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Newsletter No.
014
Well,
still locked down, with
perhaps an air of positivity
that isolation has worked to
some degree. Let's hope we
don't get a second wave and go
backwards. Thank the gods for
the weather, the good-natured
queueing would have been
tested if cats and dogs were
bouncing off your bonnets in
the car park queues. A few of
us have got together virtually
and having endured the setup
process and are now reaping
the benefits of online FitNFab
and also recently a quiz
morning. More about those
below but please come and join
us if you can.
We hope you enjoy this and the
previous issues but if you
missed any and would like to
see them email Sylvia and she
will gladly send any you have
missed.
[email protected]
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We now have a new
help line number it is:
01327
612333
Leave a message with your
number and we will call you
back.
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A
Message from Angela
Jeffery
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Hi
everyone, I think mostly
everyone who receives
Northants Parkinson’s
People newsletter
already knows me but
just in case not – Hello
my name is Angela
Jeffery. I am writing
this article for two
reasons. Firstly, let's
get the elephant out of
the room, to thank
Katherine Crawford,
Director of Services,
Parkinson’s UK for
apologising for Pam
Harrison’s
unprofessional statement
which was sent out with
their newsletter a
couple of months ago.
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I also want to thank
everyone who offered me
support and who also
complained about Pam. It is so
lovely to know I have such
good friends who know me well
– thank you xxx
The second and much
more important and positive
reason for writing is that I
wanted to let you know that I
am now officially volunteering
for Northants Parkinson’s
People. Northants Parkinson’s
People is a ‘collective’ of
individuals who mostly have or
are affected by Parkinson’s
disease. The idea originated
on one of the Friday walks
when I explained I would no
longer be writing the
newsletter for the local
branch. Fellow walkers then
decided to write their own
newsletter and have been doing
so for over a year now. Phil
puts it all together,
gathering articles and
positioning them to look
pretty and Sylvia sends them
all out via email. Doug has
been reminiscing about his
army days – and I know from
feedback this has helped bring
back memories for others too.
Plus, we have enjoyed extra
articles from Simon, who has
almost finished his new book
and of course Sylvia’s
gardening tips, which have
been very useful. I hope some
of you have also tried out the
varied recipes as well.
During the last year,
I have written just one
article for the newsletter
which highlighted social
isolation and Parkinson’s
disease. At the time we asked
the PUK branch to spend some
of the donated money on
tackling social isolation and
I know Val Hamblin (lovely,
kind and dignified ex-chair)
requested this personally too,
but unfortunately, we were
ignored. With this in mind, we
have decided to offer our own
telephone friendship service
which has already begun during
these ‘isolating’ times. We
have volunteers who are ready,
willing and able to call and
have a chat with anyone who
may be feeling cut off from
things – and we all know how
that feels now.
I hope that Northants
Parkinson’s People can grow,
we want to offer the hand of
friendship and support to
everyone who is affected by
Parkinson’s and we want
everyone to feel part of our
friendly community. When these
strange times are over, we
hope to offer some
opportunities for us to get
together more regularly. We
recognise that one size does
not fit all, and ‘support’
comes in different forms so we
would like you to make
suggestions as to what would
help you most.
For my part, I would
like to offer a free local
information and support
service. As you know I have
worked for people with
Parkinson’s for ten years and
have quite a knowledge of the
disease and ways of helping
manage the symptoms and of
services locally who can also
offer support. I am happy to
help with form filling such as
applying for benefits, council
tax discounts, blue badge,
housing etc. Sometimes you
need a third party to fight
your cause and I would really
like to help. So please get in
touch if you need any support,
information or just a chat.
Each month I will
write a small article about
topics I feel may be of
benefit and I am happy to
answer specific questions and
then share any knowledge
gathered via the newsletter. I
am happy to do a bit of
research and hopefully, we can
all learn something new! Oh -
I feel inspired, title…
‘Auntie Angela’s Answers
…Page’… name
suggestions required??
