Bristol City Council is looking for a voluntary Disability Equality Commission Chair to help make a real difference to the lives of other Disabled people in Bristol and who can lead and build a team.
The Commission will lead the work of including Disability Equality in every part of the city to improve the lives and opportunities of all Disabled people.
As Chair, you will be the leader and spokesperson for the Commission. You will have great experience of working at a senior level, able to build relationships with individuals and organisations. You will be a planned thinker and an excellent communicator. You will have a good understanding of the community of Disabled people in the city and the private, public, voluntary and community sector.
Applications from Disabled people from all backgrounds are welcome, but Disabled people who also have other identity characteristics are encourage to apply who are currently under-represented in this type of role and work.
On Monday 14 June, the UK Government said it would delay easing the Coronavirus restrictions until Monday 19 July.
Although Bristol is not one of the areas in England where the new version (variant) of COVID-19, known as Delta and first found in India, is extremely high, the number of people catching the Delta variant is increasing at a fast rate. Our current rate of infections is 165 cases per 100,000 (up from 63 just 10 days ago) and is increasing.
But it’s not all bad news, as 244,629 adults aged over 16 who live in Bristol have had at least one vaccine dose.
Step 4, the final stage, was meant to happen on Monday 21 June but now won’t happen before Monday 19 July at the earliest. So we are staying at the Step 3 stage until then.
However, some restrictions did change on 21 June. Since 21 June, these 5 changes apply:
1. More than 30 people can attend a wedding, civil partnership ceremony, reception or/and celebrations but must be seated at tables or sit in groups of up to six people or two households.
2. More than 30 people can attend a funeral or linked commemorative events following a death but must sit in groups of up to six people or two households.
3. A small number of pilot events will take place to produce additional evidence on reopening events safely. Attendees will need to show proof of vaccination or a recent negative test. This will include some UEFA EURO 2020 matches at Wembley and a small number of other sports, arts and music performances.
4. More than 6 people or two households can visit care homes, provide emergency help or care for Disabled or vulnerable people. Care homes may have certain COVID guidelines which you may need to follow.
5. More than 6 people or two households can meet for certain childcare situations (separated parents or guardians, children in care, etc.).
What this means you can do
You can do the things which came with Steps 1, 2 and 3 of the Government’s roadmap. This includes:
Step 1 (8 and 23 March)
All children back in school
Outdoor meetings
Step 2 (12 April)
All shops open,
Outside eating and drinking at pubs, cafes and restaurants.
Step 3 (17 May)
From 17 May people can:
Eat and drink at pubs, cafes and restaurants, indoors and outside, at tables.
Holiday accommodation in the UK open and travel across the UK allowed,
Outdoor meetings of up to 30 people,
Indoor meetings of up to 6 people or 2 households,
Outdoor contact sports,
Indoor entertainment and visitor attractions, leisure centres, gyms and swimming pools open (with limits),
Care home residents can receive visitors.
What this means you cannot do
a. You cannot go to nightclubs as they remain closed full stop.
b. You cannot go to a theatre, cinema or public event when they are at their maximum capacity which is currently limited to 50%.
c. Social distancing is still in place.
d. You still cannot meet with more than 6 people or two households indoors. But if you have 5 people, or another household visiting, it is still much safer to stay outdoors.
e. You still cannot meet with more than 30 people outdoors.
As part of the Bristol Rail Regeneration Programme, Great Western Railway (GWR) will be taking a major step forward this summer with the replacement of Bristol East Junction at Bristol Temple Meads.
The replacing of East Junction will increase capacity to allow for additional services and new stations through the MetroWest initiative backed by the West of England Combined Authority and will mean better performance and fewer delays in future.
The junction is being replaced over an eight-week period from Saturday 10 July to Friday 3 September, with the first phase running through to Friday 6 August. Some journey times will change, and customers will need to check their journey before travel.
GWR are working hard to make sure everyone knows about the changes. They have provided us with a toolkit of resources with more information – we have put the customer leaflet as a download below.
From Thursday 1 July, the medical data from general practices (GPs) of everyone in England will be taken and used by the UK Government. This will mean that your private information will be collected and shared. This is a breach of confidentiality as it would allow third parties to access to anyone’s records.
Patients in England, including Disabled people, can opt-out of this new scheme – to not have your data shared with people outside of the NHS. However, you only have until 23 June to do so.
To find out about how to opt-out of the scheme and downlaod the opt-out form from medConfidential to complete and send to your GP by 23 June, go to: https://medconfidential.org/how-to-opt-out/
This week Bristol City Council launch their #GetTested4Bristol campaign, to encourage 18-30 year olds to make lateral flow (rapid) testing a part of their regular routine. Up to one in three people with COVID-19 do not display symptoms, and rapid tests help to work out those who are positive but do not have symptoms.
Rapid testing is:
Open to everyone
Quick
Free
Helps to protect Bristol
With the help of some local Bristol influencers from across the night-time and music sectors, sports, youth clubs, the local authority and Bristol’s popular drag scene, the Council are sharing messages of inspiration and support with young people to encourage them to take up regular rapid testing.
Videos from these influencers will be shared across the Council’s Instagram channel from Tuesday 8 June. They’ll be spotlighting one influencer’s message per day on their Instagram reels and stories.
Please help our young people #GetTested4Bristol so we can keep our city safe.
Support is available to anyone who tests positive for coronavirus through the We Are Bristol helpline on 0800 694 0184. This includes practical support such as collecting prescriptions or food shopping, emotional and mental health advice, and information about the NHS Test and Trace Payment Scheme.
