Pugwash

I do not think Southwark has grammar schools as such. There are independent schools like Alleyns, Dulwich College which are fee paying. St. Joseph's Beulah Hill (not sure if they are fee paying) 11 plus - I thought this went out years ago? Many schools have entrance exams. There are a couple of schools in Kent - Orpington/Sidcup/Bexley area - cannot remember their names. They are heavily oversubscribed and the children need to sit entrance exams. My granddaughter sat the exam for one school - she got a high pass mark in the mid 90s and was in the top 120 pupils. However the school only took 100 intake that year. Several hundreds of pupils took the exam . She went onto the local comprahensive, got 10 or 11 GCSEs, the majority being A and A star. A levels were also 2 As and a B. She is now in her 3rd year at Uni studying medical Sciences. A good secondary school can produce as good results as grammar schools - depends on whether child is academically minded or more creative,

I have tried Salvation Army and BHF but due to lockdown they are not collecting stuff. I will check if the chairs have fire safety labels on. The IKEA chairs should have these but not sure of the others.

The charity I am trustee of is going through voluntary insolvency as due to Covid, all our income has dried up and we are unable to make our premises Covid Safe. We are in a large house, based over 3 floors (Ground, 1st and 2nd) The Insolvency solicitor is doing all the paperwork and our landlord, having given us several months rent free, would like us to vacate the premises by 16th December. Our problem is that we need to dispose of all the furniture. We have around 15 armchairs, several coffee tables, lamps, pictures, bookcases and other small items. In addition we have the usual office equipment mainly filing cabinets, and chairs (not all in good condition). In addition, the organisation used to run children's activities and have lots of toys etc. Including a couple of bulky items. With the charity shops closed, it is difficult to find someone to collect these items. The non office furniture is spread over the 3 floors (no lift) and would require 2 people to lift and move down stairs. We are not in the position to pay for removals as our remaining money has to be spent on bills and redundancy payments. We have parking space for 5/6 cars so a van can be accommodated. The non office furniture and toys will needed to be taken away the same day. Chairs which are mixture of IKEA and other makes are ideal for those who wish to renovate/up cycle.etc. Please contact me by PM if you are an organisations.company that can collect these items for free. Thanks.

Link Age have a great many schemes which require volunteers, some are still ongoing i.e. telephone befriending. They also advertised for the odd person to do a couple of shopping trips. Kings College Hospital also use volunteers - in their shop/trolley services, etc but not sure if they are working at the moment. St. Christopher's Hospice is seeking volunteers at the hospice in Sydenham. They were also advertising for help in their newly opened Education Centre in the book shop.

I was sent to the TJ centre by my GP Surgery Nurse for a Diabetes Check Up plus blood pressure. I was directed by the security guy at reception desk to the lift to first floor. Went over to GP reception and explained my visit and was passed onto another receptionist who logged me in. Within 10 minutes was seen by nurse - he was very helpful and I explained that I also had to have a blood test and he advised me where to go. No problems - my husband had gone there a couple of weeks earlier and was full of praise.

My grandchildren had guinea pigs. kept in hutch or pation in garden, but were moved to shed (with a window) in very cold weather.

Unfortunately due to lock down rules many groups who could offer support are not permitted to meet. However, groups such as AA are still meeting. You do not give your age or situation but organisations such as Link Age Southwark do telephone befriending. Prior to this lock down. my residents' association were thinking of trying to set up a small support group but before we could advertise this on EDF, the rule of 6 was imposed and then full lock down. We believe it is more beneficial for folk to meet face to face (socially distanced)than on line or by phone. I have a friend who lives alone and is used to going out meeting people and having a meal, who finds himself very isolated despite twice a week (sometimes more) phone calls from us, and various family members. getting very depressed.

Some of the paid staff at St. Christopher's are taking the opportunity to sort out stock and tidy up the premises. Depending on mobility aids- many pharmacies stock these and can order stuff as does Boots. Surprised that the OT and Pysio were not able to give you some mobility aids - there is usually frames, crutches and sticks in stock.

We keep a couple of oyster cards to use with visiting family or odd times when we cannot use our Freedom Pass.

