enfield over 50s promoting employment in enfield

Registered charity number 1122859 www.enfieldover50sforum.org.uk President: Monty Meth Registered charity number 1122859 www.enfieldover50sforum.org.uk President: Monty Meth

Forum Meetings not to be missedNote all meetings are at 10am for 10.30 start

Thursday 8 January 2015 (at Millfield House)The Regeneration of Enfield: Sharon Strutt, Head of Enfield’s Neighbourhood Regeneration team, will outline the Council’s regeneration areas and its major plans to deliver growth within Enfield.

Tuesday 20 January 2015 (at Southgate Beaumont)Dr Tim Ridge will talk about complementary therapies and the work of the charity, Enfield Centre for Natural Health, which promotes integration of therapies into the NHS.

Tuesday 27 January 2015 (at the Civic Centre)Council Leader Doug Taylor & Andrew Stafford (Cabinet member responsible for finance) and Isabel Brittain (Asst. Finance Director) discuss the Council’s budget proposals for 2015/16 and seek Forum members’ views.

For full details of all meetings see page 15

Promoting employment in EnfieldEnfield Council has a range of projects, including a pop-up university, to

help increase the employment rate in the borough

January/February 2015 Enfield Over 50s

The number of over 50s in Enfield who are long-term unemployed has fallen to its lowest level since March

2009, according to the Labour Market Bulletin for Enfield Local Authority, Sept 2014.While this is obviously good news, unemployment rates in general in Enfield (8.5%) are higher than both the London (7.4%) and the national (6.8%) average. So what is Enfield Council doing to try and increase the number of employed – both among the over 50s and the population in general? The Forum invited Anna Loughlin, Acting Head of Business and Economic Development at Enfield Council, to talk about employment at a recent meeting. She explained that the council has four strategic ambitions:

• Help people to access and sustain employment • Support local businesses to recruit local people• Help people to increase their skills and qualifications to

progress in work• Increase inward investment to the borough and number of

jobs availableOne initiative specifically aimed at the over 50s is the presence of a council officer at our regular Monday morning sessions at the Dugdale Centre (see ad on page 9).“Lorna Clark or one of her colleagues talks to people about their skills, what sort of work they are looking for and what tools they need to get work,” explained Ms Loughlin. “The jobs market is changing all the time and, for instance, the structure and presentation of CVs are very different now than when today’s older people first looked for work.”

Tony Watts, Forum Secretary, pointed out that more and more jobs require people to apply online. “This not only requires the relevant computer skills, it also means that the application will be judged initially on the inclusion of certain buzz words specified for that particular job and people have to understand how to ‘play the game’.”The council has identified certain sectors as having a good potential for growth in the borough, including food manufacturing, health and social care, construction, logistics, biomedical and green projects. Brimsdown is the second largest industrial estate in London after Park Royal.Ms Loughlin says the Council works with a range of organisations, colleges and voluntary groups to help people gain work or become self-employed as well as ensure people stay in work and increase their skills.She is especially excited about the plan to host a pop-up temporary university from April-June 2015 in conjunction with Birkbeck, University of London.“We plan to take over an empty shop in the heart of Enfield Town and run a wide range of activities including taster sessions, evening classes and talks aimed at helping people find ways to improve their skills and experience in both vocational and professional fields.” The project has run very successfully in other boroughs and will require volunteers and helpers to ensure it achieves maximum impact, so watch out for further publicity about it. Ms Loughlin also suggested that people could visit: www.tradingtimes.org.uk which seeks to link experienced older people to local job opportunities.

PLEASE NOTE The Forum’s Office will be closed from 4pm Friday 19 December and will reopen on Monday 5 January

2015.

Happy New Year to all our

Readers.

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Jan’s Journal January/February 2015 Enfield Over 50s

Feed the Children - Tanzania

November seems a long way off now but the presentation given by David Smith at our Millfield meeting was memorable. A few years

back, David, a former film maker, was invited at the age of 60, to set up a branch of Feed the Children in Tanzania.

Tanzania, a fantastically beautiful country, home to Mount Kilimanjaro, is also one of the poorest parts of Africa. Sadly 2.5 million Tanzania children under the age of 5 are malnourished, over 1 million are HIV positive and 65,000 babies are born HIV positive. Schoolchildren are equally badly affected with 45% anaemic and 30% deficient in vitamin A leading to

blindness and ultimately death.

Against this backdrop, David described a community of easy going people; Christians and Muslims living side by side and extremely well behaved, hard-working children with a joy for living. David’s team provided food for schoolchildren on a participatory model, meaning that parents and volunteers ran the programme and children were charged a small amount for the food.

They also addressed some health issues – in particular getting free medication for worms. They also provided some sports equipment and facilities for disabled children.

Where schools had land they were encouraged to grow crops, providing them not only with food but with a small income from the surplus. By the time David moved on after three years, 37,000 children were being provided with school food and due to the participatory model, the volunteers were able to continue running the programme after David left. An inspiration to us all.

( A full report on David’s presentation is available from the Forum Office – 0208 807 2076).

Altered Harmonies’ playing at Millfield Theatre’s bar and kitchen area on Friday 14th November 2014

Happy New Year to all our members.All that JazzThe autumn of 2014 was a jazzed up time for the Forum, with three separate performances from Altered Harmonies (previously JR Jazz) – two at Millfield Theatre’s Bar and Kitchen area and the third at our Jazz and Jacket event in November. The band played mellow jazz, latin rhythms with a touch of funk and gospel, all adding up to hours of relaxed enjoyment for our members. Thanks to them and to the 75 members who attended.

Feeling the cold this Winter?We will be holding a Forum Winter Fair on Friday 20 February at Enfield County School for Girls in the main Hall. It is all about Information, Advice and Activities. Come along to find out more about the wide range of groups and Forum affiliated associations in Enfield.

Find out about ways of keeping yourself and your house warm in winter. Attend a workshop to help you maximise your income or to learn about dealing with depression and other health issues. See the ad on page 7 for more details. This is a follow up to the Older Peoples International Day held at the Arts Zone in Edmonton. Again the event is being sponsored by British Gas and Enfield Community Action Partnership you will be able to learn more about their Free loft and cavity wall insulation on offer for all.

Don’t forget to ring the office to put your name down for a programme.

Jan OliverOffice and Development Manager

WEA New Year highlight

Saturday January 31, 2015, 10am-12.15 ‘Here’s Looking at You, Kid’

Celebrating the 100th birthday of Ingrid Bergman with a review of her greatest films from Intermezzo to Autumn Sonata, Hitchock to Rossellini, For Whom The Bell Tolls to Murder on the Orient Express …

An illustrated talk by Ruth Tosha Mulandi Enfield Baptist Church, Cecil Road, Enfield Town

Refreshments will be served.Contact: Norma Chapman, 0208 882 0615 or Shirley Sandford,

0208 882 0207. Tickets £8Workers’ Educational Association, Enfield and Southgate Branch

Rural housing in Tansania

www.feedthechildren.org/country/tanzania/Staying healthy in winter event

VOLUNTEERS FOR NORTH MIDDLESEX LEAGUE OF FRIENDS NEW SHOP

The League of Friends at North Middlesex Hospital are opening a new shop on the ground floor selling all kinds of bric a brac etc to raise money for the hospital. We are looking for volunteers for 3/4 hours a day. Couples are welcome to apply. Some retail experience could be useful but not essential.

If you are interested and would like to start the application process please contact, Jean Chappell

email [email protected] Tuesday and Thursday 9.30am to 3.30pm.”

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Make 2015 a year to remember January/February 2015 Enfield Over 50s

You’ll know the old saying: ‘Another day; another dollar’. Well, here we are entering 2015 and I reckon the same can be said of another new year. A fresh start, another set of opportunities and challenges – and some old ones too that still need to be dealt with.

