Pugwash

It may not apply to many people but my husband had several types of schooling when he was younger. A village school in Sussex from age 5 - 7 where he was diagnosed as above average intelligence, a catholic primary school for boys, and again diagnosed as very high IQ. Was offered free place at Dulwich College and Alleyns, but parents paid for St Joseph's College as wanted catholic education. Was later placed into a private boarding school in mid teens and then private tutorial college. Consistent changes in education for a sensitive child and the continual pressure from both his parents and private school/college lead to him having a breakdown and being placed in Maudsley at 17 for several months. He is now in his 60s but still has poor mental health. Since the 1960/70s there has been more awareness of child mental health and there have been considerable changes is way schools operate. More and more schools are aware of the impact of peer/parent/exam pressure and seek to rectify this. It is important that whatever school your son goes to, that they are aware that not all pupils are academically inclined and seek to provide education which is holistic and person centred. Although we looked at an independent school for our youngest daughter as she was fairly shy and we thought smaller classes would support her, - she decided that this was not for her. She went to Sydenham Girls - at the time there were around 1000 girls attending, and this was the making of her. University followed and she is now an associate lecturer in a Sussex college.

Can you text payments on a non SMART phone ( a basic phone costing less than ?60 - pay as you go) if not this will affect many disabled people who do not qualify for a blue badge especially those who have very limited hearing/ poor speech due to deafness/physical disability.

Depends on whether your mother is assessed as needing a care home or a care home with nursing. The social worker will advise you as to the recommendation and undertake an assessment of need, also you will need to complete a financial assessment of your mother's income and savings and any property owned. In Southwark you have Anchor Care Homes (4)plus The Elms in Barry Road. You are looking at fees around ?650 - ?850 for residential care but with nursing this could rise upto ?1000. There is a general shortage nationwide of both types of care homes and you may wish, depending on finances, as to whether to employ a live in carer.

Just a reminder that you can meet the Dulwich Hill police team on Weds 19th Feb 7 pm . WILL NOW TAKE PLACE IN THE MAIN CHURCH IN CAFE AREA - Please use main church entrance.

At Christ Church Barry Road on the following dates;- Weds 22nd January 12 - 1 pm. Weds 29th January 1-2 pm, Weds 5th February 2- 3 pm, Tues.11th Feb 12- 1 pm Weds 19th Feb 1- 2 pm. Weds 26th Feb 12- 1pm. At Dawson Heights Overhill Road Community Space - on the following dates;- Monday 27th January 10 - 11 am, Monday 10th February 10 - 11 am, Monday 2nd March 10 -11 am, Monday 16th March 10 - 11 am. have a cuppa with your local cops. St. Clements with St. Peters Church Friern Road. Thursday 5th March 10.30 - 11.30 am. These meetings are for any member of the public who wish to attend. This is a great opportunity to meet members of the Safer Neighbourhood Police Team.

Irwin Mitchell have a good reputation. I am shocked re the cafe's attitude - they should have a public liability insurance and should have taken full details of the incident. At least taken your phone number to get back to you for more information One questions as to whether the parent of the toddler was negligent in supervising their child? Admittedly young children are unpredictable, but depending on the size of the caf? and how full it was, young children should be in high chairs or on laps. Was this a 'local cafe'? did you recognise any other diners who would give a witness statement?.

From 'Which' full report will be in January's edition. Relates to the problems of business etc not accepting cash and how this is affecting rural communities, the elderly and disabled.(in Sweden) A cautionary tale for the UK Even with the banks brought to heel, there remains the problem of what should be expected of shops and businesses. In April 2019, the Riksbank petitioned the government to review the concept of a ?legal tender?, including the question of whether businesses should be legally obliged to accept national currency. ?More and more shops and caf?s are putting up signs saying ?We are not accepting cash?. It?s not only about being able to take out money. That?s not enough. It?s about being able to use it,? said Jan from the SCA. Although Cash Rebellion thinks that its work is far from done, we?re inspired by its achievements. We are concerned that the UK is sleepwalking towards a cashless society and are urging the government to take note of the Swedish lesson and implement laws to protect access to cash before it?s too late. You can find out more about our ?Freedom to pay. Our way? campaign and sign the petition calling for better protections on cash access. You can also share your views by joining the discussion at Which? Conversation. We?re continuing to lobby the government to intervene and protect the UK?s banking and cash infrastructure. Measures taken so far have not been enough to halt the rapid decline of banks and cash machines  [?

