Pugwash

Bromley council only collect recycled goods fortnightly and they only give one small blue box per household. Daughter's recycled blue box is frequently over flowing and the foxes drag stuff out as does not have a lid. We have 2 blue, 2 green and 1 brown bin in our front garden, One green bin is usually half to three quarters full, blue usually full sometimes have to use 2, brown variable if doing any gardening on top of food waste. rather have wheelie bins that boxes or bags any day.

Social Services operate on addresses generally and not phone numbers however given more details as to the nature of the calls and conversation had, they may ring up the person and try and find out more about the lady. A quiet talk with PC Adrian Crust and giving him the number, he may be able to find out the address and do a 'checking call'to see if the lady is ok. Depending on outcome, Police will decide whether to contact Social Services.

2 of our grandchildren (both living in Harlow) had speech development problems. Eldest boy now 19 was only saying a couple of words at nearly 3 and was placed into s special nursery with other children which had developmental delays. great improvement from that time onwards. His little brother, now 4 same problem, now goes to a nursery 2 days a week and speech has improved considerably as copying children more speech advanced of a similar age. I had speech therapy from 5 - 11 as I had measles when 2 years old and lost 90% of my hearing and this was not picked up until I was rising 5. Obviously that was decades ago.

Having had to use a walking stick when out and about due to arthritis in my knees, hip and spine for the past year, I am surprised as to the number of people that have offered me a seat on the bus. I too have a disability which effects my balance and even before the arthritis- could not go upstairs on the bus as I could not balance on the stairs. Many moons ago when pregnant with youngest daughter, had to travel up to County Hall by Westminster Bridge daily, and frequently lost my balance whilst standing on the bus and my big belly hitting those sitting down Sometimes I got a seat - the rest of the time other passengers would just mutter and get annoyed.

This is the down side of owning a leasehold property on council estates.

My husband came into a sum of money quite unexpected following the death of his only relative. The executor was an accountant and we had a meeting with him and uncle's stockbroker and they advised to pay off as much as possible of our mortgage (around ?90K) to reduce our monthly repayments. ( This went down from ?120 pm to ?50)Keep some of the investments that Uncle had which were performing well, cash in the poor performers. We took out a couple of ISAs. If selling your current property is an option - use the money towards a bigger place.

If your relative has the space she may be interested in Homeshare. A national organisation which matches up people who are usually working or students, with an older (or disabled person) in return for a reasonable rent, the sharer has to provide so may hours practical assistance per week i.e shopping, housework, cooking but not personal care. Personal Budgets - the Government requires all local authorities to encourage those who require (and are eligible) for care packages, to have this provided via a personal budget. If following an assessment of needs, your relative is entitled to say 25 hours a week assistance with personal care including toileting, medication prompting, basic domestic tasks i.e. hovering/washing floors and work surfaces, laundry, and shopping etc. The local authority will give a sum of money equating to the 25 hours care which SSD would normally supply via their contracted agencies. The fair access to charging guidelines would apply and your relative's income and expenditure would be taken into account as to whether they would need to contribute in any way. Once a PB is approved - you have a choice of having care provided by an agency used by the council, or employing someone directly. If you employ someone you are responsible for the NI contributions and taxation paperwork etc. But most councils have an arrangement with various voluntary organisations who will take on the administration for you. if you go down the personal assistance route, there are organisations who will do the various checks for you. If your MIL needs help with her transfers or mobility it would be wise in getting someone who has been on a manual handling course, essential if the person needs to use a hoist. In reply to cathypj - if your parents own their own home, and your mother moves into a care home, the local authority will probably advise selling the property to fund fees. In the case of a couple - if one goes into a care home, the other remaining in the home, the value of the property will not be taken into account. Once the remaining spouse/partner moves out the whole value of the property is included. If you mother chooses to go into a care home, but does not need placement, it is highly unlikely that the local SSD will assist with payment of fees ( assuming that not an owner occupier). There are schemes such as the 12 week property disregard and deferred payments which help owner occupiers. I would recommend anyone concerned with care for elderly relatives to look at Age UK fact sheets - there is a number of them ranging from retirement housing to selling homes to fund placements, managing finances etc. Southwark and Lewisham Age UK have their own care agency and have different fee rates depending on service required. They also have people qualified in foot care. Abbeyfield have a number of sheltered housing scheme all over the country offering different levels of accommodation. Those in Southwark offer a bed sit, and all meals (except usually Sundays) in a communal dining room prepared by a resident housekeeper. Some Abbeyfields have en suite bedrooms with a small kitchen area for hot drinks and light meal preparations, others have flats. Abbeyfield also run a number of residential care homes throughout England/