We moved into Enfield back in 1962 the same year as American country singer Wynn Stewart released his single: ‘Another

day, another dollar; that’s what I’m working for today. Another day, another dollar; sure can’t buy my blues away’.So the start of another New Year is a good time for me to reflect on these last 52 years in Enfield and, more importantly, to think about what lies ahead for our children, grandchildren and even great grandchildren – and similar thoughts, I’ve no doubt, will be crossing the minds of us all at this special time of year.In just over four months time we’ll be having a general election and I’d like to think it will set the agenda for the next decade or more, so making this a year to remember. An election year that will set the scene for the kind of country we want our offspring to grow up in and enjoy, just as so many of my generation have experienced. Full employment, pay rises every year, the chance of owning your own house – contrast this with the prospects facing many young people and young families today. Imagine what it must feel like working on a zero hours contract, not knowing how much income you will have this week, next week. No sick pay, no holiday pay, no company pension to look forward to.A recent survey by the insurer LV revealed that young people expect to have as many as nine jobs over their working life – twice as many as their grandparents. The ‘jobs for life’ concept has become virtually extinct – and they can expect to work well into their 70s.The Trades Union Congress claims that only one in every 40 new jobs created since the recession began over five years ago is for a full-time employee – most new jobs have been part-time or for the self-employed. While the older generation bemoan the low income currently earned from our savings, young families fear an increase in the very same interest rates would see them struggle with mortgage payments.I suppose there have always been scandals to rock our confidence, but I can’t recall the Daily Mail ever running a front page headline like ‘Why aren’t these crooked bankers in jail’ when the Financial Conduct Authority merely fined five banks £2.6 billion for driving down the value of the pound against the dollar and rigging the foreign exchange market against not just the big multinationals, but the likes of you and me.

What message does this send out to the next generation struggling to make headway? Do you think we have got our priorities right when we are supposed to have cleaned up the banks after they needed £150 billion of taxpayers’ money from across the world to keep them afloat, while people endured six years of economic recession and austerity? Just when we thought we were on the road to recovery, the warning lights are said to be flashing again on the global economic dashboard and the Financial Times in its main editorial on 11 November said: ‘None of the major parties has come close to setting out an answer to Britain’s fiscal dilemma. At the very least, they should come clean with voters about the nature of the questions that need answering’.

So, if 2015 is really going to be a landmark year – an agenda setting year for the next generation – I’d ask the next government whether they can ignore the largely unreported findings of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change that the world has just 16 years to avoid a carbon emissions calamity. Now, in case you feel I’m straying into forbidden territory, can I say that from the day we became the Over 50s Forum we’ve always said we are ‘non-party political’ – not ‘non-political’.

The difference is that as a Forum we do not support any one political party, but we reserve the right to comment on matters that are deemed to be political, because it is politicians and governments that make the policies we are concerned with. Whether this be on pensions, or the health service, or universal benefits such as the bus pass and winter fuel allowances, free prescription charges and free TV licences for the over 75s.

And it is local government – our councillors – that decide on a vast array of services in Enfield ranging from care for the elderly and people with disabilities and mental health problems, to libraries and leisure centres; from housing the homeless to repairing roads and footpaths – all matters of concern to the older people we seek to represent.

Elsewhere in this Newsletter you will see how we have had a very friendly and productive dialogue with Enfield’s three MPs and we are now having the same discussion with the council on its 2015-16 budget. All of them regard the Forum as an important non-party political voice of older people in this borough and so I hope this understanding will continue during the years ahead, because there is still so much to do if our hopes that the next generation will do better than us is going to be achieved.

Monty Meth

Altered Harmonies’ playing at Millfield Theatre’s bar and kitchen area on Friday 14th November 2014

Council cuts are coming– But where and when?

Having saved £75 million in the last four years (during which there has been no increase in council tax), Enfield Council, faced with a 25% cut in government grants, now has to make cuts of another £80million in the next four years.

You can have your say at the special budget consultation with Council leaders and the Forum. Tuesday 27 January 10am at the Civic Centre, Silver Street with Council leader Doug Taylor, Doug Stafford, Cabinet member for finance and Isabel Brittain, assistant director of finance.

This is the chance to have your say on the 2015/16 council budget

Enfield Over 50s ForumREGGAE DANCE NIGHT

FRIDAY 23RD JANUARY 8.00 – 10.30pmAt All Saints Church Hall, Church Street, Edmonton, N9 9AT

COME ALONG AND DANCE OFF THAT CHRISTMAS STODGE!!!Tickets £3 – please bring your own alcohol. Soft drinks provided.Telephone the Forum Office 020 8807 2076 to book your ticket.

The last reggae evening was a sell-out so early booking is advisable rather than being disappointed on the door.

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We have always argued that the State retirement pension is a right earned after a lifetime of work, paying

national insurance and income tax – and not a welfare benefit paid at the discretion of government whatever its political complexion.So it was good to see the Daily Telegraph reporting (29 October 2014) Minister of Pensions Steve Webb as saying that people earn their state pension throughout their working lives by paying their national insurance contributions and feel “stigmatised” by the idea they are claiming benefits.The Daily Telegraph said that the Department of Work and Pensions has conceded that it needs to consider the “tone and wording” it uses when discussing the state pension. It suggested that in future it would stop referring to the state pension as a benefit in documents.The state pension is something that elderly people feel they have “built up entitlement to” by working, the Government admitted in a report. Mr Webb went on to say: “The law refers to the state pension as a benefit and has done so since the war. As our research shows it drives pensioners up the wall if you talk about claiming a benefit rather than the state pension.“Absolutely rightly, it is yours by right, you have paid your national insurance contributions. There’s a certain amount of stigma about claiming benefits. When people draw their state pension that’s NOT how they think of it.”

Pension rises in AprilThanks to the triple lock, if you qualify for the full basic state retirement pension you’ll be £2.85 a week better off come April 2015. Based on the inflation figure in September 2014, which showed a Consumer Prices Index (CPI) rate of 1.2%, earnings increased by just 0.9% which means April’s rise will be linked to 2.5% (the guaranteed minimum put in place under the triple lock).

State pension is a right – not a benefitThe Department of Work and Pensions concedes that it needs to consider the

tone and wording it uses when referring to the state pension

While this produces a £2.85 a week increase on a full state pension, it will be £1.75 for many women who receive a pension based on their husband’s contributions. The state second pension and many occupational pension schemes will also only go up in 2015 by the CPI figure – not by 2.3% if the Retail Prices Index (RPI) had not been scrapped by the government. Figures from the Office for National Statistics show that the average wage for full-time staff went up in the last financial year to £518 a week – just £1 more than in 2012/13. After allowing for inflation, real-term earnings fell by 1.6%.

That 25p ‘bonus’ at 80The derisory extra 25p a week now paid to pensioners on reaching the age of 80 will not be paid to people reaching state pension age on 6 April 2016 or later and so qualifying for the new single tier pension.

Existing pensioners will not get the new deal and will get the same 25p ‘bonus’ introduced in 1971 by the Heath government when the state pension was £6 a week and it has never been increased to keep pace with 43 years’ inflation, although the state pension is now £113.10 a week.

In 1971, that 25p would have bought you ten second class stamps. Now it won’t buy you half the cost of a first class stamp. But while the next generation of pensioners qualify for the much-boosted single tier payment that excludes the 25p, it seems that existing pensioners will get it till they die.

If it had kept pace with rising prices and earnings that 25p would now be worth about £4.80 a week. The Forum has complained to pensions ministers in successive governments for years about their failure to raise the amount in line with inflation, to no avail.

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Forum members joined with the National Pensioners Convention in the lobby to the House of Commons on 5 November and

meetings with our Enfield MPs


Local MPs support universal benefitsThe three local Enfield MPs have pledged support for the principle of universal benefits after meeting

with a delegation of Forum members The principle of universal benefits – benefits paid to all and not means-tested – is one of the essential elements in maintaining living standards for pensioners today and in the future.