Can you afford ED house prices? Most terraced 2 bed houses are in the ?800K area? bus transport links are good and you have a selection of stations to choose from . if you only commute a couple of times a week try Orpington area where you get more for your money. having lived in ED all my life with the exception of about 4 years in Forest Hill of which a year was spent staying several months in Wimbledon, Maidenhead and Charlton for work purposes. I am happy to spend the rest of my days in this area

M and S do a nice sparkling non alcoholic wine - its about ?6 I think.

The first supermarket on the now co op site opened in the 1960s - cannot remember whether it was Somerfields but have an idea it was a really naff name.

Not specially Christmassy or local but saw Jason Manford yesterday at the opening night of Curtains at Wyndhams Theatre. Not my usual choice but it was great. Considering he is not trained in singing and dancing he is brilliant and was similarly great in Guys & Dolls at the Albert Hall last year. Good family entertainment if that's what youre after. Jason is a trained singer and also does opera. Was in Sweeney Todd in the west end.

Presents given out after Christmas Lunch - when kids little they had a stocking to open in the morning. My Nan used to have to work Christmas morning (cleaner at the Nurses' home at ED Hospital) so never got home until 2 pm. Father Christmas always rang the door bell after lunch when our kids were young and kids answered the door to find presents. (Hubby in red dressing gown and false beard then raced down the side return and into house via back door discarding the outfit) Youngest person in the room handed out the presents, everyone taking it in turn to open one. Soup on Boxing Day made with leftovers

My youngest daughter stood up to 'bullies' in her school, she made a direct approach to her form teacher and asked that the girls in question be spoken to. Also stated that if the form teacher was not able to do anything, she would take the matter up with head of year. We were very surprised at daughter as always a very quiet person who lacked self confidence. We heard about the 'bullies' via a phone call made by her form teacher to us, who were very pleased at our daughter's actions. The 'bullies' were approached by teachers and their parents contacted. A meeting was arranged at the school with teachers, parents and bullies - our daughter was given the option of being at the meeting- she attended and when outlined the other girls' behaviour, their parents were horrified and promised necessary action. Daughter was not bullied again for the rest of her school life and became a school counsellor with responsibility for a class of 11/12 year olds whom she mentored and helped identify 'bullying' behaviour.

I lived in Spurling Road in the 1950s and 1960s. Council earmarked it for 'slum clearance' twice in that time as flat roof was letting in water, there was one outside wc for 2 families, no hot water system ,no bathroom and not wired for power. We went to Dulwich Baths every week for a bath. Heating in lounge only via coal fire. Winter months we sat in blankets and hot water bottles. For some reason we could use an very old and small black and white TV but not an electric fire. It was not uncommon to have rubbish dumped in the street- was also the terminus for the 184 bus.

Many churches have an 'attendance requirement' before undertaking a christening - this is more noticeable with the local Catholic churches. Christ Church in Barry Road do christenings.

ROOMS IN SOUTH-EAST LONDON / LEWISHAM BOROUGH Available for counselling Counsellors - seeking space for counselling work Currently there are spaces in the SE23 area for self-employed counsellors to work alongside counselling colleagues Spaces are available on ? Monday daytime and evening ? Tuesday daytime ? Friday daytime and evening ? Other days and times by negotiation Fee: From ?10 per hour Nearest rail station: Forest Hill Nearest bus routes: 122 & 185 if you are interested - please PM me with your email and telephone number

Must admit that in the past if there are no loose carrots to be had - I grab one of the cheaper pre packed bags and empty them into the loose carrots box - I only want a few carrots not a kilo.

