
Mid Kent Mind are also offering new dates on our Emotional Resilience course, Bounce Back, to young people in the local area. This course is available free-of-charge thanks to funding from both Kent County Council’s Early Help Programme, and The National Lottery’s Community Fund.
Over the course of six-weeks, young people will have the opportunity to learn more about how they can combat stress, deal with emotions, and reduce anxiety – equipping them with the tools and the knowledge to ‘bounce back’ from the challenges which they may face in life.
All spaces are available free of charge – with a limited number of spaces available on each course. Our first course kicks off on the 1st of February – so book now to avoid disappointment.
For more details on the course, and to book a space for a young person, please visit our website.
Mid Kent Mind are offering our Anger Management course, Taming My Temper, to young people free-of-charge thanks to funding as a part of Kent County Council’s Early Help Programme.
Taming My Temper is a 6 week course dealing with anger management specifically designed for young people that may have issues controlling their emotions and want to reduce the levels of anger and hostility that they display.
This course looks at the causation of negative emotional behaviour and the anger response displayed by people. It then looks at ways to minimise negative emotions and alternative ways to cope and remain calm.
Our first courses start on the 4th and 5th of February – with a limited number of spaces available for young people on each date.
For more details on the course, and to book a space for a young person, please visit our website.
Mid Kent Mind are pleased to be offering a brand-new service for young people who may be in Higher Education – a Youth Wellbeing Café drop-in service which will run every Friday night from 5:30pm till 6:30pm from the 12th of February 2021.
We understand that young people who are in higher education are facing incredible stress during this pandemic – with extensive disruption to their education, and long hours spent isolated in student accommodation. Our goal with this group is simple – to provide a safe and welcoming space where young people can come along, socialise and benefit from peer-to-peer support.
The Café will be free for young people to access, and will be available for anyone between the ages of 16 & 21. Whilst the service is intended as a drop-in service, we also welcome people notifying us of attendance in advance – as this ensures access if numbers exceed the capacity we are able to facilitate.
For more details, please visit our website.
Thanks to funding from the Cobtree Charity Trust, the Pears Foundation and Involve, Mid Kent Mind are offering free spaces on their Mindfulness course for both adults, and young people between the ages of 10 & 18.
Mindfulness and Me focusses on teaching individuals more about mindfulness – and how they can acknowledge and accept their thoughts, feelings and body sensations in positive ways. The course is designed to help people to understand how Mindfulness can be a beneficial tool when it comes to building emotional resilience – helping people to manage their mental health proactively so that they can prevent themselves from experiencing periods of mental ill health.
For more details, click on either of the links below to learn more about how you can book onto this programme.
Do you want something to look forward too, would you like to win some cash? If the answer to either of these is ‘yes’ read on…The next virtual bingo night is on Thursday 28th January 2021. The cost is £8 for 6 games, giving you the chance to win a cash prize for the equivalent of £1.40 per game! We will be playing Bingo using Zoom – Zoom is a free app available for download using this link https://zoom.us/download. The steps you need to take to join us are as follows:
1. Download the Zoom app, install on your device and check this works by using the test meeting function https://zoom.us/test.
2. Purchase your bingo tickets by clicking on this link https://py.pl/7HztttKgElF. 3. During the day on the 28th January you will receive an email which contains: A link to access your bingo cards in readiness for the first bingo game at 7pm.
An invitation to the Zoom session including the Meeting ID and Password.This email will be sent to the email address of the PayPal account used to purchase the tickets.
PLEASE NOTE the cut-off time for purchasing your bingo tickets is 12pm (midday) on Thursday 28th January. Any tickets purchased after the cut-off time will be rolled over to the next virtual bingo session in February. Numbers are limited so please purchase early to avoid disappointment. We promise a fun filled evening where audience participation is very much encouraged !!!!
If you have any queries or would like any further information please contact Sue on 01622 320134 or suemaidens@fusionhlc.org.uk.
Are you an expectant parent or did you become a mum or dad last year?We would like to invite you to take part in an online survey about your mental health and wellbeing around the timeof the birth of your child.For more information and to take part in this study, please scan the QR code or use the url-link below.
This workshop will provide information about PDA and challenging behaviour and explore strategies for all the family.
This will take place on Thursday 11th February 7pm-9pm via Zoom. This event is free. You can register your interest by emailing info@space2beme.org.uk.
Booking is essential via Eventbrite.
Space 2 Be Me will be continuing to offer our Space 2 Talk sessions for parents/carers of children with additional needs this term. These are a great opportunity to talk to one of our Family Support Officers and to meet other parents. We are able to offer a range of practical advice about any aspect of additional needs and provide emotional support. Families do not need to be members to access this service and no formal diagnosis is required.
