedIn For more of the government’s latest advice on how to stay secure online, visit the Cyber Aware website: https://www.ncsc.gov.uk/cyberaware Thanks for reading! If you found this information useful, please help us spread the word by forwarding this information to your friends.

Please see attached the Road Safety Education Newsletter “Way to Go”.

CCC has ongoing funding from the Department for Education to enable families, who receive free school meals due to the benefits they receive, to book free places at a local holiday scheme this Christmas. An eligible child will be entitled to up to 16 hours for free at a participating holiday scheme. A nutritious meal is also provided as part of the programme and children and young people will have much needed social contact and opportunities to engage in physical activity. Parents can book places directly with participating holiday schemes, more information can be found at www.cambridgeshire.gov.uk/haf

Whether it’s your Facebook, Amazon, or Netflix account, the explosion in popularity of online apps and services means more and more of us have to remember an increasingly long list of passwords. Unfortunately, some of us cope with this challenge by resorting to practices that leave our data, devices and money at risk – by using the same password across multiple accounts, or by creating simple passwords that could easily be guessed by hackers. Bad password practice is more prevalent than you might think – the UK’s National Cyber Security Centre carried out analysis of passwords leaked in data breaches and found that more than 23 million users worldwide used 123456 as a password. You can read more about it here: https://www.ncsc.gov.uk/news/most-hacked-passwords-revealed-as-uk-cyber-survey-exposes-gaps-in-online-security Here are some top tips that will make your life easier and your online accounts more secure: 1: Creating memorable passwords A good way to create strong, memorable passwords is by using 3 random words. But remember, don’t use words that can be guessed (like your pet’s name). You can include numbers and symbols if you need to. For example, “RedPantsTree4!” 2: Saving passwords in your browser Saving your password in your browser means letting your web browser (such as Chrome, Safari or Edge) remember your password for you. This can help: make sure you do not lose or forget your passwords protect you against some cyber crime, such as fake websites It is safer than using weak passwords, or using the same password in more than one place. Here are some useful links on how you can start saving passwords in your browser: Google Chrome, Microsoft Edge, Firefox, Safari. 3: Email account passwords If a hacker gets into your email account, they could: reset your other online account passwords access personal information you have saved about yourself or your business Your email password should be strong and different to all your other passwords. This will make it harder to crack or guess. Need help changing your email account password? You can use these links to find step by step instructions: Gmail, Yahoo! Mail, Outlook, BT, AOL Mail. For more of the government’s latest advice on how to stay secure online, visit the Cyber Aware website: https://www.ncsc.gov.uk/cyberaware Thanks for reading! If you found this information useful, please help us spread the word by forwarding this email to your friends.

The Library Presents

Cambridgeshire residents are invited to help select The Library Presents’ Spring 2022 Season of arts events.

Selection is open until Midnight on 26 November 2021

Visit https://www.library.live/the-library-presents-blog/choosing-the-library-presents-events-for-spring-2022-in-your-nearest-libraries

Or pop in to one of the participating libraries: Arbury Court, Barnwell Road, Cambourne, Cherry Hinton, Cambridge Central, Clay Farm, Histon, Northstowe, Papworth, Sawston, Ramsey, St Neots, St Ives, March, Chatteris, Wisbech, Whittlesey, Ely, Littleport and Soham.

The Autumn Season of events is also live right now, all information is online at www.library.live/the-library-presents

Fraud and cybercrime are the most common criminal offences in the UK. Analysis of Action Fraud reports showed that 86% of frauds had a cyber element to them. As the threat from cyber crime continues to grow and evolve, it is important to remember one thing – most of it can be prevented. By following just a few practical steps you can make it harder for cyber criminal to get into your devices and online accounts.

In order to better understand what steps you are already taking to secure online, we would be grateful if you would please complete the short survey we have created. Your answers will help us to determine what areas of online security we need focus on over the coming months.

Please note:

• the survey is completely anonymous and we don’t ask you for any personal information
• Survey answers will not be shared with any third parties

https://www.smartsurvey.co.uk/s/cybercrimesurvey2021/

Thank you for helping us improve our response to fraud and cyber crime in the UK

Kind regards

Action Fraud Team

News story

Extra COVID-19 support deployed to parts of the East of England

Additional support will be deployed to 3 local authorities in the East of England in response to high rates of COVID-19 cases in the region.From:UK Health Security AgencyPublished31 October 2021Last updated31 October 2021 — See all updates

Following the latest review of coronavirus (COVID-19) data, additional support will be deployed from 1 November to Cambridgeshire, Peterborough, and Suffolk, in response to high rates of COVID-19 cases in the area.

The decision has been made in partnership with local authorities and is based on the latest data and local insights. Targeted additional support will be provided.

The package includes options for:

• targeted support to maximise vaccine and testing uptake
• extra testing in these targeted areas
• further help for local public health campaigns
• temporary extra measures in education settings

This additional support will be in place for 5 weeks from 1 November to allow for targeted local action. Pupils will return to school next week as planned.

Local residents are urged to remain cautious and follow the national guidance, including to get vaccinated, wear face coverings in crowded areas such as public transport, meet outdoors where possible, let fresh air into homes or other enclosed spaces.

Chief Executive of the UK Health Security Agency (UKHSA) Jenny Harries said:

Although we have returned to a more familiar way of life, it’s important we all continue to play our part in controlling the spread of the virus, especially as we move into winter.

Everybody, especially in Cambridgeshire, Peterborough and Suffolk, can take simple steps to protect themselves by getting vaccinated, wearing face coverings in crowded places, letting in fresh air when mixing indoors and washing their hands regularly.

Getting vaccinated is the best way we can protect ourselves from becoming unwell with COVID-19. I encourage everyone who is eligible to come forward for their jab as soon as possible – whether that’s a first, second or booster dose.

UKHSA data shows that the vaccination programme has substantially weakened the link between cases, hospitalisations and deaths. Vaccinated people are far less likely to get COVID-19 with symptoms and even more unlikely to get serious COVID-19, to be admitted to hospital, or to die from the virus