Pugwash

We have similiar quandry - we need to downsize from our large 4 bedroomed house in the next few years due to retirement, but with 6 grandchildren who stay over, would want a 3 bedroom place. 2 double bedroom and a single room to act as a study. Looking at all the estate agents sites, there is very little in ED with decent size rooms, a shower (not over the bath - have a disability) and have 2 toilets. We are looking to the future as if we became more disabled mobility wise, we would need space either to convert a downstairs room into a bedroom and have shower/wc downstairs. Level access on ground floor and level access into house. Alternative would be to have a straight wide staircase for a stairlift. Also parking for car.Garden essential for cats. What I have seen so far will cost me as much as my current home is worth for a much smaller place. ED lacks private sheltered housing complexes - there is only one in Half Moon Lane. Talking about gentrification, in 1969 my mother and I moved from Spurling Road as many of the properties there were deemed poor quality and area had been designated as a slum clearance area twice We went up to Forest Hill, but I later returned to Ondine Road (Grove vale end) before purchasing with relatives my present house. Interestingly, the slum clearance did not happen in Spurling Road so assume new owners spent a few thousand on modernising the properties.

My daughter and I are not in the position of paying them off. She drew up a brief tenancy agreement and got them to sign it. They get Housing Benefit from the council and they accepted the agreement. Once the pregnancy was confirmed and the 12 week scan undertaken, the couple were allowed to make an application to go on the Housing List. My daughter's worry is that the bailiffs may not believe that everything in the house is hers - she evens supplies the bed linen for their room. When she split from her then fiance 3 years ago, she had no idea he had run up hundreds of pounds in debts and had a hard time convincing bailiffs not to take the things she had brought ( he ex had taken things like TV and stero) She was forced to take in a lodger as insufficient income to pay the utility bills and help her run a car (working 15 miles away in the middle of the countryside which has twice a day bus service only - a car is essential) I think she should give a couple of weeks notice to quit, but get legal advice as to how to manage the bailiffs. Her boyfriend, who does not live with her, has offered to be there when she gives notice. Her brother in law is going down tomorrow for the day to do some plumbing work, he might be able to give a better slant on the situation.

My daughter has lodgers who have been with her about 8 months. A young couple - they have one room and use of the house, which I own. Intially they were OK, then started not to pay rent, daughter read them the riot act and this was rectified. The girl is now 5 months pregnant and my daughter has advised that they must leave before the baby is born. She recently was contacted by a baliff company and asked whether the girl was still living there, daughter confirmed and found that the girl owes over ?600 to a company. Daughter has also noted that they have been getting loads of mail and old letters found in the recycling suggest that they owe several hundreds of pounds to other companies. My daughter is afraid of the male, he has gradually become very abusive to his partner, and appears menacing to my daughter. She is afraid to give them eviction notice as baliaffs may take her belongings. Both lodgers are on benefit . As the girl stays away most of the week to get away from her partner, my daughter is left alone in the house with the guy. He has been ok at the moment, but my daughter has witnessed his temper with his partner. She lives in Sussex and the local police are not helpful. I have offered to pay for a solicitor for her. How much notice is she required to give - they pay fortnightly. How can she prove to bailiffs that everything in the house is hers and mine. helpful advice please as to how to resolve the situation without getting hurt. Daughter suffers from OCD and the stress is making situation worse.

I received a letter from the Gardens surgery asking me to make an appointment there for a blood test and after the blood test to make a practice nurse appointment. Blood Test appointment straight forward, went to reception desk after blood taken - 3 weeks to get appointment. Saw practice nurse who wanted me to see a GP urgently, told her about delays, she looked at the computor and immediently booked me in for 9.15 the next morning. Hubby has been off sick since August and was medically retired from work in November. For three weeks tried to get an appointment for him with GP for a 'medical certificate' so that he could apply for ESA, each time was told ring again tomorrow. I explained as a full time worker, I could not spend hours on the phone and my husband was too unwell to make phone call. Left it over Xmas - could'nt face the whole circus again, wrote a letter to his GP explaining symptoms and problems getting appointment and faxed over letter, within 24 hours phone call from surgery giving an appointment for next day. Dr Fryer was always an early bird - I have had 8 am appointments with her! Good to know they are open late till 7ish one evening a week.