Before Christmas we got a letter from PCSO Louise Wisson of the ED Safer Neighbourhood Team asking for people to sign up for neighbourhood Watch scheme. If interested contacted Louise on 207 232 6325 or mobile 0208721 2447 or email [email protected]

many years ago my eldest daughter worked in an off licence near the Paxton Roundabout in Gipsy Hill. she would talk about the weird happenings there, with bottles flying off the shelf, boxes being overturned, footsteps heard in the empty flat above etc. We did not take too much notice of this but whilst she was working there, our youngest daughter who was around 8 or 9 at the time was taken by a friend of her sister's to the off licence as the girls were meeting up for some family event. K came home later that night full of excitement of keys of the till flying in the air, shop bell ringing without the door opening, bottles being smashed on the floor and other things. She was not at all worried about this. Later on when eldest daughter went back to University, a friend took over her position and she experienced similar happenings. Years later retelling their experiences to a family friend who lived on the nearby Kingswood Estate, they were informed that the Off licence owner eventually closed the business as staff would not stay after they had experienced similar goings on. I do believe that some people are very sensitive to what I can only describe as 'unexplained happenings'. When my youngest daughter was 11, we were on holiday in Norfolk and had taken K's friend of the same age with us. On the Friday night before returning home, the girls were getting ready for the last night entertainment, when K became very hysterical and crying and could not explain why she was upset. Not being a child prone to this type of behaviour we were at loss how to deal with this over a period of hours. Returning home to ED the next day, our front door was not doubled locked and we gingerly went into the house to find my Mum sitting in the garden. She had come to give us bad news that my great aunt who previously lived with us, and had moved down to The Elms, had died the night before. We discovered that she had become suddenly very ill and died within a very short time the night before and this coincided with K's hysteria. Over the years, we have got used to K's 'psychic feelings' and do not question them as they have in hindsight proved to be correct. Whilst studying psychology, K mentioned these incidents and underwent some low key experiments, which showed that she had very heightened ESP and could pick up 'vibes'. Regarding spiritualism, David Nason used to hire the ED Community Centre for his meetings and one day, I was asked to open and close up for his session. Out of curiosity I stayed for the meeting with a guest spiritualist, and was surprised when a close deceased friend came through. I was very sceptical, but the female spiritualist did not know me or the area, she physically described my friend and the activities he was involved in. He was unusual as an artist that he specialised in working with the police and their animals, from the ED Mounted Police section to Police Commissioners. She described much of his work ( which I was familiar with) and then asked if he was known to anyone in the room. I put my hand up and gave my name. She then 'passed a message' from L relating to an event we had attended many years before. I do believe that it is possible there is a 'spirit world' as my family has some experiences in this area. I am a sceptical person and try to rationalise why things happen, either by coincidence or from a practical angle. I certainly would not dismiss entirely strange happenings experienced by others.

Last week hubby informed me that twice on the same day some men rang our bell and said they had paint left over from a job and did we want any rooms painted. Were told no thanks. The second group of men had the same storey but came a couple of hours later. He did not inform me until a couple of days later and I was annoyed that he did not report to the police as quite suspicious.

I suggest a modern police station with flats above for rental and purchase

It seems odd that at this late stage in the school term they have suddenly decided on a trip and given a week or so notice for deposit. Grand daughter's school gave warning of trip in July and the letters giving full details for the June trip were sent in September giving a month's notice of deposit date.

My 15 year old granddaughter is going to Poland for 5 days in June cost around ?600. daughter has been paying money monthly. GD staying in hotel and 2 meals a day and packed lunches plus all admission fees into places of interest.

It also could be the way they treat their non medical employees. I am with the Gardens and they have had the majority of their staff for years. Although I am not a frequent user of the surgery, they know me by my first name when I drop in to deliver a prescription repeat.

We also know where our front and back door keys are hidden - 2 separate places one near each exit. We have a fire route - climb out of back rear bedroom window onto kitchen extension and then 6 foot drop to floor. Possible exits out of other ist floor rooms but longer drops

If HSBC had asked if I had recently used my card to purchase something with xxxxx, rather than asking me when/where I had used my card. I use the card each week for shopping and with Xmas coming up and extra expenditure I would have to think when last used that account's card. A letter giving me a security number for telephone banking arrived today - so hopefully this may sort things out. Think I will check with Passport Office is they will allow me when I renew passport next March to use my original name. Many thanks for all your replies and helpful suggestions

There is a Pioneer Group that meets at the East Dulwich Community Centre on Wednesdays from 11 - 2 - for Older people

