Help to stay independent, safe and well

If you need some information or advice to get you started, there are lots of organisations which are there to help you. It doesn’t matter if you’re looking for information or advice for yourself or someone you care for.  You’ll find details of all these organisations on our Sheffield Directory, including:

• Citizens Advice Sheffield 
• Age UK Sheffield (for older people)
• Alzheimer’s Society
• Community Support Workers (based in your local GP Surgery)
• Deaf Advice Service
• Sheffield Autistic Society
• Sheffield Carers Centre
• Disability Sheffield (for people with disabilities or long-term health conditions)
  
• Sheffield Mental Health Online Guide
• Sheffield MIND (for people with mental health problems)
  
• Sheffield Mencap (for people with learning disabilities)
  
• Sheffield Royal Society for the Blind
• People Keeping Well Community Wellbeing Organisations

There are lots of things going on across the city to help you stay healthy and active. You can talk to your local ‘People Keeping Well’ organisation or your local Community Support Worker.

They can help you with things like healthy eating, losing weight, stopping smoking or cutting down your drinking. They also know what is going on locally and can suggest activities or groups you can join and enjoy.

We also have a ‘Health and Wellbeing’ and ‘Things to Do’ section on the Sheffield Directory, where you can find a range of health and wellbeing, sport and leisure activities that you can join.

Organisations like Age UK, MIND, Mencap, Disability Sheffield, Alzheimer’s Society and the Carers Centre also run support groups and activities. 

There are lots of services in your community that can help you stay independent at home. These services can help you with:

• home care – cleaning, shopping, preparing a meal, or help with personal care like dressing and getting washed
• gardening
• fitting handrails and doing small repairs around the home
• meal deliveries – if you can’t prepare or cook a meal

There is also specialist equipment and services that can help you stay safe at home including:

• Care Alarms Service – to alert friends and family or a dedicated call centre if someone has a fall or other emergency in the home
• our online equipment store – where you can buy small pieces of equipment like handrails, bath seats and wide handled cutlery to help with daily living tasks

We know that it’s important to people to be able to get out and about and be independent. Some people may need a little support to do this. You’ll find a lot  of support on the Directory like:

• Local community transport schemes – local shopper buses, which take you from your door to the city centre, or your local shops and community cars which can take you to places like hospital
  
• Shopmobility – if you need a wheelchair or scooter to go shopping
• Access Ambassadors and Travel Buddies – who will go with you if you need support, or give you help with things like public transport

You can talk to your local Citizen’s Advice, Community Support Worker or local People Keeping Well organisation to find out about benefits which might help if you have mobility issues. You can also contact Travel South Yorkshire to find out more about travel passes. 

There are plenty of groups and organisations to help you get out, make friends, take part and learn something new in your local community. On the Directory there is every kind of activity you can think of to join including:

• drama and singing
  
• walking and cycling
• gardening and allotments
• lunch clubs and cooking
• knit and natter

The ‘Welcome to Sheffield’ website also shows what events are going on around the city, with many of them being free to attend. 

There’s hundreds of volunteering activities you can take part in. You can find details of the Sheffield’s Volunteer Centre on our Sheffield Directory. Volunteering is really rewarding and a great way to meet people and make friends. 

If you’re feeling lonely but would prefer to have someone visit you or talk with you on the phone, you’ll find help in the  loneliness support part of the Directory’s Health and Wellbeing section.

The Sheffield Directory offers advice and help on money problems, with organisations that can help with:

• debt, benefits and budgeting – Your local Citizens Advice can help you with these problems and can refer you to a food bank or furniture store if you need help
  
• getting a bank account or loan – Sheffield Credit Union and Sheffield Money give advice about bank accounts and loans with low interest rates
• the cost of energy – South Yorkshire Energy Centre (SYEC) gives energy efficiency advice and help with getting the best energy deal and swapping to it

There is a lot of support if you have problems like:

• finding a home
• homelessness
• staying in your home because of a medical problem, or because your home is now too large
• difficulties with your landlord, or keeping up your tenancy

You can find a range of support on our Sheffield Directory, such as:

• housing advice – from Shelter or your local Citizens Advice
• help with finding a home – from the Sheffield Property Shop
• housing and tenancy support – from organisations like South Yorkshire Housing Association and Roundabout
• supported accommodation if you can’t stay in your own home – like Sheltered Accommodation and Extra Care schemes
• homelessness support – from Housing Solutions and Nomad