Pugwash

With regard to my previous posts re mini census, my acquaintance who initially alerted me re this informed me today that another mutual acquaintance who lives in Peckham is also being harassed re completing this form. The person in question has learning difficulties and is a vulnerable adult (having been financially abused in the past)and not only received several letters in the post but has been visited 3 times by people asking why the form has not been returned. Our acquaintance has limited reading ability and all his financial and correspondence is dealt with by a relative. If the form filling is voluntary why are they chasing up people in their own homes?

Can we have something different for those of us who do not eat pizza. Another Chinese eat in would be nice in ED, a better Thai restaurant? A vegan restaurant?

The next Give and Take Event at the East Dulwich Community Centre is in October 2017 - it is only held twice a year. Articles in good condition only - no large items. Must be small enough to go in car, on bus or carried by one person.

Bags get torn and items scattered over the pavement.

Thanks James, My friend did call the number on the letter and was told that she had to complete it, she explained that she thought this was voluntary but the person on the phone disagreed. She has had several letters asking why she has not returned the form and she told the person on the phone that she was being harassed.

Hi James, Just been talking to an acquaintance who has received the random census sent out by Government. Apparently Southwark has been chosen for this random census and thousands of forms have been sent out. My acquaintance is elderly and started filling it in then grew suspicious. She checked with staff at Dulwich Library who have advised her that many people have been to see them about these forms . Since she did not complete the form and returned it by the given date, she has been bombarded with letters seeking returned forms and also people turning up at her address (they left a card). Why have Southwark Council not mentioned this census - all they needed to do was to get an article in one or both local press. Do you know anything about this James.?

Red Jumpers were Friern Girl's School uniform. In the 6th Form we were allowed a choice - Navy or Green Jumpers with navy skirts and in summer beige or turquoise shirtwaster dresses. Must not forget the straw hat in summer - which we decorated with flowers picked from resident's gardens. In the flower power days - it was 'hip' to walk bare footed with a guitar and flowery hat - putting shoes on when within sight of the school. When most of ED did not have indoor bathrooms and WCs - the GLC announced this area as an Area Improvement and Modernisation zone and pumped in millions to enable householders and landlords to install indoor bathrooms and WCs, new roofing and gutters. This was the start of the gentrification of ED (talking of late 70s and early 80s) When ED baths had slipper baths and cost 6d for a weekly bath.

You remember when Woolworths were in the building where Foxtons now occupy. When North Cross Road market was famed for getting cheap items and operated during the week. When there were at least 3 or 4 butchers in the lane. When you got money from the office licence for bringing back empty pop bottles. When there were corner shops on most corners.

Kings A & E used to accept donations of good quality clothes i.e. trousers, tops, shoes as patients often have to have clothes cut off them in A & E. Also many homeless people used to turn up in accidents with poor/ripped clothes etc. Suggest you get in touch with Kings Volunteer Group who may be able to direct you to the appropriate section

My daughter moved to Durrington which is down the road to East Preston. Good rail links to Croydon and Victoria. Plenty of supermarkets. May need a car as depending on which part of the area moving to. Loves living down in Sussex and would not return to London. Nearest large towns - Worthing and Bognor.

In all fairness to the police, since their base has moved from Dulwich to Camberwell, they are not immediately noticeable in the area. However with the reduction in officers the police cannot be everywhere at once. We have 2 very good community officers (both female) who try to do their best. When PC Adrian Crust retired, his knowledge of the local community went with him. Having known Adrian for many years, initially meeting him as part of a mental health project, he was someone with very much an ear to the ground and was aware of the various 'dubious' elements in the community. Unless there is more investment in local police and numbers of community based officers are increased- many crimes will go unsolved.

