Pugwash

I had speech therapy for almost 5 years under NHS but that was in the 1950's - however that was because I became deaf at age of 2 which was not diagnosed until I was 5 years old so was still at a 2 year old level. I had intensive speech therapy for about 1 year 2 - 3 times a week, then weekly for next year or so, then gradually reduced during my junior school years. However, my speech therapist continued to meet me at least once a year until I left school at 18. One of my grandchildren needed a SALT (speech and language therapist) and due to long waiting lists he was enrolled into a council run nursery which specialised in language delays. There is a general shortage of SALTs especially in the NHS hence long waiting lists and group sessions.

Lew Evans House is only available for Southwark residents who are tenants. The Anchor Homes in Southwark are registered for dementia care and are available to non Southwark Residents who are self funding. If your relative does not have savings or own property, she will need a social services assessment to determine whether she meets the eligibility criteria for social services assistance with fees. If she does meet that eligibility criteria - social services have a ceiling as to the maximum fees they will pay per week and it would be upto family/friends/charity to top up/make up difference in payment. Abbeyfield usually have bedsits/studio flats and are staffed 6 days a week for meals etc. Nearest Abbeyfield in Southwark is Stradella Road Herne Hill. There are Hanover HA flats in Southwark - mainly in N Southwark, but I do not know the eligibility criteria for these as some HA sheltered housing units only take residents of that borough. It does not sound as though your relative, at this stage, will be eligible for social services funded care, but may qualify for a care package which would include a day centre. Most social services now encourage people who meet the eligibility criteria for community care to have a Personal Budget which would give them the freedom of organising their own care. Age UK has a number of leaflets/publications which you can download from their website. I would recommend that you look at several of these before considering a move of your relative to London. There is a private SHU in Dulwich - Dulwich Mead but if your relative is unable to answer her intercom to carers (especially if they are appointed by the council),they may have difficulty in getting accepted as a leaseholder.

One of our old greyhounds was poisoned and died as a result of it. Someone had put out poison near waste bins which were outside a local caf?. These bins as they were wheelie bins attracted local foxes who pulled apart the overloaded bags of food waste. Our dog was a devil at picking up food in the street and had grabbed something near this bin before we could stop him. He died 2 days later in the vets following a mass haemorrhage The vet identified rat poison. Our dogs used to bark in the morning when first let out in the garden and our neighbour complained directly to us and stated that if they carried on she would report us to Environmental health. We put muzzles on to them after that.

Tellers must not ask for people's polling number on the way in, only on the way out. having done telling for over 20 years - it is generally good fun. The number is shared between all parties to get an indication of the turn out. You need to be polite at all times - many people do not want to give you their number - that's fine. She must have been new at Telling.

At my Mum's funeral we had Bridge over Troubled Water ( Simon and Garfunkel) Time to say Goodbye Russell Watson and Hayley Weismera, and Michael Ball - Let him go from Les Mis. A friend sent his mourners out of the church with When the Saints go marching in with instructions to dance up the aisle. Daughter's mother in law had You are the sunshine of my life. I fancy a bit of Tom Jones, ABBA - not sure which songs yet. What about Status Quo - Rocking all over the World- that would wake everyone up. I am sure hubby will want Cream, Jimi Hendrick or Beatles

James Thanks for confirming the council property sell off. The money collected could go to creating more extra sheltered council housing for those aged 55 plus. There is a scarcity of property for older people in ED to rent or purchase, especially important for those of us who want to downsize and still live in ED in accommodation suited for people with reduced mobility etc. I cannot remember seeing anything on the various leaflets we have had from all parties as to what each party is going to do for us 'older folk'. Given the recent publicity that loneliness is on the increase on pensioners, what can be done to reduce this in ED? There do not seem to be many activities/clubs etc around which cater for the less well off older person, who does not need care or day centres.

That is what I heard - many of the flat conversions in Barry Road, Crystal Palace Road, Rodwell Road were originally owned by the GLC and then taken over by Southwark. People who want to downsize because of the bedroom tax are finding it difficult to find smaller properties - so the sell off could be true. Situation will get worse when the Government extend the bedroom tax to pensioners some time in the next few years. There are no council tenancies in Bromley as they sold off all their housing stock to Housing Associations to manage

The lack of public loos in ED have been around for many years. It was suggested that loos be put near the Electricity sub station in North X Road but this never happens. Ok whilst some pubs and cafes do not mind people using their loos with purchasing something first, others don not. Some people have a medical problem with holding their urine so rarely go out due to lack of public loos.

Do Southwark Council have any say in these matters? They have to give planning consent etc, should this be reported to the health and safety people? The nurseries my girls went to had double set of doors. Outer door was accessed via intercom and automatically closed, the inner door has pushed down handles which we placed out of a child' reach. If a child escaped via the inner door, they would be unable to get through outer doors unless the release button was pressed.

