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Senior Citizen Exercise Class

Productive things to do at home during coronavirus lockdown

With this coronavirus lockdown making the residents of Hale and Woodgreen spend more time at home, either with their loved ones or on their own – here are a few suggestions and web links of things to do and advice to get if it's all getting a bit too much. Published by the Hale and Woodgreen Support Group.

Online Study Courses

Online study courses, some free courses for those who are looking to improve their skills at this time. 

Alison.

Free online courses from the world’s leading experts. - Join 14 million learners today.

https://alison.com/

R.C.S

R.C.S Ltd is a community organisation that works across Hampshire to provide a variety of support activities for adults, children and families. We are a not-for-profit organisation who is proactive and reactive to the needs of the communities that we serve. 

http://www.rcsservices.org.uk/

Future Learn

Is coronavirus affecting your education or work? Explore online courses to continue studying, build professional skills, and connect with experts.

https://www.futurelearn.com/

Open Learn - From The Open University

Proven  courses to increase confidence and develop the skills needed to enter Higher Education and succeed with learning. You can choose an OpenLearn course from a wide range of subjects. Some are based on Open University course materials. Others are written specifically for OpenLearn.

https://www.open.edu/openlearn/free-courses/full-catalogue

The Skills Toolkit

Want to learn a new skill while at home? Find free, high quality digital and numeracy courses in The Skills Toolkit.

https://theskillstoolkit.campaign.gov.uk/

Woman Working on Laptop

Getting Active online

The Body Coach Joe Wicks is running PE lessons Monday to Friday at 9am.  Just go onto Youtube - link here for his channel.  
He also has loads of other workouts available if you need to burn off some energy. Click here

Davina McCall has also made her fitness website free access for 30 days - and you don't have to put in any payment details. Click here

And if you fancy something more sedate, there's yoga and pilates galore on YouTube.  Yoga with Adriene is very popular - she has several 30 day programmes for all abilities, and even some yoga for anxiety.  Click here

Sport England has some of the useful tips on how you can get active when at home, if you're well enough. Click here

British Paralympic Association: Exercising at home .Click here

Wellmind, Wellbody, Wellbeing:  Download a useful leaflet - Supporting your wellbeing. Click here

Energise me: Get active at home.  Click here

Educational and Reading

Museums and Zoos

The Guardian Newspaper have put together a list of some fantastic virtual museum tours you can do online here including  the National History Museum ! Click here

There's more museums and even zoos to "look" round here. Click here

If you like rollercoasters, why not visit a virtual Theme Park . There are several online rollercoaster trips and an example of one here - Click here

 

Books

Audible have made loads of audio books free - and even in several languages if you want to try and brush up your French or Spanish.  Click here

More audible downloads Click here

Some colleges are offering free online courses on everything from preparing for work, to autism awareness and building confidence and self esteem as well as more work-placed courses such as safeguarding, Microsoft skills and leadership.  Details of some courses Click here  (confidence and autism are further down the page).

IT Skills
Brush up your IT skills with Codecademy . They offer some of their courses free - they recommend starting here - Click here    Please be aware that they do charge for a lot of their courses.

Hobbies, Crafts & Culture

Good for the Spirit

Hobbies and Crafts

Sewing and Craft Groups  

Some sewing groups are starting to appear making everything from toys (for children of key workers) to PPE, scrubs and masks for NHS staff. There are links to some groups below. Maybe you could form your own local group? 

 

I think sewers have been using/asking for donations of old cotton sheets. These are delivered to doorsteps, washed by the recipient and sewn into masks or scrubs. They are then left on the doorstep to be collected/donated. 

Salisbury Makers Hub are also looking for volunteers, more info and a sign up  Click here

 

The is also a group on Facebook  NHS Bears for keyworker children

It's a private group so you have to ask to join.  People can either make bears or other toys if they want and send them to the group organiser who works at a hospital in Colchester or send them to their local hospital or care homes or people they know. 

It would be advisable for people to contact the hospital though as I imagine they want to run some form of infection control!  But quite a few members of the group have just made contact with local hospitals and been able to organise sending some bears over.  People have  also been making them for posties and shop workers and more or less any key worker you can think of so it might keep people busy! - Click here

Frontline Hero Bear crochet pattern Click here

There is a knit version as well Click here

WILTSHIRE CREATIVE CONNECTS

From Salisbury Playhouse and Salisbury Arts Centre

Each week will see new additions to the WILTSHIRE CREATIVE CONNECTS programme – from interviews and behind-the-scenes films to family activities and support for local artists. 

There’s something for everyone – and it’s all FREE, available online via our website, with new events added each week.

Click here

Daily Thoughts

Daily Thoughts for the Day at 10am and services on Sunday from your local church team as well as assemblies and activities for young people:

Avon Valley Church : Click here

AVC Facebook: Click here

Mental Health and Wellbeing

Virtual Meet Ups

Several groups have been holding  'Virtual Coffee Mornings' using the Zoom app. We know that online activities don't suit everyone but can be very useful for keeping in touch.

Anyone can use zoom, with unlimited participants allowed on the free version but meetings are limited to 40 minutes. You can pay/subscribe if you want a longer time frame.

Other virtual meeting apps include Google Hangouts, Houseparty and Skype. Facebook Messenger, What's App and Face Time also allow video calls with a limited number of people.

 

Looking after your mental health

Mind, the mental health charity, has some really useful information, ideas and tips on looking after your wellbeing Click here

In Hampshire the new Mind Mental Wellbeing Helpline can support your emotional health during the Coronavirus epidemic. Their help is free and open to everyone in  Hampshire and the Isle of Wight. Call today: 023 8017 9049

 

A six minute video here gives some interesting tips on how to handle anxiety and worry. Click here

 

Emotional Wellbeing 
Public Health England are adding to their online resources all the time with all kinds of advice on managing your emotional wellbeing and coping with anxiety during lockdown Click here

Quizes and Games

Young People

Learn to juggle

Always wanted to juggle?  You can teach yourself - and others. Click here

Board game design

You can also discover how to design and create your own board game here. Click here

Nature scavenger hunt

And if  you're looking for fun things to do to liven up your daily walk, try these ideas for a nature scavenger hunt from the Woodland Trust. Click here

NHS Poster

Print and colour: here are some downloadable NHS support posters that you can print and colour in to decorate your windows.  Click here.  and Click here.
 

Pictionary Generator

If you love Pictionary or Pictionary Air, you've come to the right place. This is especially true if you're looking for random Pictionary words so you can play the game.  Click here

Charades Generator & Ideasr

Choose from 700+ of charades ideas below. Select your favourite categories or just keep clicking until you see the charade you want!.  Click here

Categories game

Train your brain with online version of Categories game - a word game that every little kid knows. The game variants are also known as Guggenheim or Scattergories..  Click here

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