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Wednesday 9 September 2020
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COVID-19: recent changes and what you need to know
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As you will have seen on the national news, across the country concern has been growing again about COVID-19 infection rates, and we can confirm that there is a growing number of positive COVID-19 cases in Barnet, particularly among young people. It is therefore important that in our work and personal lives we remain cautious and follow the guidance around meeting and socialising to Keep Barnet Safe.
The guidance on social gatherings has been updated today by the government and meetings of more than six people, indoors and outdoors, will be illegal in England from Monday (14 September). This will be enforced through a £100 fine if people fail to comply, doubling on each offence up to a maximum of £3,200. This will not apply to schools, workplaces, places of worship or COVID-secure weddings, funerals and team sports.
Information about access to the Colindale Office has been shared and can be viewed again here, and the current procedures remain in place. However, it is important to remember that if you are able to work from home, or your work involves being out of an office, you should continue to do so. In order to minimise the risk of spread, we are asking staff that come in to only sit in the floors designated as their ‘home areas’ and that any office attendance is closely co-ordinated between heads of service for each floor on a daily basis. All visits by any members of staff need to be booked by the previous day through the visitor booking system on the Facilities Management online portal (log in to the portal, and then access My Building/Visitor Management/Book a Visitor).
New restrictions on the use of meeting rooms at Colindale have been put in place this week, which set out that meeting rooms of six people and above should be limited to a third of their capacity and cannot be occupied for longer than one hour. Any rooms with a capacity of less than six people will be unavailable. Kitchenettes are now available again, but please follow the instructions on each floor to ensure safe use.
Chief Executive John Hooton said: “We understand how difficult this year has been for everyone, and there is undoubtedly a delicate balance to be struck between minimising risk of virus spread, delivering excellent services for residents and being able to physically collaborate with your colleagues.
“Workplaces are currently exempt from the restrictions on meeting, as the office is considered a COVID-secure environment, so I would still encourage occasional meetings with your teams for social contact and important collaboration time. However, the majority of the time, if your work can be completed effectively at home, I would urge you to continue with your current working patterns. The office still has a maximum capacity of just 30% of normal limits, and ensuring distancing and all other COVID-secure measures are followed is the most important consideration at this time.”
Remember, outside of work, please do not put yourself and others at risk by attending or hosting larger parties or gatherings. And, it’s vital that if you have come into close contact with someone who has been infected you should self-isolate immediately for 14 days. If you develop symptoms, book a test. The latest mobile testing unit (MTU) locations are shared by email with all staff every week, and can also be found here. Home testing kits are also now available – click here for more details.
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Workplace Wellbeing Month – how is it for you?
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10 September: a reminder that life is precious
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Second week in and how is Workplace Wellbeing Month going for you? So far there had been a variety of events held at different times, from lunchtime quizzes to full-on personal training sessions.
For the remainder of the week we still have some events for you to try. One session focuses on nutrition and the other is a high impact fitness class that gets results in a short space of time (if you do it regularly enough).
We know eating a balanced, healthy diet is a major part of fitness overhaul or regime, but with such busy working lives, it’s often very difficult to stick to. This is where the Detox Barn could inspire you.
Some of you may recall the pop-up stall that sold fresh juices, smoothies and healthy vegan snacks that was based in the Colindale reception for a few months. That was the Detox Barn, which is run by sisters Lauretta and Sharon Gavin.
So… to get us all inspired as far as healthier eating is concerned, The Detox Barn is putting on an online cook-a-long on Thursday 10 September at 5.30pm to show you how to make a Turkish inspired salad. There is a list of ingredients you need to be ready with (which we will send you once you sign up); most of them are foodstuffs you are likely to already have in your cabinet, like lemons! Both the sisters had their own health struggles, which improved greatly after adopting a diet that included lots of fruit and vegetables – which they state made a huge difference to their health. Book your place on the healthy cook-a-long here.
It’s Thursday tomorrow which can only mean one thing – the end of the working week is approaching, so what better way to keep your energy levels up than with a bootcamp class?
Our Parks are running a free bootcamp class. You won’t need any equipment and it starts at 1pm, which means you can leave your laptops and plan it into your lunch break. Click here to book your place on the Our Parks bootcamp.
Join the Workplace Wellbeing Group on Yammer, where you see all the Workplace Wellbeing Month schedules and activities in one place. If you have any feedback about the activities or want to share how small changes have helped you become a bit healthier – leave your comments there too.
