Agenda Item 8b
THREE RIVERS DISTRICT COUNCIL
At a meeting of the Pensioners’ Forum held in the Penn Chamber, Three Rivers House,
Northway, Rickmansworth, on Friday 25 June 2010 from 2.00pm to 4.00pm.
Present:
Councillor Paul Goggins (in the Chair)
Councillor Ann Shaw OBE
Officers:
Janet Ide (Committee Manager)
Kevin Snow (Communications Manager)
Speakers: Julie Crossley, Carers in Herts, Dawn Bunting, Hertfordshire Society for the
Blind and Morgan O’Grady, Three Rivers Centre for Voluntary Service.
50 Pensioner representatives from all parts of the District.
An apology was received from Ian Croft.
1.
WELCOME AND INTRODUCTIONS
The Chairman, Councillor Paul Goggins, welcomed all those present to the meeting
and thanked everyone for attending.
2.
UPDATE ON PREVIOUS ISSUES RAISED AT THE LAST MEETING
The Chairman stated that Herts Highways had learned lessons from the mistakes made
during last winter’s snow and confirmed that improvements would be made in the
future.
The Chairman asked members of the Forum to please complete the questionnaire
provided as to whether they would be interested in attending a one day Pensioners’
Conference.
Post meeting note:- Following consultation on holding a one day Pensioners’
Conference, not enough support was received from the Forum, so this event will not
take place and the next meeting in October will be a standard meeting.
3.
CARERS IN HERTS
The Chairman welcomed Julie Crossley from Carers in Herts.
Julie stated she was a support worker for Carers in Herts covering Watford and Three
Rivers. The Organisation was set up in 1995 to support unpaid carers. The definition
of a carer was someone who provided support to a partner, child, relative, neighbour or
young carers looking after parents or siblings, who were unable to manage without
help. This could be due to age, physical or mental illness, substance misuse or
disability.
There were around 100,000 carers in Hertfordshire with 3 in 5 people becoming carers
at some point in their lives.
Carers in Herts supported any carer living or working in Hertfordshire or caring for
someone who lived in Hertfordshire. A carer did not have to live with the person they
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cared for in order to receive support. Circumstances when caring could change but the
support was on going.
Carers in Herts had signed up to the Hertfordshire Carers Strategy which meant they
were supported to carry on caring if they wanted to, had a life outside caring, stayed fit
and healthy, received good quality information when needed, felt respected as carers
and partners in care and were able to access benefits to which they were entitled.
Carers were offered Carers Development Learning events to attend which were
learning initiatives and events specifically designed for carers. Examples of Free
courses and learning events, included Computer Courses, Caring with Confidence,
Reading Groups and Creative Writing Courses.
Regular opportunities were provided for carers to have their say on issues that affected
them, both at local and national level.
If a carer was caring for someone with Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s or Multiple
Sclerosis they were made aware that there were other Societies who could help and
signposted people to those Organisations.
There was a carers support group in Watford and a group had been set up in South
Oxhey, which was to be changed to a clinic, to enable one-to-one dialogue. A leaflet
was available at the meeting and Julie said if there were any carers at the meeting who
were not registered with Carers in Herts, registration was free if they wished to join. A
booklet was distributed once a quarter to inform carers on what was happening in the
area.
Once a referral had been received by Carers in Herts, information was sent out about
what the Organisation did, followed up with a phone call just to see if there was
anything else the Organisation could help with.
When a carer was caring for someone there was not always someone to speak to and
a large part of what the Organisation did was to provide emotional support. The
situation could not be changed but an outlet could be provided.
The main head office was in Hertford with offices in Hitchin and Hemel Hempstead.
Carers saved the Government £87 billion a year. In the 2001 Census Three Rivers had
approximately 8,000 carers. There was a database if carers wanted to register
confidentially which held an ongoing history of what had been happening and was
updated if anyone contacted the Organisation. Of the 8,000 carers in Three Rivers,
Julie had 491 registered.
Carers in Hertfordshire also has a Young Carers project, Learning Disability
Involvement Project, Parent Carer Involvement Project, Carer Trainer Unit and Mental
Health Involvement Project.
The programme for this year was to look at the changing needs of carers in the future.
In order to raise awareness of Carers in Herts notices were displayed on notice boards
at Doctors’ surgeries. There were 26 surgeries in the Three Rivers area and these
notices were updated regularly, leaflets delivered and posters displayed to raise the
profile of Carers in Herts and what the service provided.
Q.
Most carers I know were nearly all independent and reluctant to ask for help and
would do it until they dropped. He was more concerned about the carer than
the cared for and asked if there was any means to reach out to the carers and
give them respite care?
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A.
