women [who run the food project at No 26] and they come in here to discuss some of the extra support they can’t do that 65 could offer.”
Wind down
The flexible nature of No 65 means that it can explore new opportunities when external events force it to change. Before the pandemic there was a Citizens Advice Bureau service on Mondays and Fridays. Trudy says: “During covid it was all contact via telephone and people found it really hard to get through. When those barriers were put in place it stopped people from looking for that help. They are back now, but offering appointments not drop-in. I can understand it is a more efficient way of working for them – a lot of people who drop in can’t be immediately helped because they don’t have the right paper- work with them.”
Wind up
During Covid the Nailsea Disability Ini- tiative relocated to No 65: “They had to release their unit in the town as it wasn’t economically viable – they had previously approached the council for grants to cover rent but we now offer them space at 65 for
free They are here Monday and Thursday but I’m here five days a week so I act as a sort of shop front for them, explaining what they do and giving contact details. When they had their own shop their shut- ters were down when they weren’t there. They are a really busy organisation. They are putting in a bid to start up their own debt advice service here as well. And seeing what’s coming with the cost-of-living crisis, I think, alongside Citizens Advice, this will be really good.”
What next? “We’re recruiting a community wellbeing officer,” Trudy says. “North Somerset Council will be providing two years of funding for this post who will be based here at 65. And we see that post very much as engaging with all local groups including the library. At the moment everyone seems to be doing their own thing and getting that communication in place across the board could be really helpful. To find out about where the over-laps are, and where are the gaps.”
No 65, CILIP and training
While acknowledging the broader remit of 65, Malcolm charts its roots back to
health projects like Peckham. But he believes that the wellbeing role is now more information-based. “I think librarianship could be the right train- ing and librarians the right people for the future high street learning centres. Creating an environment where people with all kinds of problems can gather is quite a skill.
“I hope the new CILIP President’s interest in staff development might include new opportunities for trained librarians within their communities. One of the pioneers of the health hub movement that Malcolm cites, Bob Gann, started a health hub in Poole. He is now Digital Health Literacy Advisor at the NHS and is working with CILIP on the Health and Digital Literacy Partnership.
This says it will “support citizens to develop the skills that they will need to access, assess and use health informa- tion in an increasingly digital environ- ment.” Somerset Libraries are among the first wave of pilot sites https://bit. ly/3LtXZYyand Information Profession- al will be covering the partnership in greater detail in future. IP
Ian Morrell at No 65. 32 INFORMATION PROFESSIONAL April-May 2022
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