Newsletters come out every two months, around the 10th-12th. Members expecting postal copies will receive them within a few days afterwards. E-mails go out sooner. It’s very helpful if you can tell us your e-mail address, if you have one, so that we can save postage.
Members’ contributions to the newsletter are welcome – photos, news about events and classes you like to go to, poems or stories. Please contact info@ho50s.org.uk or leave a message on 07915 477009 to discuss what you would like to offer. We can also accept announcements from other organisations (e.g. NHS, TfL, council departments) with relevant services to offer or consultations they want to publicise. For commercial advertising, we’ll ask for a modest contribution to our costs
To download the latest newsletter as a pdf with pictures, click here .
January to February 2024
Pages 1-3: Recent and forthcoming meetings; subscriptions
now due for the New Year
Pages 4-5: Community safety; pensions information
Pages 5-6: Social care; toilets campaign; clubs and going out
Pages 7-8: Calendar of events for January to early March
Our AGM
We held our AGM on November 28. We elected a new committee and several
people additionally came forward as volunteers to work on the newsletter,
campaigning about social care, and getting the Forum onto social media. We
said thanks to our retiring chair, Joyce Sullivan, who will be replaced by James
Cowling for the next 12 months. At the next AGM in autumn this year 2024,
James and also Anne are going to stand back and have a rest. So it’s great
there are so many people on board the new committee and we hope to have a
lively year with a lot more sharing of the many things that are needed to keep
the Forum going.
We made a list of topics for future meetings and we’ll be trying to get a
speaker each month, whilst allowing plenty of time for tea and chat as well.
We’re also hoping to organise some outings as the winter weather passes. Full
reports of the AGM will be posted on our web site shortly.
Subscriptions for 2024 calendar year
… are now due please. £8 if you’re not already a life member or have a
standing order. Bank transfers to Haringey over 50s Forum, sort code 08
92 99. Account number: 65525931. Or pay cash at a meeting. Or post a
cheque to us c/o Public Voice, address at top of page. Do put c/o please.
Next monthly meeting – Winkfield Centre, 2pm Tuesday 23 January
Andy Jeffreys of Coffee and Computers will open up the mysteries about how
the NHS is doing so many things now online, including about how to sign up to
the NHS app and get faster, easier doctor’s appointments. And a few words
from Polly Frayne about plans to combat loneliness amongst seniors – see
below about February meeting.
Happy New Year everyone!
February 27 th meeting
Note we MAY change the venue to the Epione Centre in Wightman Road.
If the committee decides this (to save money) we’ll put it on Whatsapp and
also e-mail you.
Polly Frayne of Reach and Connect will tell us about follow-up actions they are
planning about loneliness, to continue the theme of the Loneliness Awareness
Week conference they had last summer. Some exciting new projects are in the
pipeline and they are seeking ideas from groups like ours, so we’ll probably
have a discussion in small groups. Polly will ‘trailer’ the plans at the January
meeting so we can think about them in advance.
Christmas lunch at Bracknell Close
Our first Christmas lunches went without a hitch. About twenty people turned
out for the ‘bring and share’ lunch at Bracknell Close sheltered housing
scheme. It got off to a slow start, but it was on fire when we had to call it to a
close. There were chicken dishes, veggie dishes, crackers, some singing and
lots of laughs. There were leftovers too and some people were able to take
food home with them. A big thank you to all who came.
Lunch at Capital Restaurant, December 30
Our lunch at the Capital Restaurant in Wood Green was attended by around
13 people. Huge portions, great company and everyone left full. The rice
pudding was delicious. I may have even had a third helping It was great to
see people out on a Saturday. Once again, that’s those who came out for a
good Turkish feed.
Harringay Ladder Safety meeting – from James Cowling
As a resident of the ward of Harringay, I attend monthly ladder safety
meetings. These are meetings include the police, ward councillors and council
workers. They are supposed to be in every ward, but that has yet to
happen. We talk about safety in the community, anti-social behaviour, traffic
issues and more. In the last couple of meetings the police have said that
phone theft is on the rise. People on bikes grabbing the phones of people
using them or having them in their hands while they walk on the
pavement. They also said that blue badge theft is continuing and suggest
registering it online so that you don’t have to display the badge in your car. If
you’re not on the internet perhaps someone can do this for you. Also, please
be careful taking money out of an ATM on the street. If you can, ALWAYS, go
into a bank, shop to take your money out. They are thieves targeting
ATMs. One man I helped recently had almost £500 pounds stolen. A couple
of years ago, I had the same amount stolen. In both cases we were able to
get our money back. But PLEASE, be careful.