I could not do without a library - fortunately Dulwich Library is only a stone's throw away from the house. I generally get 5 or 6 books out at a time, rarely get DVDs or music. I too forget to return on time and get fined - I do not worry as fines go back into the coffers. I would rather have reduced library hours than no library. Friends were very surprised that Dulwich Library was open on a Sunday - where they live it's half day on saturday, closed on day during the week and only open to 7 pm a couple of days a week ( they live in London).

My husband got hit whilst riding his bike some years ago whilst on the S. Circlular coming up from Clapham. He was stationary at the lights when a car travelling in the same direction changed lanes quickly and knocked into his bike throwing him on the ground. Apart from cut legs and hands was ok but bike mangled. Driver gave name, address and phone number and agreed to pay for damage. Cost around ?300 - unfotunately the details given were false. Contacted our local beat bobby for advice as collision was not reported at the time to police.Police did a check on the property and woman there denied any knowledge of the man. Insurance company reluctantly paid up but the premium doubled the following year. Was advised that incident should have been reported to police even though noone was hurt.

I wonder how many of you turned up to one of the Dulwich Community Council Meetings which was addressed by Council leader Peter John, and took part in the exercise on where the cuts should fall post April. It was extremely difficult to decide and regardless of which party is in control at the town hall, there will always be losers. Southwark is generally a poor borough with high numbers of over 60s and under 18s - therefore by sheer numbers - education, health ans social care will always cost more At the only independent library in Upper Norwood, they saved a few ?s on having library users scan in and out their own books - thus cutting back on 2 members of staff. If libraries had a membership fee or some form of 'Friends of the X Library' whereas paying a subscription entitled you to a 'freebe' of sort i.e free attendance at a literacy lecture, or book signing - this would be a way of gaining a small income. Big libraries like Dulwich could attract some 'fee paying customers' and hold events such as those held in Dulwich Picture Gallery. Money raised could go towards book purchases. A few parking meters in strategic positions - ?1.00 for an hour especially near shops where the goods are likely to be heavy/bulky. i.e. near Dulwich DIY, or Plough Homecraft or Sainsbury's Local.(parking near these shops is a nightmare as on a bus route) I am sure others could come up with some cost cutting ideas and ways of increasing revenue.

Sometimes you feel like stealing out in the dead of night with a can of yellow paint and the appropriate width brush, just to paint a few yellow lines to stop the idiots who park illegally.

Several posts back someone suggested a clothes store - yes I would support that and would even suggest a non food M & S branch. The White Stuff and all the boutique type clothes stores are very expensive, do not cater for those of us who are on the large size and past 40. I like to buy my grandkids clothes, but not the prices quoted by ED stores. Hubby last year spent ?40 on a shirt at White Stuff - it washes up creased and is a bugger to iron, by the 3rd wash it looked cheap. A Farmers Market would be a good idea - they could hold a temporary one on the Dulwich Hospital Site once a week. Many older people moan to me that supermarkets do not cater for singles with small appetite or income. You try getting a small bone in pork chop for a pensioner who spends ?25 pw on food, or who only wants 3 eggs a week. There is nothing wrong with Iceland - you do not have to by the cheapest item on sale, also alot of their stuff is cheaper than Sainsbury's. Val's store was opened all the Christmas and New Year Holidays - ideal when we ran out of bread. The only time I have seen Sainsbury's at the Plough busy, was the weekend in Nov/Dec when we had the heavy snowfall and traffic could not get down LL. Badgers bakery is good - sometimes there are so many people there you need to wait outside. What would the bus crews do for their sandwiches, hot pies and soups if they closed. I rarely use Sainsbury's Local and tend to use Vals for veg and fruit and always their polish bread. My parents live in a Sussex Village which housed a large caravan site, shops had an early closing day and also closed at 5.30. The local restaurants closed at the same time except one which stayed open until 7 pm. All the shop keepers moaned about low profits, and yet the holiday camp site held about 2 thousand people at least half of them would shop in the village. My parents were surprised that restaurants in ED were opened late, that shops opened Sundays, and we had no early closing days. To me it made sense that if you were a coastal town with a large number of self catering holiday makers, it would make sense to open until around 7 - 8 pm and restaurants opened later at least in the holiday season. However, that last 2- 3 years have seen the one late restaurant opening now till 10 pm all year round, the 3 supermarkets ( Budgens, Co Op and the Sommerfields now turned Co Op)open 7 days a week - late night opening is 8 pm. The ordinary gift/clothing/butchers/bakers/general stores still closing at 5.30 regardless of season. The next nearest village with shops is 5 - 8 miles away. I think the independents do not want to open later as they will have to pay staff - Nisha and her husband and another relative work all hours of the day and evening to keep their business going. The other independents in LL are obviously not able or willing to pay staff to stay open until 8 pm at night. With the talk that local councils will be making larges numbers of staff redundant ( 1000, Lewisham, 2000 Lambeth and 500 Southwark) also Kings are privatising many of their services, local people will not have the income after March to splash out in LL so businesses will suffer anyway.