Our new helpline
number is 01327 612333 – leave
a message with your number and
I will call you back.
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Telephone
support and practical
assistance
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| So If
you need to talk, or need some
practical assistance please get in
touch. Our little band of
volunteers are all on call
Help line number
is: 01327
612333
leave a message with your
number and we will call you
back.
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Auntie
Angela’s Info Page
(working title)
How
‘Care’ is funded…..
borrowed from Safeguarding
Futures Health &
Social Care Support
Facebook page. link:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/660675124407882
There are 4 types of funding for
care
Self
Funding - this
applies to people who are in
need of care that is classed as
social care, and have savings
and/or assets over £23,250, this
means you would pay the full
cost of your care until your
assets reduce down to the
£23,250. At this point, social
services would become involved
and complete a financial
assessment to see how much they
would contribute to your care
(whether this is in your own
home, or in a Care home).
Social Care Funding
- if your assets are between
£14,250 and £23,250, and you
need support in relation to
activities of daily living, i.e.
washing, dressing, eating,
drinking, toileting, attending
social activities, then social
services can pay towards your
care in these circumstances.
However, you would need a
financial assessment to see how
much you can contribute to your
care. They would consider any
income or savings you have when
doing the financial assessment.
The formula they use is
different depending on whether
you need care in your own home
or in a residential setting.
Funded Nursing Care
(often called FNC) - if your
needs mean that you need
oversight of a nurse (in a
nursing home setting), then the
nursing care element of your
care is free and is usually paid
directly to the Care home (by
the NHS), and social services
pay the remaining balance.
However, you will still
contribute to the social care
part of the package. If you are
self-funding, you need to ensure
that the home does not charge
you for the nursing care element
if you are in a nursing home.
This should be deducted from
your overall costs - ensure you
check the Care Home contract
carefully.
Continuing Healthcare
Funding (CHC) - this
is the most complex of all the
funding streams. If you qualify
for CHC funding, then all of
your care should be paid for by
the NHS and is completely free,
i.e. not means-tested. Your care
can be delivered in any setting,
either in a care home, or your
own home. To qualify for CHC
funding, there is a 2 stage
process to go through. There is
an initial checklist, which is
to identify if a person should
go through for a fuller
assessment (called a Decision
Support Tool).
The purpose of a CHC assessment
is to identify if a person has
what is termed a ‘primary health
need.’ Although this sounds
quite simplistic, it is anything
but! The assessment looks at 11
domains individually. The whole
process is not based on a
specific diagnosis, but about
how a person’s needs interact
with each other. At the end of
the assessment, all of the
information gathered is looked
at and the assessors have to
then identify whether the needs
are complex, intensive and
unpredictable in nature. This
then determines whether a person
would qualify for CHC funding.
You can obtain further
information online with regards
to what the Checklist and
Decision Support Tool involve.
This article was written by a
third party: Safeguarding
Futures Health & Social Care
Support. For free advice join
the Facebook page (link above).
To enquire about professional
support call: Mike Hales: 07931
585004
Disclaimer:
Safeguarding Futures is a
business. We wish to share
information with you which may
be of benefit to you, but we
cannot accept any liability
whatsoever should you decide
to use any of the services we
inform you of.
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COVID
19 Virtual FitnFab
Virtual
Fitnfab is up and running via
'ZOOM' conferencing app. The app
is available for PC, laptop,
smartphone and Tablets
Angela will send you a link if
you want to join in, It's free
but as Angela has paid to have
an uninterrupted professional
conference session a small
donation would be gratefully
received (a post-emergency
bucket will be available after
the emergency!)
Currently two sessions a week
Tuesdays and Thursdays at 10:30
am A mix of social and light
exercise.
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As
you will be exercising
at home we strongly
suggest you remain
seated during the
exercises. Obviously you
will not have the same
people at hand and we do
not want any accidents.
So please stay safe and
use a stable solid chair
without wheels such as a
dining chair.