“We need to fight now to keep universal benefits such as bus passes, TV licences for over 75s, free prescriptions and the winter fuel payments, as once this principle is lost, future pensioners will never get it back,” says Monty Meth, Forum president.

“Apart from anything else, the cost of administration would outweigh the savings made because there are only a small number of pensioners with incomes high enough to make them ineligible for these universal payments.”

About 20 Forum members travelled to the House of Commons to see our three local MPs in private meeting rooms off the historic Westminster Hall and lobby them about universal benefits – and various other topics. They were there on 5 November 2014, the launch day for a nationwide campaign organised by the National Pensioners Convention.

The group first spoke to Andy Love, MP for Edmonton (Labour) and then to David Burrowes, MP for Enfield Southgate, and Nick De Bois, MP for Enfield North (both Conservative).

Andy Love reassured the delegation that he was committed to supporting the principle of universal benefits despite some support in the Labour Party for taking the winter fuel payment from the 5% most affluent pensioners.“I agreed to pursue all options in Parliament, including lobbying the front bench and the Parliamentary Labour Party to drop the proposal regarding the winter fuel payment and to agree a clear statement of support for the principle of universal benefit,” he stated.

David Burrowes said universal benefits should continue to be protected for pensioners who have worked hard, saved hard and done the right thing. “I am committed to supporting universal benefits for pensioners and will do what I can to make my party’s manifesto clear on this issue.”

NPC Pensioners’ Manifesto

The National Pensioners Convention launched its Pensioners’ Manifesto with a packed meeting in a room

in the House of Commons on 5 November.As well as encouraging voters to lobby their MPs about pensioners’ concerns, the NPC has issued a five point manifesto:

• A basic state pension for all set above the poverty level of £175 a week

• Increases in pension be linked to the best of RPI, CPI earnings or 2.5%

• Maintain universal benefits without means-testing• A National Health and Care Service free at the point

of use and funded through general taxation• A legally binding Dignity Code to improve the quality

of care

Nick De Bois said the Chancellor George Osborne’s instincts were not to look at pensioners first when seeking to make savings. “My party pledged at the last election to protect universal benefits for pensioners and that’s exactly happened during this parliament. I have no doubt that this policy should be continued into the next parliament. I hope that it will be once again be a centre piece of the Conservative Party manifesto for the next General Election. I for one will continue to support the case for this policy.”

Forum delegation at Westminster on their way to meet the Borough’s three Members of Parliament

From left: Forum Chair John Ball, Secretary Tony Watts, Andy Love MP and Executive Member Joan Stephenson

Monty Meth, Forum President talking to MPs David Burrowes (left) and Nick De Bois

Jan/Feb 2013 Enfield Over 50s

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Disclaimer: This newsletter is for general information. You are urged to seek competent professional advice before doing anything based on its contents. The Forum takes no responsibility for any of the services provided by any advertisement in this newsletter.


Solicitor Michael Stennett tells us:What you need to know about care home feesA number of clients have come to us worried about their own care needs or those of their loved ones. How to ensure that there is enough to cover care and some left for beneficiaries tends to be the biggest concerns.

Here is a list of the issues that need to be considered:

1. Do you have a will and if so, is it up to date? Does the will cover the possibility of either you or a beneficiary needing care in the future?

2. Do you have a power of attorney allowing someone you trust to manage your affairs should you need care? If you do not it is more difficult for someone to be your advocate when you need help.

3. If you are funding your own care, have you considered applying to the Local Authority for a financial assessment? It costs nothing and you may be paying for your care when you should not be. It is not uncommon for Local Authorities to incorrectly calculate the value of assets.

4. Do you or someone you know have a nursing health need that is complex, intense or unpredictable? If so, the full cost of the care should be met by the NHS. It costs nothing to ask the NHS to carry out a continuing healthcare assessment.

5. Are your savings and deposits getting government protection through the Financial Services Compensation Scheme, so no money is vulnerable in the event of another Credit Crunch?

6. Are you minimising the amount of tax that needs paying? With care costs running at around £45,000 to £60,000 a year in the South East a lot of tax can be paid unnecessarily on the costs. This means you may need another £15,000-£20,000 to pay the taxman if you haven’t planned carefully.

7. Again with regards to your savings, are you getting the best rates of return on your money? Even if this is simply a few percentage points per annum, by utilising 3-5 year deposits it will protect the money from fees and inflation.

8. Look at a Care Needs Annuity? Not appropriate in all cases, but it should be considered in many. For a fixed amount of money this will guarantee to produce an amount up to the full care fees tax free. In many cases this isn’t suitable but it can be a good value option to protect the rest of the family’s assets.

Most important seek professional advice at an early stage so you have the correct information to make an informed choice.

At Stennett Solicitors we specialise in care fees advice. We hold a free advice clinic on the first Wednesday in every month at our office in Southgate.

For more information call Michael Stennett on 020 8920 3190.

Winter DeathsDespite last winter being exceptionally mild - the average

temperature was nearly double the norm - 15,900 people aged 65 and over - out of a total 18, 200 - still died unnecessarily because they lived in cold homes and suffered from a cold-related illness such as the ’flu, heart attacks and strokes.

Although the 2013/14 “excess winter deaths” figures for England and Wales released on November 28 were 42% lower than the previous winter it still means that over the last ten years a staggering quarter of a million older people have died from the cold. It is estimated that some 8,000 people die from flu related illnesses, so remember you can get the flu jab from your GP until January 28.

While we won’t know last winter’s Enfield figures for another year, we do know that in the 2012/13 winter, 150 older people in the Borough died from cold-related illnesses and in the 2011/12 winter 170 over 65s died.

The Forum’s Winter Fair on February 20 following our October Beat the Winter Cold - Beat the Winter Flu event are part of our constant campaign to cut many winter deaths that are avoidable.

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Raffle Prizes wanted: Raffle prizes are a small but important part of the Forum’s income. So when you have a New Year sort

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Which? reports on hearing aids: They’re free from the NHS while the private sector

charges £500 to over £5,000

A lack of price transparency in the hearing care market means many people buying hearing aids are not sure what

constitutes a fair price, says consumer watchdog Which?.

It found the average cost paid by people they surveyed was £2,523.The consumer’s champion says there are big differences between private providers and there is some evidence of upselling – people being encouraged to buy more expensive aids – and there’s a general gripe that people aren’t sure what they should be paying.

Which? ran a survey among 1,215 of its members and found that Hidden Hearing had a customer score of 62%, Specsavers 68%, Amplifon 69%, Boots 79% and local independents 84%.

Although the majority of Which? members have NHS hearing aids their survey did not cover the NHS audiology services such as those at Chase Farm Hospital which provides free high-tech digital hearing aids manufactured by Siemens.

The cheapest private hearing aids, says Which?, came from Specsavers at £1, 560 and the dearest supplier was Hidden Hearing at £3,228, although Which? claims it heard of prices being as high as £14,000!!

Which? estimates there are 4 million people in the UK needing a hearing aid but don’t know it – and those who are losing their hearing typically wait ten years before seeking help. So if you often ask your spouse or partner to turn up the telly or radio, ask people to repeat what they saying, think other people are mumbling, have trouble hearing on the telephone, find conversation difficult to have in a restaurant – you may well be losing your hearing.

All you need do is see your GP and a simple test will check if it’s wax in the ears or an ear infection. More likely if the GP thinks you are losing your hearing, you’ll need a hearing test and you can ask to be referred to Chase Farm where satisfaction among users is in our experience higher than with any private sector supplier.

