Baby Massage Classes Larne

Baby Massage

Home Start East Antrim are running 4 weeks of baby massage during October at the Sandy Bay Pavilion in Larne. The sessions are facilitated by a qualified instructor, are totally free, and all resources and refreshments will be provided. It is possible that more classes will be scheduled later in the year if these classes are successful.

Pre-Crawling Babies Only

The sessions are designed as an opportunity for new mums to get out and meet other mums and are open to mums with babies from 4 weeks to pre-crawling. (We do not have facilities to accommodate siblings at these sessions)

Eligibility

We do have an eligibility criteria for these sessions (mainly that mums are facing social isolation and would benefit from mixing with other new mums)

We are particularly keen to engage mums not in the Larne Sure Start area to avoid duplication of services and ensure we reach those most vulnerable to isolation.

Harvest Thanksgiving Service 2022

Harvest Thanksgiving Services are a means of showing gratitude for everything you have and for supporting others who, through no fault of their own, are in need of help. This coming winter will be difficult for everyone, with cost of living and fuel price increases meaning that some will have to choose between heating and eating. Donated gifts at services are often given to those in need. Donations given to Whitehead Storehouse should, where possible, be non-perishable items with a long shelf life. These will be used to provide emergency food help to local people in Whitehead, Islandmagee and Ballycarry in need.

Local Harvest Thanksgiving Services

Whitehead Methodist Church

The Harvest Thanksgiving Service for Whitehead Methodist Church will be held on Sunday 25th September 2022 at 10.30am. The service will be collecting items for Whitehead Storehouse

National Churches Trust on Flickr.com

St Patrick’s and St John’s Church of Ireland Whitehead

St Patricks and St Johns

Harvest Festival Services 2 and 16 October 2022 at St Patrick’s and St John’s CoI will support Whitehead Storehouse.

Top 10 items

small tins of food for single individual
Tinned tuna and meats
Packet pasta and Rice
Canned fruit, custard, rice pudding
Cereals, porridge
Sugar, tea, coffee, biscuits,
Tinned veg / baked beans
Pasta sauce, curry sauce in jars
Shampoo, toothpaste, shower gel
Toilet Rolls, washing powder

Whitehead Storehouse is most grateful for donations that we can use to help people in economic deprivation.

We are happy to add any further Harvest Festival details to this post.

Referrals to Whitehead Storehouse

Storehouse

Whitehead Storehouse is an independent foodbank, not affiliated to the big foodbanks. We cover the Whitehead, Islandmagee and Ballycarry areas only.

Referrals

While most of our requests come from individuals in the area we cover, we can also help families and individuals in the area who have been referred by helping agencies.

We do not require any vouchers, nor do we have any set opening hours, nor waiting times for help to be provided. We do, however, liaise with other agencies in the area to ensure that our resources are shared fairly among those most in need.

If you are a member of a team or agency that helps individuals and families in the Whitehead, Ballycarry and Islandmagee areas and believe that one of your clients needs help with food, please do not hesitate to contact us at any time.

Contact Us

We have a dedicated mobile phone number – 0759 621 3763 that you can ring or text, as well as an email – whiteheadstorehouse@gmail.com. You can also message us from our Facebook page – https://www.facebook.com/storehousewhitehead/ These are manned by volunteers, so may not always be answered immediately but are checked regularly.

What To Expect

We will need the person’s name and address and a contact number, so we can phone them and find out what they need and the best time to deliver. Most of our volunteers use withheld numbers to contact clients, so your client needs to know to expect a call from a withheld number or it may say “no caller ID”. The Storehouse provides only food but if a client needs other items, such as baby clothes or bedding, for instance, we may be able to suggest other groups that may be able to help.

Storehouse Resources

The food that Whitehead Storehouse supplies to people in need comes from local supermarkets and also from local donors. We are extremely grateful to all those donors for the food they give us for sharing out with those in need.

Winner – First Prize Donation From ASDA Foundation Larne

WINNER – First Prize

Many thanks to all those who voted for Whitehead Storehouse to receive a donation from ASDA, Larne.

Whitehead Storehouse has been declared the winner of the £500 1st prize from ASDA Foundation, Larne from their Green Token Giving Fund.

The ASDA Foundation donates £1 million pounds every year to good causes in local communities. Anyone can vote online for a local cause dear to their heart. This time the voters chose Whitehead Storehouse as the overall winner for the Larne ASDA store, with runners up being Curran Bowling Club and Friends of Larne Adult Centre, Congratulations to them too.

