Pugwash

There are far more important things in life than having free newspapers available in a library.

Many years ago when my daughter was seeking out a primary school for her daughter, she visited the best performing school in her area and asked about SEN children. Head mentioned that they had one child with autism but nobody knew about his/her diagnosis as they did not stand out!. Daughter has worked for many years with children and young people with special needs and was aware of differing attitudes in schools. Her daughter did not have special needs and went to a primary school which was around number 4 on the best schools list. My granddaughter is now 23 and it is a shame that all these years on, schools are more concerned with exam results and outwards appearances than the welfare of their pupils. My youngest daughter is a teacher in an exclusion unit for 14- 16 year old and half of her pupils have SEN and were failing in their secondary schools for lack of provision.

I am waiting for 2 items sent by Amazon which according to Tracking Records were received by PO on 10th January.

Tracking a small parcel from Amazon - noticed that it was collected by Postal Services on 10th January - heaven knows when it will get delivered!!

Our grandson in Harlow received our Christmas card yesterday (12th) which was sent early December. We have birthday cards to send to other children/grandchildren whose birthdays are this month and early Feb. We need to go out of Southwark to post them - any idea which area is better?

I have not got a SMART phone so cannot show bar code, also printer will not print out bar codes. There were 2 sections in Co Op last week - the manned section which I went to first and was sent around to the blue locker near sandwich section

Managed to pick up from Co Op ok. Now need to return item as not working but Co Op return points are full up or non operational.

James Barber is a decent person and when he was a councillor always checked with what residents thought about a particular policy/proposal etc. Even if you disagreed with his views he would respect you. James had his 'ear to the ground' on many occasions and knew what many people had views on. Also when he heard my husband had broken his knee- called around the house offering to do some shopping for us. We were also on his telephone 'support list' during first lockdown (we are both 68 plus with health issues) I hope James stands again in either Goose Green or Dulwich Hill wards.

Received post both Weds and Thursday. Bank statements due December, plus a letter from bank sent early December stating that they will close one of our accounts by 14th January as we had not replied to previous letters (We had been in contact several times by phone and email) One card with a voucher to use by 31st December. NHS letter sent 7th December sending forms to be completed and taken to appointment on 14th December. Phone bill, another 2 NHS letters.

I do not have an email facility on my phone (I do not warrant an expensive phone as most of our calls are on the landline) The picture I took with the camera on my ?60 phone is very small.

I have to pick up from Co Op tomorrow. This is the first time I have used this service. I do not have a SMART phone but have used my camera to take a picture of the bar code. The email also gives a pickup code. Can I just use the pickup code to get my parcel?

We took in a delivery for our neighbour, a note was left in her door by the driver to say that we had the parcel. She picked it up within 30 mins and the driver knocked on our door the next day to take back the parcel if it had not been delivered.

Posted card to Grandson in Harlow 3 weeks ago and he still has not got it. No post in Barry Road for almost 3 weeks.

None of the dozen or so Christmas Cards received came through the post - our friends are hand posting theirs and we have done the same for local addresses.

Friends and I got talking about food items rarely seen now - and discussed where we maybe able to find Lemon Puffs and Bath Oliver Biscuits. I have looked in Co Op, Sainsbury's, Marks and a couple of independent stores. Have found lemon wafers but not puffs. Was surprised to find in Co Op - Abernathy Biscuits which I had not seen for years.

Monkey. FAce to Face meetings of SNT were supposed to have re commenced Sept/Oct for Dulwich Hill ward, but nothing happened. Found out later that Gavin and Mark had been moved to another patch and it was not until Simon came into the Bread of Life cafe that we were aware of this. There was also very poor 'attendance' over zoom meetings - I think the last one in the summer just had the 2 officers, myself and 2 other people.

I gave details of the Dulwich Hill SNT and PCSO details - I have met with Simon PCSO over the years and have found him very responsive in connection with local concerns. The 2 other officers (Gavin and Mark) were moved to a different patch and I am not sure whether new officers have been drafted in to replace them. I suggest your daughter email in with all details.

East Dulwich for many years was known as bedsit land, due to the high number of rentals. Many ED residents are renters of private properties and I would imagine that combined with tenants in HA/half way homes etc that percentage is high. There was a theory some time ago that those in transient properties, rarely have the community commitment of their surroundings and therefore do not take pride in their environment hence graffiti, fly tipping etc. Fly tipping has gradually got worse since Southwark introduced charging. We have ended up paying private contractors to take away our bulky rubbish.

Forest Hill Road comes under Dulwich Hill SNT - try emailing Dulwichhill.snt@met.police.uk or ring 0208 721 2447. The officer for this ward is PCSO Simon Johnson.

The Tooley Street HQ is home for 2,000 staff and is all open plan. Officers have been working from home since March 2020. Staff were recently informed that only 900 employees could be in the premises at any one time. I would say that most of the dissatisfaction with the council relates to staff not being allowed to have face to face contacts with local residents and not being able to phone the council sections directly. Councillors have only recently been allowed to hold their surgeries. All local councils have restricted finances as the Government have cut back the amounts allocated to local authorities.

The ones i have seen have been 'issued' by appropriate organisations - i.e MIND. Alzheimer's, RNID etc and bear official logos etc.

During last lockdown, security staff at doors were reminding people to wear masks, One guy got very angry and was aggressive to staff and a few customers and said he was not going to wear a mask. He challenged everyone to make him and then said he was exempt. I have seen a few people wearing lanyards saying that they were exempt for medical reasons- perhaps this should be mandatory for 'genuine' people.

My daughter who is an NHS employee in hospital, is required to take covid test twice a week and it is recorded on her records. If she does not record it - she gets a message to remind her. She wears a mask on the wards. Staff do not wear gloves unless they are physically handling patients, but sanitise several times a day