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agemattersIssue 25

free!

Summer 2012

Meet Tom McNabOlympic Guru

Ellen - White WaterRafting at 72

Your 1948 Olympic Memories

NEW Healthwisehelps with depression/

early dementia

Photo CompetitionEnter before 18 June

Put More Moneyin your pocket

Volunteers we need you!

Be cancer clearwith the NHS

Olympics Special

For job vacancies go to www.ageuk.org.uk/hertfordshire

AGE UK SUMMER 2012:Layout 1 21/05/2012 17:17

agematters 03

agematters is produced with support from Hertfordshire County Council’s Health and Community Services. Health andCommunity Services provides advice, support and care to older people, people with learning disabilities, physical disabilitiesor sensory needs and other adults who are vulnerable and would have difficulty living independently without support. Formore information about Health and Community Services, Tel 0300 123 4042 or visit www.hertsdirect.org/hcs

The inclusion of an insert or advertisement feature in agematters does not imply endorsement by Age UK of any productor service advertised.

Registered Charity Number 1116662

In this issue5 Welcome

From the Editor6-7 Your Letters – Olympics Special8-9 Olympics Special

Ellen White Water Rafter at 721948 Olympics Remembered

10-11 Information and Advice - More Money in Your Pocket Special Information and Advice Team help couple get £17,000 in benefits

12-13 Independent Living - Healthwise our exciting new scheme

14-15 Fundraising – help us support older peopleRoche’s Marathon effort

16-18 Health and CommunityHealth and Wellbeing StrategyeMarketplaceComputer courses for beginnersBe Clear on Cancer

22 Love Herts Photographic Competition23 Help in the Home

A day in the life of a Home Helper24 Silver Surfing

Spam – from cheap meat to computer menace26 Recipe – Marvellous Milk Rolls27 Art – Meet Jean Picton, local artist and former Windmill Girl 28 Reading – Wilkie Collins The Moonstone 29 Leisure – From Beautiful Bridges to Basildon Bond and Ovaltine30-31 Special Feature – Meet Tom McNab, Olympic Trainer

and much more 32 Gardening – Bee Friendly for beautiful blooms 33 Recruitment – volunteer and work for us

Age UK Hertfordshire Information and Advice Tel: 0845 601 3446 Email: [email protected]/hertfordshire Head Office Tel: 01707 323272

8

30Chief Executive: Marion Birch

Editor: Alison Smith

Feature Writer: Philippa Le Marquand

Editorial Team:

Jan Gough

Neil Anderson

Sarah Knight

Margaret Nash

Tel: 01707 323272

Email: [email protected]

Designed by: Michael Harrison

Email: [email protected]

Distributor: Mick Barnett

Printed by: Precision Colour Printing

Tel: 01952 585585

Web: www.pcpltd.net

Where to Get Your Copies of agemattersYou can get your copy of agematters from your local library, GP

surgery, Age UK Shop, local Age Concern group, Age UK

Hertfordshire 10 to 3 clubs and day centres, other Age UK

Hertfordshire schemes and other selected outlets including some

residential and sheltered housing schemes and local clubs or online

at www.ageuk.org.uk/hertfordshire

For more information please call Mick Barnett, Distributor on

01707 323272

12


When Her Majesty came to thethrone there were around 500people aged 100 or over whoreceived a royal telegram tocommemorate reaching thatlandmark age; now there arearound 12,000 centenarians thathave received greetings cardsfrom her.

In these days of economic gloom and public servicecutbacks, it is easy to forget what life was like in the early1950s with rationing continuing until 1954, towns stillrecovering from bomb damage and a fledgling nationalhealth service. The fast pace of developments in scienceand technology since then has changed societydramatically, one trigger being the coronation in 1953

which accelerated theintroduction of televisionto ordinary homes. Thisexpandingindustrialisation providedjob opportunities, set offa building programme,allowed advancement inmedical science andgenerally raisedexpectations aboutliving standards. I knowthat if my grandparentscould see the range of food available to us now theywould be absolutely astonished.

The prospect of further improvements in health care,nutrition and housing means that the Department ofWork and Pensions expects that there will be 500,000people aged 100 and over by 2066. I think it unlikely thatany future monarch will be able to keep up with that levelof correspondence; perhaps they will be sending e-cards.

The Diamond Jubilee celebrations and the Olympicsguarantee that we will have a lively summer.

Marion Birch Chief ExecutiveAge UK Hertfordshire

We had an amazing response fromreaders to our request for Olympicstories and Mr Bruno Liebich kindly lentus his original 1948 programme,tickets and photographs from theclosing ceremony. Our guest reporter,sixth form student Aidan Phillips,talked to two readers about theirmemories and I met the fearless EllenRoberts who at 72 went white water

rafting at the Lee Valley White Water Centre Olympicvenue. Philippa Le Marquand tracked down celebratedOlympic coach and writer Tom McNab whose expertise andpolitical savvy helped the Olympic Committee win the bidfor London 2012.

This issue sees the launch of our new Healthwise scheme -an innovative countywide service which helps people withdepression, early dementia, memory loss or anxiety retaintheir independence. We have a special report on Age UK’sMore Money in Your Pocket Campaign and how ourInformation and Advice Team can assist you with claimingbenefits. In Fundraising you can read about Roche’s

marathon efforts to help us raise money. On page 33 findabout our exciting range of volunteering opportunities andwho to contact for paid employment.

Local artist and former Windmill Girl Jean Picton tells us allabout her amazing life. If you are reading this before the18 June, there is still time to enter our Photographiccompetition on page 19. agematters confirmed itscelebrity status when Marilyn Monroe; the Mayor of theCity and District of St Albans Cllr, Aislinn Lee and Mayoress,Rosemary Bennett, picked up their copies in St Albans.

So after your run in the sun or during a break from watchingthe Olympics put the kettle on and settle down withanother exciting issue of agematters; it’s simply the best.

Alison Smith EditorWe are now on Facebook so do join us by ‘like’ing uswww.ageuk.org.uk/hertfordshire

agematters 05

WelcomeThe celebrations to mark The Queen’sDiamond Jubilee this year haveprompted many reviews of the last 60years and thoughts of how life haschanged in the second Elizabethan age

From the EditorWelcome to the summer issue of

agematters and our Olympics specialMarilyn aka Pauline Bailey inSt Albans Copyright © PaulineBailey www.marilyngirl.com

Mary Coyne, Help in the Home Coordinator

and Margaret Nash, Insurance Supervisor with

the Mayor and Mayoress of the City and

District of St Albans


06 agematters

Following our special feature about TheZombies and Argent a number of readerswrote in with their musical memories

Congratulations to Pat Maziane for her prizewinningletter. She wins a signed copy of The Zombies CD

Breathe Out Breath In

Pat Maziane remembers The Bluetones “How could oneever forget them. Not only did Jim work at The Balito butthe club house there was one of the venues they played at.I bet youngsters today would laugh their socks off about adance hall without a bar where you had to get a 'pass out'to buy a drink in the Rats Castle. Plus the fact that anyonewho'd had a swig too many would not be let back in again.What happened to the rest of them? Mick Rose seems tohave fallen off the radar or may have moved away, JohnFlood now has his own driving school.”

Jim Rodford responds “Mick Rose, the original lead singer,unfortunately passed away, a couple of years ago. JohnFlood still lives locally, but he was never a Bluetonesmember. He sang with London Colney group, TheTrespassers. As for other Bluetones members, Bill Bennetlives in Kings Lynn, Andy Jenner lives in Germany and ChrisDavis lives in Spain. Tony Watson, a former drummer,passed away 20 odd years ago and Les Maggs, our lastdrummer before we split up in 1963, lives in Eastbourne.”

Linda Rose wrote in with her memories “of the Zombiesin the 60s when they opened the record shop, which wasdown the Quadrant, Marshalswick. I am not sure of theexact year. It was a big occasion, with many youngsterslike me attending to see the group and see the new shop.Inside they had many records and booths where youcould request a record to be played and you could go inthe booth and hear the latest hits. I really think they werefun times.”

Mrs Patricia Petts says, “In the 60s I went to the localdance halls including: The Balito, Sea Cadets Hall andCavalier Hall. I danced the night away with my friendsand my first boyfriend. I met the Barron Knights before

they became famous and I remember dancing to TheZombies. Now I follow The Push who are anotherexcellent group.”

St Albans MarketMrs Lote wrote in about St Albans Market and the thingsshe missed “I have lived in St Albans since 1969 and love itand have many friends. I love the Wednesday market, butsince they did the pavements a few years ago many of thetraders went away and unfortunately did not return. Theseincluded: the man with a lovely selection of silk flowers; theman with a complete selection of bed linen and towels ofevery colour and design you could think of; the mostwonderful selection of fresh bread; a knitting stall and oneselling a marvellous selection of fruit and nuts, etc. Not oneof them has been replaced, so now we have too manyrepeats of what’s already there. Very sad.”Have you got a favourite market or do you have somegreat market memories? If so do write into us.

