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Newsletter No. 015
Friends, what would this pandemic
be without them. Ringing ,
texting, zooming. Neighbours have
become more, well, neighbourly. I
walk the dogs and people I barely
know (we all recognise and know the
dogs) ask how are you, keep well,
stay safe or stop and chat. It's a
little bit generational though,
those with a phone to their ear or
those little white cheese sticks in
their ear (I'm told they are
Bluetooth earphones) are a bit
miserable. I still say a cheery good
morning to them. It's polite and
seems to unsettle them which cheers
me up no end.
My friend Christopher, used to
meet a little bear in the woods near
his house. The bear had a little
saying. A day without a friend
is like a pot without a single drop
of honey left inside.
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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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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Information
Document
Parkinson's Benefits -
Can I claim?
By Angela Jeffery
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Hi everyone I hope you are all
ok and managing to get by in
these strange times? One of
the concerns that people who
are diagnosed with Parkinson’s
have is whether they may be
eligible to claim benefits.
There is no doubt that
managing long-term health
conditions, which impacts on
your mobility will have
financial implications. The
good news is that you may be
entitled to benefits if your
Parkinson’s symptoms are
affecting your day to day
activities. Below is a list of
benefits that you might be
interested in applying for:
If you want help with any of
these benefits and would like
to discuss your options call
our helpline on 01327 612333
or email [email protected]
Angela
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Personal Independent Payment -
(PIP)
is a non means tested benefit that
helps with the extra costs of a
long-term health condition or
disability for people aged 16 up to
age 65 (or State Pension age whichever
is higher). It is gradually replacing
Disability Living Allowance (DLA). You
could get between £23.60 and £151.40 a
week and the amount you get depends on
how your condition affects you, not
the condition itself. You can claim
PIP whether you are working or not and
you must have a health condition or
disability where you have difficulties
with daily living or getting around
(or both) for three months.
Attendance Allowance – (AA)
is a non means tested benefit for
people of State Pension age or older.
It is to support people who have
difficulties or need help with daily
living due to disability or illness.
AA is paid at two different rates; you
could get £59.70 or £89.15 a week. You
do not need to have someone else care
for you in order to claim. If you have
been on the lower level for a while it
may be worth reviewing if you are now
experiencing difficulties during the
night time.
Employment Support Allowance –
(ESA)
You can apply for ESA if you are under
State Pension age and you have a
disability or health condition that
affects how much you can work. You can
apply whether you're in or out of
work. There are conditions to working
while claiming ESA.
Universal Credits – (UC)
is a payment to help with your living
costs, for people under state pension
age. It’s paid monthly - or twice a
month for some people in Scotland. You
may be able to get it if you’re on a
low income, out of work or you cannot
work. UC is slowly replacing; Child
Tax Credits, Housing Benefit, Income
Support, Income-related ESA, Working
Tax Credits.
Carers Allowance- If
you provide help and support to
someone who claims AA or PIP and you
spend 35 hours or more helping them,
you may be eligible. All the following
must also apply: you are over 16, live
in England for at least 2 of the last
3 years, not in full-time education or
studying 21 hours or more a week and
not earn more than £128 after-tax, NI
and expenses per week. Or you could
claim
Carers Credit if you
are caring for someone for 20 hours a
week and you will be credited with
National Insurance contributions.
More Benefits for Pensioners and
Older People in the UK
Pension credits is an income-related,
tax-free benefit for people over the
State Pension age. It comes in two
parts: - Guarantee Credit – an income
top-up for those on low incomes –
available for those with a weekly
income below £167.25 for single
pensioners and below £255.25 for
pensioners with partners. – Savings
Credit – this is an extra payment for
older people who saved some money
towards their retirement. It is only
available to those who reached State
Pension age before 6 April 2016.
When applying for Pension Credit, the
government will look at all your
income. This will include both your
basic and additional state pension,
any income from other pensions, income
from any other jobs you have any
savings over £10,000.
Receiving pension credit makes you
eligible for many more incredibly
helpful benefits, so it’s definitely
worth applying. You can start your
application for Pension Credit four
months before you reach State Pension
age. To apply, call the Pension Service
on 0800 99 1234. You will need to give
your NI number, your bank account
details, and information about your
income. If you receive Pension Credit,
even if it’s only a small amount, you
can also qualify for the following
benefits for pensioners:
Free TV licence from August 2020
Council tax reduction
Housing benefit – for those who pay
rent
Cold weather payments
And several others
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COVID 19 Virtual
FitnFab
Angela is still running Virtual Fit n'
Fab sessions twice a week 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
Our Virtual quiz is running every
Fortnite Saturday morning 11.00 AM. 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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A Walk in the
Park!