Louise Overton, an independent audiologist writing in Which? says: “The longer you leave your hearing problem before you do anything, the harder it is for your brain to adjust…..…the good news though is that good technology can really enhance your hearing.”

Enfield Over 50s ForumWinter Fair

Friday 20 FebruaryAt Enfield County Upper School, Holly Walk,

EN2 6QG(Opposite the Civic Centre)

• Advice on keeping warm• Clubs and hobbies in Enfield• Advice on health issues and moderate

depression• Maximize your income (CAB advisor)• Advice to keep you safe at home• Exercise sessions• Bring your laptop, tablet or phone for

an IT drop-in advice• Dancing, keep fit, art and floristry

workshops Please ring the office for a programme

Free lunch for those attendingTel: 020 8807 2076

or email [email protected] by British Gas and the Enfield

Community Action Partnership

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Prescription medicines – cutting the wasteDr Mo Abedi, Chair of NHS Enfield Clinical Commissioning Group, explains how we can all help to reduce the problem of wasted or unused medicines

Wasted or unused medicine is a serious and growing problem within the NHS. In Enfield alone, it is estimated

that well over £500,000 each year is wasted on medicines which are either not being taken properly or over ordered and stockpiled. On an individual basis this may not seem significant, the odd wasted packet of paracetamol, cholesterol tablets, tub of cream or inhalers, but collectively this all adds up very quickly. Even if medicines have not been opened, the law requires that once they have been prescribed and dispensed, they cannot be recycled and used for anyone else. This means that any medicines returned to GPs, hospitals and pharmacies have to be destroyed.There are bags full of wasted, returned, expired and unused medicines being kept towards the back of our local pharmacies, waiting to be destroyed.One of the big problems is repeat prescriptions, which are ordered and collected by patients but then not used. Think carefully before ticking all the boxes on your repeat prescription forms and tick only those for medication you are running low on. Wasted medicines means wasted money. There are small changes you can make to help reduce the amount of medicine being wasted by following these practical and easy steps: • Check your medicines cabinet and order only what you

need.• Make sure you understand exactly why and how to

take your medicines properly. Many pharmacies offer a Medicines Review Service, which gives you a chance to discuss your medicines and any concerns you may have, with your local pharmacist in a confidential environment. Ask your GP, nurse or local pharmacist for more information – they are here to help.

• Do not request antibiotics for coughs and colds as they don’t work. Use over-the-counter medications instead.

• Make sure that if you are prescribed antibiotics that you finish the course and don’t stop them when you feel better or try to save them for next time.

• To get the best from your prescribed medicines, take them as prescribed. Give any recommended changes made by your GP to your medicines a try - especially when they really do work in the same way.

• Return unwanted, expired or unused medicines to your local pharmacy so that they can be destroyed safely. Never throw away medicine in the bin, burn it or flush it down the toilet, as this can harm the environment. Ensure that you keep medicines well out of the sight and reach of children at home.

Unused medicines are a waste of NHS resources, so with New Year 2015 here, this is an ideal opportunity for us all to take action and order only the medication needed.

Dr Mo Abedi is a GP at East Enfield Medical Practice and Brick Lane Surgery and also the Chair of NHS Enfield Clinical Commissioning Group.

Value your local pharmacyEnfield residents are being approached by a private company

based in Leeds called Pharmacy2U offering to supply their prescription medicines without leaving home. Sounds inviting: you don’t have to go out in the cold weather, find a spot to park the car or, in some cases, wait for a bus.

Local pharmacies tell us that many older people receiving these unsolicited, personally addressed letters, are confused into thinking the mailshot is being sent out by their surgeries (which are named) or by that pharmacist. And some who have signed are now trying to rescind it.

So who are these faceless people offering this supposedly new service? How did they obtain our names and addresses and the names of our surgeries? Who sold them this information that is an invasion of our privacy?

The local NHS Clinical Commissioning Group denies all knowledge and surgeries tell us that they would not divulge the information which would breach the Data Protection Act. Perhaps one of Enfield’s three MPs can help us find the answer.

Pharmacy2U tell us we’ve nothing to lose except our trips to the surgery and chemist, but this is precisely the personal contact we value and need to retain – and improve, not end. Pharmacy2U claims to be an approved provider of NHS prescription medicines serving “hundreds of thousands of people in the UK”. But it undercuts the work of our local pharmacists whom we can approach at any time for advice, and it undermines the regular check-up we all ought to have with our GPs.

They offer to have a detailed chat about your medication, but you’ll have to make and pay for a costly phone call to Leeds. The Electronic Prescription Service between GPs and pharmacies already operates in Enfield, so there’s no advantage in dealing with Pharmacy2U in Leeds.

Pharmacy2U say they deliver your medicines free to your address, but what happens if you are out and the package is too large to go in the letter box? You’ll still have to collect it from the postal sorting office. And what happens if they dispense the wrong prescription – mistakes do happen.

So who gains from this “no hassle, no fuss” service other than Pharmacy2U increasing its profits at the expense of pharmacies that you can visit for much more than your medication and which you can call on when you don’t need to see the GP.

Your pharmacy is a vital part of the lifeblood of the local community. One pharmacist told us that prescription medicines generates some 75% of his business – lose that and there’ll be more shops boarded up in Enfield.

That’s why we say: Don’t sign up.

Enfield Borough Over 50s ForumMillfield House, Silver St, Edmonton, N18 1PJ

Tel: 020 8807 2076email:[email protected]

Secretary: Tony WattsDevelopment & Office Manager: Jan OliverAdmin Assistants: Diane Barron & Liz DelbarreOffice hours: Mon-Friday 9.30am - 4pm

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Free confidential advice

l An adviser from solicitors Stennett & Stennettl CAB adviser Loraine Hopwood on benefits, debts etc l Tax adviser Jeff Rodin (12 January)

l LBE advice on council tax, housing benefit, pensions l Jobs adviser Lorna Clarkl Health trainers advice on lifestyle

Visit the Dugdale Centre (corner of London and Cecil Roads, Enfield Town)Every Monday 10am to 12 noon

An Enfield Over 50s Forum initiative in partnership with Enfield Council.

l Screening for hearing tests 1st Monday of the month – no booking necessary.Please note: The advice service will resume on Monday January 5 and is available every Monday except bank holidays.

Always look on the bright side of life January/February 2015 Enfield Over 50s

Interview Hattie Mae MacDonald of Feague, Kentucky, was interviewed on her 101st birthday by the local radio station. It went like this: Reporter: Can you give us some health tips for reaching the age of 101?Hattie: For better digestion, I drink beer. In the case of appetite loss, I drink white wine. For low blood pressure, I drink red wine. In the case of high blood pressure, I drink scotch. And when I have a cold, I drink Schnapps.Reporter: When do you drink water? Hattie: I’ve never been that sick.

Don’t take chancesA man and a woman were having a quiet, romantic dinner in a fine restaurant. They were gazing lovingly at each other and were holding hands.The waitress, taking another order at a table a few steps away, suddenly noticed the woman slowly sliding down her chair and under the table - but the man stared straight ahead.The waitress, thinking this behaviour a bit risque and worried that it might offend other diners, went over to the table and, tactfully, began by saying to the man “Pardon me, sir, but I think your wife just slid under the table.”The man calmly looked up at her and said, “No, she didn’t. She just walked in.”

