Free toothbrush scheme expanded

A scheme that sees young children in some of the poorest parts of Wales given free toothpaste and brushes along with dental tips is being expanded.
Six and seven-year-olds along with nursery children in Communities First areas will now be included.
The Designed to Smile pilot programme had targeted three to five-year-olds.
Welsh Health Minister Edwina Hart said funding would double to £3.1m next year as the dental health of children was poor compared to the rest of the UK.
Read more at http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wales/8320809.stm

75% of young people feel they couldn't live without the internet

A new report looks at Young people's needs in a digital age looks at how digital communications have impacted on the psychological and neurological behaviour of young people - and the challenge this poses for agencies and organisations who aim to support them.
Undertaken by Professor Michael Hulme of the Institute for Advanced Studies, Lancaster University, and commissioned by charity YouthNet, the report draws together literature and new research conducted with 994 young people aged 16 to 24 (funded by Nominet Trust). It found that of the young people surveyed:
75% said that they couldn't live without the internet
45% said that they felt happiest when online
32% agreed with the statement: 'I can access all the information I need online, there is no need to speak to a real person about my problems'
Four in five (82%) said they had used the internet to look for advice and information for themselves and 60% had for other people
37% said that they would use the internet to give advice to others on sensitive issues.

To see the report http://www.youthnet.org/content/1/c6/06/00/73/Life%20Support%20-%20Young%20people

Minister launches guide to help Communities First tackle child poverty

Minister for Social Justice Dr Brian Gibbons has launched a guide to help Communities First partnerships tackle child poverty in their areas. The Minister launched “Working with Children, Young People and Families –Guidance for Communities First Partnerships” at the Communities First annual conference at the Liberty Stadium in Swansea
The guide aims to support Communities First partnerships gain a better understanding of the issues that impact on child poverty and to identify activity that will have a significant impact on the life experiences of children and young people.
The document contains several case studies of projects that have already made a significant contribution to addressing child poverty along with practical advice on identifying groups at risk of child poverty, and working in partnership both locally and nationally
Link to guide http://wales.gov.uk/docs/dsjlg/publications/091009childpovertyguiden.pdf

Check the minimum income you require for an acceptable standard of living

Find out if you earn enough for a minimum acceptable standard of living

http://www.minimumincome.org.uk/

See where you fit in Britain’s income distribution, and how many people are worse off than you http://www.ifs.org.uk/wheredoyoufitin/

Recycle unwanted goods in your own community and meet new people

Don’t throw it away – give it away!

You might not need your old sofa or wheelbarrow any more – but there might be someone just round the corner who does. Or if there’s something you’d like, someone nearby might have one that they might just throw away if they don’t know what else to do with it.
Freegle groups make this happen online. Sign up, post an OFFER of something you want to get rid of, or a WANTED for something you need.
All groups within this organisation operate with a basic principle – all offers and requests must be freegle (free and legal).
The aim is to keep anything reusable out of our landfill sites. Meeting new people helps to develop local community networks and friendships in the process.

Freegle is an email list hosted on Yahoo! Groups that allows you to give stuff away when you need to get rid of it but don’t want to throw it in the bin. Or save something from landfill by asking for it; perhaps someone has just what you need that they were about to throw away.
For example:
You have a washing machine you don’t need and may need to take to the tip.
You join your local Freegle group.
You post an OFFER on the list, seen by everyone who looks on the site or receives messages in their inbox (members get to choose whether to receive all messages or just view online).
Interested members will reply to you privately.
You choose who you would like to give it to.
Between you, you arrange for them to come and pick up the washing machine.
It gets collected.
You’ve given away your machine with little effort, and you also got to meet someone new from your neighbourhood in the process.
Someone local to you who needed your unwanted machine can now use it, fix it or use parts for spares.
It didn’t go into landfill. Great for both you and our planet. Everyone wins!
Likewise, if you need an item you can request one on the list in the same way and if someone has what you’d like they will contact you off-list to offer it.
The group moderators will be happy to help you if you need any advice about any part of the above process.

For the local group in Denbighshire visit http://groups.yahoo.com/group/northdenbighshirefreegle/