heartblock

Thanks both. I?ll pop down there and join if cheap enough. Ta

I would like to swim every morning at Dulwich Leisure Centre, I used to go, but noticed that the cleaning, showers, pool were all becoming dirtier. Is it better now and can you just pay for a swim deal with them or do you have to pay for swim and gym. Thank you for any feedback in advance.

The blood donor service (NHS blood and transplant) sells donated blood to NHS Trusts, all part of the internal market, so it has to be able to fund itself within the budget given by the DOH. Walk in clinics are expensive and seen as inefficient, the NHS spend about 300 million a year buying blood products, so the NHSBT is tasked with reducing the cost of each unit. Personally for me the internal market in the NHS just didn?t work and patients, donors, health professionals all think walk in is great and convenient, but it does come with a cost.

Yea...that?s great. How lovely, I will keep an eye out for them again. Thank you both.

If it is a rented property inform the landlord. I had a few issues last summer and me and three other neighbours complained every time there was an issue (I won?t go into details but some of it was pretty awful, we had approached them directly, but they were vocally aggressive). They are still renting the property but are now reasonable.

I?m pretty certain I saw a pair of blackcaps in the garden yesterday. There was definitely some crazy birdsong. Has anyone else seen blackcaps in ED? It was a pale grey with a black head, the other I couldn?t see clearly and had a sort of uppy-downy song. They were in a tree flitting around and then both flew off. If not blackcaps any suggestions.

Yes - please post address as soon as someone knows it. Simon, Simon?s dog and the paint were all lovely. So sad he has moved.

There are other ways to manage trees and leaf-fall. Coppicing for example. Chopping mature trees down is the cheaper option rather than the yearly management of trees. The trees and shrubs on rail sidings act as a wide life corridor in towns and cities.

? Baby rat, I think mice have larger ears and smaller feet.

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2018/apr/29/millions-of-trees-at-risk-in-secretive-network-rail-felling-programme?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

One case reported ITV - http://www.itv.com/news/2018-04-11/windrush-generation-nhs-worker-lost-job-and-faces-deportation-despite-living-in-the-uk-for-more-than-50-years/ An NHS worker who has lived in the UK for almost her entire life says her rights are under threat as she was unable to provide the Home Office with the right immigration papers. Glenda Caesar, from Hackney, was part of the 'Windrush Generation' when she travelled from Dominca to the UK with her parents at just six months old. Despite living and working in the UK for more than 50 years, Ms Caesar lost her job of 16 years with the NHS as she was unable to provide the right documentation. Without any right to work, she is also prohibited from claiming benefits meaning she has to rely on family members to provide for her. Ms Caesar said: "I'm unable to work, I'm unable to get benefits. If I go to Dominica there is no there's no coming back for me. "The hardest bit is where I've been so used to working, where I looked after me and my family, I have to rely on others now." She is one of thousands of Caribbean immigrants that arrived in the UK before 1971 who are undocumented and could be denied benefits and NHS services, the Caribbean Commonwealth High Commissioners said in a statement. They are calling on the government to resolve the uncertainty over the status of people who arrived in the UK before the 1971 Immigrant Act.

The Trust would never divulge private information about individual workers to the workforce so I do not know what happened to staff unable to prove their right to work. I think a UK or EU drivers license plus other documentation was also accepted, there is a list produced by the NHS as part of the prevention of illegal working. The NHS bought in these ID checks from June 2014 as a right to work check and as there have been published cases of Windrush generation individuals losing their employment due to lack of documentation proving British Citizenship or their right to work, it?s possible that the NHS has dissmissed individuals caught up in this mess, but I don?t have that data.

When I worked at a Healthcare Trust not too far away, we were all asked (I think around 2014/2015) to bring in a passport or a birth certificate to be photocopied by Human Resources if we had been employed pre-2010 (I think that was the year). We were told it was for security reasons. If we didn?t do this we were informed that action would be taken. Staff employed by private contracted companies were not involved. It?s interesting that a passport is now the new ?ID? card. It seems we have to have an ID card to be British and to vote now. Also the comments about children of the Windrush generation who came over with their parents being responsible for getting a British passport and ?refusing? to take this up is a strange comment. They arrived as young children with their parents who were asked by the British Goverment to rebuild Britain after WW2 and they are British nationals as they came from British territories.

Someone far more eloquent than me. https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/apr/21/tory-windrush-scandal-theresa-may-derek-laud?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

Garlic chives are also a nice alternative for the garden or a window box. Tasty leaves and flowers - just sow a packet of seeds. They grow back every year.

Hi IlonaM, yes I would agree with that, although it has felt particularyly hostile the last 6-7 years. The reports of people losing their jobs and being denied healthcare treatment is heartbreaking. Let?s hope this is resolved soon.

Did she - must be true then.

Amber Rudd?s assertion that records were destroyed as ?data protection? isn?t actually true. Windrush manifests with the same sort of personal data are legally viewable, through searches on line as proven by a very well respected art historian. The data was destroyed on Theresa May?s watch I believe, probably to save money rather than anything else - but does show how much they don?t care about certain sectors of our community. I can?t believe people support and vote for these awful people.

We are using Milk&more too. The organic milk is yummy and it is great to recycle the bottles. We are also trying to cut down on plastic. M&S seem to wrap everything in plastic and Sainsbury?s could also do better. I would be interested in any outlet for buying dried pulses, nuts etc without packaging.

Yellow butterfly in Dulwich Park on Thursday. Brimstone? It was the sunny, warm day this week. Was it a Brimstone or something else (it was medium/large but too far away to see any markings - but very yellow 🙂).

And East Dulwich Grove

http://cheerful.libsyn.com/episode-9-transgender-rights-are-human-rights Interesting podcast.

Actually ours will be on the market soon - so just buy ours - 2 beds, and a really lovely cellar 😂

16k to tank with sump pump drainage for a 20sq metre. Up to 70 - 100k to dig down if reduced height and all the legal fees for change of use, party walls, decorating, fixtures/fittings. Be warned - most outfits are cowboys using very cheap labour. We went for the 18k tanking, with huge sump pump, backup battery, drainage, electrics and professional plastering, through a highly reputable company, keeping the limited height 5.5 ft high, as will be just for storage. But, although looking good now, mainly due to our DIY efforts after the cowboys had finished, the whole process was awful. Dust, dirt, took 5 more days than quoted 5 days quoted, mainly because they turned up late, had a 2 hour lunch break and left early, resulting in a 4 hour working day, they threw all their left over paint and rubbish in one of our built-in cupboards in the cellar- and that was with one of us on site to try and site-manage. The sub-contracted electrician was the only highlight, he even re-wired some faults from a previous cowboy for free. My advice is closely manage, write in the contract that they have to take a fixed amount of money off the final cost for every day over - and check around before paying a penny over the deposit. We have had to do all the painting, skirting, flooring - so add about just below 1k to make it a room. It is looking good now, so do it - but be prepared to turn to a lot of gin to get you through the mayhem.

That?s a shame