As part of the new Community Champions scheme, West Lancs CVS is working alongside West Lancashire Borough Council to get accurate local COVID-19 information to West Lancs residents and voluntary sector organisations.

Please help us get the word out by passing on this weekly update....

Have you booked your vaccine?

From today, everyone aged 18 and over can now book their vaccine.  

If you haven't yet received a text, you can still book direct:

• through the national system
• Or phone FREE on 119

People who have not yet had their first dose are being urged to come forward urgently.

Get your vaccine at a walk-in clinic

Alternatively, if you don't want to book, you can go to one of the walk-in vaccination clinics being held in some areas of West Lancs:

Saturday 19th June, Skelmersdale - for 1st or 2nd doses

A walk in vaccination clinic will be held on Saturday 19th June 9am to 5pm.

• Eligibility:  21+ for pfizer and 40+ Astra Zeneca, health and social care workers, unpaid carers and anyone with underlying health conditions
• Location: Birleywood Health Centre, Birleywood Skelmersdale WN8 9BW
• Second dose available if 8 weeks have passed since your first dose. 
• No booking is required, just turn up and walk in!

Friday 18th and Saturday 19th June, Ormskirk - for 2nd doses only

Walk-ins are available for a second dose of AstraZeneca at the Edge Hill University vaccination site this week - no appointment necessary

This is for people who had their first dose of AstraZeneca 8 or more weeks ago and is open:

• Friday - 8am to 8pm
• Saturday - 9am to 4pm
• Sunday – CLOSED

NHS vaccine factsheet

The NHS have produced a useful factsheet answering some frequently asked questions about the vaccine such as:

• How do I know the Covid-19 vaccine has been widely tested on people like me?
• Can I catch coronavirus from the Covid-19 vaccine?
• Is the Covid-19 vaccine vegetarian?
• How do I know if the Covid-19 vaccine is suitable for people of my faith?

Have a look on our website here.

Local COVID-19 testing

Everyone is being encouraged to take PCR tests even if they don’t have symptoms so they can be sequenced to identify Variants of Concern such as the Delta variant.

Anyone in West Lancashire without covid symptoms is eligible to two free, rapid coronavirus tests for themselves and their families. 

Twice-weekly testing is still crucial to keeping cases down.

You can either:

• Take the test at a symptom free testing site
• Collect tests from a symptom free testing site to use at home later
• Order home testing kits online if you cannot attend a testing site

For information on all testing sites across West Lancs or how to order a test online, go to: westlancs.gov.uk/symptom-freetesting

If you would like a stock of home testing kits to share with the community at community centres, group meetings, church halls, voluntary groups etc, please contact CustomerEngagement@westlancs.gov.uk

Covid-19 testing for people with symptoms

• If you have covid-19 symptoms, you will need to self-isolate and get a test here.
• If you have a positive test, you should immediately self-isolate and if eligible, can apply for financial support here.

Vaccine toolkit for employers

The Department for Health has launched a new toolkit for employers to give employees reliable information about COVID-19 vaccines. 

The toolkit has lots of materials for internal awareness campaigns promoting the benefits of vaccination, including key messages, posters, fact sheets and videos providing accurate up to date information. 

Download the toolkit here.

Funding for communities experiencing racial inequality

Lancashire BME Network is inviting applications to the Comic Relief Global Fund for micro grants from £500 up to £2,000.  The fund is targeted at communities experiencing racial inequality and which have been disproportionately affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. 

The fund is to benefit people from a BAME background- Black, Asian, Eastern European, Refugees and asylum seekers and Roma and traveller. 

It is a rolling programme and they would like to see completion of all projects by July 2022.

More information and application forms here.

Volunteering – can you help?

We are looking for more volunteers to join our Community Champions project to:

• Help us get accurate information about covid-19 into communities. We'll provide the information, we just need you to be a ‘hero from home’ and send it on (email, text, WhatsApp, social media) to your family, friends and social networks

• Give help to others in your neighbourhood – through practical tasks or helping out with a local organisation

Do get in touch with us at West Lancs CVS if you can help: phone 01695-733737, email: enquiries@wlcvs.org

Can you help us get the word out?

Please join in these efforts to provide clear information to our community.  

Cascade these messages on to your networks, work colleagues, friends and families using the share buttons below: