DropBy

Early March saw the launch of the European Year for Active Ageing and Solidarity between Generations 2012 in the UK, held at the European Commission Representation building in London. Baroness Greengross opened the event, moderating a discussion about ‘The benefits of a multigenerational workforce’, and this was followed by a live Link-up videoconference with László Andor, EU Commissioner for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion. The audience also heard from Manchester City Council on how they became the UK’s only World Health Organisation’s Age-friendly City and they then featured in a debate about ‘How to Benefit from Becoming an Age-friendly City’. The event ended on a fitness note, with the launch of BRITDOC ’s new film “Ping Pong”, about the World Over 80s Ping Pong Championships, and Age UK talking about their successful “Fit as a Fiddle” campaign, which reached 300,000 older people in the UK. This article was taken from the Newsletter of the English Forums on Ageing.

Dear all,

My name is Julie Gawrylowicz and I am a resarcher at Royal Holloway, University of London in Egham, Surrey.

I am the leading researcher on a project entitled 'Over 60's eyewitness study'.
The purpose of this research is to improve police practice to better meet the needs of senior witnesses of or victims to crime.

During this study volunteers will see some short video clips depicting criminal events and will be asked questions about them to see how much and what information they can remember. We are particularly interested in which questions the police should ask to get the most out of witnesses.

We did a similar study last year on campus with 80 people over 60, which was a huge success. Everybody enjoyed the experience and was fascinated by the research. We even got a little slot on BBC breakfast TV
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-14100786

We now need again the assistance of people over 60 who live in the Surrey area to complete the current summer study succesfully. The study is commencing middle of May and running over the whole summer, including June, July and August.

The study consists of two sessions with a 1-week delay between them. Each sesssion will take approximately 60 minutes. We are able to pay particpants a small honorarium of £10. The study will take place on the lovely Royal Holloway campus and we are more then happy to give you a little campus tour at the end of the study!

If you are intrested in taking part or do you wish to receive some further information please contact me via email julie.gawrylowicz@rhul.ac.uk
or phone 01784276548

I am looking forward hearing from you and will keep you updated how the research goes.

Also please visit our Royal Holloway Eyewitness Research webpage with lot's of interesting information about research
www.pc.rhul.ac.uk/sites/rheg/

Have a lovely day,

Julie  
 

Thanks to a recent new member DropBy is being put forward as a potential project......
Personally I think this is what DropBy is all about.

If you agree would you please register your approval and comment on this blog. It would so help raise our profile too.

If we are put forward then we will be messaging you all for your comments. This could be so important in moving forward towards a more powerful voice for older people. I just want to thank you in advance for your support.

The National Development Team for Inclusion (NDTi) and Community Catalysts share a concern that older people (including those with high support needs) are too often seen as a burden and a drain on resources, rather than as individuals with gifts, skills and assets. This joint research will identify and promote the various ways in which older people with high support needs can and do take up positive and enabling roles within models of mutual support and reciprocity.

NDTi has previously developed a framework, ‘Keys To A Good Life’ to promote what is important to as well as important for older people with high support needs in exercising choice and control over their support, in order to have a good life. We will use elements of that framework as a critical aspect of examining models of mutual support and reciprocity. Community Catalysts Ltd has a wealth of experience and existing close working relationships with services and networks delivering support based on mutuality.

Aims

• Achieve a breadth and depth of vision, based on a rigorous analysis of examples, ideas and practicalities involved in establishing mutual support and reciprocity with and for older people with high support needs
• Deepen our understanding of the intricacies involved in establishing and sustaining mutual support systems, including how people resolve issues as they arise and resilience, rather than reliance, may be achieved
• Examine issues and dynamics of replicability, developing guidance for different audiences on the conditions and circumstances for replicating models of mutual support and reciprocity

This comes with thanks to Glenn F


It first happened 790 years ago...

The official woke up...

He ate an egg and heated some milk on the fire...

He checked on the livestock...

And then he walked over to the parish council and announced the news.

A hush went around the room...

After weeks of deliberation, it had been decided:

Manchester may hold...

An annual fair!

790 years later, this momentous occasion is still celebrated as people don red and white and fall out onto the streets of England to drink and be merry.

Meanwhile, in that same year of 1222, a few hours outside of London, the Council of Oxford meets.

In the morning they declare the 23rd April to be St George's Day.

It's documented accordingly and then the Council move on to discuss the launch of the sixth crusade and whether it's worth investigating different ways to spread the message of Christianity to the masses. 

Today ISN'T about celebrating Manchester's right to hold an annual fair...

It's St Georges Day, that's what today's all about!

It is indeed St Georges Day...

And as I was researching the other day, from a very rudimentary look around Google the only interesting thing I could find out that happened in 1222, which was the year St George's Day was first decided upon, was that Manchester was granted the right to hold an annual fair.

Made me laugh and thought it might you too.

