Pugwash

I was in Sussex yesterday visiting family who I may not be able to see if we go into lockdown. Daughter had run out of bread and we were waiting delivery at the local Co Op. I picked up 2 Kingsmill white loaves (?1.00) and asked the shop assistant if there was a limit to number per customer and was advised 2 was maximum. I thought this very fair in contrast to Sainsbury's. I gather from a friend who regularly purchases cleaning and catering products from Mackro that earlier this week, most of the warehouse was empty so am fully aware of the difficulties.

The same shop also tried to sell a clearly marked bag of frozen peas 'Special Offer ?1 00' this was a proper manufacturer's plastic bag not a sticky label. Friend went to pay for it and the shop requested ?2.40, she pointed out that this was clearly labelled ?1.00 and was told that it was due to Cash and Carry charging a lot more. My friend stood her ground and as she was purchasing the peas for another friend who was partially sighted and had mobility difficulties, paid the man ?1 took the peas and walked out She said if the shop keeper called the Police she could show clearly that it was the manufacturer who set the price. I have nothing against independent shops selling items at a higher price than supermarkets. I did notice in Sainsbury's Local that an item which I pay ?2.40 for in DKH was ?2.75 It was on one the Government's Q % A sessions last week where someone raised the question of shops/firms using the shortage of goods to inflate prices which were currently on shelves - the answer came back that it was illegal to do this with current stock. In this case the shop had obviously purchased from Lidl - and had trebled the price. I would hate to see what the shop would have charged for the Carex hand wash.

Get Trading Standards more involved in some shop keepers who are purchasing in bulk from Supermarkets and then selling them at inflated prices in their own shops. I picked up liquid soap - Cien ( which I normally get at Lidl for between ?1- ?1.50) and was charged ?3.50 for this. Having heard from one of the official briefings that it was illegal to profit from inflated prices, I refused to have the product. Shop keeper then stated that Cash and Carry had doubled their prices so he had to pass it on to his customers. Telling this story to a friend this morning, she reported that she went into the same shop today and picked up a bag of frozen peas which the manufacturer has blazoned over it's bag 'Special Offer ?1.00'. Same shopkeeper tried to sell it for ?2.20. My friend stood her ground (she also works in retail) and paid only ?1.00. I have been in Lidl many a time in the past ,and see people load up a trolley full of only 3 or 4 items which obviously they are going to sell on at their own shops. I counted one item- 50 large bars of chocolate !

Talking with someone today who has a friend working in DKH Sainsbury's - she reports store is fully stocked at 6 am, by 7 am queues of people reaching out of the car park and as soon as doors open, they swarm in and within an hour of so, very little left on the shelf. Agree, there must be enforced rationing, if some local shops can restrict you to 1 packet of loo rolls, kitchen roll, tissues. cleaning produce - then the big stores should follow suit. I was nearly 2 hours in t he shop yesterday - longer because I kept going back to the aisles hoping that they were being restocked - got lucky with long life milk and bananas.

Popped into a local independent store and noticed that they had both pasta and hand wash - pasta was 89p - hand wash Cien unpriced ( this is normally sold in places like Lidl for less than ?1.50) was told at till that hand wash was ?3.50 - queried this and stated that it was illegal to hike up prices - was told that cash and carry had increased prices so they must also. I refused to buy the hand wash. Spoke to 2 other people who are in retail and catering business who advised that if cash and carry had increased prices it would be only a small amount and no where near double to justify the store increasing this much. Should I contact Trading Standards? Sainsbury's shop this afternoon - no potatoes, hardly any veg, no w.u. liquid, limited supply of meat and fish, no frozen veg, tea or coffee. managed to get some liver sausage at the Deli counter and taking with assistant about shortages, she advised that over the weekend people were taking large amounts of meat to store in their freezers. Lot of older people walking around with trolleys trying to find food - no eggs or pasta but plenty of long life milk.

Apart from weekly supermarket shopping, and one afternoon per week voluntary work, I rarely go out and mix with crowds. so am not keen on being told that I may have to be 'imprisoned' for up to 4 months because of my age. I take all precautions issued, and I know from experience which of my friends have poor health so would avoid them if I felt unwell/had a cold etc. Although I do not suffer from depression - I would do if I was prevented seeing my family/friends etc. I am usually the person who does the shopping etc for others as I am mobile and the person who provides emergency child care.

My pass arrived this morning but not hubby's.

