500 take up offer Winter packs

Carlisle Partnership Healthy Communities and Older People Priority Group, with Carlisle City Council ran six drop in sessions in Morton to provide useful information as part of a free ‘Winter survival kit’ to residents aged 75 or more.

Over 500 kits were given out and included items, which would be useful in the event of extreme weather, including information from Age Concern, the Cumbria Energy Efficiency Centre and Benefits Advice Service, a torch, gloves, insulating blanket, transistor radio, and course salt (for gritting).

The kits were given out between Monday 10 December and Thursday 13 December at Newlaithes Avenue Post Office, the car park at Border Terrier public house car park, the car park at the Royal Scot public house, Stonegarth shops, Morton Community Centre car park, and Newlaithes shops.

The kits and drop-in sessions received funding from the Department of Health and were extremely well received, the leftover kits will be distributed to the remaining 150 eligible households in Morton by the District Nurses.

The Carlisle Partnership Healthy Communities group is chaired by Jenni Payne, Assistant Director of Public Health (North) who said:

We estimated that there were around 650 households in the Morton area eligible for the Keep Warm, Keep Safe packs. Consequently we are very pleased that thus far we have given out 500 packs so far, this is a particularly pleasing as there are a high proportion of elderly residents with significant health problems in the Morton area who will benefit greatly from these packs.