James I have heard that it is the ruling Southwark Labour party policy that any council tenancy which falls vacant and the property is deemed to be worth more than ?300K is to be sold rather than being offered to another tenant. Please advise if this is correct. I am assuming that this relates to houses or conversion flats rather than blocks of flats. Since the majority of council properties in ED are 'street properties' this would mean that those looking to downsize or transfer council tenancies will no longer have an option In ED and parts of Peckham and Nunhead. If this info is correct - do we have any stats on how many properties in the 3 Dulwich wards have been sold? Where does the money go?

With Sainsbury's local being closed for a few weeks the small shops have a chance to get some profit and business

I remember Peckham Manor as in late 60s Friern Girls, William Penn Boys and Peckham Manor Boys ( and I vaguely remember Collingwood Girls) had some form of 6th Form Consortium where we all met up once a term. I recall going to a disco at PM. Peckham Girls was nicknamed the Brothel way into the 70s due to the pregnancy rate there - allegedly fathers were the lads from Peckham Manor

The most hilarious 'rat story' was many years ago at our Tenants and Residents Association, a member mentioned that she had been invaded by rats coming from a neighbouring house ( it was either empty or in poor condition I cannot remember). The council officer who was the guest speaker, asked if she knew who the property belonged to. The lady was not sure but asked what difference it made. well if these were 'council rats' it was Southwark Council's responsibility to organise and pay for their extermination, but if they were 'private rats' it would be the house owner or private tenant's responsibility to organise and pay for the pest control officer. I must say that we found this so amusing that whenever people talk to us about pests, we keep a straight face and ask their residency or tenure status. The above meeting took place 10 - 15 years ago, the council officer had no sense of humour and could not understand why the room was doubled over with laughter.

Collected package easily from DHL and mentioned to the lady that their automated information system is still saying no Saturday opening. She was going to check this out as should have been changed last September. Also not all the DHL sites were giving correct info.

Many thanks - all the DHL websites I looked at still stated Mon - Friday only.

Reading all the catchment areas for local primary schools I am glad my kids are grown and with families of their own. we are top end of Barry Road and my eldest went to Goodrich. Younger sister born 13 years later, still living in same place was deemed to be outside Goodrich catchment area as it's boundary was classed as Etherow Street. Since hubby was catholic, she went to St. Anthony's - Heber at the time had a very poor reputation. I wonder if I had a 5 year old now, still living at the same address which catchment area we would come under? Outside of Heber and Goodrich, and Dulwich Village Infants. Tighter regulations re St Anthonys ( we did not have to have local priest endorsement then, although Father John knew husband by name)

I was telephoned from France yesterday (Thursday) evening from a colleague to say that she had sent loads of important forms and documents to me by a direct service which I had to sign and get to various people by Monday. She did not think that I would need to sign as documents were in an A4 envelope which go through the letterbox. You guessed it, got home from work to a while you were out card. Option was to collect from local DHL based in Croydon. The automated helpline confirmed that my parcel was in Beddington farm Road and the depot was open Monday to Friday only. Ring customer service line to check how quickly I could get the stuff redirected - Tuesday 29th. Explained my predicament and was asked why I did not collect tomorrow from Croydn which was open from 9 - 1. Explained that all the web sites and their helpline stated not open Saturdays. Lady tells me that she has the latest website and Croydon depot is open. It will be roughly an hour's drive for me and I will be really annoyed if it is closed as I will have to cancel another engagement. Does anyone have recent experience of this depot being open on a Saturday. If so can you post before 10 am tomorrow. Thanks

Elefteria a client I dealt with in the late 1970s named her daughter this after her partner had done a bunk when she was pregnant (He left her here)

We pay the lads who do our odd jobs including labouring ?15 ph and if extra difficult ?20 ph.

A travel lodge or Premier Inn would be nice

Parts of Worthing are very nice but some areas are a bit grotty. Was there a few weeks ago - wide range of ages, good shopping centre. if you are going to need Social Services at any point - be aware West Sussex are not generous. My daughter comes under Worthing - recycling is poor ,food recycling non existent, council tax and water rates high

My daughter lives in Goring by Sea - her nearest station is Durrington which is just over an hour to East Croydon. Her 3 bed ex council house was recently valued at ?138K purchased 8 years ago for ?125K. Opposite the station there is a good row of around 20 shops with a fantastic butcher, a bakery several cafes/takeaways, green grocers, etc. The area has several large supermarkets all within 2- 5 miles away. Frequent bus service into Worthing during the day bu they seem to stop around 7 pm and no buses on Sundays. Plenty of schools etc.

Outlook at Work was also down, we had no email access from Monday afternoon until this morning. I had to phone a hospital in Peterborough on Tuesday and they were also affected. According to our IT Team, there were problems with the server, which obviously provided access for many parts of the country

We are with the Gardens (we are Barry Road) out of curiosity I looked at the new catchment area and entered our post code to find we are not out of the area!. Looking at the map, the Gardens seem to have extended more towards Nunhead and away from ED.

yes I remember Doric Bedding, Kingstons the butchers was on the other side of the road, also the fish and chip shop run by Elvis on the corner of Matham Grove?