Family mile have a host of family workouts available via their app, Facebook and YouTube channels
The App is downloadable via this link for apple phones or by searching Mason Mile on other devices https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/the-mason-mile/id1542989072
Family activity ideas on YouTube via this link https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL2dMoGVHDsDmTRs32AVsrL2wCSXRWBq0m
Workouts on YouTube https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL2dMoGVHDsDnDNhY-UOtvtBP6Hi5y1PqC
And finally our Facebook: www.Facebook.com/thefamilymile
We know just how much of an impact the lockdowns and unemployment uncertainty of 2020 has had on people’s mental health. We’re determined to start 2021 on a positive at Aspirations, so we’ve put together a completely free 7 week wellbeing programme for people in Kent and Medway.
All activities included in the programme will be hosted online and each activity has been curated to help people build their confidence and improve self-esteem. We’re encouraging anyone eligible to come along, meet others, and feel more positive.
The Full Schedule
Who can join the programme?
Anyone who is currently unemployed and over 25 is encouraged to get involved. The activities are all completely free and people do not have to take part in a specific number of activities. They can choose which ones work best for them.
How to join
If you are interested please get in touch. You can refer through our online form or by calling us on 0333 880 2730.
Mid Kent Mind are pleased to share that our Low Cost Counselling Service is continuing to operate on a remote basis currently – providing people with access to over-the-phone or video-call counselling sessions at the flat rate of just £15 per session.
Our Low Cost Counselling service aims to:
Give you a safe time and place to talk to someone who won’t judge you.
Help you make sense of things and understand yourself better.
Help you to resolve complicated feelings, or find ways to live with them.
Help you to recognise unhelpful patterns in the way you think or act, and find ways to change them (if you want to).
A large number of our Counsellors are trainees that are BACP registered and are undertaking a BACP recognised counselling qualification. As part of their training they have all been assessed and have proved capable of practice within a counselling service.
With ongoing training and supervision the trainee counsellors must usually practice 100 hours of counselling in order to become qualified. It is within these hours that your counselling sessions will take place if you are counselled by a trainee counsellor.
Because the majority of our counsellors are trainees we are able to offer this affordable `Low Cost’ Counselling service to people with lower level mental health problems such as mild to moderate depression or anxiety.
For more details on our Low Cost Counselling Service, visit our website.
More Symptom-free Testing Sites Opening in Kent
Another five rapid-result coronavirus (COVID-19) testing sites for people who don’t have symptoms are opening in Kent, in addition to 14 centres already in operation.
The testing will find people who don’t currently have symptoms, who may be unknowingly spreading the virus in the community and the sites are part of a rolling programme to help reduce the rates of transmission in Kent.
In addition to sites already running across the county, people can now book for tests from today (12 January) using the link www.kent.gov.uk/symptomfreetest at the following venues (sites opening within the next week):
All symptom free testing sites will be open daily from 9am to 7pm. Children aged five-years-old and over can also be booked to take the test but will need assistance at the site from a parent/carer. It is recommended that people are tested frequently, every two weeks if possible.
People booking tests should be advised that if possible, they will need a QR code app reader or the NHS app already installed on their mobile phone. Assistance is available at the sites for registration if needed.
Sites already operating include Halfway, Sheerness; Ramsgate Port; Northfleet Youth Club, Gravesend; Swanley Youth Club; Dover Discovery Centre; Folkestone Library; Eurogate Business Park, Ashford; Kent Show Ground, Detling; Kemsley Community Centre; The Centre, Birchington; Sidney Cooper Gallery, Canterbury; Larkfied Library; Fairfield Leisure Centre, Dartford and Assembly Hall Theatre, Tunbridge Wells. The full list and addresses can be found at www.kent.gov.uk/symptomfreetest
Once all 19 are open, there will be capacity for over 17,000 tests across Kent per day. To date, 53,260 tests have been conducted so far with 526 positive cases identified – a positivity rate of 0.99 per cent – this means that these asymptomatic people now know to self-isolate which reduces the spread to others.
Speaking regarding the rollout, KCC Leader Roger Gough said: “I previously outlined four crucial actions that will help us get out of tier four restrictions – following the guidelines; symptom-free testing; contact tracing and enforcement. Rapid testing, combined with additional resources in contact tracing, gives us the opportunity to make significant strides in identifying and containing the virus across the county.”
He added: “The symptom-free testing sites are being set up using funding from central government to support local councils in tier 4 to help reduce rates of COVID-19 and we have also received support from the military. The opening of these sites has been a huge partnership effort between Kent County Council, central Government and the 12 district and borough councils. We are working together to do everything we can to help Kent out of this situation.”
Lt Col James Cackett said: “We are extremely pleased that the recruitment of a civilian workforce to support the fight against COVID-19 has received significant interest and allows our military personnel to establish further symptom-free testing which, in turn, increases the council’s ability to identify symptomless carriers and remove them from the contact chain.”
