September 4, 2025

As September begins, we move into meteorological autumn. Like lots of other’s I’m doing my best to fend off the moment when the heating gets turned on for the first time, the winter woollies come out of hiding and I start to wistfully think about planning next summer’s holidays 😊

For much of our health and care services Autumn and Winter is a chaotic and pressured time of year. Many more people become poorly; especially the elderly, frail and those living in poverty. Whilst it is the local GP surgeries, ambulance services and hospital A & E departments that get all the publicity about just how busy and pressured they are our sector also experiences a considerable surge in referrals and need for services during the Autumn and Winter.

During this period, our sector provides a significant safety net for those in need; helping people to keep heating on, food in their cupboards and providing warm and safe spaces to meet as the dark, bad weather and autumn/winter struggles increase loneliness and isolation and the need for companionship and support.

People struggle to know where to turn to for health care and support so it’s really important all of us working in health, care, information and support in our sector know how to navigate our way to the right help at the right time. Make sure you and your staff know what help can be provided in local pharmacies, beef up your knowledge about who is eligible for COVID & flu jabs and encourage people to get them. Ensure you’ve got plenty of information about all the local Warm Spots/Hubs and when they are open, dig deep for information about what support is out there to help with winter heating bills, connect people to online services to deliver shopping, prescriptions or Meals on Wheels so no one who is vulnerable has to brave the winter ice, snow and wind to get basics and risk a fall.

We can all do our bit planning and preparing for Winter.

Let us know if you are running additional services over Winter so that we can promote them. Contact the Health Partnerships Team if there is information we can help to provide you and your staff with over the coming months. We can source information for the Bulletin, we can run events focused on Winter information, we can ask people to come and speak at Cumbria Action for Health or Cumbria Mental Health Provider Forum.

Let’s plan and support together this Winter and make sure the people who really need us get the best possible support.

 

Health Partnerships Manager – Clare Edwards

email: clare.edwards@cumbriacvs.org.uk

telephone: 01768 800350