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COVID
19 Virtual Quiz
We tried a Virtual quiz a couple
of weeks ago and had 15 or so
participants. As soon as this
newsletter is out I shall start
to compile another quiz. If you
do not get an invite to FitnFab
you probably are not on the quiz
list either. You can get on
either or both by emailing...
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Entertaining
evenings on YouTube
YouTube
is the premier video sharing
site that lets you watch just
about anything. It's safe,
moderated for disturbing
images and a huge source of
material.
I find Youtube a great source
of entertainment. Lots of
videos on gardening, cooking,
DIY, great music promotions,
sport, history, just about
anything. In case you are
getting fed up with the TV I
list below some alternative
entertainments that I hope you
find interesting
- Fancy
a night at the Opera? Carmen,
Figaro, La Boheme. Not enough?
there are over 200 full
opera's listed many with
subtitles which is a must for
me. Search Youtube for Full
Opera
- Like
a bit of history? The History Guy
presents stories of
forgotten history about five
to fifteen minutes long.
Topics range from aviation
history to forgotten
battles, historical figures
and events and more from
around the world. Search
YouTube for History
Guy
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The History Guy 'History
deserves to be remembered'
This dapper Bostonian
researches and delivers
history in his own
distinctive and
entertaining style |
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- Musical
Theatre with a western style?
Look no futher. This recording
from a Proms Concert in 2011
will entertain you grandly for
an hour or so. The Orchestra
(there are only 4 but sound
like a full Orchestra) is from
Australia the music is all Ennio Morricone's
Its just brilliant Search
Youtube for The
Spaghetti Western Orchestra
- Live at the Royal Albert
Hall 2011 - Full Concert
- Like
a bit of Ukulele? Its not all
leaning on a lampost you know.
The Ukulele Orchestra of Great
Britain have a great
reportiore on Youtube and they
have some fantastic lockdown
tracks the recorded at home.
If you are a budding player
they also have some playalone
tracks Search Ukulele
Orchestra of Great Britain
and browse for tracks you
fancy or try Ukulele
Orchestra of Great Britain:
Live from NYC, 2018 (full
concert)
- Like a bit of candid video
that isn't all pillocks
dropping birthday cakes. Try
searching Die besten
Videos. Mostly
animal / pet related, no
annoying commentary. world
wide contributions. A mix of
funny, dramatic, cute and to
be honest, strange. Well worth
a browse.
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Younger
Gents Group
The
Younger Gents Group have been
'getting together' virtually for
some weeks now. They recently
had a quiz night and decided to
jazz it up with fancy dress.
One attendee did not get the
memo about the fancy dress, the
editorial staff duly helped him
out with an impromptu outfit.
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| Name the
biscuit, answers down below |
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Sylvia's
Gardening Tips
THIS
MONTH’S GARDENING
Look
out for greenfly on
roses. Don’t go
buying pesticides,
good old-fashioned
washing up liquid
diluted with water
is marvellous and
much more
wildlife-friendly.
Much cheaper too.
Just thoroughly wash
out an empty
household cleaner
spray bottle, fill
with water and a
squirt of washing
liquid. Works on
most pests.
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If
you have a pond put a bag of
barley straw in it and it will
discourage algae and keep the
water clean all summer.
Unfortunately, I don’t have a
pond and as my garden is quite
small don’t have room for one.
However, last year I bought a
large galvanised oval-shaped
container. My plan, when I get
released, is to fill the bottom
with cobblestones. Buy a couple
of aquatic plants to help clear
the water. Of course, I will
have to top up the water
regularly as it evaporates so
quickly.
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So,
until I can get out to
buy what I need I have
filled it with water and
put a rock in the middle
so there is a bit
exposed for the bugs to
sit on while they have a
drink. It’s amazing what
even that can do to
attract wildlife. I’ve
seen wasps drinking and
loads of damselflies
around it. I look
forward to setting it up
properly.
