This page will provide any updated information on the current COVID-19 situation. We appreciate your patience during this time!
Information for tenants
Due to the recent information from the Government, residents should stay inside the building to stop the spread of the virus and should only leave to:
- Shop for basic essentials when necessary
- To do one form of exercise a day e.g. a run, walk, cycle
- For medical needs e.g. visiting the pharmacy
- To travel to and from work if necessary
We will be delivering food packages each day to reduce your needs of travelling to the shops. In order to apply for the food deliveries vote in the polls on Facebook asking if you want food for the following day by 11am on the day with a meal being served at 1pm outside the tenants lounge! Bring your container back down each day and leave it in the crate provided to be washed at a high temperature in the dishwasher.
If you are displaying any symptoms you must remain in your room and self-isolate for 7-days. Call reception to inform us of your situation so we can regularly check in with you and ensure you have necessities. Staff will be onsite 7-days a week working 9am-5pm during weekdays and 10am-2pm on the weekends.
Symptoms include:
- A high temperature- meaning your back or chest feel hot to the touch
- A new, continuous cough
What can you do to help reduce the spread?
- Wash your hands regularly with soap and water for at least 20 seconds
- Use hand sanitiser gel
- Ensure you cough and sneeze into a tissue
- Stay 2 meters (3 steps) away from other people
- Reduce the amount you go into others rooms
- Reduce the number of people gathering at one time
- Do not touch your eyes, mouth or nose with unclean hands.
- Keep your rooms clean
Wash your hands the YMCA way!
What are staff doing to help you?
- Checking in with those self-isolating and on our vulnerable list daily
- Aiming to provide a hot meal each day
- Cleaning all communal areas, stairways and doors each day
- Providing activity sheets, colouring pages and exercise programmes to relieve boredom (More things to come! See below for more information)
- Providing regular updates on the situation
For more information see the NHS advice page https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/
A massive thank you!
We would love to say a massive thank you from all of us at YMCA Basingstoke for the continued support from our communities.
A huge thank you to Nando’s Basingstoke for providing food for our residents in self-isolation on numerous occasions!
A special thank you FareShare Basingstoke for continuously providing us plenty of food supplies!
Thank you to @boundarylakespt for providing us with home workout tips and exercise programmes. See the programmes below!
Homebase Basingstoke were kind enough to give us a few pallets-worth of plants, some tenants have taken the potted flowers for their rooms and we are planting the others in our bed by the front door.
https://www.homebase.co.uk/stores/south-east-england/basingstoke
All of us at YMCA Basingstoke would like to say a huge thank you to www.crisis.org.uk for the grant that they have supported us with. This means we are able to invest in another fridge and freezer, something that will benefit our endeavours of ensuring we can provide a hot meal each day for our residents during this time. We are also in the process of turning our kitchen into a café and once we are up and running again this will be a space to run our cooking programmes and internet café to residents and also the wider community, meaning this grant is very beneficial in stocking our kitchen-soon to be café!
Thank you so much to Playmakers and Hat Hair Festival, part of Play To The Crowd Theatre Royal Winchester for the huge bag of wool, along with the Knitted King Alf pattern they have very kindly donated for our residents.
Playmakers started this scheme as part of their Knit and Knatter sessions at the theatre and Wickham Community Centre to create knits of the King Alf which were going to be hidden around Winchester city as part of the annual Hat Fair Festival. Unfortunately the festival has been cancelled however they still plan to hide to the knitted King Alfs in a festival later on in the year.
We have created packs down at reception so come and pick one up if you would like to give it a try! We also have lots of spare wool and needles if you would like to give knitting a go but might find this difficult if you are a beginner- Why not try starting with something simpler like a scarf or blanket?
The pattern is below for anyone in the community to get involved! We would love to see your King Alfs and the details are on the images of how to send them to The Theatre Royal, Winchester!
@bfitbethany_ has vey kindly offered our residents and other people in the community spaces on her personal training app which includes many varied at home-workouts for 12 weeks, with a new daily exercise launching live each day. The app is personal for your own progression so if you would like to get involved and set up an account, contact @bfitbethany_ (Instagram) BFIT (Facebook) http://www.bfitbethany.co.uk or bfit.bethany@outlook.com with your name and email or contact us with your details to pass on!