Friern Road comes under Dulwich Hill SNT.

Lock down- is a non essential service.

Had an out patient appointment at Kings yesterday and although people booking into the clinic were wearing masks, nurses were asking them to change from cloth masks to the blue/white disposable masks - no explanation given.

I returned a book to Dulwich Library last week and was asked to 'swipe' it myself. Asked the staff when they would be reopening and was informed that they were open for people to return books only. I explained that it took an hour for me to order 2 books on line and that the system was poor. Was informed that I could give them a list of books I required and they could order for me. They also suggested that if I gave them an idea of the type of fiction/non fiction I would normally read, they could set up a 'mystery box/pot luck ' for me to collect.

Walked down Melbourne Grove to Grove Vale yesterday and was intrigued by nets in trees and mock gravestones tied to trees with 'Be very afraid' and other comments. After seeing this several times realized that many of the houses and gardens were decorated with pumpkins and other Halloween items. So assume that these local residents were indicating that they were up for trick and treating.

Notify your local ward police officers. The man may not have committed a crime, but may have some mental health issues. Our local police officers (who also work with Southwark anti social behavior officers) know many local residents whose behavior may be suspect. The police also have good contacts with the community mental health teams.

Whilst travelling on a bus the other day, spotted another passenger wearing a lanyard with the words 'I am exempt from wearing a mask' She also had a plastic card attached which I assume gave more details for her exemption. I think this is a good idea, this lady was obviously genuine and had gone to the trouble if getting this essential information. Perhaps all those who have a genuine medical need to be exempt should follow her actions. Those who could not be bothered to wear a mask would easily stand out.

Have also used Garry for work in the house. New socket outlets, replaced extractor fan in bathroom, and new ceiling lights. Very happy with his work and costs are reasonable.

i do wear masks when weather is windy as I am fairly law binding. Just been given an audiology appointment which has been 8 months in coming to repair my hearing aid, which is strapped together with tape due to it being caught in the straps of a mask and falling off in the street. Kings College Hospital out sourced its audiology services to In Health several years ago which are based in Lancashire but have clinics all over the country. Chadwick Road MC is my usual clinic but they have not had any audiologists since March and nor had the next nearest clinic in Streatham. My ability to hear others and to have a working aid is more important. I will continue to wear visors with a fall back to masks in certain weathers. My other half, when out with me, will always wear a visor so that we can communicate, when alone will wear a mask.

As far as I am aware, there were 2 AA groups in ED- one during the day and one on a Sunday evening. The evening one has resumed. Under the Covid rules, support groups can have more than 6 people indoors providing SD and masked.

GPs tell me that if sharps box is small they would take them but if you have a large box it is the council. I tried my pharmacy and they refused to take them.

Since none of the other candidates for London Mayor appear to have knowledge or experience in running a transport system, nothing will change. If I recall correctly that Susan Kramer, who went onto become MP for Richmond, when she stood for GLA/Mayor - she at least had knowledge of the administration of transport systems as was her paid employment when she was working in USA.

Having the same problems with mask wearing as I wear a hearing aid and the ear straps catch on aid. I now wear a visor which is better but no good in windy weather as it takes off. Far more comfortable to wear over a long period. Being a lip reader, I wish more people, especially shop/store staff would wear visors as makes life much easier for those of us who are deaf.

We used to attach a flashing fob to our dogs when they went out walking at night. Easy to attach onto their collars and taken off when got home

I have had my sharps bin collected during covid through the council. As far as I know, that is the only option. What previous poster has said, GP to give you a form to send to Southwark, it will ask whether you want a regular collection of if it is a one off. It come under clinical waste. T

In some local areas, pensioners paid an annual fee of around ?25 to get their free travel pass. My father who lived in Sussex did this when his eyesight failed and he could not drive. He lived in a village which was 8 miles to nearest town and in the late 90s/early 2000s, the return fare was ?9 by bus which ran every half hour. Not sure what the procedure is now that Freedom passes can be used all over UK. Not sure about removing free travel for under 18s- we had to get a weekly bus pass for our girls when they went to secondary school. The argument for removing it would be to stop youngsters hopping on bus for a couple of stops.