What’s lost is sometimes found by helpful honest folk!
A couple of weeks before Christmas, Anne had a message on the group
phone from an unknown lady, who said she had found a wallet that seemed to
be associated with the Forum. Anne phoned back and the lady said she had
found this wallet in the street and was keen to get it back to the owner. But all
she could find inside by way of contact details was – wait for it – an over 50s
Forum membership card with our organisation’s phone number on it! So a
member was gratefully united with her credit card, Freedom Pass and cash.
News about your state pension
The good bit; it’s going up by 8.5% in April!
If you’re still hard hit by the ongoing high cost of food and energy, consider if
you might be eligible for pension credit. It’s given by the government to anyone
whose income is less than £201.05 (individual) or £306.85 (married couple). To
apply just phone 0800 99 1234.
But the bad news is that the government has made lots of mistakes about
calculating how much pension people are entitled to. They have to
consider your national insurance record over your lifetime – and in some cases
your husband’s too, if you’re a woman – to work this out. In many cases,
they’ve got it wrong and several thousand pensioners could be losing out by as
much as £5000 each. This applies mainly to women who have taken time off
work to raise children since 1978. Underpayment might also happen to some
who took time off as carers of adults, and some widows or people over 80. The
DWP will be sending letters out to mothers they have discovered are affected.
But this started only in October 2023 and it will take them 18 months to get
round to all those they know about. Here’s how you check:-
Step 1: check on the government web site. https://www.gov.uk/check-national-
insurance-record . The web page tells you how to do this and what documents
you need. You need to set up an online ‘tax account’. You can then get your
record online, or phone or write for a printed statement of your NI record – that
same web page tells you how. You might get through on 0800 731 0175, but
the web page is not very clear.
Step 2: (assuming you’ve got your NI record) fill in an online form on
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/apply-for-home-responsibilities-protection . You
then have to print it out and post it.
Step 3: read the web site of a pensions consultancy, Lane, Clark and Peacock,
on https://www.lcp.com/is-your-state-pension-being-underpaid They wrote a
report saying that not only mothers described above had lost out, but also
widows whose pension didn’t go up or didn’t go up enough when their husband
died, divorced women who didn’t get the extra bit of pension based on their
husband’s record, and some people over 80 who can get £85 pension even if
they never paid NI. There’s a lot of information on this web page about how to
work out a woman’s entitlement if you were ever married.
Our campaign for better public toilets – update
Since our last report, much has been achieved. But the latest bad news is that the
council plan to make major cuts in library services, involving some closures of
toilets in libraries. Please respond to the consultation about this ,which closes 15
January. It’s online at https://haringeybudget2024.commonplace.is/. You have to
refer to the proposal to replace library staff by volunteers in some libraries and
for some hours in 2025, and to close toilets when there are no paid staff. There
are paper copies of the consultation in libraries to pick up. More information on
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1uXTp01kWDSvIb3UAmQog7Xm581W5
_wqtpamSGMjwAhc/edit?usp=sharing.
You can also write to Cllr Emily Arkell who’s in charge of libraries;
Emily.Arkell@haringey.gov.uk.
Gordon Peters had a great piece in the Ham & High in December. James
Cowling and Rosemary Dunne surveyed all the toilets listed on the Council’s
website, proposing numerous corrections. The Toilet Strategy Working Group
met again in December and we’re analysing questionnaires completed at
People’s Day. We’re working with Public Health to extend this survey soon.
We’ve been pressing for action about the lack of toilets on Tottenham Hale
Retail Park, and their continued closure at Morrisons and at Turnpike Lane
station. The NHS are looking into a possible access card for people with
continence problems. They think some NHS premises (like GP surgeries)
could make their facilities available to the public.
We’re making some progress and not giving up, but we need more help! We’ll
be the guests of Tottenham Pensioners on February 13 th .
John Miles, 07817 424356, Toilet Manifesto for London Group
Social care – one campaigning focus and a suggestion from Anne
Due to further government cuts in the Council’s budget, social care is likely to be more
squeezed than ever in 2024/25. Already plans for improvement of the Osborne Grove
nursing home have been shelved. We’ll be trying to dialogue with councillors about care
services in coming months. But meanwhile, a suggestion and request from Anne, who is
writing a book about social care of older people. She’s looking for personal stories about
good or bad care, problems in getting council services, experiences about private agencies,
issues about your experience of caring for a relative or friend. Anything that goes into the
book would be carefully anonymised of course. Have a chat to Anne if you would like to take
part in this.