Winter Warmth Bags - Beating thewinter blues in the “nick of time”Debbie Anderson, Centre Manager at Age ConcernBishop's Stortford, wrote in to say, “a big THANK YOU forthe winter warmth bags which arrived in the nick of time.We requested 85 bags and were not disappointed. Theywere delivered on a Friday morning and we were shocked atthe size of the bags. The contents were perfectly balanced -hats, gloves, scarves, soup, hot chocolate, biscuits andpuzzle books to name but some of the goodies.

With the help of some of our local Councillors, we were ableto distribute most of the bags over the weekend and thankgoodness that we did. The snow fell heavily on Sunday andour centre was closed for clients on the Monday andTuesday due to bad weather conditions. These bags weredelivered to some of the most vulnerable older people inour district; many opened the door to us with blanketsdraped around their shoulders. I really believe that thesebags went a long way to making the lives of these residentsa little better over the period of bad weather. Thank you toall the Councillors involved in the delivery of the bags andthank you to Age UK Hertfordshire for supplying thewonderful bags in the nick of time.”

Write to us or email us - we love hearing from you.Whether you want to share your memories, there’ssomething we can help you with or you would simplylike to get in touch, please write to: Alison Smith,Editor, Your Letters, agematters, Age UK Hertfordshire, 1 Silver Court, Watchmead,Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire AL7 1LT or youcan put mouse to mouse mat and email me [email protected] If your letteris published you’ll receive two copies of agematters

Your letters - Musical Memories

STAR LETTER


agematters 07

Michael Shaw remembers going to the 1948 Olympics aged 7

“My honorary uncle was a keen distance runner andsomehow managed to get tickets. I was given theopportunity to go with him and his family. I can stillremember the awe of the stadium and the noise fromthe crowd. We watched the races and, although I cannotremember the details, I can always remember the nameof one winner Fanny Blankers-Koen. She was cheered onby everyone and of course went on to win gold medals inseveral events. I went back to the stadium to watch anEngland schoolboy football match and later to see theEngland women's hockey team play. I have been to thecurrent stadium for a conference and pass it regularlywhen I visit an elderly aunt living in the area. Somehowthe modern version just isn't the same despite the archand the modern interior.”

David Blake sent in a poem about what itmust be like to go Kayaking on the Olympiccircuit today. In 1948 he enjoyed a trip tothe Olympics with school friends

“I was 11 years old and was fortunate to go with a partyof school friends from Upshire Primary. We took apacked lunch and arrived at Stanmore Station and thenby bus to Wembley. We saw two finals; Arthur Wint ofJamaica winning the 400 metres and Fanny Blankers-Koen of Holland winning the ladies 100 metres hurdles.Our headmaster was into sport and he said we would notget another chance to see the Olympics! I have tried invain to get tickets this time, so will have to watch it all ontelevision. We were lucky to spend the whole day inWembley, unlike this year when there is morning,afternoon and evening sessions. I wish I had kept myprogramme from 64 years ago, it would be great to readit now.”

The Raging White Waters

In calm waters I sit and wait in silenceSuddenly I am being accelerated at an alarming rateA raging white torrent obscures my viewChurning waters take me to places I don’t want to be

I strive to avoid the hanging poles that threaten myheadCrossing the rapids I find that I come almost to a stopBefore plunging once again half side on to the nextobstacleAdrenaline is pumping as I drive on with musclesaching and eyes bulging

With heart pumping and all senses on full alertI plough on with just one mission in mindAll my muscles are crying out with intense painBut I know there is no respite and I drive on

Twisting and turning to keep upright, I plunge onward At last there is calm water and I am keen to knowhow I’ve doneNext I am slowly climbing the escalator back towhere it all beganI have completed my first run down the Lee Valleywhite water rapids.

In the spring issue we invited readers to contact agematters with their Olympic

stories. Quite a number of you remembered the 1948 Olympics at Wembley

Arena and especially the legendary Dutch Olympic hurdler Fanny Blankers-Koen

- the ‘flying housewife’

Your letters - Olympic MemoriesOlympics Special


08 agematters

A rapid sprinter, head andshoulders above everyoneelse. Gold medallist in the100m, 200m and relayruns. The one everybody’stalking about and waitingto see. Usain Bolt, right?

Wrong. This was FannyBlankers-Koen, the ‘FlyingHousewife’ who scoopedfour gold medals at the1948 London Olympics. Akeen sprinter himself at 12 years old,Dud was fortunate enough to see herand other champion athletes faceeach other at the Empire Stadium onfinals day.

“I’d come down for the day from Kentwith my mother and cousin. Luckilywe’d managed to get standingpositions on the first bend, so we sawthe athletes crossing the finish line. Itwas a brilliant atmosphere to be in, witheveryone in the stadium dressed up smart and clearlyenjoying themselves. Blankers-Koen was great to watch;the woman was in a league of her own.”

At 17 years old, Barrie was also able to see some of thefinest athletes of the day. “Alongside Blankers-Koen,there were the likes of cyclist Reg Harris and runnerArthur Wint, who had a phenomenal stride. The groundsthey played on weren’t a patch on nowadays. Iremember the hockey events being hosted on a sportspitch near my house; I was lucky enough to get a freeshow from my window!”

“You didn’t have the facilities we have today”, Dud tellsme. “We didn’t even have starting blocks, just a trowelwhich we used to dig a couple of holes in the ground forthe feet. Things have really moved on since.”

As we prepare to host this summer’s Olympics on theback of a double-dip recession, Barrie recalls aneconomic climate that wasn’t too bright either. “The war

had only finished three years earlier, and ourcountry’s finances were stripped. We were arationing nation who couldn’t even afford tobuild new facilities. It’s amazing we managedto host it at all.”

Not that a lack of money was allowed to spoilthe games. “It lifted spirits just after we’dcome out of a harsh winter and needed somecheering up. There weren’t the security

problems we have today, it was a very relaxedatmosphere. Without knowing how much use we’regoing to get out of these new facilities, I’d say its morequestionable we decided to host it this time.”

With the opening ceremony merely weeks away, weshould all look back to the citizens of 1948 who, in thegrips of a challenging economic climate, were able to putaside their financial concerns and let the spirit of thegames embrace them. Who’s to say we can’t managethat today; as Barrie says, “at least we’ll be able to watchthe athletes on TV this time!”

From One Austerity Games to AnotherAidan Phillips, our guest reporter,interviews Dud and Barrie abouttheir experiences at the 1948London Olympics and how thegames have changed since then

Our special thanks to Mr Bruno Gothard Liebich forlending us his precious photographs andmemorabilia from the Closing Ceremony of the1948 Olympic Games. A former German Prisoner ofWar, Mr Liebich attended the games with his Englishwife, pictured above left on their wedding day

Barrie

Olympics Special

Dud


agematters 09

“Scared? I laughed for 48 hours”says White Water Rafter Ellen

I first met Ellen Roberts eight years ago whenwe were doing a photoshoot. She became theposter girl for Age UK Hertfordshire’sTelephone Club – an invaluable service whichprovides a vital link to lonely and oftenhousebound older people. A keen cyclist shestill pedals over to our Cheshunt office to havea laugh and a chat with her regulars, catch upon news or provide a reassuring voice and alistening ear if they are feeling down.

One of Ellen’s favourite cycle rides follows thetowpath down to Lee Valley White Water Rafting Centrewhere she loves watching the novice and professionalkayakers, canoeists and rafters being tossed about inthe foaming cauldron. It’s here too that soon the verybest athletes in the world will be competing for theirchance to take a podium place in this year’s Olympics.

One fateful day, last year, Ellen took her daughter, Di,along with her. As they watched the rafters plunginginto the rapids and using all their skill to keep afloat, Disaid “I’d love to do that for my birthday, would youcome too?” A keen lover of water and totally fearless,Ellen jumped at the chance.

Soon she was getting kitted up in a life jacket andyellow helmet - which she chose “so you can tell whichis me” and training in “a calmer part where you take it inturns to jump in the water and lay flat which is thesafest thing to do if you fall out. But I just couldn’t turnon to my front. ‘Di I can’t do it’ I said but she yelled‘You’ll be alright Mum’. And I was. Well, it doesn’t takemuch to egg me on.”

Then it was time for ‘the big one’. “It all happens sofast. You go down the rapids and all the water comesrushing in and they’re shouting ‘sit up, sit down, moveleft, move right’. I just couldn’t keep up and I just keptlaughing.” Two of the guys fell into the water but like apro, Ellen stayed in – she was going nowhere! “Then itwas back to the beginning to do it all over again, thesecond of three circuits.” Was she scared? Not a bit.“It was really amazing” she says smiling broadly. “Ilaughed for 48 hours.”