This appears to be a child safeguarding situation - she is afraid of her father (why what will he do?) she is being neglected health wise and emotionally abused. You do not state her age and who has parental responsibility, is there a residence order in place issued by courts. Obviously you do not state the reason why your child is living with her father. Have the school noticed that her health is suffering and has she confided in them about being afraid of her father? Both yourself and the school can report to social services in the area that she is living. They have a duty to investigate, also you mention the courts - they need to be aware of the situation and if no agreement can be made - could make her a ward of court.

Cats are very territorial creatures and it is doubtful as to whether they would settle into a new environment in 2 weeks. Danger would be that if let out in the garden would try and make their way home. We have 3 cats and the occasional mouse -

If the 4.5 year old is in school - I would recommend Gumboots Holiday Scheme - they are based at the East Dulwich Community Centre, Darrell Road. SE22 for 4 weeks. There are a number of previous posts on EDF if you look under search.

I realise that the island in the road is to reduce speeding and assist pedestrians, but as a car driver coming up from Peckham Rye, you need to approach this section very carefully, especially if you have had to overtake buses at the bus stop and noting cars turning right from the road opposite. Would it be better as a full zebra crossing or having a pelican crossing which is controlled by pedestrians?

We live 3 doors down from a pub with a garden - it can get noisy on good days with the kids yelling, but generally no bother. Occasional live bands especially at weekends.

Hubby was a cyclist so as a car driver I am very wary when driving of other cyclists. Coming up from LL to the Plough traffic lights, I indicated and was in the correct lane to turn left into Barry Road. Just as the lights changed a cyclist drove up on my nearside and proceeded to cut in front of me to go straight ahead. I spotted him at the last minute and slammed on the brakes. There are many good cyclists who are aware of what is going on around them, but unfortunately many are utter wallies. Hubby has been a cyclist since a teenager (now in his 60s) and remembers very clearly being taught you stay behind other vehicles and give them enough space to that if the indicate a turn you have time to stop. Also never go alongside a large vehicle as they cannot always see you in their mirrors.

A couple of friends of mine opted for private schools - the only drawbacks they felt was that private schools had longer holidays than state, school trips are more expensive, after school clubs added onto price. Cost of meals much higher. Both friends had daughters - one is now a lawyer. The other is very bright and goes to a Harris school

Why not rent a room/small flat on a short term basis in Brighton to save the daily commute and come home weekends? This will give you an opportunity to get a sense of Brighton. We were going to buy a property for youngest daughter whilst she was at Brighton University but in a space of 3 months, property prices for a one bed flat rose from ?75 K to ?100 k. With a very large student population (2 Universities and a language school) rented property is hard to find. We ended up in purchasing a 3 bed house in Goring for ?125K. Prices are very much higher now and daughter's partner commutes from Goring to Brighton by car on a daily basis. I do not like Brighton and prefer Worthing. I suppose it all depends which part of Brighton your new job is in as to most appropriate area to live. Parking is a nightmare in Brighton but daughter's partner works for a company who provides a company car and parking space for him.

Re my previous post re staggered holidays. It would be easy to sort out regions i.e. London and South East , South England, etc

The answer I give to parents worried about giving their kids the latest gadget/trainers etc is that you give your children what they need not what they want. Eldest daughter as a teenager always wanted the latest fashion - when asked who made that item fashionable, replied 'them'. Following some discussion in which we talked about sheep and shepherds, she came to the decision that she would not be a 'follower' (sheep) but be a 'leader' and developed her own fashion style. Her friends and their parents thought her 'weird in a nice way' as she was into cheesecloth and ethnic designs in the early 80s. Later in the 80s cheesecloth and ethnic design was all the range. While it is understandable that children want to be like their friends and have the latest technology, if these are beyond a parents financial means - this should be explained to the kids. Or if an expensive item for Christmas or birthday - let all friends/relatives club together to purchase it.

