Dial West Cheshire

15/10/2026

Thank you very much to Sue Cowley, a local artist who very kindly devoted a couple of hours to helping some of our members get in touch with their creative sides. Well done to our very artistic members who enjoyed creating the beautiful artwork shown below.

12/10/2026

This week, 10th - 17th October, is Hate Crime Awareness Week.
You can report Hate Crime to Cheshire Police, or you might not be aware that Dial House is a Hate Crime reporting centre, and staff would be able to assist you if you would prefer face-to-face assistance in reporting any Hate Crime that you have experienced.
Hate Crime is defined as any criminal offence perceived by the victim, a witness, or any other person as being motivated by hostility or prejudice based on a person's actual or perceived protected characteristics, namely;
• Disability (including physical, mental health, and learning disabilities),
• Race or ethnicity (including nationality or national origins),
• Transgender identity (including gender reassignment),
• Sexual orientation,
• Religion or belief (including lack of belief).
If you have experienced or are experiencing hate crime, please reach out for support, because it is never acceptable to suffer in silence.
(The image shows a diverse group of people who are supporting each other).

09/10/2026

Saturday, 10th October will be World Mental Health Day. Having any long-term health condition can have an impact on our mental health. Do you have any coping strategies to benefit your mental health? If you would like to, please share them in the comments section below. However, if you are not coping, please don't forget that you can contact The Samaritans for free, 24/7, on 116 123, or Spider Project Chester - Café 71 - a service for those aged 18+, or call NHS 111 and select the option for mental health. Please don't hesitate to reach out and ask for help if you need to.

09/10/2026

Many, many thanks to Tom Plastering for doing us an enormous favour and helping with some repairs at Dial House. As a small, local charity, we are incredibly grateful for help from members of the trades community who give us their time and assistance. He wouldn't even accept a cuppa in return!
Thank you, Tom :)

08/10/2026

Information from Cheshire Police about legal and safe options for anyone to explore their cyber skills.

October is National Cybersecurity Awareness Month and we know that telling a talented, tech-loving young person to simply "stay off the computer" is not right and doesn't work.
Instead, the trick is to feed their curiosity with legal challenges that simulate real-world cybersecurity. Curiosity is not a crime.

Here are four 100% free, safe, and legal platforms backed by the UK government and industry leaders where they can put their skills to the test:

• Cyber Explorers – A gamified platform by the NCSC designed for Key Stage 3 students to explore digital and cyber security careers.
• CyberStart – An advanced suite of hacking challenges and puzzles specifically built for teenagers to try ethical hacking safely.
• Raspberry Pi Projects – Excellent for young people wanting to master actual coding, hardware manipulation, and system building.
• TechFirst - GOV.UK – Offers official bursaries, courses, and competitions designed to find the UK’s next generation of cyber defenders.
By steering their passion early, we aren't just keeping them on the right side of the Computer Misuse Act 1990—we are helping them build a foundation for a lucrative future career.

👉 Read the official parent/educator guide on the Cyber Choices - National Crime Agency to learn more.

06/10/2026

Next in our series of Meet the Staff Team are Debbie and Natasha, who are the paid members of the advice team, providing support, if needed, to our wonderful advice volunteers, who all do such excellent work helping Dial's clients. Last financial year, the advice team resolved 1106 issues through 2537 individual pieces of work, and secured a total of £1.25 million in financial benefits for our clients, which, as well as improving the lives of our clients, which is our raison d'être, also has enormous benefit to the local economy. I am sure that you will agree this is an amazing achievement by all of the advice team.

06/10/2026

Now that winter is approaching, we are all concerned about how much heating our homes will cost. Simple, low-cost measures such as having your windows and door frames draught proofed can help reduce heat escaping from your home, keep you warmer, and reduce bills. Please see the link below to Cheshire West and Chester Council's website for details of how you might be able to source various types of help with adaptations and repairs to your home.

https://www.cheshirewestandchester.gov.uk/residents/housing/help-with-adaptations-and-repairs

06/10/2026

05/10/2026

In the coming weeks, I will be running a Meet the Team feature on DWC's page.
My name is Janet, and I am the Business Support & Finance Assistant (AKA Admin) at Dial. I fully understand how essential it is to have disability-specific support services from people with lived experience and empathy. I am dedicated to supporting my colleagues and the organisation. The whole team makes such a positive difference to disabled people's lives and I am proud to be a part of Dial. Each member of the team is an important cog in the DWC wheel.
I would just like to state that there isn't normally a cat sitting on my desk at work, just when I work from home...

01/10/2026

One of DWC's advisers will be attending The Community Hub, based at Ellesmere Port Asda, on Thursday, 8th October from 10AM to 12PM. If you need disability-specific help from one of our knowledgeable advisers, such as how to claim disability benefits, a Blue Badge, or support to claim a Crisis and Resilience Fund award, please pop in to see Natasha.