Again, thank you so much for voting for Whitehead Storehouse, the prize will go towards helping disadvantaged families and individuals in Whitehead and the surrounding area.

Spend Local £100 Prepaid Card

Every adult resident in Northern Ireland was entitled to apply for a £100 “Spend Local” card from NI Direct. The application date has now passed but a number of people are still waiting for the arrival of their cards. Some people may have had concerns about applying for these cards or of spending the money as they were not in immediate need themselves. The cards were aimed at providing income for local bricks and mortar businesses which have suffered greatly during the recent lockdowns and with the restrictions still in place.

If you have applied for a card and are concerned about spending the amount on yourself, perhaps you would consider purchasing vouchers from local shops in Whitehead and the surrounding areas and donating them to Whitehead Storehouse for distribution to local families in need? This will still provide an income to local businesses, to help them offset the losses they have suffered in the past 18 months and will also help local families who are in economic difficulties.

A number of businesses in Whitehead provide vouchers for purchase, including The Spar, McMasters Butchers and The Fruit Shop. If you would prefer to use another shop, ask them if they provide vouchers. These shops are also willing to hold onto these vouchers for you and then providing them to Whitehead Storehouse. Alternatively you can contact Whitehead Storehouse as usual, to pass on to a committee member.

Community Fridge

Community Fridges are a fairly new concept where food that would otherwise go to waste is put into a fridge for anyone to use. This gives individuals and families the opportunity to try something they might not otherwise buy and helps reduce waste. Here is a PDF document about community fridges in the Mid & East Antrim Area of Northern Ireland. Just click on the link below to open the PDF document.

Community Fridges MEA

UPDATE June 2022

Community Fridge – Eden

There is a community fridge at Eden Community Centre on the Beltoy Road, Carrickfergus, which gets frequent donations of food, both chilled and store cupboard plus flowers.

It has its own Facebook page with daily updates on donations and a map to show how to reach it.

Community Fridge – Islandmagee

There is a community fridge at Ballystrudder, Islandmagee, opposite the Islandmagee Spar shop. This also has donations from the community garden.

What Does Whitehead Storehouse Do

Whitehead Storehouse

Whitehead Storehouse is an independent food bank. It provides confidential help to individuals and families in urgent, emergency need of food or other necessities in the Whitehead, Ballycarry and Islandmagee areas.

What Whitehead Storehouse Does

We offer short term emergency help with food and other necessities to those in economic difficulties, with the aim of tiding them over an immediate crisis, so they can eventually leave their difficulties behind. We have helped a number of people over the past number of years. Whitehead Storehouse is not associated with any other food banks and does not have opening hours, nor do you need a referral from any other agency to contact us or to receive help. You can contact us by phone or text at 0759 621 3763 or by email to whiteheadstorehouse@gmail.com .

We also work with local large stores and supermarkets who provide us with food that has reached its sell by date but is still OK to eat. We distribute this weekly or less often, depending on what and how much is available and the calls for help that are being made.

Help is based on your needs, nothing else. We do our best to distribute our resources fairly and equitably, to help the greatest number of people possible.

If you are finding it difficult to manage financially at the moment and need help with food or other necessities, please get in touch in complete privacy by phone or text at 0759 621 3763 or by email to whiteheadstorehouse@gmail.com .

What Whitehead Storehouse CANNOT Do

We are not in a position to offer long term financial support but are happy to point you to other agencies that may be able to help if needed.

Privacy

Any help you receive from Whitehead Storehouse will be kept confidential.

Extra Food For Distribution January to March 2021

Lockdown Financial Difficulties

Many people in Whitehead, Ballycarry and Islandmagee are struggling to make ends meet because of the current lockdown. If you are in this position, please contact Whitehead Storehouse on 07596 213 763 or email whiteheadstorehouse@gmail.com. We will be able to order extra food for distribution over the next couple of months. This will be completely confidential so please do get in touch.

Keepwarm Packs

We also have some Keepwarm packs with blankets, fleeces, thermals, etc. If you feel you would benefit from one, again please contact us.

