Weardale Community News June Edition

www.wcng.org
Covid-19 grant Funding
provides a lifeline for
Weardale Museum
By Jack Vincent
SINCE the government's
announcement, Durham
Council have paid out
nearly £91 million to 8,100
applicants, one of which
is our very own Weardale
Museum
In a statement from
the Museum, David
Heatherington said, “In
the middle of March The
Weardale Museum decided
to close to protect its
volunteer staff who are
mostly over 70 years old,
from being put a risk of
catching the coronavirus.
“We knew that we would
still have bills to pay and that
we would have no income
probably for the rest of the
year but at least no one's
livelihood or indeed their
lives would be in jeopardy.
“As a volunteer-run
business in a rented
property The Weardale
Museum didn't expect to
qualify for any grants so it
By Josie Skipp with Rita Walker
MANY readers will already
know about the Quilter’s
Cupboard in Low Willington
as Weardale has a large
number of quilters who,
like me, attend classes,
workshops or simply go into
the shop, owned by Rita
Walker, and buy beautiful
fabrics, wadding, accessories
and much more.
Rita, like very many other
businesses, had to close her
shop on the 17th March
2020 following Government
advice as this dreadful
Coronavirus pandemic
started to take hold in the
UK.
Regular classes ceased,
workshops ceased and the
doors of this very lovely
shop closed.
Very quickly people like
me realised that we didn’t
have what we needed
to continue our current
projects and many of us
wanted to help where we
could, making scrub bags for
the NHS, face masks for our
families, quilts for carers,
hair bands and much more.
Dealing with social
isolation is a challenge for all
of us but being able to spend
this extra time we now have
available to us on things we
enjoy, often with the added
bonus of being able to help
was a wonderful surprise
to learn that simply by
having a rateable property
reference number we
could claim the COVID
Small Business (Retail,
Hospitality & Leisure) Grant
of £10,000.
“Durham County Council
staff were exemplary in
identifying, pursuing and
processing distribution of
this Fund and the grant
was paid into our account
within days of submitting
the application.”
Since closings its doors
for lockdown, Weardale
Museum, run entirely by
volunteers, has been hard
at work on social media
providing us with historical
articles. On V.E Day, the
volunteers picked some
fascinating articles to
inform and entertain us.
You can read these
articles on the museum’s
Facebook page at: The
Weardale Museum
others, is a huge benefit to
all concerned.
Rita very quickly became
aware that some of those
people who normally attend
classes and workshops were
struggling to get hold of
what they needed to keep
them busy and therefore
much happier.
Many have no access
to technology without the
direct support of family
and friends so ordering
online proved difficult
and often impossible. Rita
looked at ways in which
she could provide a limited
service whilst sticking to
the government advice and
keeping both herself and
her family safe. She decided
to offer a postal/delivery
service on Tuesdays and
Fridays each week and is
able to arrange delivery of
whatever you need including
wadding and more bulky
items for a small delivery
charge.
If you find yourself unable
to continue with your own
sewing projects, or offer help
to the many organisations
seeking help with supporting
many of this country’s
‘key workers’, because you
haven’t got what you need
give The Quilter’s Cupboard
a ring on 01388 745008.
Although Rita will only be
Weardale Community News, June 2020
Weardale Adventure
Centre key worker
nominations announced
Climbing with Weardale Adventure Centre
IN order to recognise hard
work and dedication from
NHS staff and key workers
during these difficult times,
Weardale Adventure Centre
wanted to do something to
show their support.
The adventure centre,
based in Ireshopeburn,
invited people to nominate
key workers to receive an
activity day to be enjoyed
with their friends and family.
Once the lockdown is
lifted and the centre is
able to open safely, the
nominated key workers
will be able to enjoy their
activity day with up to ten
family members and friends.
Using the centre’s
Facebook page, people
were able to nominate key
workers, and the centre
has just announced the first
winners:
Lisa, a staff nurse at
Sunderland Royal Hospital;
Lesley, a staff nurse at
Auckland Park Hospital;
Rachel, NHS worker from St
Johns Chapel; and George a
nurse associate working at a
hospital in Meadowfield.
Quilter’s Cupboard continues to offer support
The Quilter’s Cupboard in Low Willington
at the shop between 10.00
am and 1.00 pm each
Tuesday and Friday packing
up orders, your call will be
automatically transferred at
other times and you will be
able to obtain the help you
need.
If you have access to
the Internet The Quilters
Cupboard also has a website
– www.thequilterscupboard.
co.uk and a Facebook page
– the quilters cupboard.
You can order on the
Facebook page by sending
a message using Messenger.
Please provide your name,
telephone number and
details of what you would
like to order and Rita will
contact you directly.
Dear Friends,
HOW are you coping with
this crisis? We have been
thinking of you a lot and
missing your company and
your wisdom.
We are happy to hear that
many of you have had plenty
of support from friends,
family and neighbours.
We have had phone calls
with those who asked,
waved at windows, spoken
at doors. Folks have been
busy delivering shopping,
drugs, jigsaws and other
essentials.
We know some of you use
internet; tablets to keep in
touch remotely. Frankly it’s
an essential service these
days! And we are painfully
aware that some are not
wired up to that world.
We heard recently that
at least one of you heard
that Wheels to Meals was
closed for the year. That is
categorically wrong. The
story referred to is the
Alston summer service, and
even that may resume if this
madness stops soon. Which
it will.
Frankly we feel we have
somehow let you down.
It seems cruel that the
most vulnerable have been
punished by being isolated
without company. Many of
you know about isolation
hospitals from an early
Page 11
Support continues from
Stanhope Hub
age. There were three in
Weardale after all. Folks
infected were taken to a
safe place, given treatment,
care, fresh air and sunshine.
The rest carried on. Maybe
an updated version next
time!
We hope you find this
letter helpful, reassuring and
comforting.
It’s written with love.
If you need anything, just
ask.
The Hub is working,
although the door is closed.
If you leave a message, we
will hear it from Vikki or
Elaine.
Or you can ring:
Gillian
07803 928771
June
07768 398738
Christine
07752 434495
Geraldine
07747 862664
Kathryn
07747 380446
The boys are not so
good with phones but Ian,
Mike, Dave, Steve and Rob
are raring to go with the
minibuses when service
resumes and with Hub car
before if you need to attend
appointments.
Looking forward to seeing
you all soon.
With love from Gillian and
the team xx
Send your submissions to newsdesk@wcng.org