So far, more than 800 East Sussex residents have shown kindness and compassion to people fleeing from the war in Ukraine by offering them shelter through the UK government’s Homes for Ukraine scheme.

During the 12 months the scheme has been running, they have offered more than 1,600 Ukrainians a place in their homes where they can feel safe and secure.

To mark the scheme’s anniversary last month, Jovanne Campbell spoke to host Clare about the relationship she shares with her Ukrainian guests and her advice to anyone who’s considering becoming a host.

Clare’s story

Clare hosted Maria and her two daughters, Maya and Emma, in her Lewes home for just over nine months. While the family lived in East Sussex, Clare made sure her home was a sanctuary of peace and safety for her guests.

“I’m not going to sit here and say it was a complete walk in the park; as with every relationship you’re going to have ups and downs,” says Clare.

“Maria and her children left a traumatising situation and it’s important to have an understanding of your guests and also the compassion it requires to manage them sensitively.

“I was so proud when Maria’s eldest completed her first day of school, and when Maria found a job as a translator. Just seeing them being able to move forward with their lives, and also making a few friends in the area, was a joy to behold. It just made me happy that I could play such a small part in helping her get back on her feet.”

Returning home

It was an emotional day for everyone involved when Maria and her daughters decided to return to the husband and father they’d left in Ukraine.

“When Maria left, it felt like my own daughter and granddaughters were leaving me. We completely understood the decision for her to go back to Ukraine to be with her husband,” said Clare.

Since returning home, Maria has sent Clare a Thank You card saying “You gave me the strength to recover and face the future”. The bond between the two remains strong; they regularly Facetime each other and the pair spoke on the anniversary of the invasion as Clare says she still feels a responsibility to be there for Maria and support her emotionally.

Homes for Ukraine heroes

Clare said she found the experience ‘amazing’ and it was something that she would like to do again in the near future.

As the invasion continues, more guests are expected to arrive in the county during the coming weeks. But without the generosity of Homes for Ukraine heroes like Clare we could not provide them with safe housing.

If you can offer a home or spare room for at least six months and would like more information on what you can do to help Visit the Homes for Ukraine webpages or email: ukraine@eastsussex.gov.uk

We’ve a range of information, advice and support services available to guide you through the process, and as a thank you for your help you will receive a monthly payment.

Together with residents and partners, we are developing a long-term plan, an adult social care strategy for East Sussex.

The strategy will be specific to the county, providing a person-centred framework which gives direction for services and staff. It will mean people will know what to expect from adult social care services and support.

Local residents, those who need care and support, their unpaid carers and families have been sharing their opinions with the adult social care strategy project team.

Our Citizens Panel, a group of local residents, has also been involved throughout the process, regularly scrutinising and supporting the development of the strategy.

Through surveys, focus groups, one-to-one or small group interviews, and other research evidence, people gave their thoughts on what’s important to live a good life, what works well, and things they might want to change or improve.

The findings showed that the most important priorities for people were:

1. Having the right support in the right place at the right time
2. Information and communication about care and support
3. Cost of living and cost of care, now and in the future
4. A suitable home
5. Personal connections with others
6. Group activities, hobbies and volunteering

We surveyed health, care and support staff to get their views, then held workshops for decision-makers and other key staff. The workshops discussed the findings and considered the service response.

Next, a long-term plan will be developed that has people and their needs at its heart and is specific to East Sussex. It will reflect what people have told us is important and provide a clear direction for staff and services.

Publication of the plan is expected in the summer of 2023.

For more information about the strategy, including further detail on the six priorities of local people, check out our webpage: Adult Social Care strategy for East Sussex or email the project team on ASCPersonalisation@eastsussex.gov.uk

With raised blood pressure the number one cause of preventable death worldwide, understanding the risks and how to reduce them is a hugely important part of keeping yourself healthy.

With this in mind, more than 130 people attended a blood pressure awareness event and had their pulse checked at Bexhill Primary Care Network and Little Common and Old Town surgery in March.

At the event, more than 40 people were found to have raised blood pressure and two people were started on treatment (for high cardiovascular risk) on the day.

If left untreated high blood pressure, or hypertension, can lead to heart problems, strokes and damage to other vital organs.

Bexhill PCN is supporting GP practices across Bexhill with Cardiovascular Disease prevention and diagnosis by ensuring people receive a follow-up appointment to confirm, or exclude, hypertension and to carry out pulse checks to detect atrial fibrillation.

The event was attended by the local healthy lifestyle service, One You East Sussex (OYES), which provided information on the range of support and programmes they offer. The service took eight referrals on the day with six to weight management and two to Stop Smoking services.

From managing the rise in the cost of living to juggling relationships, stress caused by modern life can have a negative impact on our health and wellbeing.

That’s why we’re encouraging you to look after yourself and manage your worries in a healthy way during Stress Awareness Month this April.

While there’s no single definition of stress, the most common causes are physical, mental, or emotional strain or tension – which can have a harmful impact on physical and mental health in the long term.

Our Every Mind Matters webpage gives you some simple steps to helping you manage those forms of stress, including:

• Connect with others: spend quality time with friends or family
• Live a healthy life: being active, enjoying the outdoors and having a balanced diet can all help to boost our mood
• Do something for yourself: find the time to do enjoyable activities for ourselves
• Get support: talk about your worries with family, friends or NHS recommended services such as Health in Mind

Learn more about the extra help you can receive with your mental health and wellbeing, including how to self refer to therapy and online treatment programmes.