But Ellen is no stranger to thrill seeking and I’mbeginning to think that this keen cyclist and birdwatcher, mother of two, grandmother and great

grandmother of seven is really a secretadrenalin junkie. After telling me how

she inadvertently cycled up the M25 on the way to afriend’s house before getting picked up by an ItalianJuggernaut driver and then the police, she tells me aboutplunging into a Cornish valley at 40mph.

It all started last October while she was on holidaywalking in Cornwall with her family and they cameacross a beautiful, tree lined valley with a sparkling lakefar below. All of a sudden there was a whizzing noiseand the sound of screaming as two people descendedinto the valley on what appeared at first glance to be apiece of string. They had inadvertently come across TheZip which at 490 metres is the UK’s longest zip wire andhurls people over a flooded quarry on little more than acable. You can guess what happened next. The valleywas just too tempting, the trees were “the greenestgreen” and “the water the bluest blue” so Ellen just hadto try it out. Her family came too of course. “It was allover so quickly,” she tells me excitedly.

We are back to talking about her white water raftingexperience and she shows me the photographs – it looksterrifying. Would she do it again? “No, it just wouldn’tbe the same” she says. I know that when I watchOlympic canoeing events on TV, there is only one personI’ll be thinking of, the intrepid Ellen.

Ellen on The Zip

Olympics Special

Ellen, in yellow helmet, makes a splash

Are you a silver thrill seeker like Ellen or have you aninteresting story to tell about your thrill seekingdays? If so please contact Alison Smith, Editor,agematters, Age UK Hertfordshire, 1 Silver Court,Watchmead, Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire AL71LT Email [email protected] todo get in touch. The best story will be published inthe next issue of agematters

Alison Smith meets the fearlessEllen Roberts, 73, volunteer andOlympic Circuit Rafter


10 agematters

“You raise some valid points about Direct Debit, includingthe short minimum notice required before an increase ina payment is made, difficulty in speaking to the peopleresponsible for setting the payment amounts, noprotection for consequential losses such as bank chargesand organisations encouraging/requiring Direct Debits tobe set up as a form of payment.

Many of our clients are keen to reduce their monthly billsand the discounts given to customers paying by DirectDebit are of interest. Clients also have difficulties gettingout to pay bills, paying them on time or keeping on top of

paperwork. They can accumulate substantial arrears orreceive a court summons because of this. Theconvenience of Direct Debits is a real advantage in theseinstances but no payment method is perfect in allsituations. Our schemes can assist clients with choosingthe best payment method for them;support those who are having difficultywith paperwork and offer advice to helpget their finances in order.”

Brian Saffery, Information and Advice Team Leaderreports on how you might benefit as well

Amy Blake, an Informationand Advice Coordinator forAge UK Hertfordshire, wasasked to help an oldercouple completeapplications forAttendance Allowance.While at their house, shealso determined that they

would be eligible for Pension Credit.

This charming couple are both over 90 years of age andhave a number of health issues. The husband is veryhard of hearing and his wife has impaired vision. Theyworked as a team and are each others eyes and ears.Both receive a State Pension but they have no savings.

Thanks to Amy’s help, the couple’s applications forAttendance Allowance were both successful and theywere awarded the higher rate. This meant as a couplethey received an additional £154 a week over their statepensions. In addition to this they were also eligible for

Pension Credit of £180 a week. Thetotal amount came to £17,000 perannum and this now helps them tobe a lot more independent andable to get help with household chores such as cleaning,getting to medical appointments and shopping.

Although this is a very unusual case as benefits are notusually this high; it does show that many older people arecompletely unaware of their benefit entitlements. Thiscouple are now in a much better position to supportthemselves and, due to the excellent work by Amy, theyhave far more control over their affairs.

During the first quarter of 2012, Age UK Hertfordshire’sInformation and Advice team: have taken over 2000telephone calls; carried out more than 400 home visits andachieved over £400,000 in benefits for older people.

Michael Bacon wrote in response to our article on Direct Debits because he wondered “why we take such apositive view?” Neil Anderson,Information and Advice Team, responds

An important part of our work in theInformation and Advice Team is carryingout benefit checks and helping older peopleapply for benefits that they are entitled to.

If we could help you claim benefits you may be

entitled to or if you need our help call the Information

and Advice Team today on Tel: 0845 601 3446, email

us at: [email protected] or write to Alison

Smith, Editor, agematters, 1 Silver Court, Watchmead,

Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire AL7 1LT

Information and Advice Team helpcouple get £17,000 in benefits


agematters 11

The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) recentlyreleased figures that showed that billions of poundsworth of benefits are left unclaimed each year by olderpeople who are entitled to the money.

This comes at a time when 1.8 million pensioners -roughly one in six - find themselves living in poverty. Ontop of this, a further 1.2 million find themselves living onthe brink of poverty; making them the largest group insociety to be ‘living on the edge’.

Benefits such as Pension Credit and others are designedto help older people with low incomes, and in manycases, it can make a massive difference to someone’slife. Unfortunately, there are too many people slippingthrough the net.

There has been a lot of research into why people are notclaiming Pension Credit and other benefits. By far, the

main cause appears to be a perceived ineligibility– “I don’t qualify for that”. Other barriers include alack of awareness of what is available, pride, anda perception that the process is too complicatedto warrant making the application.

This is why Age UK has for a number of years runits More Money in Your Pocket campaign.Challenging some of the myths around eligibility,it has encouraged people to claim what they areentitled to, not just Pension Credit, HousingBenefit and Council Tax Benefit, but also non-means tested benefits such as AttendanceAllowance.

Take ActionIf you know someone who might be struggling to makeends meet or could benefit from a bit of extra moneyin their pocket, there are a few things you can do:

• Go online and take Age UK’s benefit calculator to findout exactly what you could be entitled to www.ageuk.org.uk/benefitscheck

• Download the More Money in Your Pocket guide to find out more information about the range of benefits available www.ageuk.org.uk/MoreMoney

• Phone Age UK Hertfordshire’s Information and AdviceLine 0845 601 3446 for more information

Benefit

Pension CreditHousing Benefit

Council Tax Benefit

Amount unclaimed

£2.8 billion£1.0 billion£2.4 billion

Number of people not claiming

1.6 million0.4 million3.2 million

More Money inYour Pocket

copyright©BBC

Age UK’s More Money in Your Pocket campaign relaunched

in April this year with the aim of getting older people to

claim the benefits that are available to them

“Benefits such as Pension Credit and others aredesigned to help older people with low incomes”


12 agematters

Healthwise - making a real differenceto people with depression, earlydementia, memory loss or anxiety

Healthwise is an exciting new countywide schemefunded by The Big Lottery, Hertfordshire County Counciland NHS Hertfordshire which aims to help older peoplewith depression, early dementia, memory loss or anxietyretain their independence through an enjoyableprogramme of healthy eating, gentle exercise, digitalinclusion and social interaction.

How Healthwise helpsGentle exercise, healthy eating, social interaction andmental stimulation have all been proven to alleviate thesymptoms of depression and dementia. Healthwisehelps to ensure that older people can continue to remainindependent and to enjoy a healthy and happy life for aslong as possible.

How it worksEach Healthwise programme runs for 10 weeks. Theprogrammes have been specially designed to be fun,interactive and to engage older people as much aspossible and cover each of the areas listed below. Eachprogramme starts with an introduction and finishes withan opportunity for participants to choose what theywould like to do for their last session.

The Healthy Eating programmes introduce older peopleto healthy foods. The sessions may include shopping ona budget, online shopping, easy to prepare recipes,reminiscence and growing your own food.

The Gentle Exercise programmes are designed to helpstrengthen muscles and stimulate the brain creating that‘feel good’ feeling. The sessions may include singing,

chair based exercises, gentle walks, carpet bowls,relaxation techniques, coordination and balance.

The Social Interaction programmes aim to help preventthat feeling of loneliness and ‘it’s only happening to me’.The sessions may include coffee mornings, speakers,outings, films, the history of Hertfordshire and how toaccess local amenities.

The Digital Inclusion programmes help older people toget in touch with friends and family and learn interestingnew skills. The sessions may include online shopping,love food hate waste, social networks and web browsing.

To find out how this exciting new and interactiveproject could help you or someone you know pleasecall your local Healthwise Coordinator on thenumbers below

Watford and Three Rivers

07772 173658 or 07772 173684

East Herts and Broxbourne

07772 173682 or 07772 173684

North Herts and Stevenage

07772 173027 or 07772 173822

St Albans, Hertsmere and Welwyn Hatfield

07772 173659 or 07772 173822

Alison Smith reports on an exciting newcountywide scheme for older people


agematters 13

Vicky, Healthwise Team Leader, East Herts,Broxbourne, Watford and Three RiversI have worked for Age UK Hertfordshire for six years.Initially I was part of the Carers’ Support scheme butrecently I became a Team Leader for Home Matters andGP Link. I am really excited about being involved in thenew Healthwise project. It will be very rewarding to be apart of a project that can make such a positive differenceto the lives of older people.

