Our offices will be closed over the Easter Weekend from Friday 29th March 2024. We will reopen at 9am Tuesday 2nd April 2024. Should you need any support or help during this time there are alternative organisations that can help.

Tracy Francis from Norfolk Fire and Rescue kindly gave a talk at one of our Volunteer Zoom meetings on the importance of being aware of fire risks within home. She shared some very important and useful advice.

There should be one smoke detector in a bungalow and two in a house. These should be tested once a week. If there is one in the kitchen and the centre of the detector sticks out this is a heat detector so will not be set off if you burn the toast. To test the alarms a walking stick can be used to press the button. Some alarms are linked to Careline and will automatically alert the Fire Brigade. The smoke detector will have a blue sticker on to show if it is linked.

Another type of detector is the Carbon Dioxide alarm – this is used if the home has open fires and/or gas. It is used to detect dangerous levels of carbon dioxide. These are placed at the height of a light switch and should also be tested once a week.

Beware of multi-adapters as these can be dangerous. The adapter can, when fully loaded, tip out of the socket and cause a fire. It is safer to use extension leads adapters – but don’t add adaptors to this.

Most fires are from electrical items. Kitchens are high risk areas so switch off kettles and toasters when not being used and especially at night. This is in case there is a malfunction. Think about how long it is since you emptied a toaster of crumbs – do you keep it on a tray?

Make a bedtime routine that includes switching off all electrical appliances. Leave on internet routers and anything that has a clock. Close doors when leaving the house or going to bed – this can act as a break for the fire and give further time to get out of the house.

Do not leave phones and tablets charging all day/night as this is a fire risk, turn off once charged. Do not leave handheld hoovers charging beyond full i.e. charging all the time when not in use. These contain lithium batteries and can experience an electrical overload which may cause a fire.

Emollient creams are inflammable and can cause fires. The cream can remain on clothes and on the body. If you go near a naked flame the cream can cause the skin to heat up and blister and can even cause a fire.

If you have poor mobility the advice is to stay put if there is a fire. The fire brigade will get you out. Never use a stair lift if you have a fire. If the electrics fails due to the fire you will be stuck. If you are in a room and can’t get out open the window and put something across the bottom of the door such as a pillow. duvet or blanket.

You can request a Home safety visit where you will receive advice and practical help from the fire service.

Local photographer, Jon Clifton, has been busy designing a new calendar ready for 2024. Featuring stunning photographs of sunsets taken at renown beauty spots along our coastline, some of the photos are instantly recognisable.

Individual dates are boxed with plenty of space to write those all important birthdays and anniversaries. The calendar is spiral wired bound, A3 in size when opened.

Calendars will be signed on the reverse and orders hand packed at his home in Snettisham, West Norfolk.

Jon has committed to donating £1.50 from the sale of each calendar to a number of local charities. West Norfolk Befriending is one of the chosen charities. When buying, the purchaser can pick their preferred charity from the list. If you would like to pre-order one of these beautiful calendars and help raise funds for WNB along the way then click on the link below. The calendars cost £12.99 including postage to UK addresses. Delivery is expected to start in September.

To place an order or for more information go to www.joncliftonphotography.com and click on the Shop tab.

This week it is volunteers week and an opportunity for us to say thankyou to our volunteers. Without our volunteers we wouldn’t be able to reduce the social isolation felt by older people in West Norfolk. This year has been a bit different…

• Our volunteers have embraced telephone befriending.
• Our admin volunteers have typed letters at home.
• We’ve had fun and learnt new things in our zoom volunteer meetings.
• New volunteers have joined us!
• We now have volunteers who live in Wales and Suffolk.
• It is now easier for people with jobs to volunteer with us. We partnered with Power Networks, have a volunteer who works at RAF Marham plus other volunteers making their phone calls in their lunch breaks.
• We needed more male befrienders and thanks to social media we found them!
• Our board of Trustees have also embraced zoom meetings and we found a new Treasurer via twitter.

If you’d like to find out more about volunteering with us, please get in touch.