One of the hardest jobs was to reach out to carers. The Organisation can point
carers in the direction of how to access respite care although funding could be a
concern.
If adult care services came along to do an assessment and respite was a
definite need then with that came a financial assessment. People with savings
of £23,000 or more would be expected to pay for the services provided.
If a carer desperately needed respite care they could contact adult care services
to make them aware. The elderly and physically disabled team had direct
contact and would progress the matter until it was resolved and respite care had
been put in place.
Q.
How did this first come about? What qualifications do you have to support
carers? Was there an age limit on the advice that you can give?
A.
The Chief Executive tasked with setting up a Carers Group. All Trustees were
carers themselves or had been carers. Common interest was aimed at unpaid
carers. Supported carers from 0 to 100. Young carers project starts from
5 years old up to 19 and then they go over to adult side of support.
Q.
How do you quantify a 5 year old being a carer?
A.
If the mother was disabled or someone had a mental problem it could impact on
a child. There was a need to make sure they had time away from the family to
be a child. Different services would signpost parents to us.
Q.
How was the Organisation funded?
A.
The majority of funding was from Herts County Council but they had to produce
evidence on the use of funds.
Q.
Do you provide advocacy for some of these families?
A.
We do not provide advocacy. If a carer goes to a meeting and needs support
we can go along with them but we are not trained to do advocacy we can only
support. We would pursue things on behalf of carers.
The Chairman thanked Julie for attending the meeting of the Forum.
4.
VOLUNTEERING OPPORTUNITIES
The Chairman welcomed Morgan O’Grady from the Three Rivers Centre for Voluntary
Service.
Morgan O’Grady stated that the Centre for Voluntary Services (CVS) had been
operating for 25 years. There was an office in Basing House and one at The Parade,
Watford, The Centre worked with various charities and groups around Three Rivers to
make sure they got equal billing. All opportunities were available on the National
Volunteering website www.do-it.org.uk but you can phone up or just call into the office if you were interested in volunteering.
He was delighted that so many people were community minded in this area and put
themselves out.
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Funding was decreasing and charity sectors would be affected with a need to do more
with less. These organisations could not manage without volunteers, if you were fit and
well enough to get involved with something the volunteering service needed you.
Age UK in Watford required some volunteers to home visit older people with mild
dementia. The scheme was for 6/8 weeks to call in and make sure they were okay and
get them back on their feet again as they might have just come out of hospital. There
were hundreds of volunteering opportunities.
He asked people to read the leaflet distributed at the meeting, and think about whether
you could do something. The Centre worked with Job Centre plus in Watford trying to
do something with the long term unemployed to get them involved in community work
and volunteering. Research had shown that long term unemployment could lead to
isolation, depression and other problems. These people should be encouraged to
volunteer and keep themselves busy, then they had a better chance of getting a job
than someone sitting around watching daytime TV.
National Volunteers Week was 1-7 June 2010. There were a number of activities
during that period, some aimed at people who were home during the day, unemployed,
mums at home, retired and semi-retired people. There were people who were busy but
still found time to volunteer. Charities were crying out for Trustees which could take 2
hours a month with a meeting every quarter. Young people were doing coaching on a
Saturday which would still tie in with a full time job. Charities did rely heavily on charity
shops. There were lots of opportunities out there. Some people do 2/3 days a week,
some for only a few hours. There was also the social aspect, making friends with
people you volunteered with.
Q.
Do organisations pay expenses for people of working age?
A.
We do not have any direct control over that. People should not be out of pocket
as a result of working for a charity. Some organisations would pay expenses
although others would only pay if you had to go out to visit (around 40p per
mile.) Details of what expenses the charity pay should be shown in the advert
and you would be invited for a chat rather than a formal sit down interview to
assess whether you would like to work for them. Lot of organisations do not
have budgets to get people to and from where volunteering was taking place.
Many people volunteer for same position especially the Peace Hospice as so
many people want to get involved because it is personal to them. Nearly 600
volunteers had applied to the Peace Hospice.
Morgan stated he had been working for a charity and allocated to a particular
family and allowed to ask for reimbursement of travel. He claimed the money
and then gave it back, so the gift aided charity would be better off.
Youth Representatives needed to complete a form and the treasurer would give
you money for any expenses incurred although this varied from charity to
charity.
The process of getting involved in volunteering varied from charity to charity.
CRB checks, vetting and barring were required to make sure that people who
were working with vulnerable adults and children were suitable. The CRB check
costs £65 but if the check was for a volunteer there was no charge.
Some charities would ask for a reference but these requirements should be
shown on the advert. The problem with some checks were they took so long
which delayed responding to volunteers. There was a need to make sure that
people knew what they were applying for.