A thought for 2024!
Ordinary people have more power than they think to make a difference
Things to do – events in January and February
This section will list ‘once off’ or new events. Please see the Calendar for
regular events, including our Cinema Club and our Wetherspoons meetups.
Burns Night
A celebration of Robbie Burns’ birthday. Friday 26 January.
Arrive by 7.30pm. Event starts at 8pm sharp.
£25, concessions £20. Meal plus complimentary glass of whiskey.
Tottenham Leisure Centre, 1 Phillips Lane London N15 4JA. For more
information contact Sheila Peacock Tel: 07791018106. Email:
sheilapeacock@haringey.gov.uk
Holocaust Memorial Day; Sunday, 28 January, 2pm – 3.30pm.
Tottenham Hotspurs Stadium 782 High Road N17 0BX.
FREE. To book tickets go to:
https://buytickets.at/londonboroughofharingey1083204
Bruce Castle Museum. Lordship Lane (located in Bruce Castle Park) London
N17 8NU. Open Wednesday- Sunday 1pm – 5pm. For information phone 020
8489 4250. Email: museum.services@haringey.gov.uk. Buses 243, 123, 318
(stop ‘Bruce Castle and Museum’).
Free Walking Tours – Jewish History Walking Tours of Tottenham. Meet at Bruce
Castle:
Tour 1 Sunday 21 January 10.45am – 1pm.
Tour 2 Tuesday 23 January 10.15am -12.30pm
Lauderdale House, Waterlow Park Highgate Hill London N6 5HG
Free lunch time live classical music. Performances are on a Tuesday at 1.15pm once a
month. For details and to book see: www.lauderdalehouse.org.uk. Tel: 020 8348 8716
Also art exhibitions and other free activities.
Bus 41 towards Archway (change at stop Archway Station).Then Bus 210 towards Brent
Cross (stop Waterlow Park)
William Morris Gallery Lloyds Park House, 531 Forest Road, E17 4PP Free entry.
Permanent exhibition; also temporary exhibitions and free workshops. Current exhibition is
‘Radical landscapes’ – paintings about the land and nature since the early 19 th century,
including some famous artists like JMW Turner and Derek Jarman. Nice garden and two
cafes, cheaper one is in the park behind.
Bus 123 towards Ilford (stop Lloyd Park / William Morris Gallery)
READING GROUPS
There are a number of Reading Groups in Haringey Libraries. To find a reading group see
www.haringey.gov.uk/libraries-sport-andleisure/libraries/find-library or ask in your nearest
library.
LUNCH CLUBS
Antwerp Arms, 168 -170 Church Road, N17 8AS Tel: 020 8216 9289. Every 1st and 3rd
Wednesday of the month 1.30pm – 3.00pm . Booking essential;
generationexchange5@gmail.com or 07968 727278.
Hornsey Vale Community Centre, 60 Mayfield Road, N8 9LP. The Lunch Club is on the
first Wednesday of every month, except August. You need to book on 0208 348 4612. £5 if
paid in advance.12.30pm gentle exercise; lunch served at 1pm.
Bus 41 towards Archway (stop Hornsey Police Station) walk to Mayfield Road.
Jacksons Lane Art Centre 269A Archway Road London N6 5SS.
There is a social lunch on the last Tuesday of every month. Also various activities and
performances. For more information phone 020 8340 5266
DANCE CLASSES/ KEEP FIT – Phone Candy Fernandez on 07961 044079 to find out
about dance and chair exercise, some free, N17, N8 or N22 venues.
At Goan Community Centre, Apple Tree Road, N17 6SH (off Keston Road; bus 41 to
Phillip Lane or 230 to Summerhill Road):-
Tuesday 2pm – 3pm Chair based exercise, 3.15pm -4.15pm Dance, both FREE.
Also DANCE Weds. evening 7-8, £5.
From the bend in Keston Road, look for the gate, turn right; Centre is at the end of the path.
At Community Hub Caxton Road, N22 6TB:-
Wed 3pm-4pm Dance £5 ; Thurs 2pm-3pm Chair based exercise, FREE.
At Hornsey Vale Community Centre, 60 Mayfield Road N8 9LP . Fri 2pm-3pm Dance £5
Bus 41(stop Hornsey Police Station) or (closer) W5 stop in Weston Park.