From the mouths of babesThis is a story about the bond formed between a little girl and a group of building workers. It’s allegedly true and might help to confirm your belief in the goodness of people and that there is hope for the human race after all.A young family moved into a house next door to an empty plot. One day, a gang of building workers turned up to start building on the plot. The family’s 5-year-old daughter naturally took an interest in all the activity going on next door and started talking to the workers.She hung around and eventually the builders, all with hearts of gold, more or less adopted the little girl as a sort of project mascot. They chatted with her, let her sit with them while they had tea and lunch breaks, and gave her little jobs to do to make her feel important.They even gave the child her own hard hat and gloves, which thrilled her immensely.At the end of the first week, the smiling builders presented her with a pay envelope - containing two pounds in 10p coins. The little girl took her ‘pay’ home to her mother who suggested that they take the money to the bank to open a savings account.At the bank, the female cashier was tickled pink listening to the little girl telling her about her ‘work’ on the building site and that she had a ‘pay packet’.‘You must have worked very hard to earn all this’, said the cashier.The little girl proudly replied, ‘Yes, I worked every day with Steve and Wayne and Mike. We’re building a big house.’ ’My goodness gracious,’ said the cashier, ‘And will you be working on the house again next week?’The child thought for a moment. Then she said seriously: “I think so, provided those wankers at Thompsons deliver the bleedin’ bricks on time.’

Another child’s eye viewMy young grandson was attending his first wedding. When his Mum asked him how many girls can a man marry, he said 16. “How do you come by that,” asks Mum. “Easy”, said the little lad.. “All I did was add up what the vicar said; 4 better 4 worse; 4 richer 4 poorer.”

And anotherTeacher: ‘Now tell me Simon, do you say a prayer before eating?’ Simon: ‘No sir, I don’t have to, my Mum is a good cook.’

Things people say“Old songwriters don’t die, they just de-compose” says Herbert Kretzmer,who wrote the lyrics of the world’s most successful musical, Les Miserables.

“What is our task.? To make Britain a fit country for heroes to live in.” – David Lloyd George, from a speech reported in The Times (1918)

“Politics is perhaps the only profession for which no preparation is thought necessary” – Robert Louis Stevenson (1882)

Questions that haunt meWhy does a round pizza come in a square box? What disease did cured ham actually have? How is it that we put a man on the moon before we figured out it would be a good idea to put wheels on luggage? Why is it that people say they ‘slept like a baby’ when babies wake up every two hours or so? Why are actors IN a movie, but you’re ON TV?Why do people pay to go up tall buildings and then put money in binoculars to look at things on the ground?If Jimmy cracks corn and no one cares, why is there a stupid song about him? If corn oil is made from corn, and vegetable oil is made from vegetables, what is baby oil made from?Why does someone believe you when you say there are four billion stars, but check when you say the paint is wet?Why does Superman stop bullets with his chest, but ducks when you throw a revolver at him?If people evolved from apes, why are there still apes?Why is it that no matter what colour bubble bath you use the bubbles are always white?Why do people constantly return to the refrigerator with hopes that something new to eat will have materialised?Why is it that no plastic bag will open from the end on your first try?Why is it that whenever you attempt to catch something that’s falling off the table you always manage to knock something else over? In winter why do we try to keep the house as warm as it was in summer when we complained about the heat?How come you never hear father-in-law jokes?

Now send this on to your friends and make them smile too!

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Random round-upMen shun housework - is this you?The majority of men still shirk from doing the housework. They are four times more likely not to have done any cleaning in the past month, leaving the women to do the ironing, clean the toilet, clear the fridge etc.A survey by Housekeep, a cleaning agency, said that men are more likely to be blinkered about what needs to be done. They are happy to take out the rubblish, and cut the grass, but are more reluctant to put on a pair of Marigold gloves. Sixty-six per cent of women said that tackling a grimy oven was their most disliked job and 47% hated doing the ironing.

But chores may cut Parkinson’sAn hour’s housework every day could reduce the risk of becoming a victim of Parkinson’s disease by 43%, according to Swedish scientists. They claimed it lowered the risk compared with people who did less than two hours housework a week. The findings come from a study of 43,368 people over 12 years and was published in Brain, a journal of neurology.

Road sign is discriminatoryYou know that road sign depicting a hunched old couple clutching a walking stick to warn drivers there’s old people about. Well, the government is being asked to change it because it could be putting employers off offering jobs to older people.So says the newly-appointed business champion for Older People, Ros Altmann, who wants to see the over 50s offered “returnships” to begin a new career, just as younger people are offered “internships.”

Taster SessionsHave you always wanted to try a new hobby or

learn a new skill but don’t know where to start? Or even if you’d like it?

You can check out our list of affiliated groups – and visit their stands at our Winter Fair on February 20 (see details advertised on page 7).Or you can contact us with suggestions for ‘taster sessions’. Whether you want to try something new – or have a skill/hobby to share, let us know.It could be poker or bridge; making cup cakes or children’s toys; playing golf or walking football; mastering wildlife photography or writing short stories; using Twitter or a power drill. The list is endless.

Contact the office and we’ll see what we can set up. Tel: 020 8807 2076 or Email: [email protected]

The government’s publication Fuller Working Lives – A Framework For Action sets out the benefits to individuals, business and the

economy as a whole of people aged over 50 staying in work.Steve Webb, Minister of State for Pensions, and Esther McVey, Minister of State for Employment, launched the document saying: “It’s time to change the conversation about extending working life from one about working ‘until you drop’, to one about a fuller working life, that means working as long as is necessary to create the future you want. The business case is compelling, and this document sets it out clearly for individuals, employers and the State.”There are currently around 2.9 million people aged between 50 and state pension age out of work in the UK. While the UK employment rate for this age group is around 60% and growing, many other countries achieve rates of around 70% or higher – so there is clearly significant potential for more older people to participate in the labour market for longer.The document explains that, on average, men leave the labour market earlier now than they did in the 1950s and 1960s, and often this is not a planned early retirement, but people forced out of work by circumstances beyond their control.Of the 2.9 million people aged 50 to state pension age who are out of work, only 0.7 million see themselves as ‘retired’, yet 1.7 million think it is unlikely that they will ever work again; and more than half of men and women have already stopped working before they reach State Pension age. Many of these are sick or disabled, caring for loved ones, or have given up looking for work after losing a job. This early exit from the labour market can have serious implications for the health, wellbeing and incomes of individuals and comes at a significant cost to the economy, business and society as a whole.

Living standards fallLeaving work before state pension age makes it much more difficult to maintain living standards into retirement. A third of people who stopped work aged 50 to state pension age between 2008 and 2010

saw their overall household income immediately drop by more than half. There is also a loss of potential workplace pension income, because those leaving the labour market early stop paying in, and their former employer stops contributing too.Furthermore, there is evidence that work is generally good for physical and mental health and well-being. Research suggests that unplanned early labour market exit can be harmful to overall well-being, particularly where there is less social interaction in retirement.

Not taking jobs from younger peopleThe document also addresses the widespread belief that increasing the employment of older people would limit opportunities for younger people. “There is a broad span of evidence to suggest that this is not the case. “In fact, the evidence from a number of countries suggests the contrary, that increasing employment rates amongst older workers does not lead to fewer jobs for younger workers, and increases the total size of the workforce.”

Employers losing skillsRedundancy can often lead to early labour market exit. Around a quarter of economically inactive people aged 50 and over were made redundant from their last job. Older people are not significantly more likely than younger people to be made redundant, but they are much less likely to find work again afterwards. Evidence suggests that employers who fail to retain their older workers are losing important skills from their workforce, and the premature loss of older workers can lead to loss of output and higher recruitment costs for employers. Despite some outdated stereotypes there is no systematic evidence that older workers are less productive than younger workers.Effective back-to-work support is crucial to ensure that older jobseekers are able to get back into work quickly and avoid becoming long-term unemployed, or economically inactive.