I certainly would not want an Waitrose but would welcome a Lidl. Beckenham has a Lidl, and I was recently in Oxfordshire in a very classy town near the Thames, and they too had a Lidl. I earn a good wage as a professional worker but with mortgage payments, council tax and all the rest of the bills, I cannot afford to shop in a Waitrose, or use the market stalls as I feel that most are over priced and appeal to those ED Residents who seem to have more money than sense. Having been a life long resident in ED I remember the original North Cross Road market of the 50s and 60s, with stalls several days of the week. This was the cheapest area to shop in generally. If we had a more 'East Street or Petticoat Lane' type market at least once or twice a week, this would cater for all ED residents. Before ED was gentrified in the 1970s/80s it had the highest number of older people living in substandard housing without bathrooms and indoor loos in England.

I spent my Saturday mornings at the cinema The Odeon in Grove Vale - premises remained there until the 70s when it became a temple for a guru.

I can do top half of Barry Road (Goodrich - LL and Etherow Street area) I can do a limited amount of snow clearance but would be happy for someone who may need help to have my phone number. Would ber happy to do shopping locally. I work full time ( as a social worker- so have already been CRB'd). I suggest that for security reasons that no volunteer goes inside the person's house, and all transactions take place at the front door. I am a member of Barry Area Residents' Assocaition and I will try and get some feedback from my members at our meeting tonight.

I am happy to help - my job is with people so I am already CRB checked. I do work full time but would be happy to cover my end of Barry Road. Basically I think if all volunteers could give a central person their location i.e. Landells road between Goodrich and Lordship Lane and if they are up for snow shovelling, emergency shopping, checking people are ok. That some form of central number can be circlulated for emergency contacts and this advertised in some way - either by local press, Age Concern ( rather AGE UK), Dulwich Helpline, posters in Libraries, churches, community centre etc. person needing help to ring central number, co ordinator check location, check data base of volunteers living nearby, and makes contact. Community Wardens are also asked to check up on vulnerable people. This sounds as though this type of scheme could get money from the Big Society Grants available.

Cheese, fish, pulses.

Post received today - one letter dated 1st december. Looking at various documents/advice on here and other places, Employers have a duty to protect staff from injury which also includes expecting them to undertake areas of their job in adverse weather conditions. For instance a roofing contractor could be sued if he expected his staff to climb onto a roof covered with snow and ice as there would be a high risk of injury to staff member. I was supposed to walk to a meeting last Thursday where the three roads and pavements I would need to have had to use were very icy and I had witnessed whilst travelling to the office, by car, several people fall over ( including the very icy pavement outside Kings A & E). Since I have a disability which also affects my balance I explained to my employers thatI was reluctant to go to the meeting due to the icy conditions which would put my safety at risk, they were happy for me to stay in the office and conduct information collecting by phone. Had they insisted that I attended the meeting and I had slipped up and broken my arm, they knew that they could be sued.