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I absolutely adore
ferns and they are ideal for a
shady corner. Make sure you have
cut off the tatty old fern fronds
to make way for the new ones
starting to unfurl.
Water
conservation is now being
brought into the news reports.
We can all do a little to help.
Wash vegetables in a bowl then
the water can be used in the
garden. Also washing up water
can be used. I have two water
butts but sadly there is not
much left in them at the moment.
Our very dear friend Angela,
tells me that she puts the plug
in the bath so that when she
showers the water collects. She
then carries it downstairs and
into the garden to water plants.
Now that is dedication! I would
end up with more water on the
stairs than in the garden!
Some readers do not have gardens
but you can bring a beautiful
garden into your own home. Many
of the UK’s finest gardens have
been forced to close due to
Covid-19. However, the National
Garden Scheme is running virtual
tours all summer with new
gardens added each week to its
website
ngs.org.uk/virtual-garden-visits
The charity is facing an 80%
drop in income due to the
shutdown and is asking viewers
for a donation in return at
bit.ly/support-gardens One of
the first gardens to open online
visitors is Hever Castle in
Kent.
And finally…did you know that
pee is the very best fertiliser
of all? Apparently, it works
wonders on lawns. It must be
fresh, cold. and diluted 20-1
with water. Trouble is it’s no
good if the person providing it
is on medication. Hmmm, that’s
probably 95% of my age group.
Until next time…..
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I
Remember Part 12
Place: 3 B.
O. D. (Base Ordnance
Depot)
(221 BVD
(Base Vehicle Depot.
attachment RAOC)
Singapore
Time: March
1969
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As the new year
turned my wife and I took
stock of our situation, we had
some decisions to make. So,
looking at things, all seemed
to be on the up. I was 26 and
Tina was 24 and pregnant with
our fourth child. We already
had 1 girl (Carolyn 6), 2 boys
(Robert 4 and Michael 18
months). I had recently been
promoted to Sergeant
(acting/paid), and on
reflection all seemed well.
However, my good lady
was finding this pregnancy to
be a bit more of an ordeal,
mainly due to the extreme
humidity (around 80% most of
the time). This with a
temperature of 70 degrees
constantly but she did have
assistance in the form of
Muna. Muna was our godsend of
an amah and she ran a very
tight ship with the children.
We chugged along merrily until
around May when we were
informed that we had been
allocated new quarters. This
was to be a house with 4
bedrooms. It was not as
luxurious as Airview Towers
but it was a house, with a
garden and not on the fourth
floor. Which had to be taken
into consideration with a new
child. The time seemed to have
stopped but I think that was
due to the fact that every
couple of days I was playing
cricket. Each day I played,
Tina and I would meet at the
ground and then after the
match, we would take the kids
out for their evening meal. I
recall Bob remarking something
about couldn't mum have babies
all the time so we could have
dinner out every night! Each
day followed a pattern, early
morning I would drop Carolyn
and Bob at school on my way to
work. It was all quite
convenient, the hospital and
the schools were all on
Alexandra Road. On the days
that Tina had a check-up I
would drop her at BMH (British
Medical Hospital) then drop
Carolyn at the junior school
then Bob at the infant school.
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Now
I will digress a little;
this area of Singapore,
which is close to the
world-famous Singapore
Botanic gardens is
infamous for the fact,
that when the Japanese
invaded at the start of
1942, The BMH was the
horrific site of mass
rapings of the QARANC
(Queen Alexandra Royal
Army Nursing Corps) and
the murders of several
hundred allied British
and ANZAC (Australian,
New Zealand Army Corps)
troops. Some were
bayoneted whilst they
were on the operating
tables. Others were tied
to the trees in the
nearby Botanical Gardens
and surrounding hospital
grounds and used as
targets for newly
arrived Japanese troops,
who were not involved in
the initial landings.
One can understand why
they have been listed
and classed as possibly
the most horrendous war
crimes ever.