From experience ward councillors are not informed by council officers of important decisions made about the area. Officers, appear to deliberately ignore councillors and local residents when making decisions.

May be much quieter but many elderly people use the 12 or 197 bus route to get to The Gardens Surgery. They do not have access to cars and cannot afford mini cabs. Only way to get to surgery if you are not on the 63 bus route is bus down LL to Kings Arms, cross road and get 12/197/63. Having done this route myself - took 30 minutes.

I hope all these were reported to the police. Although they may not be able to do anything - they will be able to build a picture of the areas the thieves are operating in, the type of cars targeted, times etc. Some wards appear to have low crime figures but this could be that residents are not reporting incidents. More accurate figures could give police additional resources.

We tend to go to Sainsbury's - admittedly at times shelves are empty. Although I have considered on line shopping - I would only order non perishables as feel that staff do not look at sell by/use by dates on fresh produce. My deceased mother in law frequently had delivered meat/dairy products with a 2 day life span. I also like to pick out my own loose fruit and veg. I feel that the increase use of on line shopping has resulted in too many closures of high streets including supermarkets. Whilst we shop at Roses, Farmers and tend to use ED restaurants and cafes, some of the prices charged are excessive (we are both pensioners) but understand that with the high costs of rent, many establishments have no choice. Lidl is a good alternative to the usual supermarkets in terms of quality and price. Went into co op a couple of weeks ago and the majority of their prices were higher than of Sainsbury's.

I am a trustee of a counselling charity which until this year received the bulk of it's funding from the CGG. This provided access to counselling for children, young people and adults with emotional problems etc. This was a preventative mental health service as well. This financial year the funding was removed from the charity, along with many other counselling/psychological services in the borough. This has resulted in the redundancies of 3 staff members and a greatly reduced service. The charity also provides counsellors to a number of primary and secondary schools.

One year we were on a coach holiday in Yorkshire and stopped at a pub on the moors for coffee and toilets. We were surprised when we walked in the find the saloon bar full of police. The publican and coach driver laughed at our expressions and said that since the police were spread out in this rural area, the only time they could get together for a meeting was to have an early lunch time meeting every month, and that the pub was the only venue which could accommodate the numbers.

Hustings at both general and local elections tend to happen in more than one venue - I recall at the last general election that there were at least another four venues at different times/dates around the constituency. These are generally organised by other interest groups i.e businesses/shopkeepers/local discussion groups etc. If you cannot make the EDCCA hustings there is bound to be another somewhere in the area. Hustings are open to all and do not require booking. Each party organisers their own publicity and canvassing - they tend to undertake a specific area and flood them with volunteers delivering leaflets and door knocking, then move onto another defined area. If you have shown interest in the past - you may get email communications.

Jonathon Bartley is the Green Candidate - he is the co chair of the Greens. This was announced on TV last week. The original LD candidate elected is now standing for Lewisham East More employers should offer flexi hours or job shares. I remember during a transport strike many years ago I offered to work from 11 am - 7 pm at my office (I was a car driver) which enabled me to see callers/staff. This only lasted during the strike period but my boss was very happy to know that he could offer a good 'customer service' In my professional life, we were allowed to work from home - especially if we had lots of report writing, many of us had our professional data base uploaded to our home laptops/computers and some had a works mobile phone. I would rather a more flexible working contract to a 4 day week. As a professional worker - our department had to operate a 7 day working week with core hours being 9 - 5. Staff offered or were specifically appointed to do Friday - Monday (with the option of an additional day) Many of my Mon - Fri colleagues opted to do the weekends for travelling reasons (less crowded trains/roads) less incoming calls allowing them to concentrate, more options of seeing clients/family members who would normally be working during the week) Proportional Representation would give a more balanced political scene - depends to the type of PR as to how this would work i.e overall national votes giving x number of MPs from each party, or voting for individual candidate and then additional MPs depending on percentage of votes.