Issue 24 - September 2012 (PDF) - Chipping Norton Times

OXFORDSHIRE
COUNTY COUNCIL
Support Finder
website launched
www.supportfinder.oxfordshire.gov.uk
A NEW website has been launched to help thousands of
people in Oxfordshire take control of their care.
Support Finder has been developed as a quick, easy and
comprehensive “one-stop-shop” for people with personal
care budgets. Personal budgets are an allocation of
funding given to service users after an assessment to
meet their needs and provide them with more choice and
control over their care and support.
It will also be useful for anyone looking for care providers,
help with living at home, staying healthy and safe,
transport services or leisure activities.
The site is provided by Oxfordshire County Council and
has been developed with the help of local people and
organisations that represent older people, carers and
people with disabilities. Local businesses and
organisations that provide an adult social care service are
able to submit their details online for a free listing on the
website.
Around 650 organisations and services are listed so far.
Users of the site can find what they need quickly thanks
to the simple design and useful features such as the
ability to make and store lists
County Councillor Arash Fatemian, Cabinet member for
Adult Services, said: “Support Finder is certain to be a
useful resource for people in Oxfordshire
“We are now at a point where more and more people are
seeking to take control of their own care and decide
exactly which services they want to use. That’s a really
good thing, but to be able to do it properly you need
information to make decisions.
“Support Finder has been designed specifically for anyone
looking for services, whether they pay for them
themselves or have personal care budgets. There are
more than 2,600 people with these budgets at the
moment in the county and that will increase over time to
5,100.
“That’s why Support Finder is so important.
It is the only site of its kind in the county, bringing
together information from many organisations on
support and advice for adults in one place for the first
time.”
Bulk oil buying scheme
from ORCC Trading Ltd.
“Over the last few months our members have saved around £60
compared with the market average price for 1000 litres of heating
oil (a staggering £160 against the highest prices). That is the power
of bulk oil buying.”
ORCC Trading Ltd has set up a new social enterprise that will
reduce the cost of your domestic heating oil each time you place
an order.
All you need to do to take advantage of the scheme is to pay an
annual membership fee, which will cover as many oil orders as
you need during the course of the year.
The scheme is being promoted by Oxfordshire Rural
Community Council, a long established and well respected
Oxfordshire charity. By bringing communities throughout
Oxfordshire together and making the most of joint buying power,
we can make savings and pass them directly to people like you
whose fuel costs are high simply because you use oil-fired central
heating.
The environment benefits too. Every time a tanker comes out to
make a delivery, it is using a lot of diesel – a full tanker can get as
little as a horrifying 8 miles per gallon. If deliveries are organised
so that one tanker delivers to several customers in a village
instead of making lots of individual deliveries, the fuel
consumption is reduced and so is traffic in the village.
ORCC Trading Ltd
Jericho Farm, Worton, Witney, OX29 4SZ
Tel: 01865 883488 Email: oil@oxonrcc.org.uk
All profits from ORCC Trading Ltd will go directly to supporting
Oxfordshire Rural Community Council who work to enable rural
communities to be more socially, economically and environmentally
sustainable.
All you need to do to take advantage of the scheme is to pay an
annual membership fee* of £20, which will cover as many oil orders
as you need during the course of the year.
* Annual Membership fee £20 domestic/ £30 community building/
£100 business
To be included in the next month's order round send your
membership application and annual fee to ORCC Trading Ltd at least
one week before the order deadline.
Total membership at 30 July 2012: 825 members.
Bulk oil ordering dates
Final deadlines for ORCC Trading Ltd to receive all orders for
inclusion in the next Bulk Oil Orders is 9.00 am on 26 September
2012. PLEASE NOTE: members should refer to their local coordinator's
deadline for receiving order forms, which will give an
earlier date.
Contact your local community co-ordinator -
www.oxonrcc.org.uk
No local co-ordinator for your community?
Why not volunteer?
www.oxonrcc.org.uk
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