Thanks for all your replies - I first got a passport in 1982 when I married, I actually went to the passport office with all my papers etc and said I wanted to continue to use my own surname (hubby has a non English name which everyone gets wrong). I was informed that the law at the time was that a married woman had to use her husband's name but I could have known also as .... to cover my original name. My surname is not the surname I was born with so my birth certificate does not count. I only have one old building society account with my married name on as my parents/parents in law and other relatives refused to use any other surname but my married name and that was the only way I could bank cheques. I do not use my married name for any other purpose. Hubby has mislaid the original marriage certificate so I have to apply for a certified copy. The original phone call from bank asked me my postal code and then started asking questions where I had used my visa card. The person had a very strong accent and was difficult to hear, and when I started asking questions, they would not answer, hence my request for everything in writing. As I stated before, I hold an LPA for my father who is demented and have to deal with all his finances via, Barclays and Nat West. Nat West there were no problems proving my ID, Barclays got a bit muddled up and put the wrong name on the system initially. I intend to photocopy all my documents again, and send with a letter directly to the Manager of Lordship Lane HSBC outlining the situation and ask them to sort things out. I even have the name of the customer service lady who saw me. I think from the accent of the lady I spoke with on the phone, this is a call centre in India and they probably do not have access to very recent documents. The fact that she stated I needed to have 2 passports one in each name suggests to me that they do not know what the system here is. Have spoken to work colleagues who do not use their husband's names and found that they did not tell the Passport Office when they married and just carried on using their original name. I have to renew my passport next year and may opt for using my 'single' name. The system must have changed since 1982 and I had not been aware of this. I will get the certified copy of my marriage certificate first so I have more ID. Thanks for all your help/suggestions. I had to resort to using the complaints procedure with Barclays when they closed down my father's account and put several thousands of pounds into a general account. The complaints officer was brilliant, but it took her several weeks to sort out as she said herself it was the people working in the other sections who were putting up barriers and refusing to cooperate with her. She did get me ?50 compensation as it took me 6 months in total to get Dad's money back.

A couple of weeks ago I got a phone call from someone saying they were from HSBC and wanted to know if I had used my visa card recently. Explained that I would not talk over phone and that they should write to me. They did and it transpired that there was a fraudulent transaction involving the visa card on the joint account I hold with my husband. Advised to cut up said card and that a new card had been ordered, but in meantime I needed to go to HSBC with my id documents for security purposes. This I did on Thursday 28th Nov. Spent over an hour in the bank, waiting for customer service lady and showing my documents. I had our joint account statement which had arrived the day before showing the illegal transaction, my passport and a driving licence (old type). I had to explain that I do not use my married name and that although my passport says YYY there is an entry on the last page which says that the holder is also known as XXX. I pointed this out to customer services lady who obviously had not come across this at all. I explained that I was a professional person and all my qualifications etc were in the name XXX, that she could see from my own personal account that I was paid under name XXX. I had to explain that I wanted to retain my original name when I married but that the Passport Office had declared that any married woman had to have her married surname on the passport but any other names I used professionally could listed on the last page. The lady was not convinced, I explained that many actors have an equity name which is different from their 'real name' and get paid under their equity name. She saw the point I was making. Was told that when I received my new visa card I just needed to activate over the phone and everything would be fine. When I got home, post had delivered my new card. tried to activate it over phone and was told there was a security block on it. Explained that I had left HSBC less than an hour ago and taken in all my documents. They did not believe me and said there was nothing on the system. On Sat. got a letter from HSBC asking me to contact them re illegal transaction. Today did so, again they said there was a security block. Went through all the rigmarole of what happened last Thursday. Was told that since I could not produce photo evidence i.e. passport of my name XXX, there were still security issues. Asked how I was expected to have a passport in 2 names YYY and XXX. That in all the time I have had a joint account with my husband ( over 32 years) I have never had all this fuss. All I have in a photo ID in the name of XXX was my bus pass and security pass for work. I have taken out ISAs, loans etc over the years and my passport and proof of address have always been taken without bother. They are not worried about my personal account also in the name of XXX, just my joint account, as I could not prove my ID and that they could not talk to me any more over the phone as I did not have security pass for telephone banking. Explained I did not want telephone banking or on line banking, I just wanted to activate my visa card and sort out who/when/where someone had used my visa card for an unauthorised transaction. Was told to go back to the branch with all my ID again and ask them to reset my security!!!!! Has anyone else had similar experience with HSBC or other banks? I hold a Lasting Power of Attorney for my father in the name XXX and deal with Nat West and Barclays and had no problem with them. Is there anyone in the banking world who can explain what the hell is going on. I do not have sufficient leave to take another half day off to go to the bank again. Is this a case for the banking ombudsman ?

I may be wrong but at one time the practice manager was a relative of the Gupta's? not sure if that has been the case for last few months etc.

From what I understand from friend that they did 'standard tests' and when they came back negative and her symptoms remained ( we are talking over a number of weeks) she had to plead with them to send her to Kings for more intensive tests. It was Kings who found the cancer

I heard that the Guptas are now millionaires and are only interested in making more money hence their seemingly lack of interests in their patients. They wanted a pharmacy so to that they could market (allegedly) their own pharmaceutical goods (allegedly) and get a profit. They were directors (allegedly) of a company which was based in Beddington Lane near IKEA in Croydon. A friend of mine developed cancer and she had a terrible time trying to get the GPs to take her symptoms seriously and refer her to hospital where she was eventually diagnosed with a rare form of cancer

Rumour has it that Val Shawcross is standing

An active older woman whose kids have grown up but would welcome a little extra money doing something they enjoyed.

I know someone who purchased a 3 bed flat on the Kingswood estate, when the estate was refurbished, the cost to owner occupiers was ?33,000 - they could not pay it so have a legal charge put on it by Southwark Council. Any prospective buyer is going to see that entry on the land registry and have 2 nd thoughts as to whether the same thing will happen to them