Stasia, Healthwise Coordinator, East Herts and BroxbourneI have been working as a volunteer for the VisitingScheme and as an administrator for Age UKHertfordshire for six months. I have thoroughly enjoyedmy volunteering roles and when the opportunity ofworking full time as part of Healthwise came up I wasreally excited to be able to be part of the project andjoin the team. I believe it is a fantastic scheme whichwill make a positive impact to the quality of olderpeoples’ lives.

Carla, Healthwise Coordinator,Watford and Three RiversI have been with Age UK Hertfordshire for 18 months,working on two projects which are both aimed at olderpeople who may be feeling lonely, anxious, depressed orthat have short term memory loss or early dementia. Ihave really enjoyed helping people to regain someconfidence both in their home and within thecommunity. The most rewarding aspect of the job hasbeen introducing older people that have been at risk ofsocial isolation to groups within their local communitythat can provide ongoing support and friendship and thisis something I am very much looking forward tocontinuing within this exciting new project.

Dawn, Healthwise Team Leader, North Herts,Stevenage, St Albans, Hertsmere andWelwyn Hatfield I have worked for Age UK Hertfordshire for eight years andfor the last three years specifically with clients who havedementia/depression. It is now recognised that peopleexperiencing memory loss, dementia or depression can behelped through exercise, healthy diet, mental stimulationand companionship and that is why I am delighted tohave been appointed a Team Leader for Healthwiseespecially as the new service will be reaching out to olderpeople in towns and villages. I know that together with therest of this wonderful team we can help thousands ofpeople across Hertfordshire to live a happier, healthier life.

Kat, Healthwise Coordinator, North Herts and Stevenage I have worked for Age UK Hertfordshire for over twoyears as a Mental Health Hospital Discharge SchemeCoordinator at the Lister Hospital supporting olderpeople who had been discharged from hospital in theirown home. I am looking forward to being part of thenew team and to a new challenge. I am keen tocontinue making a difference to older people’s lives.

Annabelle, Healthwise Coordinator, St Albans, Hertsmere and Welwyn Hatfield I have only recently joined Age UK Hertfordshire, havingpreviously worked in Nutrition and Health promotion. Ihave a degree in Human Nutrition and I am a selfconfessed ‘foodie’! The things I like the most aboutHealthwise are the variety of activities and thelighthearted and fun approach. I am very pleased tohave joined such an exciting project.

Meet the Healthwise TeamThe Healthwise Team have a realpassion for helping older people.They are a friendly and caringteam with many innovative andcreative ideas for helping peoplewith depression, early dementiamemory loss or anxiety retain theirindependence and get the mostout of later life


14 agematters

Did you know that Age UK Hertfordshire is anindependent charity? Any funds raised in aid ofAge UK Hertfordshire are spent on helping olderpeople throughout the Hertfordshire community.Would you like to fundraise in aid of Age UKHertfordshire?

Whether you’re a marathon runner, an expert knitter orbrilliant at bring and buy sales, any funds you raise couldmake a genuine difference to the lives of older people inHertfordshire. If you would like to fundraise in aid of AgeUK Hertfordshire, please contact the Fundraising [email protected] or call 01707 386070.

Roche Products LtdIn the last issue of agematters weexplained that Roche Products Limitedhave made Age UK Hertfordshire their charity of the year.This was officially launched on 20 February 2012, andsince then the Roche Team have been busy fundraising tohelp older people throughout Hertfordshire.

The Roche Team havebeen very inventivewith their fundraisingactivities and a hugenumber of staff havejoined in to supportAge UKHertfordshire.Activities have so farincluded sellingchocolate ducks forEaster, a book fair, aferret race and a“Strike a Posy”bouquet lesson! Welook forward toseeing the differentactivities

Roche have planned for the rest of the year, and thankthem for all their support and efforts.

Thank you to Greg Trevelyan, a Roche employee who ranthe London Marathon in aid of Age UK Hertfordshire onSunday 22 April. Greg raised in excess of £550 which willgo a long way towards helping older people in thecounty.

Did you know you can donate to Age UKHertfordshire by text message?If you donate to Age UK Hertfordshire by text, 100% ofyour donation will come directly to the charity. All youneed to do is text AUKH01 plus the amount you wouldlike to donate to 70070. For example, if you would like todonate £5, please text “AUKH01 £5” to 70070. Donationssent by text will usually incur your standard textmessage fee. Please refer to your tariff for details of yourstandard text message fee. If you are under the age of16 please check with the bill payer before donating.

Sarah Knight Fundraising andMarketing Team Leader reports

Fundraising for Age UKHertfordshire

“Whether you’re a marathon runner, anexpert knitter or brilliant at bring and buysales, any funds you raise could make agenuine difference to the lives of olderpeople in the county”

Marathon Man Greg Trevelyan

of Roche


agematters 15

There’s more to the role of aFundraising Volunteer thanyou think…Would you like to help Age UK Hertfordshire raise fundsto support its services throughout the county? We haveseveral volunteering opportunities which may appeal to you:

• if you like to get out into the community, perhaps you would like to support Age UK Hertfordshire at events such as quiz nights or fun runs. This could include activities such as greeting guests, serving refreshments, helping to set up and decorate venues, providing information about Age UK Hertfordshire to members of the public or assisting with collections.

• if you would prefer to be based in an office, perhaps you would like to support the Fundraising Team with administration duties. This could include writing

letters and emails to supporters and helping to update the fundraising database.

• we are also looking for people who could help research different sources of funding for which we might apply.

A full induction and relevant training will be provided for these roles. If you are interested in any of the above roles, please contact the HR Team on Tel: 01707 386060email [email protected]/hertfordshire or join us on Facebook

Free Will WritingFortnightAge UK Hertfordshire will be runninga Free Will Writing Fortnight from15 to 26 October 2012 courtesy ofLongmores Solicitors in Hertford.

Longmores will be offering a free Willwriting service for basic Wills. At thetime you make the Will, you will begiven an opportunity to make adonation to Age UK Hertfordshire as well.

Full details will be included in the autumn issue ofagematters, but if you would like to be the first to receivedetails regarding our Free Will Writing Fortnight pleasecontact Sarah Knight at Age UK Hertfordshire on 01707386070 or email [email protected]

Gifts in WillsWould you like to leave a longer lasting gift to

Age UK Hertfordshire? For information on how

you can leave a gift in your Will to Age UK

Hertfordshire please contact Sarah Knight,

Fundraising Team Leader on 01707 386070

“If you like to get out into thecommunity, perhaps you wouldlike to support Age UKHertfordshire at events such asquiz nights or fun runs”


16 agematters

The strategy, drawn up by Hertfordshire’s new shadowHealth and Wellbeing Board proposes eight initial keypriorities ranging from tackling obesity to supportingpeople with learning disabilities.

The Board is keen to hear the views of local people onwhether the right factors have been considered indrawing up the initial priorities and whether any areashave been missed.

Richard Roberts, chair of the shadow Health andWellbeing Board, said: “This is the ideal opportunity tothink about how we can improve people’s lives byworking together with our partners and the public. I urgepeople to have their say, as this is your chance toinfluence the priorities that will inform the strategy. Wewant to hear your views so please get involved in theengagement process.”

The eight initial priorities are:• tackling obesity• reducing smoking• managing long term conditions to reduce the use of

emergency care• supporting family carers• promoting good mental health – including helping

people live well with dementia• helping families facing multiple problems to thrive• reducing the harm caused by drugs and alcohol• enabling people with learning disabilities to live

fulfilling lives.

An online survey runs until 16 July 2012 after whichthe final strategy will be developed. The initial priorities,together with copies of the tools used to prioritise theissues, are available at www.hertsdirect.org/hwb

Hertfordshire’s new shadow Health and Wellbeing Boardis a partnership between Hertfordshire County Council,GP commissioners, the NHS, district and boroughcouncils and the patient representative group, LINk.

People living in Hertfordshire have the opportunity to helpshape a new strategy for health and wellbeing in the county

People who can’t access the survey online can

forward their comments on a survey leaflet

from their local library and GP practice, call

0300 123 4042 or write to Health and

Wellbeing Engagement, Health and Community

Services, County Hall, Hertford, SG13 8DP

Hertfordshire has its say on new health and wellbeing strategy

“This is the ideal opportunity to thinkabout how we can improve people’s livesby working together”


The classes are proving to be especially popular amongolder people with between 70 and 75 per cent oflearners aged over 60.

The workshops are aimed at people with little or noexperience of using a computer or the internet. Theyoffer one to one introductions to computing and covereverything from the basics of using a keyboard andmouse, to the internet, email and word processing.

The taster courses last about an hour and are taught ata pace to meet the needs of learners. The courses offerpeople the opportunity to start from scratch in afriendly environment or to brush up their IT skills ifthey’re a bit rusty.