Writing an article on walking
in what is without question
testing times for us all isn’t
as straight forward as I first
thought. We in Fit and Fab
have Angela to thank for
keeping us well connected (and
sane!) with our individual
stories of daily life during
lockdown, while at the same
time giving us a twice-weekly
workout. But it isn’t that
walk in the park.
Photo: Richard on
the right with Brian
another Poles in the Park
regular.
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Now this isn’t going to be an
announcement for the restart of the
Tuesday and Friday walks, we won’t be
doing that until we are all confident
(and have medical clearance) that it
is safe. (Let’s face it, the
irresponsible actions televised over
the recent days makes you want to run
for cover anyway).
However, let’s be positive and
proactive; YES!
So, how’s your memory of walking with
poles? Yes, under the title of Nordic
Walking! (Well the impossible title
had to come up in the script at some
time didn’t it?).
Right, I’ll own up. Until last Friday
I hadn’t used mine either. My excuse,
well, by the time I had taken the dog
(Freckle or Freck for short) for the
permitted daily exercise, that was it.
You just can’t do what you have to do
with a dog and have two poles to
contend with at the same time; now can
you?
So, what happened last Friday?
I had just the right occasion to use
my poles on a 5+ mile walk around
Draycote Water (near Southam and
Dunchurch. No dogs allowed) with four
of my old work colleagues. Knowing
they generally have a quicker walking
pace than mine, I knew that with the
aid of the poles I was going to be
able to keep up, and keep up I did.
The walk was completed in just under 2
hours including a 15minute stop about
halfway for a Cherry Bakewell and a
drink, essential on any walk.
Why the confidence and increase in
pace?
Those of you reading this who have
already experienced the walks in the
park may well remember why, but for
those of you who may have forgotten or
reading this for the first time, I’ll
attempt to explain. The following is
an edited version of one of my
previous articles as an introduction
to Nordic Walking, so some of you may
be familiar with the topic and can go
and have a cup of tea now! We all
acknowledge the fact that exercise
does play an important role in slowing
the effects of Parkinson’s, and Nordic
Walking has growing evidence of its
suitability for both movement,
stature, and boosting self-confidence.
Looking at the here and now, how
Nordic Walking has taken off over the
year, not just with Fit and Fabs
Tuesday and Friday, we have seen more
and more other groups of walkers
taking to the activity, including
other Parkinson’s groups.
This fact hasn’t gone unnoticed by
Parkinson’s UK, and following the
previous launch and trial of the
Parkinson’s Nordic Walking Champions
in February 2018, have started the
training of more volunteers to take on
the role. The target is to give
everyone the
opportunity to experience the benefits
that I hope you will find walking with
poles. More about this to follow.
So before the ‘why’, and for the
benefit of those unfamiliar with the
term, what is Nordic Walking? Put
very, very simply, it’s walking with
the addition of two specially designed
poles that enhance regular natural
walking. It’s a very accessible
activity and can be shared by people
of differing fitness, and has no age
limits.
So the question, why, and what are the
benefits?
From one who knows, the benefits have
been impressive. It has increased my
awareness when walking to use the
whole body and improves my posture,
keeping me up straight, and gives me a
better stride (or gait) to my walking.
For me, I found that within a short
space of time I had developed a better
awareness of my posture and walk even
without the poles, a
point noted by both family and
friends.
So yes, I’m absolutely convinced it’s
a fun form of beneficial exercise
which will get you off
the sofa and with self-confidence to
come into the big outdoors!
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If you would like to know more, or
better still have a go, come along and
meet me at Angela Jeffery’s Fit and
Fab groups Nordic walking session that
meet at Abingdon Park (by the Bowling
Greens) at 10.30 on Fridays. Poles
will be provided.
**** Please note that the walks and
training are currently suspended until
further notice due to the COVID-19
restrictions
Richard Clifft. Parkinson’s Nordic
Walking Champion INWA Instructor
(*INWA – International Nordic Walking
Federation.)
