Getting Information

Our Advice Team are available 8am - 8pm Monday - Friday and 10am - 4pm on Saturday and Sunday. They can help with a range of topics including applying and resolving benefit queries, housing problems and pointing you to places where you can get more information or help.  

The team are here to answer your questions, so please get in touch by calling 01923 713632 or you can email them 

New guidance on COVID-19 shielding, the UK Government has recently said that people who are shielding remain vulnerable and should continue to take precautions but can now leave their home if they wish, as long as they are able to maintain strict social distancing. For more information click here


Guidance on returning to school. The UK Government has recently announced that Primary schools can reopen for children in reception, year 1 and year 6 from June 1st. Secondary schools can reopen for children in year 10 and 12 from June 15th. For more information click here

Watford Leisure Centre is a regular weekend testing sight of COVID-19. For more information click here 

New guidance on COVID-19 symptoms the UK Government has recently said that all individuals should self-isolate if they develop a new continuous cough or fever or anosmia.

Anosmia is the loss of or a change in your normal sense of smell. It can also affect your sense of taste too as smell and taste are closely linked.

The individual’s household should also self-isolate for 14 days as per the current guidelines and the individual should stay at home for 7 days, or longer if they still have symptoms other than a cough or loss of sense of smell.

Travelling on public transport If you need to go on public transport, here are a few tips to help ease anxiety around this.  Click here for more information.

Here are some useful resources we've come across:

  • If you are a carer and working from home, the Health and Safety Executive have produced this 90 second video to help you think about your setup.
  • Mencap have published a user friendly guide to explain to someone with a learning disability what will happen if they go into hospital with Corona Virus
  • Mind have put together some information specifically for young people, covering topics such as how to deal with changes in schooling and college and where to get support  

Also, we sent you a broken link last week which we have corrected below:
Why Do People Wear Protective Clothing - We hope you never need to use this but here is a video designed to help people with a learning disability understand why people who help them may be wearing personal protection equipment (PPE).

We also wanted to pass on more resources which might be useful if you need to explain to a person with a learning disability what is happening.

  • Who can help? - Here are some some easy read information to help people with learning disabilities understand who can help them.  You can print off this sheet so it handy if you need it.
  • My plan to be safe from Corona Virus - Here is also some easy read information to help people with learning disabilities plan to be safe from Corona Virus.  It helps explain things like hand washing, social distancing and also has a few fun activities to keep you busy!!

For younger people, you might find the following resources useful:

  • Staying Home is a book explaining staying home and staying safe 
  • A book about coronavirus illustrated by Axel Scheffler (Gruffalo) can be found here 

 

  • Coronavirus Easy Read - The Government had released some easy read information to help people with learning disabilities understand what Coronavirus is and how to protect themselves.  You can read it here
  • Why Do People Wear Protective Clothing - We hope you never need to use this but here is a video designed to help people with a learning disability understand why people who help them may be wearing personal protection equipment (PPE).