Behind the scenes at Ripon Community House during lockdown; quietly supporting the most vulnerable in and around the city.

Short video showing work undertaken at Community House during Covid

Here's up to date info from Harrogate & Ripon Centres for Voluntary Service on how you can get support if you're struggling during the coronavirus epidemic. Please don't delay getting in touch, there are lots of trusted organisations working together and ready to help. ... See more

In Ripon and need help? We're working with Ripon Community House as the community support organisation for the city and surrounding area. This leaflet will be dropping through your doors shortly. #HereToHELP #StaySafeStayHome Harrogate & Ripon Centres for Voluntary Service ... See more

Ripon Together is keeping a wide range of information on how to cope with the covid-19 lockdown up to date on its website. Please visit www.ripontogether.com for links to both national and local guidance, information on how to volunteer, where to get support, how to claim financial support, how to cope with isolation, practical guidance on how to walk other people's dogs etc etc. If there is anything else you would like to see there, just message us or e-mail us on info@ripontogether.com If you find the material there useful -spread the word! ... See more

Info update from @riponmuseums.

“Ripon Museum Trust has closed the Workhouse Museum, the Prison and Police Museum and the Courthouse Museum in line with Government advice. Staff are furloughed under the Government’s Job Retention Scheme. We are committed to Ripon Museum Trust and our wonderful and important buildings and collections and the stories they tell. We are in close contact with Arts Council England and other stakeholders to ensure we are doing all we can to get through this crisis. We are endeavouring to keep information as up to date as we can on our website and social media. However please do not rely on these as a way to communicate with us. If you need to contact us please email info@riponmuseums.co.uk and your enquiry will be dealt with as soon as reasonably possible. If there is an immediate problem at one of our sites the emergency number is 07913722205 (Helen) or 07720751562 (Richard)”. ... See more

This week Ripon Together has been putting some of the best local and national guidance on the Covid-19 emergency onto its website, as well as signposting to local services where support can be obtained for those who need it. We aim to keep this refreshed and up to date as time goes on so that you can use this as a one-stop shop for guidance from the various agencies. Let us know if there is other stuff you would like to see there. Go and have a look at www.ripontogether.com ... See more

HARCVS has been leading the thinking on how to support local people during the Covid-19 lockdown, working with NYCC. They are in touch with all relevant local groups. Ripon Together has helped that thinking and to identify local groups that can help support people. We stand ready to help further wherever we can.

Things are changing quickly, but at any time the latest position will be available on the HARCVS website.

The key message is to seek help in the first instance from family, friends and trusted neighbours. However, if that is not available to you and you need help with shopping, prescriptions, caring for pets or having someone to talk to, you can call NYCC on 01609 780780 or, preferably, the local hub at Ripon Community House on 01765 603631, Monday-Friday 8am to 5:30pm.

If you wish to volunteer and are over 18 years of age, healthy and at low risk (see NHS guidelines https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/ ) you can now sign up to become a Here To Help Volunteer to help others in Harrogate or Ripon with tasks such as urgent food shopping for the most vulnerable and providing back-up to local charities delivering vital services, as necessary. Fill in the online form – https://www.harcvs.org.uk/news/become-here-help-volunteer - and they will contact you.

Finally, everyone should protect themselves and others by complying with Government guidance on www.gov.uk and the public health England site and ensuring they take steps to protect themselves against scammers – look out for guidance on NYCC and North Yorkshire Police websites and https://www.actionfraud.police.uk/alert/coronavirus-scam-costs-victims-over-800k-in-one-month ... See more

NHS advice about coronavirus (COVID-19), including what to do if you think you have it and how to reduce your chances of getting it.

Good evening all; work is continuing apace to finalise local plans to support our most vulnerable members of the community and we will keep you updated. In the meantime the key message we have been asked to promote is for people to seek support from trusted family, friends and neighbours in the first instance. This will help us get organised and prioritise those most in need of support. For now here is some really helpful advice from Harrogate & Ripon Centres for Voluntary Service and a link to enable people to register their interest as volunteers. Thank you RT. https://www.harcvs.org.uk/news/looking-out-our-neighbours-and-staying-safe ... See more

We have held a first meeting of key groups and organisations to identify how best to help the most vulnerable people across our community cope with the restrictions imposed to respond to Covid-19. Further work is being done to pool resources and identify volunteers to deliver help to those who need support, and to ensure safety for everyone concerned.

We are working closely with local charity and partner Harrogate & Ripon Centres for Voluntary Service and Ripon Community House to put plans in place, together with a wide range of groups and organisations across the city.

We are working hard to resolve all the various issues involved and will have a final scheme designed and resources identified as soon as possible (days not weeks) which we will share widely via our combined networks.

Please be patient as we work on all of this and be assured that all our efforts are focussed on putting arrangements in place which will work safely and be sustainable over the weeks and months ahead. We are also getting advice from North Yorkshire County Council.

Shortly we will be taking details of people able to volunteer to support our most vulnerable people, with as much safeguarding in place as possible. We will let you know how to register as soon as this is set up; please be patient as sending us info before we are ready will just create extra work and detract from our current efforts to get properly organised.

However if you have ideas or suggestions about how we can all work together please send them in via e mail info@ripontogether.com or our Facebook page, or you can send a message via our web site at https://www.ripontogether.com/get-involved/

In the meantime here is helpful general guidance from North Yorkshire County Council on how you can you help your community and what to do if you need help:

https://www.northyorks.gov.uk/coronavirus-covid-19-community-support ... See more

Get Involved with Ripon Together How to get involved… Anyone who lives or works in Ripon can get involved in Ripon Together. You can apply to become a member of the Community Interest Company (CIC) via a simple application form. (Click on the button to the right). As a CIC we are governed by the r... ... See more

Great advice here from Staffordshire on how to help people out safely ☑️☑️☑️

We’ve noticed lots of people want to help as the Corona Virus causes more people to stay at home – this is great, but people aren’t always sure where to start and some are worried about safety or fraud. We want to encourage neighbourliness in these uncertain times, so here are our top tips: ... See more