tasha1

Hi AM. I've PMd you

Thank you. That looks perfect for her

Thank you so much. Really helpful suggestions and very much appreciated

Thank you. I'm not sure how I missed that. There aren't any choirs or book groups advertised but I'll phone them for more information

Thank you. I'll look into those

I'm not sure if this is the correct section to post this, so apologies if it's wrong. I would really welcome some advice regarding dementia friendly groups in or around ED. My 76 year old mother is planning on moving in with me in the next couple of months. She has Alzheimer's, with her main presenting problems being language ( finding her words etc). She does have some symptoms of dementia. However, she still functions extremely well, has a positive attitude to life and wants to keep her mind and body as active as possible. She currently lives in Islington where services are incredible. She has amazing support and is very active in a dementia friendly choir and book group. She still attends a book group she's been in for years. They are friends of hers and very understanding but she's finding that group a bit too difficult now. She is an alto singer (non professional) and has only just had to leave her regular choir as she could no longer keep up. Although services and access to groups are excellently in Islington, she's adamant that she wants to move in with me while she will still be able to create an active and positive life for herself this side of the river. I've spent ages googling comparable groups in and around ED and come up blank. I would be so grateful if anyone has any knowledge of groups etc in the area as I don't want her to make the move and for her to find there's nothing appropriate for her to participate in. Many thanks

This happened to my elderly neighbour's a couple of years ago. A guy turned up at their door, stating his garden backed onto theirs, a problem with the 'joint'sewer and job would cost ?5000 which they had to pay half. My neighbour's are pretty savvy but were convinced by their story. I only found out after they had already parted with ?2000 and the con men came and demanded more. My neighbour was still convinced the story was true but didn't know how to raise the money. I knew it wasn't, as our sewers run into the road and not our gardens and I went to the address the guy stated he lived at. Of course he didn't live there so when they phoned again, demanding money, I took the call and they soon disconnected. Th police were brilliant but said this was a well known scam. The scammers either watch roads and identify where the elderly live (as they are easier to scam) or they look at the electoral register to check ages of occupants and target accordingly. Absolutely sickening

Steve has fixed our fridge freezer and washing machine. The fridge freezer took some time to fix. The washing machine turned out to be a 5 minute job. Annoyingly, I had missed the 5p that was causing the blockage in the drain pipe when I cleaned it out. Both cost the same, despite one taking an hour, th either taking 5 minutes to put right. I didn't begrudge paying it (although slightly annoyed at myself for missing it) as this is the standard call out fee, regardless of time spent. I don't have no hesitation to keep using Steve as he's genuine, professional and a nice guy

Adam has also done quite a bit of work in my garden. My neighbour recommended him to me. Adam's great, punctual, thorough and knows his stuff. It's really lovely to see someone with such passion and being able to follow his dream. I have no hesitation in recommending Adam.

I totally agree. The absolute devastation caused is immeasurable and for what? One point I was trying to make is that the perpetrators (probably a better word than client group) often lack any kind of remorse for their actions and it's still beyond my comprehension how callous they come across. Yes, probably 99 percent of people I've supervised have had truely awful childhoods but as already pointed out, the majority of people who experience equally awful childhoods, do not behave in a violent manner and a traumatic upbringing is not an excuse for violence. Another point I was trying to make is that, when the perpetrators of these awful attacks are caught (and sooner the better), they will be 'locked up' and rightly so. The difficulty for services is that they cannot arrest someone for what they are deemed to be capbbale of doing to someone at some point in their lives. They can only be picked up and removed from society once they have committed an offence. If police believe or have intelligence, they can of course stop and search for weapons or if the person has made threats etc. It's exceedingly difficult to identify and preempt someone's behaviour. Perpetrators don't factor in sentencing guidelines. They don't stop and think of the consequences for the victim, family or indeed for themselve because my experience has shown me that they don't care or do a damm good job of pretending, as well as believing they won't get caught. I've had people identified as a real concern and the police cannot do anything on hearsay or gut feeling. I don't know what the answer is but locking everyone up (and im not sure how it would be determined who gets locked up) isn't practically feasible. I think its tragic that some individuals have no regard for human life. Last point is that perpetrators who commit the most hineous of crimes, such as murder, attempted murder, extremely rarely have committed such offences before and rarely do again (please don't shoot the messanger as this is fact) and therefore, again makes it very difficult for services within the criminal justice system to preempt and prevent.

