Find out what's happening in your area

In West Lancashire, cases are still high but have dropped significantly over the last week - by 31% - which mirrors the national trend.

• See how your postcode compares to the Borough figures here.

• To see how today’s case rate compares with what’s been happening over the last 3 months, 6 months or past year, have a look here

Vaccine boosters

The NHS will now invite eligible people, who had their second jab at least six months ago, for a top up vaccination

• Those eligible include all adults over 50 and some aged 16-49 with underlying conditions
• Vaccination of frontline health and care workers has started this week in hospital hubs.
• Full vaccination rollout will begin from next week and will be delivered through existing vaccination sites including pharmacies, hospital hubs, GP practices and vaccine centres.
• People do not need to contact the NHS to arrange their booster vaccine; the NHS will be in touch those eligible.

More information here

Vaccines for 12-15 year olds

Children aged 12 to 15 in England will be offered one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, following advice from UK’s Chief Medical Officers.

• The NHS will start delivering a schools-based vaccination programme supported by GPs and community pharmacies
• Invitations for vaccination will begin next week.
• Parental consent will be sought before vaccination in line with existing school vaccination programmes.

How to get your vaccination in West Lancs

• Book an appointment on the NHS website here 
• Phone for free on 119
• Go to this weekend's walk-in clinic or find one here 

If you don't have symptoms

One in three people with covid-19 infection have no symptoms, so getting tested twice a week is crucial to make sure we're not passing it on.

You can either:

• Collect FREE tests from a symptom free local collection site to use at home later.  Find your nearest collection point here.

Or

• Order FREE home testing kits online to be delivered to your home:  https://www.gov.uk/order-coron...

If you have symptoms

• you will need to self-isolate and get a test here.

• If you have a positive test, you can apply for financial support here.

Mental health support

If you know anyone who needs support with their mental health there are lots of organisations and services across Lancashire and South Cumbria that can help.

Have a look at the list of services here.

Cancer support

Macmillan's month-long local health & wellbeing event continues with another week full of helpful topics

Join them in the next few days, find out what's coming up here.

Suicide awareness

Suicide rates in Lancashire and South Cumbria are the third highest in England and men are three times more likely to take their life by suicide than women.

Of those who die by suicide, 67% are not known to mental health services - so everyone is being called on to become suicide aware.

Find out how you can help here

New posts in Community Champions team

We are pleased to offer the following exciting roles to increase the capacity of the Community Champions team:

• Community Development Officer – 25 hours a week (£26,511 pro-rata)
• Project Support Worker – 19.5 hours a week (£21,748 pro-rata)

The Community Champion Scheme is working to aid community-wide recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic as well as building the capacity and resilience of the West Lancs community to work together.

Both of these posts are fixed term for 12 months initially, with the potential to extend if further funding becomes available.

For job descriptions and person specifications, please click on the job titles above.

If you would like to apply, please contact Jill Bradley, Operations Manager, West Lancs CVS for an application form – jill@wlcvs.org or ring 07598552941.

The closing date for both posts is Monday 27th September 2021.

Please note:  this is a re-advertisement of the above roles

Can you help us get the word out?

We are working with West Lancashire Borough Council to get accurate information into the heart of communities and would be grateful if you could pass this on to your networks.

Please join in these efforts by cascading these messages on to your work colleagues, friends and families using the share buttons below: