An innovative week-long event to showcase the diversity of careers and pathways into health and social care has been launched in Chesterfield.

‘Careers that Care’ week, a series of virtual events organised in partnership with Derbyshire Voluntary Action’s (DVA) Community Chesterfield project, the University of Derby and Joined Up Careers Derbyshire, will take place from 21 to 25 June.

The event, which is funded by the Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire Collaborative Outreach Programme (DANCOP), will feature opportunities for attendees to watch videos from people playing crucial roles in the region’s health and social care sectors, allowing them to find out more about what they do in the role day to day and where the career could take you. These will include disability support worker, radiography and podiatry.

The videos will be available to watch on YouTube prior to the event and those attending the event are invited to post questions for the expert via the comments section under each video. These questions will then be answered during live Q&A sessions throughout the week, equipping delegates with knowledge about what it is like to work in that field.

The week will culminate in a live panel discussion, with special guests from the University of Derby, Derbyshire Voluntary Action, Joined Up Care Derbyshire and Chesterfield Borough Council.

Toby Perkins MP, Labour MP for Chesterfield and Shadow Minister for Further Education and Skills, will introduce the panel. Attendees will be able to watch Question Time-style discussion via a live stream.

The panel will be looking at the big picture of health in the local area, the barriers and strengths within the sector and their thoughts on what individuals can do to support through both community action and careers in health and social care.

Charlotte Repton, project manager at Community Chesterfield, which links the skills, knowledge and experience of Chesterfield’s voluntary and community sector, said: “We’re really pleased to be working with Joined Up Careers on this event, which will promote the variety of roles available across the NHS and public sector and highlight why people should choose these sectors as a career path.

“Our role at Community Chesterfield is to bring the University and community together to create a resourceful, experienced and knowledgeable health and social care sector in the area, as well as creating learning and personal development opportunities for students. This event should help to do just that.”

Careers that Care is open to anyone from Chesterfield and surrounding areas with an interest in health and social care, but will be of particular interest to young people at the point of making a decision about their career or to individuals who might be considering a career change.

It will also benefit parents or teachers who are supporting a young person to make decisions about their career and current students who wish to find out about the range of careers their studies could lead them to.

For more information visit www.careersthatcareweek.org.

Derbyshire residents who are deaf or have hearing loss can find out more about what support is available at a series of roadshows during Deaf Awareness Week 2021.

The stalls are COVID secure and will have experienced staff who can sign, as well as a qualified interpreter on hand, to help answer questions.Find out more about Deaf Awareness Week. including a link to a free, six-week BSL programme for volunteers and voluntary sector staff across the county.

Derbyshire Voluntary Action are delighted to share our latest Network Newsletter Home Edition. We hope you find it packed full of inspiring and useful information!

You can view our Network Home Edition – Issue 4 HERE

If you have an article you would like featured in the next issue please email rachel@dva.org.uk

A new transport service has been launched to provide people from Chesterfield with free, safe travel to Sheffield hospitals for cancer treatment.

The service has been launched by regional charity Weston Park Cancer Charity and will operate twice daily from Monday to Friday, between The University of Derby’s St Helena Campus in Chesterfield and Sheffield Teaching Hospitals.

The Weston Park Cancer Charity Transport Service could save hundreds of pounds in travel costs each week for people in Chesterfield and the surrounding areas who are living with cancer.

Around 20 per cent of patients at Weston Park Cancer Centre – one of the four hospitals to which the transport service will provide free travel – are from Chesterfield, the equivalent of more than 3,000 patients at any one time and more than 1,300 each year.

The service will follow strict safety measures to keep volunteer drivers and passengers safe at all times. Drivers will all be tested for Covid-19 twice weekly, with buses cleaned thoroughly before every journey.

The launch of the new Transport Service follows Weston Park Cancer Charity’s takeover of Chesterfield cancer charity, Nenna Kind, in 2020. It marks a ’major step forward’ for Weston Park Cancer Charity in its ‘commitment to care in every sense’ for cancer patients and their families in Chesterfield.

Alison Gibson, community development worker at Community Chesterfield who helped facilitate the scheme, said: “At Community Chesterfield we pride ourselves on connecting the region’s voluntary, community and charitable sectors both with the University of Derby and with one another, opening up opportunities for them to work together to create positive impact in the area.

“After a discussion with one of Weston Park Cancer Charity’s volunteers about the benefits that a transport service of this nature would bring, we are absolutely delighted to help facilitate this vital scheme from our offices at the St Helena Campus. It will without doubt be a huge help to residents of Chesterfield who need to travel to Weston Park to undergo cancer treatment and will hopefully go some way to making their lives during an incredibly challenging time that bit easier.”

Read the full story https://www.westonpark.org.uk/chesterfield-transport-service/

Did you know more people in Derbyshire are diagnosed with cancer than the England average?