Christ Church in Barry Road has a collection box which goes to PECAN

As well meaning as everybody is, it is difficult for a vulnerable person as to whether to trust a 'stranger' who turns up offering to do some shopping. I do the occasional voluntary work with elderly people via a local charity - I have an ID badge and the older person is rung by the charity and given my name, I then ring the person and arrange a time to visit them. Unfortunately there are people in Southwark who would think nothing of trying to con vulnerable people and it is more common than you would think. The best way is for people to know their neighbours - we know the young couple who moved in 18 months ago next door- we introduced ourselves, we also know neighbours 2 doors down on the other side of the house and a few people even further down the street. Why wait until a crisis to be friendly. I think going via churches is a good idea also if you have a tenants and residents' association in your street to contact their committee as they will have access to those who may need help.

is it the fact that we now have more schools in the Dulwich area? When my kids were young there was St. Anthony's, Goodrich, Heber, St. Johns and St Clements, Grove Vale, Dog Kennel Hill, Dulwich Village and Dulwich Hamlet. You then had the independent schools plus JAGS, Alleyns, Dulwich College and prep,I cannot remember whether the 2 other independent primaries were around in the period 1978= 1990). Charter School was initially William Penn in the 1960-70s, and eventually became another secondary school but half or quarter the size of Charter. There was Friern which became Waverley and amalgamated with Honor Oak and no other secondary school

I contacted our local councillor (Maggie Browning)and she was advised that Southwark were sending out with effect from 9th March - I was advised that if not received by next week to contact her again. The Dulwich Hill Ward Forum is on 17th at Dulwich Library 6.30 - 8.

Many thanks for info- still waiting for BT to give us approx. time for a visit on Thursday. Need to get my mobile topped up as having to tell family/friends not to ring landline. At least some of them are on email.

Went into Farmers yesterday and were surprised to find they had sanitising and cleaning stuff a plenty. I noticed they had kitchen rolls but as to whether they had loo rolls I did not look as they were not a priority for me. If the worse came to the worse and I had to self isolate - have plenty of stuff in the freezer and loads of tins. We have a 3 times weekly delivery of milk so I could order extra foodstuffs off milkman (one of the reasons why we chose to keep our milkman even though more expensive).

2 of the phones are cordless handsets but sit in a plugged in console. 2 other phones are the old fashioned type. Hubby phoned BT who think it is our outside line which I do not believe is correct as I have internet connection ( they cannot come to us until Thursday), I did Google originally which told me to check sockets etc.

Our landline has gone down -and phone is showing the above message. I have checked all the phones and sockets to ensure they are connecting but no change. Any ideas please what to do next as we rely on our landline as we have very basic PAYE phones. We are with BT.

Not sure whether Kings can offer work experiences -they certainly provide student placements.

With an independent school, children will come from differing areas of London and making friends who live locally may be problematic. A friend sent her daughter to an independent school and found that most of her friends lived in Bromley, Lewisham and Greenwich with only a couple in Dulwich.

Uplands Care Home with Nursing is also very good - a friend has had 3 elderly relations being cared for there. I have visited there in the past and found it clean, staff appeared caring and residents appear to be well supported. The lady I had to visit had Parkinson's related dementia and needed a pureed diet.

I found when we were visiting schools (secondary) for both of our daughters, we got a feeling/intuition that one particular school was the right one for our girls. We had visited several other schools and did not feel comfortable in them. I would seek a tour of whatever school you were thinking of for your son and ask questions. My eldest daughter was keen to get her child into a local primary school which had a very good reputation and OFSTED report, when she was shown around the school and asked questions she was not happy at the answers or the atmosphere in the school. My grand daughter eventually went to a school further way, which was listed as 3rd best, it had a happier atmosphere and all questions were answered.

The Dulwich Estates since the 1950s (or earlier) rejected the idea of public transport going through the village as they wanted to maintain a 'village atmosphere' to encourage wealthy people to live there. I had friends who lived in Court Lane who at times would have benefitted access to public transport - especially to get to Norwood and the Palace. I think it was only in the 1990s that a bus route was 'authorised' due to the increasing elderly population and growth of schools being used by non local parents.

The pub was well attended - you usually had to queue up for a table as they would only take reservations at Christmas only. It was a fire in kitchen/dining room that closed the pub.

Orpington - good train and bus links. House prices generally cheaper than ED however very mixed housing area with large expensive properties and cheaper bungalows and flats

last time this happened in our area, I was told by our SNT Police Officer to report it. Also genuine salespeople will have a licence authorising door to door selling. It is a scam and could be linked to possible burglaries later on.

As a trustee to a counselling charity who specialised in preventative mental health work with children and young people, we were initially funded by a local council and then the Clinical Commissioning group. Last year the CCG decided that they were reducing funding for all counselling organisations in the borough which offered more than 6 weeks support. This has led to staff redundancies, long waiting lists and heightened stress for those who are seeking support. Schools are finding money out of their diminished budgets to pay for a counsellor for a few hours per week to help vulnerable children/young people and their families. Talking to one counsellor, I was told that the Government's response is that all teachers need to have additional training in mental health issues (paid for out of school budget)so that they can 'double up' on the work they do!!. I think this centre is a good idea.

The Elms is brilliant as I had a relative there many years ago and also have a friend living there. If Mum has been diagnosed as needing a nursing home with specialist nursing care - the Elms is a care/residential home. The nursing side of your mother's care maybe beyond the care that The Elms staff can provide as staff are not qualified nurses. District nurses are usually brought in to deal with injections and other procedures. I would take a copy of your Mum's assessment of need and look at the Elms, they would be able to advise you as to whether they can care for your mother. They deal with many residents with dementia who either developed this whilst in the home or were placed with dementia. They are in great demand as one of the best homes in the area - very friendly and helpful staff and fantastic food.