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Councillor Ann Shaw said one factor left out of the adverts was fun. Young
people should be encouraged to do something they would enjoy doing. A Rags
to Riches event had been held with a lot of young people involved. Second
hand clothing was acquired from local charity shops, with the young people
getting involved in promoting, photographing and makeup for the show which
had been such a success that the young people wanted to do the same again
themselves. The whole aim of the event was fun.
The Chairman thanked Morgan for attending the meeting of the Forum.
5.
MOBILE PHONES
The Chairman welcomed Dawn Bunting from the Hertfordshire Society for the Blind and
Pauline Hawkins who was visually impaired and used an adapted mobile phone. Dawn
stated that the Herts Society for the Blind specialised in mobile phones for the blind but
did not carry phones for the disabled.
Pauline Hawkins showed her phone called DORA to the Members of the forum which
only allowed you to programme 5 large numbers in. One was directory enquiries with
the other 4 numbers being people that were important to the phone owner.
On the DORA phone you would be unable to text or send verbal messages but it was
very clear if you were registered blind. The phone cost just over £100 but you would
not be liable for VAT. There was a DORA catalogue of specialised phones or you could
go to your local mobile phone shop to find a suitable phone to switch you. Pauline said
she went to the Orange Shop and they set up her phone for her.
There was a talking phone that spoke the numbers as they were pressed, at a cost of
£350.
On the majority of basic phones you would be unable to text.
Q.
A lady with glaucoma said she was unable to see anything on her phone if it
was bright and sunny unless she went into the shade.
A.
Even on a normal mobile phone if a message came through it could not be read
unless you had a glare shield.
Q.
A lady raised this matter on behalf of two older ladies who went to a shop and
once they got home they could not understand the phones as the instructions
were difficult to understand. Were there any particular phones that were
particularly simple for people to understand.
A.
Texting was not feasible on these type of phones. The simplest phone was one
with 5 digits. Handle Plus 324 GSM was recommended.
Q.
How many numbers could you have on a mobile phone?
A.
A blind lady in the audience stated that on the number 5 of every single phone
there was a raised dot so you could work out where the numbers were.
The Chairman thanked Dawn and Pauline for attending the meeting of the Forum.
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6.
ANY OTHER BUSINESS
Q.
Recycling – was there any possibility of collecting the brown compost bin which
contained household refuse which at this time of year attracts flies and maggots,
and have a weekly collection?
A.
All a matter of finance - will be considered and looked at. Not a question of not
agreeing but whether it could be afforded or not.
Q.
Now that we were recycling a lot more in the form of plastic was it possible to
have larger boxes or second boxes?
A.
No problem with having larger boxes.
Q.
Are we going to be in trouble if we put items in the wrong container, for
example, putting food in the brown box would make it over-run with maggots.
A.
It was suggested that waste food be wrapped in newspaper.
Q.
A resident enquired about the goalpost which had been installed on the green
opposite Mead Place in Berry Lane.
A.
Councillor Ann Shaw said it was an experiment to see if it would encourage the
young people to play football there as people complain about young people
hanging around. It was not proposed to put any equipment there for a children’s
play area.
Q.
The 336 bus service from Chorleywood was very poor, and was always
breaking down. Only one bus in Chorleywood runs from Watford to High
Wycombe but does not go to any hospitals in between and passengers need to
get another bus. The 336 service was run by Carousel, Bucks.
The R4 bus goes to Chorleywood but only ran in the morning. Another
alternative was to get the train from Chorleywood to Rickmansworth but was
more expensive.
A.
This case would need to be taken up specifically. A lady who worked jointly for
Watford and HCC Passenger Transport would be invited to the next meeting to
talk about bus services generally.
Q.
Could the representative also talk about the new trains on the Metropolitan line
which had less seating and more standing with no support?
A.
The Chairman would take this on board.
Q.
Do we have to have all the street furniture in the High Street, the uneven paving
areas and the advertising boards?
A.
Councillor Ann Shaw said they should not be there at all. She had spent a
whole afternoon photographing the street furniture in order to demonstrate to
Herts County Council (HCC) what a problem they were. It was a particular
problem where the pavement narrowed particularly for people with buggies or a
sight impairment. HCC said if they continued they would take them all away.
HCC should be encouraged to remove them and owners would have to pay to
recover them.
The Chairman, Councillor Goggins, also being a County Councillor, agreed to email the appropriate people about the street furniture in the High Street.
Q.
What can be done with foxes that now infiltrate our gardens?
A.
When wheelie bins were introduced foxes were no longer able to get food from
bins. The Council had applied to the Government and were told to do nothing.
The Council were not allowed to cull geese or foxes.
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7.
DATE OF NEXT MEETING
The date of the next meeting Friday 22 October 2010.
CHAIRMAN
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