This is why I rarely post in the forum for fear of others being unkind. Would it help if I used the word service users or refer to them as scumbags? I'm not in the slightest condoning their behaviour so saying they should get away with it. Harsh penalties are necessary an divenot said otherwise

I've worked in the criminal justice system for years, working with the client group who commit such offences. Tough (er) sentences do not deter individuals who commit this kind of offence. They are often well aware but they simply don't care and truely believe they are invincible and won't get caught. To say the sentences are too lenient is not really the problem and however many visible police are deployed, it honestly wouldn't act as a deterrent for many. If this individual is caught , and he needs to be caught very quickly before he becomes even more convinced he can get away with anything, he would not be granted bail and would recieve a significant custodial sentence. Although crime rates are lower, there is a minority of young people who have no value on life, be it their victims and often their own lives. It's truely awful for victims and their families and friends as well as causing much fear within communities. There's always going to be a risk, even just walking on your own road but it's important to remember that, although it doesn't necessarily feel like this at present, this is a rare occurrence and it's important that we continue to enjoy our parks and community spaces as we have been doing and try not to see these now as areas as no go areas

Another recommendation for Bradley. He's just done an excellent job of cleaning my carpets and windows. Very friendly and helpful

My first test i failed within 5 minutes and I had to complete the rest of the test knowing i had failed. I was on the road with another car coming from the opposite direction. My opinion (and still is) that there was plenty of room to safely pass. The examiner didn't agree and slammed on the breaks. Awful continuing knowing I had failed. During my second test, every time the examiner told me to indicate and take the next left or right, I went in the opposite direction (told to take next left but took the next right). The examiner pointed this out at the end of the test. However, I still passed because I had indicated the correct way I was turning! I'm dyslexic and one of the ways it affects me is that it takes me ages to work out my right from left. He recommended tying osmeribbon on the steering wheel! I was lucky though as a different examiner may have had a different view. Don't want to jinx it but I've never had an accident in my 25 years of driving despite this problem!

I really love the Nenhead garden centre and it's great because it's really close to me. I used to to the Secret garden. Centre in Crystal Palace which is also extremely good. The staff at the Nunhead Garden centre are just so lovely and helpful. Their stock changes frequently and so you can get slightly more unusual plants as well as the staples. My garden is rather cottage style and the garden centre always has what I require. All the plants I've bought from them this year (and it's quite a lot) have really thrived and looked stunning. What stands out, is how friendly and lovely the staff are. They always offer to carry plants to my car, even when they are very busy. Their customer service is outstanding in my opinion. I do go in there a lot because it's my little oasis and I don't always buy, simply because it really does provide a lovely, calming atmosphere and staff are always happy to chat about plants! No, I honestly do t work there (although I actually would be more than happy too as it beats the stress of my day job!) I'm just a very happy customer and feel this is a great asset to the area

They now have two primary schools on site!

I didn't realise they had done away with the banding. Mind you, my youngest has just left the school to go to college so I'm was basing my knowledge from way back! My other three were very happy there and did exceedingly well academically (my 18 year old has also just left to start uni). My older three all stayed on for 6th form. As I posted above, the school just didn't suit my youngest and she couldn't wait to leave! It's a fantastic school but the drawback is they only offer academic subjects. Schools like Sydenham girls offer far more of a verity in terms of subjects at GCSE and A Level. It is well worth exploring schools to see what suits your daughter. Apart from my eldest, my their children were offered places due to their sibling policy. Distance wise, I can't say. It will depend on how many children who live closer apply. I do know they used to have around 2000 applicants for 208 places but this may have changed as other secondaries have vastly improved and become popular. I know children who have been very happy with Sydenham girls and Prenegast. I'm not sure how they measure distance, as in whether it's as the crow flies or route. Apart from Harris, Haberdasher's is our nearest school as it's literally a 10 mi ute walk. Yes, I did mean Hatchem college. What I would say is that their pastoral Cardenas vastly improved over the years and is now quite impressive. They used to very much keep parents out and communication was appalling. However, they've been brilliant with my youngest daughter who really struggles academically. She has a lot of help in her GCSE year and came out with pretty good results in the end. Also they provided her with a lot of emotional support during a difficult family time.

I live in the same area of Nunhead. My children all went to Haberdasher's. It's a bit of a hit or miss though as another child on my road got in on distance but their next door neighbour's daughter didn't. I think it's possibly down to which band your child is in, number of applicatants etc. I've not known any children getting into Prentergast from around this area but know some who live in East Dulwich who have. Prentergast now have three schools but have different 'ratings' so you may want to do a little research. Some gir,s in my road have got into Sydenham girls but their catchment will depend on the popularity on any given year. Deptford Green has now got a very good reputation so worth a visit. I'd advise you visit various schools as not all schools will suit. My eldest three were extremely happy at Haberdasher's and the school was a perfect match for their personalities, abilities etc but my youngest wasn't happy as it didn't match her interests and abilities. We tried to move her to Prentergast but couldn't get a place. It was ok for her and she did relatively well there but think she would have flourished in a different school. Good luck. It's a very stressfult time for parents

