Articles in News

Articles in Covid-19

Covid-19 Risk Assessment: Week Ending 25 November 2022

Ben Clark

The Covid risk in Bucks is going up again, after falling to its lowest level this year. As of 23 November, 1 in 55 people in the county were still infected with Covid-19 and the risk of meeting an infected person when out and about has increased to VERY HIGH. In your average busy supermarket, there will be five people breathing out Covid for you to catch. This is probably the beginning of the predicted ‘Winter Wave’ of Covid.

Our advice remains to wear a FFP2 or N95 filter mask in public places (especially hospitals and GP surgeries), breathe clean air, avoid crowds and busy places, work from home if you can, and protect your older and vulnerable relatives and friends. These simple precautions will help save you and your family from serious illness or long-term disability.

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Have You Heard About The DecodeME Project?

Ben Clark

Written by Liz Hobbs.

Disclaimer: this is a personal blog by a BuDS member. The views expressed are personal and don’t necessarily represent those of BuDS or our Trustees.

A few months back it was Chronic Fatigue Awareness Day.  I really wanted to write a blog about it, but at the time my own chronic fatigue symptoms were so bad that I didn’t have the energy, focus or ability to do anything about it.  I promised myself that at some point I would write something.  This isn’t quite the blog that I was going to write – still not enough health to do that, unfortunately.  It was going to be all about how CFS has affected my life and how it impacts so many people in so many ways.  However instead, having just attended a webinar, on 16th November, I’m going to ask you a very important question:

Have you heard about the DecodeME project?

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Pensioner Winter Fuel Credit Payments – Winter 2022-23

Ben Clark

If you are entitled to a Winter Fuel Payment for winter 2022 to 2023, and you are a pensioner, you will get an extra payment for your household. You can receive this alongside other cost of living payments from your tax credits or benefits.

The amount you will receive is different depending on your circumstances at the time of your winter fuel credit payment. A full breakdown of the circumstances, and how they affect your payment, is below. Please note that the amounts shown in the table below are ONLY for the winter of 2022 to 2023, and will not apply at any other time. 

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The Warm Home Discount Scheme

Ben Clark

The Warm Home Discount is a one-off deduction of £150 from your electricity bill, under the Warm Home Discount Scheme. The money will NOT be paid to you – it is a one-off discount on your electricity bill between October 2022 and March 2023. 

You may be able to get the discount on your gas bill instead if your supplier provides you with both gas and electricity, and you are eligible.The discount will not affect any Cold Weather Payments or Winter Fuel Payments that your household may also be eligible for.

Read on for more.

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Covid-19 Risk Assessment: Week Ending 18 November 2022

Ben Clark

There remains a lot of Covid in the community this week. As of 16 November, 1 in 109 people in the county were still infected with Covid-19 and the risk of meeting an infected person when out and about is still HIGH. In your average busy supermarket, there will still be three people breathing out Covid for you to catch. However, the risk has reduced from last week and Covid levels in Bucks are at their lowest level so far this year.

Even though the risk is lower, it remains HIGH and so our advice remains to wear a FFP2 or N95 filter mask in public places (especially hospitals and GP surgeries), breathe clean air, avoid crowds and busy places, work from home if you can, and protect your older and vulnerable relatives and friends. These simple precautions will help save you and your family from serious illness or long-term disability.

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Covid-19 Risk Assessment: Week Ending 11 November 2022

Ben Clark

Some better Covid news this week, as the latest wave of Covid looks to be reaching its end. But there remains a lot of Covid in the community – as of 9 November, 1 in 62 people in the county were still infected with Covid-19 and the risk of meeting an infected person when out and about remains VERY HIGH. In your average busy supermarket, there will still be five people breathing out Covid for you to catch.

Our advice remains to wear a FFP2 or N95 filter mask in public places (especially hospitals and GP surgeries), breathe clean air, avoid crowds and busy places, work from home if you can, and protect your older and vulnerable relatives and friends. These simple precautions will help save you and your family from serious illness or long-term disability.

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Guide & Assistance Dog Refusal

Ben Clark

As a community of disabled people, we are well aware that assistance dog refusal happens frequently and is deeply distressing and damaging for disabled people who rely on the support of an animal. There is no excuse for refusing an assistance animal and it is of course illegal to do so. We are aware that disabled people with assistance dogs are often verbally and sometimes even physically abused when they try to exercise their legal right to take their dogs with them, and we unreservedly condemn any rudeness or abuse. Anyone who abuses a disabled person in Buckinghamshire for any reason can expect to hear from us!

As a charity, we have worked for over a decade to stop assistance animals being refused in Buckinghamshire. Our pre-pandemic project Fair4All Taxis successfully ended most assistance dog refusals by taxi drivers and our rapidly-growing Fair4All Card helps disabled people who use an assistance animal to assert their legal rights.

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The Times They Are A-Changin’…

Ben Clark

A blog for Trustees Week 2022 by Andrew Clark, Chair of Trustees, Buckinghamshire Disability Service, BuDS.

Disclaimer: this is a personal blog by a BuDS member. The views expressed are personal and don’t necessarily represent those of BuDS or our Trustees.

The times they are a-changing, sang Bob Dylan nearly 60 years ago, and he’s still right.  One verse of his famous song reads:

If your time to you is worth saving, then you better start swimmin’ or you’ll sink like a stone, for the times, they are a-changin’

Bob Dylan

As a user-led disability charity, BuDS has been swimming hard for 13 years. But the last three years have perhaps seen more change than ever. When Covid arrived and lockdowns started, BuDS Trustees refused to let the charity ‘sink like a stone’. With charities closing all around us, unanimously we decided to go instead for rapid growth to meet the surging needs of disabled people who were most affected by Covid.

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