Chris Hayward, Cabinet Member for Libraries, said: “Havingbasic computer skills is all but essential nowadays. Thesetaster courses provide a great opportunity for people tostart from scratch in a friendly environment or to brush uptheir IT skills if they’re a bit rusty.

Library members can also practice their IT skills for up toone hour free of charge on the computers available at allHertfordshire libraries.”

Trevor Ray, Learning Support Officer with HertfordshireCounty Council, said: “Don’t sit out there wondering whatit’s like to use a computer – call in at your local librarywhere you will find friendly staff able to advise exactlythe right course for you.”

Comments from learners include:“The training has opened my eyes to a whole new world– I wish I had started earlier.”

“The courses I have attended have been excellent. Ihave now purchased a computer of my own and cannotbelieve I avoided using one for so long.”

agematters 17

The taster sessions take place in most librariesacross the county and cost £5. There is no charge forlibrary members who have a disability or who are onlow incomes and receive benefits. Ask at your locallibrary for further details or phone 0300 123 4041

A series of workshops for computer-shyresidents in Hertfordshire are availableat libraries across the county

Computer classes for beginners

The council is now a step closer to making eMarketplacea reality with the start due soon of a pilot for people whocan buy their own home care support and equipment.

The new facility will be in the style of websites likeAmazon and lastminute.com. Customers will be able tocheck what services are available from a range ofproviders, see how others rate them, compare prices,book what they want and pay online, all at a time that isconvenient to them.

This will give people more choice and greater controlover their own lives by being able to agree their ownarrangements with their preferred provider of services orequipment.

While the testing period is for people who can use theirown money or Direct Payments to buy home care

support or equipment, the project will be extended overtime to include people who meet the council’s criteria ofeligible care needs and can use their personal budgets tobuy the care and support they require. Free services suchas information or advocacy services will also be availableon the site.

Ultimately, the aim is for eMarketplace to be used by allcounty council departments and services.

While eMarketplace will be a major step forward foronline customers, people without internet access will notmiss out because the council will maintain all its existingchannels of support and communication such as thecustomer service centre and via libraries, day servicesand supported living.

Updates on progress with eMarketplace will feature infuture editions of agematters.

If you or somebody you know would like to take part in

the pilot, which is expected to start at the end of May

2012, please contact Sam Twohig Tel: 01438 845232

Welcome to eMarketplaceto boost choice and accessIn the last edition of agemattersHertfordshire County Council referred toits eMarketplace project which aims togive people more choice and better accessto goods and services via the internet


18 agematters

A new public information campaign has just beenlaunched in Hertfordshire and South Bedfordshire to helppeople recognise the possible early symptoms of thiscancer. Local GPs, pharmacies and hospitals have beeninvolved in promoting the campaign, as well as ASDA,who have allowed us to use their venues around thecounty for face to face events.

The campaign focuses on two simple symptommessages, aimed primarily at people aged 55 and over,but also to the general public so they can encourage anyfriends or family members experiencing these symptomsto go and talk to their GPs. These are:

1. anyone experiencing indigestion or heartburn for three weeks or more, needs to be checked out by a GP

2. if you are having difficulty swallowing for any period of time, get it checked out by a GP

Barbara Gill is Director of the Mount Vernon CancerNetwork, which brings together all the people andorganisations involved in cancer care acrossHertfordshire, Luton and South Bedfordshire. She said:“Early detection is the best way of improving survivalrates for all types of cancer. At the moment not enoughpeople are aware of the symptoms of oesophago-gastriccancer which means that the disease is often diagnosedat a late stage when the cancer is more advanced andmuch more difficult to treat. This campaign will raiseawareness of the key symptoms and point people in thedirection of their GP if they do have any of these signs.”

The last word goes to Geoff Proudlock, who wasdiagnosed with oesophageal cancer five years ago. Priorto his diagnosis, he had experienced occasional problemswith food getting stuck in his gullet, but had thoughtnothing of it until on New Year’s Day 2007, a piece ofchicken got stuck and just would not go down. He sawhis GP, who referred him to a hospital specialist for tests.

These confirmed that there was a constriction at thebase of his gullet and, following an endoscopy and CTscan, a tumour was diagnosed in Geoff’s loweroesophagus in early March 2007. Now five years later,following an operation and treatment, Geoff is inremission and feeling fit and well. He is retired and veryactive, regularly playing golf, going to the gym andcurrently helping his son renovate a house. He is also amember of the Mount Vernon Cancer Network UserPartnership Group. Geoff’s message is clear,

New ‘Be Clear on Cancer’Campaign for Hertfordshire and South BedfordshireOesophago-gastric canceris the ninth most diagnosedcancer in the UK today

“If you experience anydifficulty in swallowing, it’sabsolutely vital to go and seeyour GP quickly – don’t ignore

it, get it checked out”

Watford Launch


Our LIFE programme begins the moment someone has decided

to come and live with us, we focus on the person and not the

illness. It is by learning the likes, dislikes and life history of our

residents that provides us with a unique picture to develop the

individualised care plan to enable the best quality of care. To

support this ideal we have developed ‘A Life Worth Living, A Story

Worth Telling’ approach and we build a unique picture of your

loved one for everyone in the family to cherish and keep. Ask any

one of our homes for a copy of the life Story Book and Guide or

it can be downloaded from our web site.


If you would like to become a Home Helperwhy not call the Help in the Home Team on Tel: 01707 386068 or Email: [email protected]

If our Home Helpers could put a sparkle in yourlife please call your Help in the HomeCoordinator on:

Mid and North Hertfordshire Tel: 01707 386066Email: [email protected]

South West Hertfordshire Tel: 01923 224472Email: [email protected]

East Hertfordshire and Broxbourne Tel: 01992 747959 Email: [email protected]

St Albans and District Tel: 01727 477970 Email: [email protected]

agematters 23

I have been working as a Home Helper for Age UKHertfordshire since January 2011. Here is my typical day.

9.30am: I arrive at the home of my first client. I checkif there is anything in particular she would like me todo today – that’s always the first thing I ask when Iarrive at a client’s home. I make the bed, clean thebathroom, do the dusting and vacuuming, then I makemy client a cup of coffee with her favourite biscuits.She likes to have a chat while she drinks her coffee.Each client is different, and I work with so manydifferent personalities which keeps the workinteresting.

11.30am: I arrive to visit my second client of the day. Icollect a shopping list from her, then I go to thesupermarket and get everything she asks for. When Iget back to her house I unpack the shopping and thenstart on the usual housework. The appointment lastsfor two and a half hours, and I really enjoy it becausethe work is so varied.

2pm: I have a break at 2pm before visiting my thirdand final client of the day. I do some ironing for him,and then start on the cleaning.

I love my job. Before I started working as a HomeHelper, Age UK Hertfordshire gave me training in

A Day in theLife of aHome HelperHome Helper Angela Tocchinidiscusses her role and whatshe loves about it

“I love my job. Before I started workingas a Home Helper, Age UK Hertfordshiregave me training in Health and Safetyand First Aid, which nowadays makesme feel confident in my work”

Health and Safety and First Aid, which nowadays makesme feel confident in my work. The hours are flexiblewhich I really enjoy.

My favourite thing about being a Home Helper is myclients. The work is very rewarding, and I love putting asmile on their faces. When I leave and close the door, Iam happy in knowing that I have done a good job.

Angela


24 agematters

The use of jargon is widespread in the InformationTechnology world and causes a barrier to communicationwith those not familiar with the language. Often theterminology will be of a technical nature but in othercases the language has colloquial origins, an examplebeing ‘spam’. The meat product SPAM has existed in theUSA since 1937 where the word SPAM is a registeredtrademark. The various stories and history surroundingSPAM, reflect changes in society and how global brandingis formed. A wealth of such information is easilyresearched on the Internet. Connecting, a DigitalInclusion Project, can assist clients to discover all mannerof facts about other everyday things.

In the UK spam generally had a low image. In Scotland,the term ‘Spam Valley’ was used to describe certainaffluent housing areas where residents appeared to bewealthy but in reality were living at poverty levels. TheMonty Python team produced a timeless television sketchfeaturing Spam in 1970. The three minute clip isavailable on YouTube, a video sharing website. The MontyPython sketch culminates with a group of Vikingsinterrupting diners and drowning out their dialogue byloudly singing ‘Spam, lovely Spam, wonderful Spam’. Itcompares to the practice of flooding email users andInternet forums with junk mail; thus such activity camebe know as spam or spamming.

Spamming can also target mobile phones, fax machines,etc. Probably the most common instances our Connectinggroup will encounter will be spam email. A largepercentage of this junk mail will be advertising and withthe low operating costs of the electronic format, there isa proliferation of spammers generating an enormousvolume of messages that flood the internet.