Helping over 50s who want/need to work The government has recognised the benefits to both older people and to society in general of supporting those over 50s

who wish to work

Older Persons’ Jobs DayAs we reported in the last issue, Enfield MPs Nick de Bois and David Burrowes have set up an online jobs forum for the over 50s in the borough. It is running a Jobs Forum Day on Thursday 26 February at Southbury Leisure Centre. For more information visit www.eo50s.com

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2015: Here we comeHaving now stabilised the Forum as a vibrant go-ahead

organisation with well over 5,500 subscribing members, we are now ready to face the new year with a strong and efficient organisation, determined to continue to serve the ever-growing numbers of over 50s in the boroughThe Romans, I’m told, began each year making a list of promises – that’s how the traditional New Year Resolution were born – one of which was always to pay their debts so that they could live a simple, sincere and serene life.Well, I’m delighted to say we have no debts. We’re financially solvent and strong.Over the past eleven months we have averaged 125 new members every month and this figure does not include those members who let their membership lapse for a year or two and have now returned. We have welcomed ten new groups as Forum affiliates who have joined us this year. At the same time we have been very sorry to have lost some notable members who have given so much time to the Forum. Some have moved on to pastures new although some have kept their membership so as to receive our well loved newsletter.I’d like to think that this is further evidence of the Forum’s value in helping to make each of us feel we are not on our own; that we each support one another with help, advice, and information whenever it is needed. There are still far too many people living on their own who would have a better life if they were befriended by the Forum - like the lady we heard about aged just 70 who won’t go out and won’t even answer the door.Thanks to our energetic social committee, I think there is something for everyone to be found in this newsletter and for a fee of just £8 a year for individuals and £12 for couples. £20 for affiliated groups you can come along with us. And if you feel there’s a gap in what we offer, then there’s a special place for you in the Forum.Anyone who joins the Forum between now and the start of our membership year which runs from April 1 to March 31 will not have to renew their membership until March 31 2016 - 15 months for the price of 12. And we are more than happy to welcome you as a life member for £100 and £150 for couples’ life membership – but I have to remind you that the discounts at the leisure centres we have negotiated do not apply if you live outside Enfield borough.

Joyce PullenMembership Secretary

New system for inspection of care homes

The Care Quality Commission (CQC) has reformed the way it regulates, inspects and monitors care homes

The Care Quality Commission has recognised that specialisation brings about better results and so has split its inspectorate into

three teams: adult social care, hospitals, doctors and dentists.

David Hastings, part of the adult social care inspectorate team in Enfield, gave a presentation about the inspection of care homes to a lively meeting of Forum members at the Civic Centre in November.

He explained that the new approach was developed in response to the results of consulting a wide range of people, including patients, residents of care homes, their family and friends as well as health professionals and providers of care services.

The CQC describes its role as: “We monitor, inspect and regulate services to make sure they meet fundamental standards of quality and safety and we publish what we find, including performance ratings to help people choose care.”

All adult social care services are required to register and to be subject to both ‘intelligent monitoring’ and ‘expert inspections’. “We ask five questions which add up to the ‘Mum’s test’ –

• Is it safe? • Is it effective? • Is it responsive to people’s

needs? • Is it well-led? • Is it caring?

And this adds up to: Is it good enough for my Mum?” David said.

The assessments now include much more sharing of information with external partners, such as local councils, charities and Healthwatch, and also calls more on specialist advisors and ‘experts by experience’ - for instance people with relatives in care homes. The care facilities and services are then given one of four ratings: outstanding, good, requires improvement or inadequate. In the past, the home would simply be compliant or non-compliant with the regulations.

“So we now give people a lot more information which they can use to assess whether a care home is suitable for them or their relative,” explained David. The programme is still being rolled out and it will be March 2016 before all special care services have one of the new ratings.

The audience raised a number of questions, including the issue of care homes being on best behaviour when the inspector calls. David explained that the CQC now does unannounced inspections, but he emphasized that the CQC encourages confidential feedback from staff, residents and family/friends.

People can call 03000 616161 or use the ‘Share Your Experience’link on the commission’s website www.cqc.org.uk

At the CQC Board Meeting on 19 November 2014 chief executive David Behan stated that CQC has a problem in recruiting sufficient inspectors and analysts to carry out the required programme of inspection activity.

However in Enfield the situation is relatively good. The social adult care inspection team has six full-timers and one part-time person and is recruiting to bring it up to the specified team of eight. They cover the 88 general residential homes, 13 homes which provide nursing care and the domiciliary care agencies.

CQC’s David Hastings being questioned by Monty Meth


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Make a healthy start in 2015

Why not make the start to 2015 a really healthy one and choose the Fusion Over 50s activity days available at all

Fusion-managed leisure centres in Enfield.

Activities include swimming, gym session, exercise classes, badminton, short matt bowls and much more. It is a great way to meet new people and make new friends over tea or coffee or lunch if you opt to stay for an all day session.

We have also introduced a brand new session at Southbury so you can now take part on the following days from 9.30am-3.30pm:

Monday - Edmonton Leisure CentreTuesday - Southgate Leisure CentreTuesday & Wednesday - Southbury Leisure CentreThursday - Albany Leisure Centre

As well as running the Activity Days, Fusion Lifestyle offers discounts for Forum members attending the centres at any time. Forum members purchasing the Fusion concession card will pay £7.50 for the year – a great saving of £13.50 on the concession card paid by non-Forum members.

To obtain this concession you must produce a valid Forum membership card and must be a resident of the London Borough of Enfield.

With the concession card, you get half price sessions so swimming costs just £2; gym sessions £3.85; various classes (yoga, pilates etc.) £3.85; sauna & steam session £3.85. Over 50s activity day just £3.80.

Fusion also offers a range of other discounts and special offers for off-peak times.

Visit or call one of the centres. www.fusion-lifestyle.com/contracts/Enfield_Council/Centres

Snowtime SpringtimeThe snow lies thinly on the groundAnd all you hear is a muffled soundThe barely covered branches swayTowards a sky that’s dull and grey.Where once the river gently flowedLooks now just like a snow clad roadThrough the snow and grass are peepingDaffodils that once were sleepingSpreading word both far and near“Although it’s snowing Spring is here”.Sara Davis

Sara has been a member of the poetry group for a number of years and writes a poem each month. This has inspired her to build her own website with some of her funny poems and pictures.

http://www.picspluspoems.talktalk.net/

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January/February 2015 Enfi eld Over 50s

Happy New Year!

Christmas is gone. Old friends and family have been seen or remembered. New Year

resolutions made and possibly forgotten by the time you read this. The end of Winter is starting to approach and, hopefully, we will be

enjoying the relatively mild weather we had at this time last year.

One very unusual feature of this Christmas was the gyration of prices of Christmas items. For example, large boxes of Quality Street in the local Asda were either £5 or £4, seemingly varying with the day of the week.

Alcoholic drink prices also fl uctuated massively. Is this an attempt to bamboozle the customer or a response to the growing competitive impact of Lidl and Aldi? Either way there were some bargains to be had if you had time to look.

Meanwhile the Forum goes from strength to strength. We are entering the New Year with over 5,500 members. Obviously membership is seen as a bit of a bargain. More members give us more infl uence when campaigning for change and campaigning both at a local and national level is likely to be increasingly important.

With the news in December that despite all the cuts to date the Government still has to borrow around £100bn this fi nancial year, austerity will remain the watchword. Resources will be in desperately short supply both for the local authority and local health service.

One unfortunate effect of the cuts is that care homes are getting ever deeper into the red as councils cut the fees they are willing to pay. Self-funders in care homes are effectively paying a hidden tax as their fees are increased to cover the shortfall caused by Council parsimony.

But self-funders cannot cover the full shortfall, Southern Cross, the then largest care home provider, went belly-up in 2011. The owners of Four Seasons, currently the largest chain, plan to break up the group to make bits saleable.

Our Council will present Budget plans at the Forum’s 27 January meeting at the Civic Centre. This is our chance to have a say in where we think the very limited money should go.

To end on a cheerful note, perhaps, things could be a lot worse. On present trends, both Spain and Germany will lose 10% of their workforce in the next 10 years due to ageing.