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But back to the
tale, we just about had everything
packed ready for the move when I
was given my date for moving; it
was to be the 12th August. Tina's
due date was to be the 13th/14th
August. But as you know nothing is
straight forward with my family,
so obviously Tina's waters broke
at 01.15 am on 12th August, I
rushed her to the hospital,
leaving the kids in the capable
hands of Mina.
But you must realize that this was
1969 and father's were not
involved in the birth, so after
leaving her at the hospital I went
back to the Towers.
Early in the morning, I first rang
the hospital to find that I was a
dad to another boy, he was to be
named Richard and the nurse's
assured that all was fine.
Secondly, I made sure that her
friends were going to be ready at
the new place and I hurried back
to pick up Bob and Carolyn and
took them to school. Back to the
old place and I arranged for Muna
to take Michael to her sister's
for a couple of hours. I then
quickly showered and changed and
went over to the hospital to see
mother and the new born. After a
short visit I went and checked out
of the old place and picked up
kids and of we went to the new
house.
This wasn't as grand as the Towers
but it had 4 bedrooms and a fenced
garden with a lawn. I now had
about an hour to get the kids
ready to go and see Mum. No
worries as I put on a clean shirt
Muna had all 3 kids ready. The
kids then had some time with mum
and their new brother.
When it was time for Tina to come
home she did not even know the new
address! It was 21, Jalam Hittam
Manniss, Chip Bee Estate,
Singapore.
We soon settled in, the kids loved
the garden and the 3 geckos who
lived in the kitchen (they are
lizards and they eat bugs and
flies, this amused the kids no
end).
So, another chapter ends, and
another begins
Farewell from Doug in Singapore |
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We
aim to be...
an
inclusive group so if
you have an idea for
an article that you
think would be of
interest then get in
touch with us.
You don't have to be a
journalist, and if you
find trouble getting
your idea onto paper
or email we'll give
you a helping hand.
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Answers
to the Quiz
- Chocolate
digestive
- Party
ring
- Hob
Nob
- Ginger
nut/snap
- Garibaldi
- Viennese
whirl
- Fig
rolls
- Shortbread
- Malted
Milk
- Custard
Cream
- Bourbon
- Rich
Tea
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And
Finally...
We
have all seen and heard in the
news of Covid-19 scams going
around. Some enterprising
villains have tried charging
ridiculous amounts to spray your
driveway with anti-virus
substances. Opportunistic
doorstep con artists are also
pretending to be NHS surveyors
offering to survey your house
while stealing anything not
nailed down. So please be
vigilant and careful. Always ask
for identification from any
'official' visitor, and if you
are not sure ask them to come
back later. All real visitors
will understand.
Similarly, the recent rollout of
5G mobile phone services has led
to a very enterprising con where
you are invited to buy a device
that can protect you, your
family and your whole house from
the evils of 5G radio waves.
The device is just a standard
USB drive worth less than a
Fiver. The addition of a sticky
label (1p) that has
magical “quantum holographic
catalyser technology” gives them
the cheek to try and charge just
under £300!!
Do
Not Be Conned (get
them from me, only £25  )
STOP
PRESS: NHS contact
tracers will be phoning and
texting people to warn them
about being in contact with a
potential virus carrier. One of
the many problems with this
scheme is it's dangerously easy
for someone to pose as a
government/NHS contact tracer.
The official number they call
from 0300 013 5000 is relatively
easy to spoof and because its a
published government number it
is more likely to be taken at
face value.
So what do you do?
- If
a SMS Text arrives saying its
a track and trace message DO
NOT click on any included
link.
- Do
not reply to one of these
texts as you may be engaging
with a scammer
- Never
disclose any banking
information, usernames or
passwords or other personal
information
Genuine
NHS Contact tracers will not
ask for sensitive personal
information. They will be more
interested in tracing your
recent contacts.
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Example
Scam Text
The link will take you to
a website, It will entice
you to disclose personal
information. |
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