New information service aims to put people in the know

Information and advice worker Kim Chadwick helps signpost Joyce Gordon to services which might help her

Residents across the borough can now access information on everything from jobs and housing to healthcare and counselling without leaving their neighbourhood following the launch of a new council service.

The new information and advice team, part of the council’s adult care service, run free drop in sessions across the borough to help people access services they may not know are available.

The team has been set up in response the government’s Care Act (2014), which gives councils a new responsibility to ensure that residents have as much information about local services as possible. This includes services provided by other organisations including charities and health bodies.

Councillor Iftikhar Ahmed, Cabinet Member or Adult Care at Rochdale Borough Council, said: “Many councils have increased the amount of information available on their website to meet this requirement. While we have also done this, we have set up this service in addition to that because we wanted to go above and beyond.

“We have a website which has won awards for its accessibility and a fantastic contact centre, but this new service is a valuable addition to this. It will help people who don’t necessarily have a council issue to report but who nonetheless could benefit from seeing a friendly face and having a chat about services that are available in the borough which could help them with any number of issues.”

And one resident who is benefitting from the new service is Joyce Gordon from Langley in Middleton.

Joyce, 62, pops into the regular drop in sessions at Langley’s Demesne Community Centre on Mondays.

She said: “I think this is really good idea because there are many services available which people don’t know about and they don’t know who to turn to. There are some things that are much easier to talk about face-to-face and Kim is very friendly and approachable.”

The information and advice team hold drop in sessions at the Demesne Community Centre from 1pm to 3pm every other Monday. The next session is on Monday 17 August.