Germany will lose nearly 30% of its workforce by the middle of the century. (Figures from “Rising from the Ashes”. International Longevity Centre, Nov 2014). We, the UK, will have a more or less constant workforce until 2060 which is as far as projections go.

It will be far easier for us to face an ageing population than for countries with a declining labour force. Obviously, the solution is for everyone to retire later but we start in a much better position than some other countries.

There is a delicious irony here. Our politicians are getting severely twisted knickers over immigration just at the time when demography is likely to reduce the problem. Germany is likely to once again become desperate for “guest workers”. Who knows, an updated version of ’Auf Wiedersehen Pet’ might be made when the spectacle of Brits working abroad again becomes familiar.

Once more Happy New Year, or, Frohes neues Jahr, if you want to prepare.

John BallChair

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Please note: If you have to cancel your place on a Forum social activity/trip, we will make every attempt to fill your place. If this is not possible you may lose your booking fee/deposit.

Disclaimer: The Enfield Over 50s Forum is not liable for any personal injury/accidents that may occur during any of its activities/events.

SOCIAL CALENDAROur first offerings for 2015 which we hope you will find interesting and exciting. Your Social Committee is always thinking about and searching for new attractive events. As always, if there is something you have a particular interest in organising which you think would be of interest to other members please tell us about it and we will help you make it a reality. You can

contact, me, Irene Richards on 0203 715 0946 or by email [email protected]

WISHING EVERYONE A PEACEFUL NEW YEAR FROM YOUR SOCIAL COMMITTEE!!


Monday 19 January. Buffet lunch. SO GOOD THEY DID IT TWICE! £17 two course buffet lunch and the Myra Terry Duo. 12 noon - 4pm at the NECC Baker Street Enfield EN1 3LD. Near Hop Poles Pub. Buses 191 W8, parking available. Come and enjoy a festive afternoon, delicious food, great music/dancing, and celebrate the New Year with your Forum friends and colleagues. As always, a warm welcome is extended to our newer and unaccompanied members. Phone Jacky Pearce 020 8482 3575. A FEW TICKETS ARE STILL AVAILABLE.

Friday 23 January. Reggae Dance Night. Come along and dance the winter blues away at our 3rd reggae dance night at All Saints Church Hall, Church Street, Edmonton, N9 9AT. Ticket includes some soft drinks. Please bring your own alcohol. Contact the Forum office 020 8807 2076 or email [email protected]

Friday 13 February. Tour of the Globe Theatre. Our visit will begin at 11am with tea/coffee/biscuits on arrival. There will be a tour of the exhibition housed beneath the Globe Theatre: an audio guide will be provided giving additional insights, background and detail to stories of play-going in Shakespeare’s lifetime and today’s Globe Theatre. This will be followed by an Elizabethan dressing demonstration using clothes from the Globe Theatre wardrobe. There will then be a guided tour of the Rose archaeological site and finally a tour of the Globe Theatre. The visit will end around 2.30pm. Please note there will be some walking involved. Cost £20. For further details please contact Jean Mittins on 020 8367 2102 or email [email protected]

Thursday 26 February. Eat out in style!! Lunch with us at 12.30pm at the new Buckle and Vaughan Mediterranean restaurant on the Green in Winchmore Hill. This £12.50 lunch deal includes a glass of wine, beer or soft drink and two courses (to be pre-selected) and tea or coffee to finish. On this occasion, members are welcome to invite a non-member of Forum age but all bookings should be pre-paid. The restaurant is within easy walking distance from the W9, 125 buses and Winchmore Hill train station. For the menu choices and to secure your place, please contact Olivia on 020 8447 8841 or email [email protected].

Monday 20 April. The only way is Essex - take two. Join us for another delightful and informative day out to our neighbouring county of Essex as we explore the coastal town of Maldon and, after lunch, have a two hour guided tour of beautiful, bluebell covered, privately owned and managed Hazeleigh Wood. Coach travel, guide and afternoon tea and cake are included in the very reasonable price of £20 but only 25 places available so contact Olivia for further information by email [email protected] or on 020 8447 8841. This trip is not suitable for anyone with mobility problems.

Tuesday 5 May. Advance notice of a coach trip to Leamington Spa and Kenilworth castle. Cost approximately £18 excluding meals and any entrance fees. Further information will follow in the March/April newsletter so put it in your diary if you are interested.

Thursday 14 May. Visit to the re-vamped William Morris Gallery at Walthamstow. If you fancy this, a few of us are going, meeting at 10.45am in the entrance to the Gallery. Entry is free, it is well laid out so no need for a guide. There is a small tea room, shop and facilities. The Gallery is in Lloyd Park which was restored in 2012 and offers lovely walks and a larger cafe. You could use your Freedom Pass to get there and there are many permutations of

travel depending where in the borough you live. Contact Heather Cole on 020 8363 7286 after Easter if you are interested.

Travel to Cuba and/or India with Olivia There are just 4 places left for both the Cuba and India trips so for details of either/both adventures, contact Olivia on 020 8447 8841 or email [email protected]

March 19 - April 3. Come to Cuba!!! Join us on this very special Travelsphere 16 day escorted trip to the fascinating island of Cuba, with its natural beauty, vibrant culture and incredible history. The neon-green fields of the Vinales Valley, out-of-this-world scenery in the Sierra Maestra Mountains and Guardalavaca’s sunbaked sands are just some of the highlights of this Cuban adventure. This holiday still has places available and costs from £2,519 per person. Contact Olivia for a booking form and further details about excursions, visa and single supplements.

November 5-14. India here we come!!! Beyond the Golden Triangle. Ever more adventurous, how about this 10 day Forum trip in autumn? Sun dappled forests with stalking tigers. Frenetic street bazaars, with sizzling food stalls. Imperial cities, with jewel-studded palaces. Discover India’s intoxicating cultural cocktail on this soul-stirring 10 day tour with Travelsphere. The itinerary is too packed to describe in few words, so contact Olivia for a booking form and for more information. The holiday cost is £1,756 per person. There is a single supplement and a visa is required.

When the East End came to EnfieldWhat a ’Rum tiddly um pum time’ we had at the Wonder Pub in Enfield. Pie, mash and gravy – sorry the pie wasn’t upside down and no green liquor, oh and the mash was politely placed on our plates not the usual straight slab on the side!That apart, the evening was just like we remember with our mums and dads – well me anyway!

Honky Tonk Dave on the piano, Mick on Spoons and Washboard. Members Rena Rowley and Roddy Beare gave us a song or two accompanied by football rattles, hooters, and tin can drums to name but a few. Plenty of knees on show by Mother Brown.Just a wonderful evening thanks to Janka, Vit and our fabulous members.

‘We WILL meet again’ Jacky Pearce

15


Woodwork Group The Woodwork Group members are busy working away on their projects along with the usual items brought in from home for repairs. One of the group, Martin Janu, has just finished a seat for his hallway and other items underway are Hop up (for the kitchen), jewellery box, children’s games, plant stands and a full size candy cart. (See photos in next issue).For further information on the group, contact John Lombard on 0208 367 5921

Poetry Group The Forum’s Poetry Group continues to flourish and this has prompted us to print a short poem in each issue of the newsletter. If you would like to submit a poem to be considered for the newsletter contact Irene Richards on 0203 715 0946 or email [email protected] . If you wish to join the poetry group (which meets on the third Thursday of the month in either Oakwood or Enfield Library), contact David Blake on 01992 637 829 or email [email protected]

Book Club The Book Club meets in the Community Room at the Enfield Library 10- 12noon Thursday 15th January The Collector by John Fowles Tuesday 17th February The Rosie Project by Graeme Simsion For more information about the club, contact Sue Scott by email: [email protected]

Knit& Natter Knit & Natter has two weekly sessions at the Dugdale Centre, 39 London Rd, Enfield: Tuesday afternoons 2-4pm and Wednesday mornings 10.30am -12.30pm. Both experienced knitters and complete novices are welcome. 50p per session. Organiser Liz Gilbert says: “If you would like to knit for charity (we supply the wool and pattern) but cannot get to the Dugdale, I am happy to deliver/collect. We especially need knitwear for 1-7 year olds to meet the demand. And we are also looking for people to donate wool.” The group makes charity donations mainly to the Noah’s Ark Children’s Hospice. For more information, contact Liz Gilbert on 0208 360 7386.