Look out for an all-staff email with the confirmed wellbeing events for Week 3! More information about Lauretta and Sharon can be found on their website: www.thedetoxbarn.co.uk
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The pressures of the pandemic have raised many issues around our mental health. Many people are working longer, have bigger workloads and balancing this with family life – difficult relationships with people have intensified during lockdown and this time of social restriction.
For some people the pressures have proved to be too much – data released from the Office for National Statistics (ONS), published last Tuesday, said men accounted for about three-quarters of suicide deaths registered in 2019.
As tragic as these statistics are, Thursday 10 September is World Suicide Prevention Day, and it provides an opportunity for us to reflect and think about how we can help people who have been affected by suicide in some way.
Taking a minute to reach out to someone – a family member, friend, colleague or even a stranger – could change the course of someone’s life. But how do we know what signs to look for or how to help?
The Public Health Team, alongside Barnet Wellbeing Service, is running a webinar from 10am on 10 September that aims to bring together the work being done in Barnet and North Central London to improve and promote suicide prevention. You can join the World Suicide Day Prevention webinar here.
The programme is divided into two parts, with information sharing and presentations in the first half and a workshop session led by Public Health in the second half with short activities punctuating the sessions. The event will include talks from Public Health, Suicide Prevention and Safeguarding Leads, as well as schools, helplines, and support and bereavement services.
Earlier this year the NCL Suicide Prevention Helpline, which Barnet commissioned, went live. The helpline supports anyone having suicidal thoughts or affected in any way by suicide in Barnet, Camden, Enfield, Haringey and Islington.
The service has been initiated to ensure people can access additional help during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Please direct anyone you know who would benefit from this type of support to this helpline.
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What is it like living and working with a disability?
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Support Colindale to Cambridge cyclists for Live Unlimited
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Most of us do not know what it is like to live and work with a disability. But the latest equalities group is hoping to give a voice to staff who have a disability and raise awareness about this to the organisation at large.
The Staff Disability Network launches with a meeting on Tuesday 15 September at 2pm. It is open to anyone with any kind of disability or who cares for someone who does. The meeting is also open to people who have an interest in disabilities equalities issues.
As a starter for ten – some of the initial discussions for the Staff Disability Network meeting are around defining disabilities, how formal or informal the group will be and supporting disabled staff when they may need to return to the office.
If you have any questions or would like more information on the Staff Disability Network meeting, please feel free to contact:
Lynda Shepherd - Lynda.Shepherd@Barnet.gov.uk
Chimeme Egbutah - Chimeme.Egbutah@Barnet.gov.uk
Tim Hoyle - Tim.Hoyle@Barnet.gov.uk
Part of raising awareness of our disabled colleagues is ensuring that they have access to take part in any activities or events that are open to the organisation.
This includes Workplace Wellbeing Month – the Seated Dance Challenge is a small part in recognising that some of our colleagues may have mobility issues but still want to be active, click here if you would like to take part.
The Staff Disability Network launch is good news on the journey to improving accessibility in the organisation for our disabled colleagues.
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An intrepid team of Barnet Council employees is cycling to Cambridge from the Bristol Avenue offices in Colindale on Saturday, to raise money for local charity Live Unlimited.
The ten-strong group was signed up to take part in the official London to Brighton bike ride this weekend, but like most other fundraising challenges the event had to be cancelled. Undeterred, the group has organised the ride to Cambridge instead, led by Head of Organisational Resilience, Paul Lawrence.
“It’s such a great charity we didn’t want to miss out on supporting the great work they do, helping some of the most vulnerable children in our community,” says Paul. “I know the charity has seen a big increase in requests for bikes, and as a supporter of all things cycling I couldn’t help but volunteer to raise funds. Young people are experiencing all sorts of challenges right now but it must be extremely hard for those without a family. This is also a great opportunity to do something with colleagues, after spending so much time working remotely, it will strengthen working relationships and we will have some fun together."
Others going from the council are Darren Smith, Ben Jay, Anisa Darr, Amelia Stanley, John Bailey, Will Hammond, Andrew Charlwood and Paul Clarke. Health and safety Officer Dayo Adenowo, who is blind, is taking part by riding the same distance on an exercise bike.
The group is also taking with them care leaver Mathew, a beneficiary of the charity. Live Unlimited bought Mathew a bike so he could be more independent and get fitter.
To sponsor the team, please make a donation to https://www.justgiving.com/team/teambarnet
Also supporting the charity with their own bike ride this Saturday is trustee Emma Henly and five friends, who are sticking to the London to Brighton route. Their fundraising page is here: https://justgiving.com/fundraising/galsdoinglondon2brighton
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