Just for the record, I may not know much
about line dancing, but I am OK at
Nordic Walking!
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Flourless Brownies
I shop for a couple down my
road as they are isolating and
in the at-risk group. She
occasionally treats me with a
homemade cake. Her Flourless
Brownies are in my opinion the
best chocolate anything you
can eat. She has now given me
the recipe. I now give it to
the world, starting with you
lot!
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Ingredients
-
75 g (3oz) unsalted butter, chopped,
plus extra to grease
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250 g (9oz) dark chocolate (70%
cocoa solids), chopped
- 15 g (½oz) cocoa powder
- 2 tsp. vanilla extract
- 250 g (9oz) caster sugar
- 4 large eggs
- 100 g (3½oz) ground almonds
Directions
Preheat oven to 180°C (160°C fan) mark
4. Lightly grease and line a 20.5cm
(8in) square tin with baking
parchment.
Melt the chocolate and butter together
in a large pan over a low heat, stirring
occasionally. Take off heat and whisk in
cocoa powder, vanilla and sugar until
combined.
Next whisk in the eggs, one at a time,
before stirring in the ground almonds.
Scrape into the prepared tin and
level.
Bake for 25-30min or until firm to the
touch. Leave to cool completely in the
tin. Chill for at least 1hr before
cutting into squares.
To store:
Once chilled, keep well wrapped in foil
or in an airtight container at room
temperature for up to 5 days
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Who was the legendary Benedictine
monk who invented champagne?
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Name the largest freshwater lake in
the world?
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Where would you find the Sea of
Tranquility?
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What is someone who shoes horses
called?
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What item of clothing was named
after its Scottish inventor?
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What kind of weapon is a
falchion?
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Which word goes before vest, beans
and quartet?
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What is another word for
lexicon?
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Name the seventh planet from the
sun.
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Who invented the rabies vaccination?
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Sylvia's Gardening
Tips
THIS MONTH’S
GARDENING
Water, feed and deadhead
regularly and your plants
will flower throughout the
summer and sometimes
beyond.
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Take cuttings of dianthus (pinks).
Select a non-flowering shoot (known as
a piping) remove it from the main
stem. Pull off the lower leaves and
make a neat cut at the bottom of the
stem. Trim the upper leave by half.
Plant the pipings around the edge of a
pot and water well.
A reminder that the great British
butterfly count is from 17/7 to 9/8.
Please record sightings of butterflies
and the type. A chart can be
downloaded from
https://www.countryfile.com which will
help to identify the different
butterflies.
Most of us are finding DIY jobs around
the house and garden. This is just one
example of how I have been keeping
busy and how one thing leads to
another. About 6 weeks ago I was
looking through some stuff in the
garage. My late husband Bob’s domain.
Bless him he was a bit of a hoarder.
Many a time he would stoop to pick up
a screw from the pavement. I can hear
him saying ‘this could come in handy’!
Well, anyway, I found a brand new tin
of sage green fence paint. I have a
side entry between my house and garage
where I keep the wheelie bins. There
is one 5-6 foot high gate at the front
and the same at the back so that the
bins are screened from view. Hmmm. I
thought I could paint the gate on the
back so it will be pleasant to look at
when I sit in the garden. I gave it
two coats of paint and was really
pleased with my handiwork. I felt
quite smug actually as jobs like this
were always done by Bob. For a few
days, I admired my sage green gate and
then I thought why not order another
tin of paint and do the front gate? So
I did and a few days later the front
gate was duly painted. Again I felt
smug! A couple of weeks later I
noticed the climbing/creeping plants
on my garden fence were getting out of
hand, to say the least, so I began to
trim them back. It was really hard
work as these plants had
been established for at least eight
years. However, with secateurs and my
newly acquired pruning saw I managed
to cut them back by half. The ivy was
particularly difficult and had almost
grown itself into the wood of the
fence panel. Afterwards sitting with a
cup of tea admiring my handiwork I had
a light bulb moment (yes! Another
one!). What if I was to cut everything
down to the ground and clear the whole
border and paint the fence a nice sage
green? Said fence consists of five
full-size panels approximate length of
30 feet. Then when it is painted I
could plant two pear trees.
The present situation is that the fence
has been cleared and sanded down ready
for painting.
I worry what my next light bulb moment
will bring!!