I watched this with great sadness. My daughter knew all three of the boys who were murdered. They weren't close friends but boys she's would talk to regularly at a local youth group. She has been devastated and at the age of 16, she has found this deeply upsetting and cannot make any sense of it. My job entails working with high risk offendeders albeit adults. The trickiest service users to work with are 18-20 year old gang members who often find it very difficult to comprehend the value of life. Too often have a view of 'it was either them or me' and show no remorse. The other difficulty is when someone has served a custodial sentence for murder in the context of gang violence, they are put straight back into the area where their known associates still live. Even if they want to move away and remove themselves from this culture, there aren't the resources to relocate to a different area. The boys in the documentary were not gang members themselves from what I understand. So many families devastated by acts of senseless violence

Ditto. I'm terrified of going to the dentist, so much so, I had to stop going with my children for our check ups. My kids could see me shaking! Nicola has (almost!) cured me and I manage so much better now. She's very very patient, talks very gently without being the slightest bit patronising and very patient. If my mouth doesn't feel numb enough,she'll wait for as much time is needed and reassures during treatment. I can't recommend her highly enough, especially for people who are dentist phobic.

I tend not to give money to people on the street but instead (especially if they are outside a grocery shop), I offer to buy them a sandwich and a tea or coffee. I don't do this as often as I would like because it's expensive. Mostly, people are really appreciative when I return with their food and drink. Sometimes, I'm told to f....off at my suggestion. Quite likely, this is when people want money for alcohol or drugs which is up to them how they use the money if I were to give cash. I do understand the need for people to fed their habits, especially when they use these to self medicate and are addicted but having spent many years working in this field, it doesn't sit comfortably with me personally.

Scotland will hold another referendum very soon, I reckon. All those living in Scotland, voted to remain. If they hold another referendum, they would surely have a majority vote now. Also, the promise of the additional spending on the NHS (which was the main promise for Brexit) was not true. Apparently it was a 'mistake' , despite being on all the advertisement vans. This was stated only only one hour after the votes had been counted! In terms of immigration, most people who settle here are from outside the EU, not from the EU. Leaving the EU will have no impact on migrants from outside. France could potentially relinquish responsibility for preventing migrants in Calais travelling over to the Uk. Therefore, there will actually be less control over movement and the boarders with Ireland will remain open. Anyone wanting to come to The UK will still be able to do so fairly easily. I'm actually all for freedom of movement and we are dependant on people to come to the UK who are both skilled (eg hospital staff), as well as unskilled. My point is that if people voted on the basis of wanting to have more control over immigration, they are t going to get what they thought they were voting for. That's my opinion though and others will differ.

I was advised to have this a few years ago. Repeated courses of antibiotics for recurrent chest infections had left me with severe gut issues. I was throwing up constantly and it was to do with the fact that my 'good' gut bacteria had been killed off by the antibiotics. It was miserable. They (gastroenterologist at Kings) wanted my eldest son (who is an adult) to be the donor as he was fit and healthy. It's more likely to work if it's a very close blood relative and they are non smokers etc. It would have been the first one at Kings and there was a lot of red tape to get through before they could proceed. It didn't happen in the end as luckily things resolved themselves. The very idea was pretty disgusting but when you can't go anywhere without a bucket in tow ,you'll do anything!

Thanks Alex K. My original post was from 2014 but the tread has been resurrected! Luckily, My cat did make a full recovery but the vet said that his injuries were definitely caused by a fox. It has definitely turned him into a more indoor cat . Foxes come and go in our garden, both day and night with no problems. I did see my other cat in a 'stand off' with a fox last summer. My other cat is massive and I mean massive! We call him the 'godfather' as he spends his days surveying his territory! However, he backed down with the fox and I did think he fox was on the verge of attack! Another incident last summer was that I was in my garden, just pottering when I heard animal snarl. I looked up and saw a vixen with her cub in my neighbour's garden. She was snarling at me,bearing her teeth. I like foxes and this was the first time that I actually felt frightened of one. I wasn't acting in any way that posed a threat (apart from my presence). They are obvious,y fiercely proptective of their young. It was have been under such a scenario that a fox attacked my cat.

Depends what you mean by what the specific requirements are? Do you mean which A/Levels you'll be required to study? If so, you will need to study Maths, Biology, Chemistry or maybe physics. if you google courses On university websites, they will have the entry requirements for their courses. My daughter is about to take her A/Levels in these subjects but she changed her mind about possibly doing medicine or vetinary at university and opting to read Maths and Biology at uni now instead. Entry requirements are high. You will need to achieve A grades (or some universities, espcicially in the Russle groups)and may require at least one A star at A/Level. There is fierce competition for medicine. You first study general medicine and this is a five year course. You then work/study as a house officer. Generally, you don't specialise until after seven years of training. It's a long haul but worth it