Thank you to Southampton FC for providing lunch for our residents! A delicious cottage pie and chicken and black bean sauce with rice!
How to help your mental health
We understand that self-isolation can be frustrating and boring and that it can affect your mental health. Whilst we are doing as much as we can to keep everyone safe and keep spirits up, we know some people are struggling.
If you feel like you need some extra guidance with your mental health, these sites have advice, helplines and ideas.
General advice includes: staying connected over the phone, video calls or via the internet; keeping your space clean and tidy, opening windows for fresh air and keeping your minds active with games, puzzles or anything creative. If there is anything else we can do or get for you please get hold of us and we’ll try our best to help.
Domestic Abuse and COVID 19
During this difficult time we and other agencies are aware that domestic abuse is an even higher risk especially for people who are in lockdown. If you or someone you know is in a situation that is or seems like it might become dangerous or if you just have some questions you can always come to talk to us or get hold of us over the phone or via facebook. The links below are other places and organisations you can go to for advice and help.
Hampshire services: https://www.hants.gov.uk/socialcareandhealth/hantsdomesticabuse/information-and-updates
and https://www.hants.gov.uk/socialcareandhealth/domesticabuse.
Stop Domestic Abuse (Hampshire): 0330 0165112 (Monday – Friday 11.30am – 2.30pm); email: advice@stopdomesticabuse.uk
Victim Care Service: 0808 1781641 Mon-Friday 9am – 5pm (please note reduced hours for telephone support) and outside these hours call 0808 1689111. https://www.victimsupport.org.uk/help-and-support/get-help/support-near-you/south-east/hampshire-and-isle-wight
See some useful exercises and activities below to #BeatTheBoredom
Get physical! Exercise isn’t just for the body but for the mind too!
Try our easy indoor exercise programme below for an all-over body workout- Tips and exercises recommended to us by @boundarylakespt!
We will be uploading a new activity programme each week with some videos showing you how to complete the movements, so keep an eye out!
See our blog post on how to stay fit and healthy during this period where we spoke to two personal trainers @bfitbethany_ and @boundarylakespt.
Exercise your mind! Activity sheets and puzzles are a great way to keep your mind active!
We have lots of activity sheets and puzzles down at reception, come down and get some or get in contact with us if your self-isolating.
Not a resident and interested in joining in? Here are some great websites with access to a variety of activities and puzzles that you can print out at home!
https://studenthandouts.com/study-games/printable-games/brain-teasers/
https://freeprintablepuzzles.co.uk/
Stay calm and get creative! Paint, draw or colour to your hearts content!
Down at reception we have lots of colouring sheets and colour-by-numbers, come down and get some or get in contact with us if your self-isolating.
Not a resident but love the idea of releasing some creativity? Here are some fantastic websites with colouring sheets and paint-by-numbers that you can print out at home!
https://www.crayola.com/featured/free-coloring-pages/
https://coloringhome.com/free-printable-paint-by-numbers-for-adults
Bake a sweet treat!
We have created a community cookbook on our blog where we are looking for anyone in the community including residents to send in some easy-bake recipes and images of bakes you have made. Now is as good a time as any to try out some baking and we have some great recipes on there already for you to follow! Thank you to everyone who have sent in recipes so far, we are looking forward to filling it with lots more creative bakes!
Calling all bookworms!
If you love being transported into a new world our would like to give reading a go with all this spare time, we have books down at reception. If anyone has any old books that you want to donate get in touch with us!
Take an online course and learn a new skill!
Want to learn a new skill through an online course within health and safety, child care, moving and handling etc? Take a look at our EduCare courses, a market-leading provider of high-quality, concise and easy-to-use safeguarding and duty of care e-learning services.
The Easter Challenge
We have created an Easter challenge for our residents which consists of having to complete a number of puzzle challenges in order to win an Easter egg. Here is a printable version of the challenge for anyone to complete at home!
Make sure you keep up to date with all that we are doing on our Facebook page!
YMCA Basingstoke 