Department for Communities Covid-19 Support

Help available for those needing help with heating and other needs because of Covid 19

Information Provided By Department For Communities

“We recognise that there is lots of help and support available for people impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. In order to provide some clarity around the various offerings we have updated our content on nidirect today. I have added the link here for your convenience: Financial help and practical support >>

We are aware that there have been lots of calls to our COVID-19 Community Helpline about support available to keep warm and requests for help with heating and fuel. Indeed we are conscious that many calls are being made to council and other partner organisations too. Whilst there is support available for those struggling to keep warm we wanted to clarify that support varies depending on circumstances and in some cases individuals must meet specific eligibility criteria.

We have outlined the various supports and services available below:

COVID-19 Heating Payment

The Department has put in place a one-off heating payment for those people who are in receipt of Pension Credit, or are in receipt of certain disability benefits (at the higher rates) in recognition of additional costs arising from the Covid-19 pandemic.

Eligibility criteria does apply and the full details are available on nidirect. For those who are eligible, the Covid-19 Heating Payment will be a one-off payment of £200 paid automatically into the same account to which they receive their usual benefit payments. The Covid-19 Heating Payment is in addition to any other payments, including the Winter Fuel Payment and will be paid at the end of January 2021. People do not need to apply for this payment.

Find out more about the COVID -19 Heating Payment >>

Discretionary Support

Another avenue of support may be through Discretionary Support. This is support to help those in a crisis situation and who need emergency help or support with living expenses. Eligibility criteria applies and more details can be found in nidirect:

Find out more about Discretionary Support

If you have been advised that you are not eligible for Discretionary Support or any other support including the COVID-19 Heating Payment you should contact the COVID-19 Community Helpline. You will be asked to demonstrate that the need for assistance has arisen as a direct result of the COVID-19 pandemic and provide evidence that you are struggling to afford heating/fuel costs.

Warm Well Connected

In December we launched the ‘Warm Well Connected’ Programme. There appears to be some confusion around the ‘warm’ element of this scheme with expectations about what it has to offer being misinterpreted.The Warm element aims to provide help and support to those whose wellbeing has been impacted by cold conditions and those in the most extreme need. In some cases help with essential white goods may be available.

Under this programme help is only available for those who have not been able to get help anywhere else and whose finances have been directly impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic. This is not monetary nor will vouchers be provided. Support will be small in value and only for those in extreme need who are unable to heat their homes by any other means.

Whilst we want to help people as best we can it is vital that those who are in the most extreme need category are supported through this scheme. We would ask that councils and partner organisations are mindful of these factors when signposting individuals as we want to ensure the support reaches those in greatest need.

Cold Weather Payments

In recognition of the cold weather and increased costs associated with heating a home the Department also has in place its Cold Weather Payment. This payment is triggered as a result of Cold Weather and is paid automatically to those who are in receipt of a qualifying benefit and live in a postcode area where the temperature is, or forecast to be, zero degrees or below for seven consecutive days.

People can find out more and check if their postcode is in an area due to receive payments triggered by cold weather by going to nidirect.

Information about Cold Weather Payments and Post Code Checker >>

Annual Winter Fuel Payments

In addition to this support you will already be aware of the Annual Winter Fuel Payments made to those people over the age of 65 and these have been and continue to be issued in the normal way. These payments are non COVID related payments. Further Information on Winter Fuel Payments >>

COVID-19 Community Helpline

We continue to operate the COVID-19 Community Helpline and advisers are on hand to connect people to local support networks who can assist with accessing not only fuel but food, medicines and psychological support services. Advice is also available to help tackle underlying issues such as employment, debt, and access to social security support. The helpline has had a significant increase in call volume and emails in recent days many of which are related to fuel.

We would ask that you advise people to visit nidirect in the first instance to check out what help and support is available before contact the helpline. This may assist in getting them the right support much more quickly.”

Thank You Whitehead Storehouse

It’s great to see that Whitehead Storehouse has received two lovely comments recently.

One was from someone who received a Christmas parcel last year but doesn’t need one this year because they now have a job and are in a much better place but said they were so grateful to receive the parcel last year as “it really helped”.

The other is an email from someone who received a parcel this year and said, “thank you so much for the wonderful box just delivered to me. Its very much appreciated and welcome in these difficult times.”

Whitehead Storehouse could not help anyone without YOUR help. Thank you so much to all the residents and businesses of Whitehead and further afield who have contributed food, money, vouchers, gifts and time that have enabled the Storehouse to help those who are disadvantaged.

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