The CareOnLine team are only available during office hours on weekdays for telephone and email support, see our contact details at the end. If you need help with the Chatroom outside of normal office hours, you can still phone or email us but your message will not be dealt with until we are back in the office.

However, you could also leave a message in Help with the Chatroom topic. Either the CareOnLine team or perhaps another Chatroom user will answer your query if they can. Please do not put your personal email address or password in messages in the Chatroom.

We will of course be keeping an eye on the Chatroom and leaving our own messages over Christmas and New Year!

1.   My Pet Hates    (General Chat)
2.   Introductions...    (Welcome to the Chatroom)
3.   Visible or Invisible?    (Looking after someone you care about)
4.   Celebrations and Festivals    (Outings, Events and Celebrations)
5.   Missing person    (General Chat)
6.   Music Club    (General Chat)
7.   Geneology and Ancestry    (General Chat)
8.   Information on Direct Payments    (Direct Payments)
9.   I do not want sympathy, I want people to be aware that a carers life may also have been enriched    (Looking after someone you care about)
10.   Flu Vaccinations    (Health and Social Care Services)

1. “I don’t have anything to say?!”

You might think that you don’t have anything to say in a chatroom… but everybody has something to say! Did you watch a funny TV programme last night? Have you bought something useful? Did you go out somewhere new? Has something annoyed you? Are you having problems with something? Have you got a hobby? Have you achieved something? You can chat about anything in the CareOnLine Chatroom!

2. Check the Chatroom and your email regularly

We currently have over 80 registered users, some are more active in the Chatroom than others, but there is usually a new message every day. So keep popping back to see what’s new. Also, remember to check your email for notifications of when new messages are posted. We'll discuss email notifications further in the next newsletter.

3. Chatroom Expressions and Abbreviations

There are a number of ways to express emotions, feelings and phrases in a chatroom message; listed below are some symbols, shorthand and abbreviations that are commmonly used in chatrooms:

Phone: 0116 305 7538 Fax: 0116 305 8179
Email: grapevine@leics.gov.uk

Website: www.leicscareonline.org.uk/grapevine

Address: CareOnLine, Room 317, County Hall, Leicester, LE3 8RL.

The aims of CareOnLine are to reduce isolation and improve the quality of life among Older People, Disabled People and their Carers. The service provides help with access to computers and the Internet, training, technical support and a purpose-built website.