Building on the Be Cancer SAFE North Derbyshire campaign, Derbyshire Voluntary Action are working to raise awareness of bowel cancer signs and symptoms and the importance of screening amongst men in areas where uptake is traditionally low. Bowel cancer is the 4th most common cancer in the UK and affects 1 in every 15 males. The disease is treatable and curable, especially if diagnosed early.

The project employs a community approach to improving cancer survival creating a network of cancer champions who help to remove barriers and normalise conversations about cancer. This in turn can lead to more people attending their screening or contacting their GP if there are concerns.

You can find out more and make a pledge to be a cancer champion by visiting www.becancersafe-nd.org and simply start having health conversations wherever and whenever you get the opportunity.

Our message is simple:
• Screening – Participate in screening when invited
• Awareness – Be aware of any changes in your body
• Fast – If you notice changes, act fast. Contact your GP
• Early – Early detection saves lives. Recognise the symptoms and act promptly

April is Bowel Cancer Awareness Month. This annual event helps raise the profile of bowel cancer and its symptoms such as persistent blood in your poo, a persistent change in your bowel habits and raises awareness of screening.

The ‘In a Word’ Campaign is the result of conversations with with people during Bowel Cancer Awareness Month and how they sum up their experience of bowel cancer.

To find out more please email Rich Colgrave at becancersafe@dva.org.uk

Join us on social media @BeCancerSafe_ND, Facebook Be Cancer Safe North Derbyshire and Instagram BeCancerSafeND

Re-opening your hall safely – what you need to know, what you need to do! 

The aim of this session is to provide a ‘re-cap’ of the latest ACRE guidelines for the safe re-opening of village and community halls post COVID-19 closures in response to the new ‘4 Step Roadmap to recovery.’ 

This session falls between Step 2 – which will start on 12th April and Step 3 – which is scheduled to start on 17th May. By then, most halls will be open for those activities permitted by the ‘roadmap’ whilst taking the necessary measures to open halls up to bookings by groups, clubs and the wider community at Step 3.

Delegates will have the opportunity to ask questions, discuss specific issues of concern and share their experience of managing the gradual re-opening and easing of restrictions.

You can book a place on the Rural Action Derbyshire website HERE

Derbyshire Voluntary Action (DVA), which has created a network of more than 300 organisations with the aim of making the voluntary sector stronger and more joined up with each other, has reached the milestone after forming in 1991.

DVA, which is based at Chesterfield Market Hall, specialises in supporting voluntary and community sector organisations in the health and well-being sector – from tiny volunteer-led self-help groups through to local and regional charities delivering projects to the benefit of large numbers of Derbyshire residents.

Back, Debbie Fennell, Jacqui Willis, Heather Fawbert
Front, Julia Cook and Charlotte Repton

Charlotte Repton, project manager at DVA, said: “If you were going to sum up what DVA does, I think the simplest version is that we are a charity which supports other charities – but there is much more to it than that.

“Healthy communities really are the key to why we do what we do.

“The voluntary sector is vital to delivering specialised, responsive support in the community, enhancing what is offered by public services such as the council and NHS.

“I think the pandemic has made that more clear than ever.”

Charlotte said DVA had done ‘so much’ to help people over the last year, including putting together a comprehensive online directory of organisations which can offer support.

The charity has also set up a response hub which includes volunteers who make phone calls each week to people who are in need of someone to speak to.

DVA supports the voluntary sector in many ways, including holding regular forum meetings where members can meet, share updates and any issues, and find out about local and national news.

Over the last year, the charity has also offered high-quality online training to more than 100 different groups.

Jacqui Willis, chief executive of DVA, said: “When DVA was formed in 1991 it was a very small operation, but the ambition was always there to provide a voice for the voluntary and community organisations and to look for innovative ways to strengthen the sector, and our local area as a whole. You could say that the forum is where it all started.

“But now we do so much more. On top of communicating through our weekly bulletins and the quarterly Network magazine, I attend lots of meetings, committees and boards with statutory partners where I am able to be the voice for the voluntary sector.

“Campaigning for and championing the voluntary sector is one of the most impactful things we do.”

DVA is funded by the local council and NHS clinical commissioning group, and then distributes grants to groups, allowing them to continue the great work they do.

Charlotte added: “I think we’re quite an innovative charity – and during our 30th anniversary year, we’ll be looking to raise some income by linking with businesses.”

Businesses interested in helping can visit www.dva.org.uk/dva-at-30 for more details.

Jacqui added: “We are going to be using our birthday to celebrate the voluntary sector and we hope that we can encourage people to show some appreciation for local charities and groups which make a big difference.”

For more information about DVA, visit www.dva.org.uk.

Article taken from Derbyshire Times website

Dates are as follows;

26th April 12.30 to 4.30pm
6th May 9am to 1pm
10th May 12.30 to 4.30
24th May 12.30 to 4.30

This course is currently being delivered online, Relate are able to offer some funded places some may incur a charge.

For more information email admin@relatechesterfield.org.uk