It is the task of system administrators and InternetService Providers (ISP) to filter many of these spuriousmessages, so as to prevent them arriving in our individualemail accounts. Email filters are commonly added tosystems as a process of inspecting incoming messagesagainst specified criteria. Filtered messages appear in a‘junk folder’. Some spam email appears with suchregularity users will soon learn to ‘ignore’ and ‘delete’.Some spam messages bypass the filters and are deliveredto the in-box. Email providers may include a facility forthe recipient to mark such messages as junk or a scam.Providers can also filter outgoing mail in order to detect

spammers using theiremail system throughbackdoor methods. In Connectingwe discuss and highlight the known unsavoury antics.Spammers can be devious; their emails purport to befrom a trusted entity in an attempt to deceive users intoproviding account or identity information. This is knownas ‘phishing’, an attempt to acquire or capture personalinformation online via email to be used for unlawfulpurposes. If a recipient is in any doubt as to the requestactually being genuine, they should contact theorganisation direct and ignore the email content in itsentirety. When a business is continually plagued bycriminal elements masquerading in their good name,they will often post a website warning notice, detailingthe insincere methods being deployed through email.

Tips to protect against scams whenusing email and the internet:Don't respond to any unsolicited emails. Don't evenopen them - if you do not recognise the sender or aresuspicious, simply ‘delete’ it. By responding to spam youare verifying the email address as active and will continueto receive spamNever respond to the ‘remove link’ that many spammersinclude in the email, it verifies your email address asactive Never divulge your personal details, bank details orpasswords in response to an email purporting to be fromyour bank or building society. Real emails from banks andbuilding societies never request personal information orverification of password or account details. Don’t click ona link in such an email as it will go to a fraudulent sitethat looks like your bankReport spam by sending the message plus the full headerof the email to sites such as www.spamcop.net they canadd the sender to their blacklists. Do not try to open themessage - use the ‘forward’ button to do thisInstall virus protection software to help guard againstthe accidental download of a virus Make use of your internet provider’s spam filter if oneis available

Phones, computers, the internet and email havetransformed our lives. By taking some very simple andsensible steps, we can all continue to enjoy thesebenefits whilst remaining safe from potential scams -whether online or over the phone. Now I am off to followthat online recipe for fritters, but where did I store thatcan of Spam in 1952?

Bob Tustin, Digital InclusionCoordinator, discusses what it isand how to protect against it

SPAM - From Cheap Meatto Computer Menace


I was born in 1924, and my older brother and I had anidyllic childhood in Guildford - of course it never rained.We had a cooked breakfast every morning; it was acentral part of family life. In cold weather we would startwith porridge, simmered in a double saucepan overnight,followed by bacon, eggs and tomatoes after that.

But Sundays were special, the only day we had fresh MilkRolls, and I vividly remember the wonderful aroma. Wedidn’t have a fridge which is hard to imagine now, butmilk was delivered twice a day. These rolls can be madewith sour milk – we had no concept of ‘sell-by dates’then but just went on how things looked and smelt.

Even on Sunday we had breakfast quite early becausewe all had so much we wanted to do. My father was anaccountant in the City and set off for the station everymorning at seven during the week, having first broughtus all tea and biscuits in bed. He was also anexceptionally talented artist, and at weekends liked topaint. My mother was a gifted pianist, so she might bepractising while my father painted. Whatever we wereall doing we stopped at 11 o’clock and congregatedround the back door for what we called lunch (which Isuppose we now would now call elevenses). It was ahunk of cake with a glass of milk for my brother and I.

Up to the age of 17, I had a great life – loads of friendsand a wonderful family, I couldn’t have wished for better.We spent long carefree summers swimming and ridingour bikes. All this came to an abrupt end when mybeloved brother was killed. He was only 19 and had joinedthe RAF at the beginning of the war. His death changedeverything. To help cope with her grief, my mother filledthe house with evacuees from London who kept her busy.My fathers’ office was evacuated to Bournemouth so shewould otherwise have been on her own.

I had planned to go to university to read Classics but itsuddenly seemed irrelevant. Instead I joined the LandArmy and after a year on a farm I moved to the TimberCorps, driving tractors and felling trees. After the war Iworked as a market gardener. I married young andlater, when my three children were old enough, Iworked as a full time volunteer with the St Albans WRVSfor over 20 years. It gave me pleasure to cook Milk Rollson Sundays for my children to maintain the traditionand now they cook them for their children. Maybe youwould like to try them?

Quick Milk RollsIngredients:½ lb plain flour2 teaspoons of baking powder½ pint of milkpinch of salt

Method:Put the flour, baking powder and salt in a basin, graduallypour in the milk and mix to a firm dough. Divide intosmall rolls and brush the tops with milk. Prick the rollswith a fork and place them on a greased baking tin. Bakefor ten minutes in a hot oven gas mark 7 (425F).

26 agematters

Mavis Wynn-Ruffhead, a talented artistwho lives in St Albans, remembersSunday breakfast in the 1930s

Sunday morningmeant the smellof freshly bakedMilk Rolls when I was a child

Mavis Wynn-Ruffhead

Do you have a favourite family recipe that has never

appeared in any cookbook? Perhaps it is just a few notes

on a bit of paper at the back of a drawer or tucked in to

your Delia Smith collection. If so, we want to hear about

it. Please write to Alison Smith, editor, agematters, Age

UK Hertfordshire, 1 Silver Court, Watchmead, Welwyn

Garden City, Hertfordshire AL7 1LT or Email:

[email protected] The best letter

will be published in the next issue of agematters


She is wilful, colourful and great fun.After a life story with more twistsand turns than a roller coaster ride,the former Windmill Girl, puppeteerand trapeze artist embarked on(another) hugely successful andlucrative career as a painter at theage of 68 and has sold her pictures inmore than 200 galleries the lengthand breadth of Britain and beyond.What is she on? Philippa Le Marquandwent to find out…

In the village of Little Wymondley, nearStevenage is The Copper Beech ArtGallery and Vintage Tea Room with thebest cake you have ever tasted, made bythe owner Fran Hale. One of Fran’s bestselling artists is Jean Picton. There is no mistaking Jean, inher exotic embroidered red coat, sporting a sharp modernhaircut and huge purple glasses. The first thing she toldme was that she had just got back from a two weeksketching trek in Southern India.

Jean’s childhood was brief. Her mother died of TB whenJean was 13 and her father remarried. At 16, Jean joineda passing circus as a trapeze artist. She developedappendicitis and so was left behind after just six months –a circus has no room for passengers. She found work as adancer in pantomime working with Morecambe and Wisein Scunthorpe and with Cardew Robinson, Tommy Cooperand Billy Cotton. Via the world of variety and cabaret, shebecame a glamorous ‘dress act’ wearing not a lot! This ledher to the famous Windmill Club in London’s Soho. Jeanremembers, “As I was quite well endowed I did a lot offan dancing – shocking in those days. You danced nudeapart from a pair of shoes and a hat – and huge featherfans that weighed a ton and covered you chin to floor. Itwas quite an achievement to dance gracefully holdingthose. We danced six times a day, seven days a week,working for 12 hours a day.” The only men she met weredancers. “We had no private life at all.”

She married Alan, a dancer, and they had two children.Her next career was as an actress and model in TVcommercials, often with her children. Her face sold IdealMilk, Walls Ice Cream, sausages and stockings. This wasfollowed by a stint in the US working in cabaret as “aBarbara Windsor type character” with big names such asHarry Secombe and Bruce Forsyth. Later she appeared

on TV in ‘Coast to Coast’ and back in the UKin the 80s she was a regular on ‘Hi-de-Hi’and ‘Eastenders’.

Jean bought the British and European rightsto the cartoon character Super Ted and puton a sumptuous show for children, in the

West End. It was a disaster. A year later, in her mid 50sshe lost everything when she was declared bankrupt.“All I had left was a bicycle and a sewing machine.” sherecalls. But she was soon working as wardrobe mistressat Ealing Studios.

Inventive as ever, Jean then developed a puppet show,making all the puppets herself. “Puppets don’t eat, theyare not in a Union and you don’t pay them wages,” sheremarks wryly. This grew into a major business over thenext 10 years with Jean putting on shows for localcouncils, all over the UK.

Sadly Jean’s marriage to Alan did not last but she gotremarried to a splendid fellow called Brian and togetherthey ran art courses in Minorca. They also took on aderelict farmhouse and turned it into a successfulrestaurant. In 1990, she began painting as a hobby,which led to a degree course spread over five years (paidfor by the puppets). She graduated with a BA HonsDegree in Fine Art in 2002 at the age of 68. She rapidlyachieved a huge level of success, via a Fellowship at theDigswell Arts Trust, and at one time she was producing60 to 70 paintings a week to keep up with demand! Shehas been featured on TV and radio programmes such as‘Richard and Judy’ and ‘Woman's Hour’.