Kent County Council Director of Public Health, Andrew Scott-Clark said: “Symptom-free testing sites will help people to come forward and book themselves regular tests so we can find those who may be unknowingly transmitting the virus either at home or at work. I would ask employers across the county to help with this by encouraging their staff to regularly attend for a test.
“Remember, up to 1 in 3 people may have COVID-19 without any symptoms at all and with this new strain that is more transmissible, we need to identify those people and encourage them to isolate so we break the chain of transmission.
“The message to everyone across Kent is to keep following the restrictions and stay at home if possible. It’s important to self-isolate, not only after receiving a positive test result but also while you wait for the results.”
To book a test and for more information go to www.kent.gov.uk/symptomfreetest
Residents attending this testing will undergo a lateral flow swab test and will receive their result within a couple of hours of attending the test by text or email. If they are positive, they will be told to self-isolate, follow the national guidance and they will be instructed to have a PCR test to confirm their positive result. If they are negative, they must still continue to observe social distancing guidelines, wear a mask in public and regularly wash hands.
These sites are in addition to the regional and local testing sites for people who have symptoms. If you have symptoms you should NOT attend one of our symptom-free testing sites but instead book a PCR test https://www.gov.uk/get-coronavirus-test
Covid testing update
KCC councillor Gary Cooke shared the following update: as from 18 January county hall will be open to provide Asymptomatic testing in addition to the site at the Showground. It is recommended that people who continue to be active in the community through work etc should get regular Asymptomatic tests fortnightly.
Rapid-result coronavirus (COVID-19) testing for people who don’t have symptoms has started in Kent.
You can now book an appointment at one of the 14 sites across Kent and a further 10 sites will be opening over the coming weeks to help try to reduce the rates of COVID-19.
These sites are in addition to the regional and local testing sites for people who have symptoms. The symptom-free testing will find people who don’t currently have symptoms, who may be unknowingly spreading the virus in the community.
Symptom-free testing sites are being set up using funding from central government to support local councils and help reduce rates of COVID-19. if you like to book a test click here.
Fraudsters are sending out bogus text messages about the coronavirus vaccine in an attempt to steal bank details.
The scam tells recipients they are “eligible to apply for your vaccine” with a link to a bogus NHS website, trading standards officers have warned.
That, in turn, asks for personal information and – crucially – bank details “for verification”.
The warning comes the same day as MPs heard that Covid is leading some people into the net of pension fraudsters.
The fake NHS message is one of a range of scams which have sought to take advantage of the pandemic and the isolation and legitimate worries of potential victims, according to the Chartered Trading Standards Institute.
Others have included people travelling door-to-door selling counterfeit or useless protection equipment, or fraudsters claiming to be from the official test and trace service and demanding payments.
The latest scam is preying on those elderly or vulnerable people who are fully expecting to receive legitimate information about their vaccine.
Health authorities have stressed they would never ask for an individual’s banking details.
Katherine Hart, lead office at the CTSI, said: “I have been tracking and warning the public about Covid-related scams since the beginning of the pandemic, and at every stage of response, unscrupulous individuals have modified their campaigns to defraud the public.
“The vaccine brings great hope for an end to the pandemic and lockdowns, but some only wish to create even further misery by defrauding others. The NHS will never ask you for banking details, passwords, or PIN numbers and these should serve as instant red flags.”
She urged people to report the scams to Action Fraud or Police Scotland.
The warning came as MPs on the Work and Pensions Select Committee heard how fraudsters were seizing on victims’ financial uncertainty during the pandemic to draw them into pension scams.
Rules allowing people to withdraw cash from their pension pot from the age of 55 have led some people to move money into investment schemes which look generous, but are simply vehicles to steal money.
“Household finances are stretched and so the temptations to use savings or to be tempted by offers of ‘free pension reviews’, for example, which we’ve warned about, are very real,” Mark Steward, from the Financial Conduct Authority told the committee.
“Of course, a ‘free pension review’ is hardly free. It is the first step on a process that will lead someone to investing in something that is too good to be true.”
He said that fraudsters had used social media advertising to “industrialise” this kind of fraud.
Whereas previously, fraudsters had to produce sophisticated glossy brochures and office fronts, they could now operate in anonymity on social media, sending fake information to millions of people.
Millions of pounds have been lost to pension scams in recent years, but it is a crime considered to be widely under-reported by victims and pension companies.
Graeme Biggar, director general of the National Economic Crime Centre, told the committee that fraudsters were continuing to use new avenues to reach potential victims.
“What we’re looking to do next is to move on to fake comparison websites, which is this new gateway into investment frauds, to spot those and take them down at source,” he said.