Did you know that around 1 in 100 people in the UK are diagnosed with Autism? Did you also know there are many services in East Sussex that help to make our county friendlier to people who are on the autistic spectrum?

One of those services is Spectrum, which helps young people with autism to access clubs and leisure activities.

World Autism Acceptance Week, which finishes on 2 April, raises awareness of Autism, which can make it difficult for people in these areas:

• Social communication.
• Social interaction, including reading emotions and facial expressions
• Social imagination

East Sussex Local Offer gives more information on autism. If you think you, or someone you know, has autism you can find out how to get diagnosed on the NHS website

Two campaigns will run during March that give you advice and guidance on lessening the risk of strokes and bowel cancer.

The first campaign reminds residents how to spot the signs of a stroke and the need to take action quickly with the relaunch of the Act F.A.S.T. stroke campaign.

The Act F.A.S.T. (Face, Arms, Speech, Time) acronym provides a way of identifying the most common signs of a stroke.

• Face: has the person’s face fallen on one side? Can they smile?
• Arms: can they raise both arms and keep them there?
• Speech: is their speech slurred?
• Time: even if you’re not sure call 999

The campaign urges people to call 999 immediately if they notice any single one of the signs of a stroke in themselves, a loved one, a friend or a stranger.

The primary audience for the campaign is the 50+ age group as they are more likely to experience a stroke, but it also gives advice on how to identify if somebody you know is showing one of the stroke signs.

Other signs to be aware of are:

• Sudden loss of vision or blurred vision in one or both eyes
• Sudden weakness or numbness on one side of the body
• Sudden memory loss or confusion
• Sudden dizziness, unsteadiness or a sudden fall, especially with any of the other signs

The campaign was relaunched on 13 February by NHS England, in association with the Stroke Association.

Bowel Cancer campaign

The second campaign encourages residents to complete and return the NHS bowel cancer screening home test kit – especially those from lower socio-economic and ethnic minority groups who are less likely to complete the test.

NHS England’s ‘Bowel Cancer Screening’ campaign aims to raise awareness of the testing kit’s ability to detect signs of cancer while also addressing the main barriers preventing people from completing the test.

The campaign is targeting people aged 56 to 74 to align with the age of eligibility for being sent a home test kit.

Early diagnosis is vital, as detecting bowel cancer at the earliest stage makes you up to nine times more likely to be successfully treated.

The campaign runs until 31 March 2023 and is supported by Cancer Research UK.

Plans to increase access to primary care services, reduce waiting lists and improve 999 response times have been set out in NHS Sussex’s latest five-year strategy.

The ‘Improving Lives Together’ strategy sets out the operational and strategic priorities for improving health and care services in Sussex.

The operational priorities are:

• Increasing access to and reducing variability in primary care services
• Improving response times to 999 calls and reducing A&E waiting times
• Reducing diagnostic and planned operation or procedure care waiting lists
• Accelerating patient flow through the system and discharge from hospitals

Improving Lives Together

The strategy was launched as increasing pressure is being placed on the service from a growing and ageing population, the need to reduce the waiting lists for planned operations and procedures, and staff shortages.

Longer term, the strategy will focus on:

• Building integrated community teams and local partnerships across Brighton & Hove, East Sussex and West Sussex to allow services and organisations to work in a joined-up way to better meet the needs of each local community
• Growing and supporting Sussex’s health and care workforce – to attract more people to work in health and care, as well as supporting and developing the skills or careers of our existing staff
• Improving the use of digital technology and information – to help join up our services and enable people to access advice or care more easily

Cost of living concerns are affecting us all, and so the County Council is asking for your support in helping us create simpler ways for you to access advice about managing money.

By completing a short survey, you will help the County Council and NHS Sussex make sure the welfare benefits and debt advice services meet your needs.

The survey asks people in East Sussex about how much they know about the financial help that’s available.

Complete the survey by 17 March to enter a prize draw to win a £50 Love2Shop voucher. You don’t need to have previously accessed welfare benefits or debt advice to participate.

If you are having money worries, our Cost of Living Support webpage gives you advice and guidance on a range of topics to help ease your financial concerns.

Accessing diagnostic tests has become a little easier for patients in East Sussex with the opening of a one-stop Community Diagnostic Centre in Bexhill.

The state-of-the-art centre will be open five days a week and offer a range of diagnostic and outpatient treatments that would normally be carried out in hospital.

Diagnostics services include x-rays, echo-electrocardiogram (ECGs), ultrasound, lung function and phlebotomy, as well as MRI and CT scans on a rotating basis.

Outpatient care at the centre will include ECGs, fitting of wearable blood pressure monitors and consultant appointments.

The centre will help reduce waiting times, which is a key priority in NHS Sussex’s latest ‘Improving Lives Together’ strategy that sets out its health and care ambitions for the next five years.

Art in its many forms – from TV to opera – has a way of uplifting all of us, and it’s because of this the County Council is developing a plan to use creativity to promote health and wellbeing in East Sussex.

The three-year strategic plan aims to improve quality of life and healthy-life expectancy for East Sussex residents.

The goal is to use art and creativity to reduce people’s loneliness and social isolation while developing their skills and social cohesion.

The plan to support health and wellbeing through arts and creativity will be for everybody, whether you think you’re creative or not.

A meeting to kick-start the ‘Creating Healthier Lives – Arts in Public Health’ plan was held at the Towner, Eastbourne on 17 February. The event is one of a series of activities to seek feedback for the plan.

The meeting was led by the East Sussex Public Health team, Nick Ewbank Associates, Towner Eastbourne and Coastal Creative Consulting.