My 11 year old going on 12 grandaughter, loves having vouchers/cash to spend in her favourite shops. Her idea of a great day is being let loose in Primark in Bromley, purchasing books in Smith's, being able to go bowling or swimming in the local leisure centre with her friends. She is into 'goth fashion' and vampires, but only gets ?2 a week pocket money so the freedom to go where she wants and spend is a luxury for her. If your cousin is into bowling etc, perhaps you can pay for a leisure card for her.

It sounds as though your son is getting an adequate and nutritionally balanced diet. He seems to be taking after his Dad in physique. If he is not complaining about being hungry, I should not worry. Rather than going for cakes etc, will he have a small bowl of soup with his lunch time sandwich, or a jacket potato with beans/cheese/tuna instead?. My 6 year old grandson eats like a horse at times, he is tall and slim - loves his vegetables and fruit, would eaT tuna and jacket potatoes for every lunch if we let him, loves rice and noodles. Has cereal and toast most mornings, takes a packed lunch with sandwiches, fruit and yoghurt, has fruit and a slice of cake in his after school club, then a meal of either pasta/ rice/potatoes/ veg and whatever meat (mince/chicken/beef)

In appreciation of her secondary school art teacher, who was also her form tutor, when she left for a promotion, my daughter discovered which artist Ms. B liked and went to IKEA to get various prints by this artist and had some of them framed. Was very pleased when Ms. B. hugged her and was delighted with the present. Having met the teacher over the years, I was aware that this was the teacher who had drawn out my very shy daughter and encouraged her love of art and music, and that they shared a similiar sense of humour. She had also arranged for the Art Appreciation school trip to the South of France, and it was whilst on this trip that my daughter had discovered her teacher's faviourite artist.

Huibby and I are both only children, now that all his family are dead, he only has our family. Both of us had daughters from our first relationships and another daughter (No 3) from ours. The age difference between is 13 years and 11 years. Our daughter is very close to the sister 13 years her senior andthey text each other weekly. This daughter also has 2 children who adore their aunt. Daughter No1.'s partner comes from a large family - grew up with mother and step father and 3 siblings. He also has 3 half siblings from his step father's first marriage, plus loads of cousins. All meet up/in touch regularly and there is always children around to play. Neither hubby or I wanted to have one child and are glad we had a second child, albeit many years apart. Daughter No2 has 4 children from 1 - 16 years, but is also not close to her half sisters on her mother's side,or her half sister on Dad's side, nor her husband's family, but the children always have lots of friends to play with. I guess it is also about personality - you may only have one child but you actively encourage that child to have lots of friends round to play, have sleep overs etc. The child may have loads of cousins etc and a good social and support network.

At this stage I would also suggest that we talk to the Safer Neighbourhood Police Team as the last thing we would want is someone to report suspicious actions. Sgt.Duncan Jackson or PC. Adrian Crust - I would think Adrian is the best choice as he is also aware of the Neighbourhood Watch Co Ordinators in the various streets who may also want to get on board

I think if a Dulwich Emergency Group could be formed who could spring into action as and when required to do odd shopping and snow clearance for those housebound - could also include mums with very young babies. If perhaps if someone could plot responses according to street then it would be a simple matter to say that x lives in landells and it is known that there are 2 people in Landells who may need assistance then a 'match' could be made. I would be willing to give a hand - work fulltime but happy to do what I can at weekends. Just a word of warning, there are still some people out there who would do anything to gain the trust of vulnerable people, so caution and common sense is needed when offering help. If you purchase anything on behalf of someone - always keep the receipts. Older people are usually apprehensive about strangers who offer to help, so be sensitive to this.

I did started my degree course at South Bank Poly and then transfered over to East London Poly. By the time I completed my degree both had become universities. I had a friend who did a degree in Politics at Portsmouth Poly but did his MA Politics at a London Uni. From what I recall - there were in the 60s/70s/80s and some of the 90s, three levels of post 16 education - FE Colleges which offered vocational, BTEC,NVQ, GCSE and A level courses. The pOlys offered degrees courses and Higher National Diploms and limited vocational courses (SouthBank Poly had diplomas in sugar craft and bakery)and then there were the Unis. I would say a degree course whether taken at a Poly or a Uni would cost the same.