“Every day is choc-a-bloc with so much to do, andgrandchildren and great grandchildren to visit.” she says.Her pictures have reached as far as New Zealand andAustralia, and demand is greater than ever. Her nextproject may be a book – or even a series of books. WithJean Picton, anything is possible!

agematters 27

“I have been so fortunate, earning myliving without having to go to work”

Jean, left, with Fran Hale. Left, Jean as a Windmill Girl

At 78, Jean Picton is more alive, vividand vital than many people are at 20


28 agematters

An extremely popularliterary genre is crime andmany authors have made avery successful career outof murder and mystery.From Arthur Conan Doyle,Agatha Christie, MargeryAllingham, Dorothy LSayers, P D James, RuthRendell, Ian Rankin, LyndaLa Plante to Dick Francis,the list is endless. So itseems quiteextraordinary that thebook acknowledged to bethe first detective storyever wasn’t written until

1868. The format of the traditional mystery tale is all tobe found in Wilkie Collins’ The Moonstone, with aneccentric detective, bumbling police officers, equallyplausible suspects and multiple red herrings. Collinsintroduces the idea of ‘fair play’ where the detectiveknows no more than the reader and the narrative is takenup by several different characters, all giving varyingviewpoints.

Wilkie Collins, born in 1824, led an unconventionallifestyle, enjoyed good food and wine (which probablycontributed to the gout he suffered in later life), had longterm relationships with two women, had children withone but married neither, and took vast quantities ofopium to relieve the symptoms of his ill health. He knewmany of the famous writers and figures of the day andwas a friend of Charles Dickens, whom he worked with regularly.

The plot of The Moonstone centres on an exceptionallylarge diamond acquired in dubious circumstances andleft as a legacy to a niece. Its subsequent disappearance,the presence of three mysterious Indians, opium use,unrequited love, charitable works, religious tracts and therecreation of the crime scene all contribute to makingthis classic a true page turner. Dickens wrote to his friendCollins when the book was published to “…..congratulateyou on the success of your excellent new novel. ……..TheMoonstone is a bestseller at the local bookseller here inKent and my excitement for your continued success isimmense. Well done, my dear friend Wilkie. We shallcelebrate this achievement over a glass of Cognac. Bestwishes and I look forward to reading your future works.Your friend always, Charles Dickens.”

Collins uses this novel to explore Victorian values,attitudes to class, hypocrisy, religious zeal and physicaldisability while keeping the reader gripped by theunfolding drama.

Age UK Shops - quality goods at bargain prices128 Shenley Road, Borehamwood, Hertfordshire WD6 1EF 020 8381 5210

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High Street, Ware, Hertfordshire SG12 9BY 01920 463051

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The Moonstone, by Wilkie CollinsMarion Birch on a forgottenclassic written by the father ofmodern crime fiction in 1868


agematters 29

At the point where theSouth West Hertfordshiredistricts of Three Riversand Watford meet is ahub of transport links andwaterways with theA412, the MetropolitanRailway Line, the GrandUnion Canal and theRiver Gade all joining atone point. This will soon beadded to now that theCroxley Rail Link has beengiven approval by theDepartment of Transport,meaning that LondonUnderground will join upwith the East Coast MainLine at Watford Junction,providing a much needed railservice to Watford GeneralHospital and Watford Football Club. Sited on this busyspot between Croxley Green and Watford is CassioMarina, home to many residential boaters and a boatyard where services like fuel and pump outs for boaterscan be found.

Moving northward into Watford’sCassiobury Park, the Grand UnionCanal enters one of its mostpicturesque stretches whichinclude Cassio Bridge andIronbridge Locks. Working thelock in Cassiobury Park isdefinitely a spectator sport asfamilies gather on the littlehumpback bridge to watchboaters move their craft uptowards the Tring Summit.

A series of ornamental bridgesmark the canal’s passagethrough Grove Park, now aprestigious event venue and golfcourse. These bridges were builtat the insistence of the Earl of

Clarendon to compensate for thedisruption of having a transport arteryrunning through his estate. Aftercruising through Hunton Bridge andpassing through Home Park Farm Lock,a bridge of a far different kind loomsinto view as the traffic on the M25hurtles over a much slower form oftravel and the East Coast Main Line.

There is then further evidence of theindustrial heritage of the canal as itreaches the site of Dickinson’s HomePark Paper Mill, makers of, amongstother things, Basildon Bond writingpaper. From here the Grand UnionCanal runs alongside the old A41road and the East Coast Main Linefor the remainder of itsHertfordshire stretch. KingsLangley, still a thriving little town

which is well worth a visit, was home to the Ovaltinefactory owned by A Wander Ltd. Their working boatswere renowned for their advertising slogans andcolourful paintwork. Some have recently been restoredand form an important part of the history of thiswaterway.

Marion Birch continues her journey along Hertfordshire’s Grand Union Canal

From Beautiful Bridges toBasildon Bond and Ovaltine

All images copyright©Marion Birch


30 agematters

Tom McNab is a genial but powerful man. He hasinfluence in high places in the world of sport, and his CVmakes amazing reading. He has done a vast amount inhis 78 years and shows little sign of slowing down. Tomhas achieved success as an athlete and has coachedtrack and field athletics at Olympic level as well as theRugby World Cup. The Secretary of the British BobsleighAssociation says that Tom took the sport into a differentera, and ultimately to an Olympic medal.

Tom’s knowledge, expertise and political savvy helpedthe Olympic Committee win the bid for London 2012, bysuggesting the emphasis should be on the legacy thatremains “when the Olympic circus leaves town”, rather

than on raising levels of participation in sport.Nevertheless, Tom believes that participation incompetitive sport depends, not on the Olympics, but onserious investment, to ensure sport is an enjoyableexperience in schools.

Tom McNab is a successful novelist and playwright; hewas Head of Sport for the short-lived TV AM; has writtenmajor works on the teaching of sport to young peopleand was Technical Director of the Oscar-winning Britishfilm about the Olympics, ‘Chariots of Fire’. Even with thislist of accomplishments, I have left out more than Ihave included - did I mention boxing?

But Tom did not achieve all this from a very promisingbackground – there was no sucking on silver spoons inthe McNab household. “When I was a kid in Glasgow, wehad nothing. Before the age of nine I lived in a slum,with just a bed in one corner, and a table and two chairsbetween the four of us. We didn’t have hot water, letalone a TV. We lived on a main road, and there wasnowhere for my sister Ella and I to play, nowhere to goand kick a ball.”

“Then my grandfather, who was a big wheel in theLabour Party, got us moved to an estate of two bedroomhouses built in the 1920s. It was fantastic, and therewere lots of boys playing on the street. I was small formy age and I had to really push myself to make up for it.Gradually I became super fit we would walk two mileseach way to school, playing football all the way. When Iwas 12, 200 of us tried out for the school team. Ihappened to notice that of all the possible options, onlythree boys were going for goalkeeper, so that’s what Ichose to try for. Of the three I was the least useless. Iremember it all so vividly. A great big lad was kicking aball at me, and that single save got me my place on theteam – I was in, and before long I was playing for theGlasgow Schools Team. I was obsessed with becomingthe best I could be, following the example of my rolemodel, cartoon character William Wilson in The Wizardcomic. I loved athletics but was no good at it. I tried the100 yards, the high jump and long jump. But the firsttime I tried the triple jump at the Scottish SchoolsChampionship in 1951 I broke the Schools record, andcame second in the competition. By the end of that first

“I was never humiliated bybeing defeated. I just wantedto go on getting better” Tom McNab talks to Philippa Le Marquand

Tom with his wife Jenny Lee

Olympics Special


agematters 31

season I was fourth in Britain in my age group. I neverstopped trying and was never humiliated by beingdefeated. I just wanted to go on getting better.”

But although Tom had discovered his talent as asportsman, there was also another side to him. “I wasobsessed with reading and libraries, and I learnt oneimportant thing early on – never let your educationinterfere with your studies. I read Orwell, Bernard Shawand a whole host of other serious writers. One of myteachers got me into drama and acting with adults.”

At 18, with his A levels under his belt, Tom joined theRAF as a pilot officer to do his National Service, thentrained to become a PE teacher. When qualified he got ateaching job in the Gorbals, one of the roughest areas ofGlasgow, famous for its poverty and violence. After thiscame a teaching job in Bermuda, where he establishedthe island’s first ever mixed race football team. This wasfollowed by a teaching post in Bedfordshire, marriageand children.

His next move was to become a national coach – aneducator of sports coaches. In 1963 he became NationalAthletics Coach for Southern England. He coached FredAlsop, the first modern British triple jumper to make animpact at world level, to come fourth in the 1964 TokyoOlympic Games. In 1966, Tom and his family moved toWelwyn Garden City. Tom created a national juniordecathlon programme, from which emerged DaleyThompson. In that same year, he created the Five StarAward which transformed the teaching of athletics, andbrought tens of thousands of children into the sport.