It also made me laugh the lack of any real specific detail you can find about why we celebrate St George's Day.

It's all very vague.

But, far from being un-English, I will happily celebrate with the rest of my country-folk and will soon be off for a few tankards of ale..........

We seem to have plenty of time before our move so I am boxing books and other small "New Home" items in advance of the removals van day - they are going off to self-storage. 

In downsizing I have already put most of my beloved books into self-storage!   There are too many for our new home. Once we get there I have a tortuous series of decisions about selecting retentions and disposing of others.

I might acquire a "shed" to be my library.  However, unlike most, my self-storage room happens have a light so I could even use it as a reading room (not serious!) but I would have had needed to include a favoured chair (and the cushions)! (LOL) As it is the room does not now have room to swing a cat - but I shall get fit if I ever have to delve into a one of the 20+ piles of archive boxes as I try to find a particular reference.

If I had the nerve, I would take my old billiard table to the self storage and create a den for it (me?) and the books and the chair. I could even include book cases.  Although this approach to using self storage is not common (if at all) in this country, I believe that  a great variety of tagged-on activity is common in the USA.

Thus, if you have a small home and would love to have say, a billiard room, a dance studio, a reading room, a sewing room, or a study, why not rent a big enough  store to accommodate your dreams!

Of course the "marketing mix" offered by the self-storage management would need to change - eg lighting, extended hours and so on: but that is another story. 

For downsizing (or decluttering) I suggest several sheets of A4 paper - one for each room, garage, shed, etc. Print or draw sufficient columns on each sheet - each with a heading to cover:

1   Remove to your new home -  "New Home";
2   Offer to members of your family -  "Family";
3  Items for sale - "Sales";
4   Community recycle - Freecycle, local charity, etc  - "Recycle Scheme";
5   Take to tip for waste disposal -  "Waste Management Centre" or "Tip";
6   Ask council to remove -  "Council".

We added small different coloured stickers as an aide memoire for recognition of the above groupings. Also, we tried to put most of the items in a group in the same room.  

The column for "New Home" was very useful when pointing out those items to the removal company representatives on visits to give us quotes. If we had been alert we would have cut and pasted those columns  on to a separate page and printed them as "leaflet" - an aide memoire for removals.  

Experiences of Dementia Care Homes. We're a Channel 4 documentary production team interested in hearing from residents, relatives, and staff about their experiences of Dementia Care Homes. We are particularly interested in the following topics: - Prescription of anti-psychotics - Finding a Dementia Care home which can accommodate residents throughout the stages of their illness - Dementia Care training and standards. All communication will be treated as 'off the record' at this stage. Please get in touch with libby@hardcashproductions.com for more info. We have confirmed that DropBy will do all it can to help with the preparation of the documentary. The documentary hopes to have a big impact on the laws around Care Homes, but in order to do this the production company desperately need to reach as many people nationwide who are experiencing themselves the challenges of finding good long term care for their loved one. Please help if you can and pass on the information to others who might be interested in helping. Please ask them to mention DropBy if they do respond!

   Sevenoaks District Seniors Action Forum have agreed to support SEACamb in the growth of PADs and CFR schemes. Next step is to build small teams in Sevenoaks District's towns and villages to take on the tasks needed to create and maintain a PAD in their places. The tasks include:
   1   assess the need for a PAD or AED project in their locality;
   2   plan the project in their neighbourhood (town or village or part of a town etc);
   3   make contact with property owners willing to allow a PAD on the outside of their building and/or have an AED etc;
    4  procure a defibrillator, box, and materials, site(s) etc and install it;
    5  arrange for the long term checking and care of the PAD(s) and associated materials;
    6  train several operators in first aid survival and train residents in CPR;
    7  raise funds for the scheme; and
    8  liaise with prospective partners in the scheme, eg parish or town councils, health and care providers, local charities, doctors, dentists, supermarkets, leisure centres and other high footfall places.

For some 50+ers now out of work starting a business is dream which must come true.   It is an alternative to job seeking and may not be easy to achieve but it is a dream  in which  you may find for your mettle.

Your local Job Club may help you with your thinking about the early stages by introducing you to the following needs, namely:

1   for a rigorous business plan,
2   an understanding of basic statutory requirements;  a) type of business, eg a company, a partnership,etc  b) creating a business name, c) grappling with taxation, d) developing policy for health and safety, e) employment law (jumping the gun perhaps?)
3   business strategy,
4  promotional strategy ...etc, etc.

Our local job club has assisted in a small way at least three members  to get their businesses underway. An important role for you might be for the job club to draw you from a reservoir of talented volunteers who are able to "train" JC members on the detail of one or more business functions. Another role is that of mentor (different from training) but as if not more valuable. By the way there is an ongoing  national scheme for training mentors - interested?
We can all help in big or small ways - it will build up our pride in our fellow citizens, support anxious families, and  help ourselves.