I suppose it boils down to what each has to offer you. For instance - I have been with my employer for almost 16 years - it is within 3 miles of my home, I work flexi hours, good holidays, great colleagues. Building could be a bit more comfortable, free parking permit, good salary although I could earn upto another ?3k elsewhere. Good training opportunities (generally but current cutbacks in training budget) I have never worked from 9 - 5 as have been a carer to various family members over the past 35 years - flexability in starting and finishing times is worth more to me than salary, and also working on own initiative. Have days when I can travel anywhere in London or elsewhere as part of the job. My worse nightmare of a job would be a boring office, working in some financial institution, doing the same things each day, being supervised the whole time, everyone competing for promotion or recognition, meeting the same people every day. A friend was once headhunted by a very large corporation, she had to pass 3 lots of interviews and was offered the position as a regional manager at a salary in excess of ?10k more than she was earning plus a company car. An opportunity to develope new ideas, and shape new policy. After much soul searching, she turned the job down as she realised that when office based, the journey to work would take a minimum of 90 mins each way by car. Three days a week she would be visiting other premises as far as Wiltshire, Hertfordshire, Kent, Surrey and Sussex and not getting home until late evening. Her children were all teenagers. Company increased their salary offer by another couple of thousands and were very surprised when she turned them down. She realised that she would have a better quality of life by sticking to her current employer.

I would rather the Lib Dems be in a coalition with the Torys as they can water down some of the more drastic policies that a Tory government would have introduced. My eldest daughter is 36 and only paid off her student loan a couple of years ago as despite being a graduate at 22- never earnt enough to repay her student loan.Was forced to take out another loan to get shot of the student loan which was bugging her for over 12 years. Youngest daughter, graduated 3 years ago with a student loan of ?15,000, only earns ?14,000 a year for 38 hour week. Eldest daughter did not have to pay tuition fees, and we paid youngest daughter's tuition fees for 4 years. I would find it difficult to help out with fees that were ?6 - ?9k. I feel that anyone earning below ?15K should have an interest free repayment on their loans (tuition fees and student loans). That graduates who earn more than say ?25k pa should pay a highter rate of interest, with a lower rate of those earning between ?15 - ?25k. The more you earn - the higher the rate of interest until loan is cleared. Whilst I do not agree with the increased fees, there needs to be a common sense approach as the country cannot subsidise every thing. I groan when I hear of youngsters going off to uni to study 'media'/ business studies but they have no clear cut idea of a career at the end of the day. Rather than increasing the fees, I would look at the courses on offer and reduce the places available. In the 60/70s I wanted to undertake a degree but the course I wanted suddenly asked for much higher and more A levels. I found out later that there were too many people graduating from this course and not enough jobs available in this field. This was a way of preventing unemployment from this area of study. Needless to say, I did not go to uni then, but went for a degree and post grad professional qualification when I was 40, I used my redundancy money to back up the grant I got for the period. Getting back to the subject - most of the reforms will not take affect for another 3/4 years and it is possible that the economy maybe stronger then. Agree with other writers - Tories could not govern without help, Labour was too unpopular, a further election would have had to be called if a coalition government could not have been formed. I think most grass roots LDs would agree that the future success of the party will depend on the LD not allowing the Tories to get all their own way. Paddy Ashdown in his day considered an alliance with Labour, and was lead to believe that this was possible by Tony Blair. Hopefully more people will support the move to have PR. And whilst they are about electoral reform - why can't we hold elections over the weekend - save ?thousands by not closing schools, community halls etc and parents having to take days off to care for school age kids.

Also to remember that neighbours who normally have carers coming into them to assist with personal care, shopping and meal prep, may need help as many carers are finding it difficult to get to all their clients due to the weather. Check whether neighbours have sufficient food for a few days and whether they would like help in heating up meals. Social services depts have begun to compile lists of all those elderly people who live alone without family and friends and who are fully reliant on their carers for activities of daily living. If you know someone who falls into this category, let social services know, or better still check on your neighbour daily (at least)