By 1978, freelance writing and sports coaching werekeeping Tom fully occupied. Then somethingextraordinary happened – he was recruited as TechnicalDirector of the 1981 smash hit film, ‘Chariots of Fire’,based on the real life story of two athletes competing inthe 1924 Paris Olympics. This classic British film, writtenby Colin Welland and directed by Hugh Hudson won fourAcademy Awards and is still ranked 19th in the BritishFilm Institute's list of Top 100 British films. Not manypeople know that Tom McNab makes a cameoappearance in the film, firing the starters’ gun for a race.“I got £17 for my acting!” laughs Tom.

Tom helped the producer David Puttnam cast actorswho would be able to make the athletics elementbelievable. “There are only ten or twelve minutes ofactual athletics in the film, but if it didn’t look real it

would have ruined allthe rest,” explainsTom. He trained BenCross and NigelHavers to make themas convincing aspossible, althoughbody doubles wereused in some of themore demandingathletics shots.“Nigel Haversactually broke hiswrist on the runningtrack in training, butstrapped it up anddidn’t say a wordabout it. He only admitted the truth years later on theParkinson Show,” Tom recalls.

His literary interests were as strong as ever and, in 1979,Tom began work on a novel, which became ‘Flanagan’sRun.’ “I had the same editor as Jeffrey Archer andRichard Cohen. He taught me how to write. There wereno word processors and I didn’t type – I wrote the wholebook by hand several times over, I knew no other way.Within a week of publication it had topped the bestseller list ahead of Salman Rushdie and Wilbur Smith.”Other bestsellers followed, including ‘The Fast Men’ and‘Rings of Sand.’

In 1992, when Tom was 59, he met actress Jenny Lee.She was performing in a radio play he had written for theBBC, and eight years ago she became his third wife. Theylive in St Albans, and are as busy as ever. After an actingcareer spanning many years, Jenny appeared in the WestEnd last year in the title role of Driving Miss Daisy, tostanding ovations. Her own theatre company, Attic, isproducing Tom’s critically acclaimed play, ‘1936’, at theLilian Baylis Studio, part of Sadlers Wells Theatre, to runfrom 18 July till 5 August 2012. Jenny is the Director. Theplay, with a cast of nine, examines the politics and powerstruggles behind the scenes of the 1936 Berlin Olympicsthat gave Jesse Owens five gold medals. The Gamesoccurred at a crucial moment in Hitler’s rise to power.Many believe that if the US had boycotted the Games, theSecond World War might not have happened. After everyperformance, Tom will lead a discussion with theaudience on the play and the events surrounding it.

The powerhouse that is Tom McNab has many moreprojects planned, and opportunities to explore – he iscurrently working on a play about George Orwell. He stillplays tennis twice a week, and age does not appear tohave impaired his intellect, memory, or the twinkle in hiseye. He predicts that the London 2012 Olympics will be atriumph for Britain, and who are we to disagree?

Our special thanks to Gillian Thornton for allowing usto use the photographs of Tom McNab and Jenny.

“There are only ten or twelveminutes of actual athletics in thefilm, but if it didn’t look real it wouldhave ruined all the rest”


32 agematters

The dramatic decline of bumblebee species has beenblamed on the loss of habitat due to intensive farming.Most of the wildflower meadows which were nectar richhave disappeared and the use of chemicals has severelyreduced wildflower numbers.

Most (around 90%) of the world’s cereal crop isdependent on bees for pollination so their decline is aserious cause for concern. Bumblebees only eat nectarand pollen and need an adequate supply throughoutthe year. Growing the right type of flowers in yourgarden can help provide a stronghold for bees.

Unfortunately, many common garden plants used forbedding, such as pelargoniums, busy lizzies, begonias,pansies etc have been bred for large flowers and containlittle or no pollen and nectar and other plants with showydouble or ruffled flowers, like dahlias and roses wrap upthe pollen which makes it inaccessible tobees. Single flower varieties such as theBishop of Llandaff dahlia and CanaryBird rose are fine.

The old fashioned traditional cottagegarden was full of flowers, wild flowersand herbs which were nectar rich anddependent on bees for pollination. Toprovide nectar and pollen throughoutthe year consider plants like bluebells,broom, heather (erica), fruit trees,flowering currant (ribes), lungwort(pulmonaria), rosemary, campanula(bell flower), cotoneaster, foxglove, lupin, laburnum,buddleia, hollyhocks, lavender and antirrhinums (snapdragons). A fuller list is available atwww.bumblebeeconservation.org.uk and some gardencentres are now listing which plants are bee friendly.

Summer gardening jobsMoving into gardening jobs for summer, early floweringshrubs such as forsythia and kerria can be can be prunedand tidied. Both of these plants can be propagated fromsoftwood cuttings in June. Simple layering can also beused as a useful way to make more plants between Apriland August by pegging a small branch down onto the soil

which should then form a goodroot system within a year whichcan then be removed as a separateplant. Other suitable shrubs thatcan be multiplied by using thismethod are cotinus, cotoneaster,privet, lilacs and viburnams.

Early flowering clematis such as montana should bepruned after flowering to allow new growth to beproduced and ripened for the following season. Removedead and damaged stems and cutback shoots whichhave outgrown their space.

Finally, during this period of drought make sure anydownpipes are connected to water butts and covercompost in pots with gravel to retain moisture. Usually ahosepipe ban will guarantee rain!

Bee - friendly forbeautiful bloomsMichael Birch finds out whatplants you should grow to attractmore bees to your garden

Pulmonaria

Flowering Currant

Laburnum

All images copyright©Marion Birch


agematters 33

Recruitment - learn a new skill, make a differenceWould you like to work for us? If so we have a variety of full, part time and casual roles available. We

offer generous holiday entitlement, flexible working, pension and healthcare plan. For more information contact the

HR Team on Tel: 01707 386060 Email [email protected] www.ageuk.org.uk/hertfordshire or find us

on Facebook

Volunteering - make a difference We have a range of volunteering opportunities from befriending to

office work. To find out more or to apply for any of the roles below please call 01707 386060

Email [email protected] visit our website www.ageuk.org.uk/hertfordshire or find us on Facebook

Home MattersVolunteers

St Albans and Hertsmere

2 - 3 hrs per week

Training and out of pocket

expenses provided

Are you organised? Could you

help an older person manage

their paperwork?

GP Link Volunteers

Stevenage, Watford, Three

Rivers, Welwyn Garden City

2-3 hrs per week


expenses provided

Do you like meeting people?

Could you help older people

find the help they need?

Volunteer MinibusEscorts for 10 to 3Clubs

South Oxhey,

Rickmansworth area,

Letchworth and Hitchin

Approx 5 hours each week

for each area

Help transport older people

to our 10 to 3 clubs.

Hospital DischargeScheme Volunteers

St Albans and Watford Helping each client for an 8 week period1-2 hrs per weekTraining provided

Could you help an older person

regain their confidence and

independence after a stay in

hospital?

10 to 3 Club VolunteersCodicote, Whitwell, Gt Offley,Letchworth, Hitchin, North Watford,Rickmansworth andWelwyn Garden City4 - 5 hours per weekTraining and out of pocket expensesprovided

Assist with transport (Gt Offley only),

setting up rooms, assist with activities

and outings, socialising with clients

serving meals, refreshments and

clearing up.

Fundraising Volunteer

Countywide

Could include weekdays,

evenings and/or weekends

This role will involve supportingAge UK Hertfordshire to raisefunds by assisting at events.This could include helping toorganise events, setting upvenues, and servingrefreshments at events.

Healthwise Volunteers

Countywide

1-2 hrs per week


expenses provided

Events/Groups help prepare

events, listen/talk to service

users and build their

confidence, help with IT,

Assist with transport.

InTouch Volunteers

Approx 2 hrs per week

Cheshunt/Broxbourne areas

(local to office)

Ongoing training and

support and travel expenses

provided

Telephone service to listen and

support older people.

Visiting SchemeVolunteers

Countywide

1-1 ½ hrs per week

Support, training and out ofpocket expenses provided.

Visit lonely older people in

their own homes for

friendship and support.


Specifically for the

Older Client“Unravelling the Maze”

All the information you are given from different sources can causeconfusion. Longmores has a team of specialists specifically for the olderClient who offer a complete professional service having the expertise andresources in all aspects of this field. As well as dealing with Wills, Powersof Attorney and Court of Protection work, we can show you how tobudget your money, deal with funding, benefits and local authorityassessments as well as considering ways to preserve your assets fromcare home fees.

Nichole Giddings, who runs the Department, is a member of theAlzheimers Society, the Parkinson’s Society and Solicitors for the Elderlyand is also a Trustee of Age UK Hertfordshire.

If you would like to come to one of our FREE Seminars dedicated tothis topic or if you would like more details about our work or us, pleasetelephone Nichole on 01992 300333 or send an e-mail to her [email protected]


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