Guide to Claiming Benefits and Credits following redundancy.

Do you need to discuss your circumstances, your redundancy and what benefits may be available to you?

If you do, we can arrange an appointment or possibly a confidential face-to-face interview. All our services are Free.

Our offices and outreach venues throughout Chesterfield, North East Derbyshire, Bolsover and Amber Valley operate a telephone advice service from 8am until 4pm weekdays.

Call Derbyshire Unemployed Workers Centres on 01246 231441

Visit our website www.duwc.org.uk

Email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Facebook message us @DerbyshireUWC

Main Centres

Chesterfield Office

1 Rose Hill East, Chesterfield, Derbyshire S40 1NU (in the Town Hall basement).

Open Monday to Friday 8am for telephone enquiries and 9:30am-4pm for appointments or face to face interviews.

Tel: 01246 231441

Shirebrook Office

54 Patchwork Row, Shirebrook, Mansfield, Nottingham NG20 8AL.

Open Monday to Wednesday 9–11:30am and 1-4pm.

Thursday and Friday 9-11:30am.

Tel: 01623 748161

Alfreton Office

Alfreton House, High Street, Alfreton, Derbyshire DE55 7HH.

Open Tuesdays 9am-12pm.

Wednesday and Thursday 9am-12pm and 1pm-4pm.

Tel: 01773 832237

Shirebrook Office

54 Patchwork Row, Shirebrook, Mansfield, Nottingham NG20 8AL.

Open Monday to Wednesday 9–11:30am and 1-4pm.

Thursday and Friday 9-11:30am.

Tel: 01623 748161

The new grant scheme opens on Friday 5 June 2020 and closes for applications on 17 June 2020.

You can read more here - https://www.chesterfield.co.uk/2020/06/chesterfield-borough-council-announce-discretionary-grants-for-local-businesses/

COVID-19 Outbreak

Briefing on Community Response Unit, Derbyshire County Council

Derbyshire County Community Response Unit

Our Community Response Unit (CRU) is aimed at supporting those who are most vulnerable and in need of support, and who cannot currently get this help directly from friends, relatives or neighbours. The CRU is working closely with the CVS and District/Borough Councils in each area to ensure a coordinated community response.

As well as helping to arrange support for individuals the CRU is also helping coordinate volunteers to help their local communities.

Who is Eligible for Help?

The CRU is aimed at supporting the most vulnerable in Derbyshire who do not have anyone (relatives, neighbours, friends) who can support them but with a particular focus upon people who are:

·        Extremely vulnerable (those in the Shielded cohort who have received a letter from the NHS)

·        Vulnerable (those aged over 70, underlying health conditions, pregnant women)

·        Self-isolating due to the individual or someone in their household being ill with suspected COVID-19

What help is available?

The CRU is able to offer a range of assistance to help people who have an urgent need meeting their basic needs including:

·        Food/essential shopping

·        Prescription collection

·        Social isolation

·        Financial needs

Food

We can arrange for a person to receive a weekly food parcel from the Council that will be delivered to their door.  The parcel is free for anyone on the Shielded list and is intended as emergency support until their NHS food parcel delivery begins. For people who are vulnerable or self-isolating there is a small charge of £25 for each food parcel.  In cases of exceptional hardship we can arrange either an emergency payment via the Derbyshire Discretionary Fund to enable the person to pay for a food parcel or help via the network of foodbanks.

In exceptional cases were a person needs food and the food box is unsuitable due to allergies/medical needs we can arrange someone to shop on their behalf.  We can also arrange to shop for other essential items that are not currently in the ‘food box’ e.g. cleaning products.

Prescriptions

We can arrange for a volunteer to collect and deliver prescriptions.  We are working with the LPC and Pharmacies to increase delivery support across the County to reduce the need to collect individual prescriptions.

Social isolation

Regular calls can be made to anyone who is socially isolated.

Financial Support

People who are experiencing undue financial hardship can be supported via the Derbyshire Discretionary Fund or the Welfare Rights service.

We are not able to support people on the Shielded list to register with the Government – this support should be provided by the person’s GP practice.

How Does Someone Get Help?

A person can get help by:

·        Registering with the CRU themselves or someone (relative, friend, professional) can register a vulnerable person on their behalf.  Registration can be done online here or by telephone (01629 535091)

Our phone line opening hours are:

Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm

Saturday 9am to 1pm.

·        Anyone on the Shielded list and who has registered with the Government for help is contacted directly by the CRU to discuss what help they may need.  The CRU receives a daily updated list of those people who have registered.

Contacting the CRU

The easiest way to contact the CRU is via our email address:

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

This email address should not be used to make individual referrals – please complete the online form referred to above.

Read more: Chesterfield COVID-19 Community Updates

Staveley Town Council are pleased to host Derbyshire Community Hub at the Speedwell Rooms 

All systems go today preparing our parcels for tomorrow.

If you have requested a parcel from us we will be in contact today, please note our survey is open until 14.30 today. If you've missed the survey give us a call and we will be happy to talk to you on the phone and discuss your requirements to see if we can help, if not we do have links with other organisations who will be able to help.

We do need to try to keep the food parcel requests as fair as possible, not only to ensure that there is enough food for the whole of Chesterfield, but also that duplications aren't happening. We appreciate that you may run out of food so please always contact us if this happens. We will try to cater for your family sizes.

The areas we cover are Staveley, Barrow Hill, Hollingwood and Poolsbrook.

Out of area? Not a problem we can refer you to another provider, please contact us to help. 

Telephone numbers

Nicola 07739295647

Michelle 07530920817

Bank Holiday opening hours -

The emotional support helpline offered by Derbyshire recovery & peer support service will be open on Good Friday and Easter Monday 9- 5pm.

They have also recently developed a new virtual support group which starts next Thursday at 6pm via Zoom. This is for anyone over 18 living in Derbyshire who would benefit from talking to like- minded people during the pandemic. To access the group, they should contact the Single Point of Access on 01773734989 or they can use the SMS service or webchat. Existing peer support groups are staying connected via zoom where possible.

Information and advice for Financial Inclusion help in Chesterfield.

Although our offices are currently closed we are still here to help.

Our Advice Line is open Monday to Friday from 10 am to 2 pm – call 0300 456 8437

Universal Credit Help to Claim National Helpline open Monday to Friday from 8 am to 6 pm – call 0800 144 8144

There is general advice specifically about COVID19 on the National Citizens Advice website:

https://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/health/coronavirus-what-it-means-for-you/

If you need help

Derbyshire County Council

There's information here for those who need help during the coronavirus outbreak and how to get it.

We can help you if you have no friends or family you can call on and:

• you are self-isolating because you or a member of your household is at risk
• you are struggling to meet your basic needs because of financial, social or health restrictions
• you are pregnant
• you have underlying health conditions
• you are aged 70 or over.

We can help you with shopping, or fetching your prescription or finding someone to have a chat with.

How to get the help you need

If you need help you can use our online form to register for it.

Or you can phone us on tel: 01629 535091. Our phone line opening hours are:

• Monday to Friday 9am to 5pm
• Saturday 9am to 1pm.

One of our approved partner volunteer organisations will be in touch with you as soon as possible to offer you the help you need.

Don’t give your bank details, bank card or PIN to anyone, and don’t give cash to anyone who is not part of this volunteer scheme or you already know.

Check that the person who comes to help you is from the voluntary organisation who contacted you.

If you feel unwell please seek advice from NHS 111.