Citizens Advice Wokingham

One Front Door - coronavirus community response

Are you unable to leave the house or are facing another issue due to coronavirus? We are here to support you to get the help you require.

We want to ensure that no-one feels left behind – already we have provided support to local residents and worked with other charities to help people with food, prescription collection, linking up with some friendship support and advice on issues such as statutory sick pay or other benefits.

We are operating One Front Door to link you with the right level of support – working with Wokingham Borough Council and organisations including local foodbanks, Wokingham Volunteer Centre, First Days, Involve, Link Visiting Scheme, Age UK Berkshire and many more – including mental health and wellbeing support. We have a long list of charities and community groups operating across the area.

We have setup this page on our website so that you can explain your issue via a form if that suits you best. We may need to give you a call back just to check some things out – the form is available 24/7. If you are referring someone else you MUST Have their explicit permission.
 

Wokingham Borough Council is working with local charities to provide a community response for those who don’t have support and need advice or practical help. This is not an alternative to the NHS or social services.

Frequently Asked Questions

For clients who are deaf or hard of hearing they are able to us the Text Relay service of Next Generation Text Relay service, we have developed a specific number for this use 03444 111 445 which has longer pauses between messages to allow use on the service. The Text Relay number routes calls the same way as the national number does, so it will route to local offices based on their area number or the area number they provide when calling from a mobile. So, if the client’s area number is within Wokingham, then the call should be routed through to them. A Wokingham number that can be entered is 01189787258

For help with food there are a number of options:

  1. They can simply refuse the next food parcel that is delivered to their door (by telling the driver they no longer wish to receive parcels). The driver feeds the information back to the Government to be removed from the food parcels distribution list. The food parcel they refuse at the door will be redelivered to someone else on the list, so there is no wastage.
  2. Alternatively, there’s also a way to de-register at any time on the  www.gov.uk/coronavirus-extremely-vulnerable website. This is done by answering ‘yes’ to the question, “Do you have a way of getting essential supplies delivered at the moment?” The registration data will then be updated and food parcel deliveries will stop. There is a lead in time on the flow of this information and we are working with the Government Department who own this data.

To cancel your Wokingham Community Hub food parcel please contact us via the email form below or by calling us.

We continue to support people with our core enquiry areas including advice on welfare benefits, debt, housing, employment law and relationship and families (along with many other issues).

We are also acting as ‘one front door’ to assess and understand circumstances, to find the most appropriate route of support. This includes working with partners such as Wokingham Borough Council and charities across the borough – areas of support have included:

  • Support with collecting prescriptions for people who are shielding or are unable to leave the house via Wokingham Volunteer Centre
  • Support with food deliveries via Wokingham Community Hub or Wokingham Foodbank
  • Telephone buddy support from Link Visiting Scheme
  • Much more!

One of our volunteers has produced a document on pharmacy opening times and delivery status (please do check with your local pharmacy to confirm details as this cannot be kept up to date on a daily basis) https://docs.google.com/document/d/15OMhRP8JRFM2-AJhcuunxhtbk7Y9mBvJGhbwQAF-8-Y/edit

Useful links – 

NHS guidance on coronavirus – visit https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/ or call 111 if you have an urgent medical problem.

Wokingham Borough Council – https://www.wokingham.gov.uk/health/public-health-campaigns/coronavirus/

Mind (mental health) – https://www.mind.org.uk/information-support/coronavirus-and-your-wellbeing/

Friendship alliance for older people – https://www.linkvisiting.org/friendship-alliance

https://www.nhs.uk/oneyou/every-mind-matters/  – Addresses mental health issues.
 
https://www.nhs.uk/oneyou/for-your-body/  – This one addresses keeping healthy during the lockdown.

For health questions around Coronavirus (COVID-19) please consult NHS 111, visit the NHS website via https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/ or call 999 for emergencies

The NHS have also produced 10 tips to help if you are worried about coronavirus https://www.nhs.uk/oneyou/every-mind-matters/coronavirus-covid-19-anxiety-tips/

Wokingham Borough Council are sending out a weekly newsletter with some useful information – you can sign up here: https://public.govdelivery.com/accounts/UKWOKBC/subscriber/new?qsp=CODE_RED

You can also follow Wokingham Borough Council on Facebook (click here) or Twitter (click here).

Citizens Advice Wokingham is also on Facebook (click here) and Twitter (click here.

If you need help - you can fill in our form below for help and support - or call 0300 330 1189 Monday to Saturday 9am-5pm, you can also leave a voicemail out of hours and one of our team will get back to you as soon as possible.

If you want to help - Wokingham Volunteer Centre are co-ordinating volunteers for charities across the borough, including the new distribution hub. Please visit https://volunteerwokinghamborough.org.uk

Wokingham Borough includes ares such as Arborfield, Barkham, Charvil, Earley, Finchampstead, Hurst, Sonning, Remenham, Ruscombe, Shinfield, Twyford, Wagrave, Three Mile Cross, Winnersh, Spencers Wood and Woodley.

Behind the scenes - our team