My mother was a single parent as my Dad had walked out on her when I was 2 years old. She applied for National Assistance as it was then, but was refused as she was a healthy woman in her late 20s and was told to get a job. However in those days child care was more affordable (50% roughly of earnings) and I went to a state nursery (Dog Kennel Hill)whilst Mum did office and shop work. Money was limited and finding food for the week was problematic - yet my favourite meal of the week was mashed potatoes, with chopped up tomatoes, sometimes some grated cheese, other times some chopped up spam. This was end of the week dinner and would have cost around 50/75p in todays money for 2 of us. Thursdays was the only day we had cake as my Nan used to come for tea and brought us cake. I grew up knowing the value of money and how to be thrifty. This stood me in great stead when a former partner left me with a 3 year old, a mortgage and all the bills to pay. After paying the bills - I had roughly ?10 per month for food and fares to work. We survived like this for 4 years. 40 plus years later I find it difficult to freely spend money without arguing with myself as do I need this item, if it is food how many days will it last, how many people do I need to feed this week. Living in poverty at an early age can make you either scrimp and save, acknowledging the value of money or it can make you spend every penny and let others support you via benefits. My youngest daughter works part time term time and has a 3 year old and 1 year old. Although her partner works, she has chosen to work and pays 90% of her wages in child care fees. Whilst working out that they may be better off in claiming child credit/working tax credits (cannot remember which one) she feels that she does not want to be dependent on the state and is emotionally better off working. In contrast, another relative is on benefits and has a 7 year old at home. She did work part time as a nursery assistant for a few months but then went off sick with 'depression'. She is always asking for money as finds it difficult to manage on benefits but when her eldest son (22 and working and living on his own) pointed out that if she stopped smoking (roughly ?14 per week, stopped drinking lager (roughly ?10) she would have a better lifestyle. There will always be some people who can manage on benefits (just scraping through) and others who do not have a clue re budgeting.

Where my daughter works in a college , she asked for a day to attend a funeral of her partner's father, but was refused on the grounds that she only worked part time and term time and was not entitled to a day off. If she went sick she would have been sacked. My other daughter informed her son's primary school that he was 'sick' so that he could attend his great grandfather's funeral in Sussex as the head was very strict allowing time off even for a family funeral. The Head also had refused some parents to withdraw their child a couple of days before term ceased as their holiday travel plans had changed. I think along as a child has achieved consistent attendance (95%) parents should be allowed to take a child out of school for 5 days or less for a holiday - especially if it coincides with the last week of term. When I studied in Holland, the country was divided into 3 regions, each with different start and end days of school holidays. I was informed that if all the schools closed at the same time, it would cause chaos as too many people moving around the country. A few years ago my friend's secondary school in Bromley did an experimental scheme of having 2 weeks at Whitsun (May half term) and 2 weeks in October (Autumn Half term) with a much shorter Easter and Summer break. Both teachers and parents loved it - parents as they were able to go on holiday at cheaper rates, also split up the need to get weeks of child care. Teacher's loved it as broke the school year up and also assisted with their own family holidays. For some reason, despite the success, Bromley decided that they would not continue with the scheme. Proposals were made several years ago that the academic year should be split into 4 terms and that GCSEs and A levels be sat in April/May with the results coming out late July/Early August which would give more time for those going onto FE. This I believe would also help parents avoid the expensive holidays costs.

Every now and then, they have a clear out and give items to be recycled, so this may have happened. There was a recent inspection by HQ H & S so they may have noted the build up of bags. A new manager was appointed a few weeks ago with the original manager being sent to another shop miles away. I heard that she was more approachable than the old one. They have a large number of volunteers but recently it has been noted that at times they are very short staffed. Many of the 'volunteers' are doing work experience or on community service so there is a fluctuation in staffing levels. They do collect and deliver items of furniture for a small fee - I purchased some very nice wooden dining chairs there a couple of years ago for ?5 each. Also an Arsenal bean bag and bed linen for a football mad grandson

I believe staff have suggested a note on the door but have been told by 'management' that this cannot be done. The small shop does not get as many donations left there as people tend to go to the large shop.