Over 50s Choir The morning choir meets on Monday 11am-1pm at The Holy Trinity Church, Winchmore Hill N21, and the evening choir meets Tuesdays 7-9pm at Millfield Arts Centre, Silver Street Edmonton N18. There are no auditions and no need to read music. £5 per session. For more information, contact choirmaster Simon Gilbert on [email protected] or call 020 8360 7386.

Mozart ConcertAn Evening with Wolfgang - Enfield Choral Society and orchestra with an all Mozart programme

including the Requiem and Ave Verum Corpus.Saturday 28 February 2015, 7.30pm

St Stephen’s Church, 43a Village Road, Bush Hill Park, Enfield, EN1 2ET

Tickets: Hotline 07856 793434 or email: [email protected]

in Enfield Town(At the Civic Centre)

Tuesday 27 January at 10am for 10.30am start Council Leader Doug Taylor & Andrew Stafford (Cabinet member responsible for finance) and Isabel Brittain (Asst. Finance Director) discuss the Council’s budget proposals for 2015/16 and seek Forum members’ views on the implications for the coming year.

Tuesday 24 Febuary at 10am for 10.30am startA discussion on Transport provision for Older People in Enfield. There will be presentations from “Dial-a-ride”, Enfield Community Transport and BEVAD, and the London Taxicard Scheme. Speakers include Carol Reilly and Andy Rollock from LBE, Concessionary Travel Team.

Millfield House, Silver Street N18 1PJThursday 8 January at 10am for 10.30am startThe Regeneration of Enfield: Sharon Strutt, Head of Enfield’s Neighbourhood Regeneration team, will talk about the Council’s regeneration areas, and its major plans to deliver growth within the Council’s largest priority regeneration area - Meridian Water, and also provide an update on regeneration projects underway in Ponders End, New Southgate and Edmonton Green.

Thursday 12 February at 10am for 10.30am startDr Hemi Patel runs the Enfield Chiropractic Clinic and will describe the methods practitioners of chiropractic use when treating disorders of the bones, muscles and joints.

Thursday 12 March at 10am to 1pm“An IT workshop” Following the successful introductory talk and workshop held in October Forum grey surfers Sagar Nair, Peter Smith, Tony Watts and Phil Mirams will run a further workshop covering broadband, WiFi, laptops, tablets, iphones, social networks and for non-users where and how to get started. Members with their own laptops, tablets or phones are welcome to bring them along if they have queries or problems they would like help with.

Southgate Beaumont, 15 Cannon Hill, N14 7DJ

This is the Forum’s regular venue for meetings in the third week of the month. Note days and times may vary.

Tuesday 20 January at 10am for 10.30am startDr Tim Ridge will talk about complementary therapies and the work of the charity, Enfield Centre for Natural Health, which promotes integration of therapies into the NHS.

Tuesday 17 February at 10am for 10.30am startKawoo Mak from Richer Sounds of Southgate will talk about convergence of the latest digital technology for Television, Home Cinema and Audio.

Tuesday 17 March at 10am for 10.30am startAyshe Ibrahim, from the Backbone osteopathic practice in Southgate and Muswell Hill, will discuss pain management, Osteopathy and non-medical approaches to managing back and joint pain for over 50’s.

The Southgate Beaumont Care Community is the large care home at 15 Cannon Hill, N14 7DJ, diagonally opposite the Cherry Tree Pub. Buses 121, W6, 298, 299, nearest station Southgate Underground. There is ample car parking space.

Forum meetingsClub News

Correction: Please note that the correct contact details for the Friends of Jubilee Park are: Quentin England,

chairman: tel 020 8350 5857.

Published by Enfield Borough Over 50s Forum. Millfield House, Silver Street, Edmonton, N18 1PJ Tel: 020 8807 2076E-mail: [email protected] Web site: www.enfieldover50sforum.org.uk

Cineworld – Southbury RoadOver 50s Film Club

every Monday at 10.30am

Admission £3 is less than half normal prices

5 January Maze Runner12 January If I Stay19 January The Judge26 January A Walk among the Tombstones 2 February Fury9 February Gone Girl16 February Mr Turner23 February The Imitation Game

Films are subject to changeNote the dates and tell your friends of some great fi lms you can see for half the normal price.

Corner of Southbury Road and A10Buses 121, 191, 307and 313 to the door

January/February 2015 Enfi eld Over 50s

George Lockwood GardensHorticultural Consultant with over 10 years experience!26 Woodridge Close, The Ridgeway, Enfield, EN2 8HJ

Mobile: 07983 948526 • Tel: 020 8363 7015Email: [email protected]

INVITES GARDENING CLUBS AND SOCIETIES FOR ‘TALKS’ ON GARDENING TOPICS• Soil structure• Healthy Soil • Benefits of humus• Pruning• Silty, clay and sandy soils• Plants that flowers each month• Bulbs that flower each month• Plants for shady gardens• Shrubs for the seasons• Seed types and planting• Indoor/outdoor seed planting• Popular plants and their habits• Plants for early summer/midsummer• Fragrant shrubs• Plants to encourage wildlife• Plants for rockeries• Plants for dry gardens

CONTACT:

020 8882 0141Experienced world-travelled staff,

Large stocks of brochures, Expert cruise consultants,

Wide range of coach tours, Luxury long haul specialists,

Visit to Kitchens and State Apartments of Windsor CastleSixteen Forum members visited the Great Kitchens & State Apartments of Windsor Castle recently. Windsor Castle is the largest inhabited castle in the world and the Queen’s favourite weekend home.

Unbeknown to us the date of our visit – 20 November – was very signifi cant. Firstly it was out of season, a good time to visit. More importantly: it was the anniversary of the great fi re at the castle in November 1992, and it was the date of the Queen’s 67th wedding anniversary.

The day was bright and the sun was shining as we toured the castle and its grounds. We enjoyed coffee, tea and biscuits at the start whilst looking at a slide show and learning about past kings and queens’ attitude to food and their eating habits. My goodness they ate and drank a lot at each meal!!

The kitchens date from Edward III, circa 1360s. On our way to the kitchens we walked through areas of the castle that are normally out-of-bounds to the public, for example, the main entrance used by the Queen’s guests to the State Banquets. We also toured the semi-state apartments which are only open during certain months.

We were fortunate with the weather, visiting the castle was very interesting and we enjoyed each other’s company. On top all this good fortune, we were told, our ticket is valid for a year so we can go back anytime and enjoy not only the castle and its kitchens but also Windsor town, and Eton across the river.

Cheryl Byamukama

Enfi eld Poppy Appeal 2014 Thank YouThe organisers of the recent Poppy Appealin Enfi eld Town, Loraine

Hopwood, the CAB adviser at our Monday advice session at the Dugdale Centre, and Rebecca Davies would like to thank the local community for their efforts and generosity in supporting the Poppy Appeal this year.

In this the 100th anniversary of the First World War, the appeal in Enfi eld Town area has raised over £28,000. Across North Enfi eld, nearly 200 local shops, businesses and organisations including 18 schools helped by selling poppies In addition, some 40 volunteers gave their time to collect around shopping centres, high streets and at stations. Even more contributions were made by residents and visitors at the Remembrance Sunday service on Chase Green.

enfield over 50s promoting employment in enfield

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