Before and after clearing pictures below
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I Remember Part
13
Place: 3 B. O. D. (Base
Ordnance Depot)
(221 BVD (Base Vehicle
Depot. attachment RAOC)
Singapore
Time: September
1969
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At this point, I must point out that I
was now less than 2 years away from my
discharge from the service. In all
probability, I could as things stood,
possibly be posted to another station
anywhere and my family dispatched back
to "blighty". At the time
we had no housing sorted which, with a
wife and four children was a worry.
I had already sounded out my mother
about the possibility of applying for
a council tenancy. She informed me
that I could write to the housing
department and see. This I did and
with mum's assistance we were placed
on the Northampton housing list, at
the top, so at least that angle was
covered.
Christmas came and went, but I must
remark on the fantastic New year's
party which ended with a good friend;
Davie Wishart leading what started as
a group of about 20 and ended with 200
to 300 all singing and dancing several
Conga lines with Davie leading
proceedings on the bagpipes.
As the year passed, I finally got a
summons to the adjutant's office and
was asked if I wanted to resign. I
said that I wasn't sure as I knew I
was to be posted shortly, and I needed
to know, if possible where it might be
so I could discuss it with my wife.
He just refused to find out. Then, as
I foretold a posting came in and I was
to go to C.O.D, Chilwell Nottingham.
To report in November 1970. This meant
that we had to leave Singapore at the
end of August 1970.
When the time came to leave there was
much wailing from wife and kids on
leaving the lovely Muna our servant.
On arriving back in Blighty we lived
at my in-laws whilst our claim at the
housing office was sorted. In the
meantime, I reported to Chilwell where
I was again requested to sign up for
another 3 years. I decided that the
answer was no.
Once again Christmas came but this
time, we celebrated in our own
home
As I reported back to my new unit, I
asked if I could take what leave I had
coming, and add it to my re
settlement. This all added up to the
fact that in March 1971 I would
effectively be finished.
The officer in charge of me said that
as I had only 2 weeks left in Feb. I
went home and started my temporary
job.
Then on the 27 June 1971, I reported
to RAOC HQ at Blackdown, Deepcut.
Where I was given my final paperwork
to sign, which I did.
One amusing thing happened as I
arrived at the gates to the camp; I
went into the guardroom to report in
and a rather officious chap told me to
straighten up and get my “bloody" hair
cut. I replied in some industrial
language as to what he could
do! As he looked at
me a voice behind me said "buckle you
still causing trouble, nothing
changes, I'll walk you over to the
main office" and low and behold there
was my old friend Chatterton. He
happened to be guard commander that
day. The young fella who
shouted at me looked aghast and I just
smiled at him and said "mind who you
shout at next time"
That then was me done.
Time served in H.M. Forces at various
points around the world: 14 years 63
days.
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Northamptonshire
Carers
The lovely Jenny Osbourne from
Northamptonshire Carers has
been in touch and asked us to
remind you that:
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Northamptonshire Carers, Carers
Support Line is still open and very
much operational for carers
emotional support and listening ear
service.
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The Carers Assessment and Support
Workers are working via telephone
and also some groups are meeting
‘virtually’.
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The support line is open Monday to
Friday 9am to 12 noon and 1pm to
4pm. There is an answer machine out
of these hours.
Thank you Jenny, it is really great
to hear that vital support services
have found a way to continue during
these difficult times – we look
forward to working more closely with
you and Northamptonshire Carers in the
near future. xxx
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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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- Dom Perignon.
- Lake Superior.
- The Moon.
- A farrier.
- A Mackintosh.
- A sword.
- String.
- Dictionary.
- Uranus.
- Louis Pasteur.
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And Finally...
On the 23rd March 2020 Lockdown was
announced in England. I was a little
slow on the uptake regarding toilet
rolls and flour but after a week or so
it seemed I could get by and didn't
really miss out on any foodstuffs.
The day after lockdown was
announced when the supermarkets were
doing big business and other shops
were dithering on what to do, yours
truly wandered into Harlestone Garden
centre and for no particular reason
bought 5 tiny houseplants in 1" pots.
They have sat on a window ledge, then
a shelf in the kitchen and I've
enjoyed having them about. Thought I'd
share some photos of their progress
since that day in March. I've
included the original pot in the
picture, from the original 4
plants I now have 7 and once the
spider plant has stopped flowering
I'll be splitting that too.
Phil
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