PRESS RELEASE 7th November 2007

Forum launches defend the freedom pass petition

Worries about the long-term future of the Freedom Pass has led Enfield’s Over 50s Forum to launch a petition defending the current reserve powers held by the Mayor of London to finalise the cost of the scheme, in conjunction with Transport for London and the London Councils.

It launched the petition following moves - defeated in a little known Parliamentary debate - to rescind the Mayor’s role, which would be replaced by a central government Minister having the final say in the event of a dispute between TFL and the 32 London Boroughs.

Although the advocates of this change have given assurances that there is no plan to under fund the concessionary travel scheme or water it down, Forum members strongly. felt that taking control of the Freedom Pass out of the hands of Londoners has, as its ultimate objective, reducing the cost of the scheme, and this can only be achieved by reducing the services currently available to all disabled people and everyone over the age of 60.

The London Freedom Pass is the best in the country, giving free access to bus, train, underground and DLR services in Greater London, which were recently voted the best public transport system in the world. Although pensioners outside London will also have some access to free public transport from next April it will not be on such a wide scale .

"To hand over control of our scheme to a Minister who has no specific interest in, or responsibility for, London pensioners would, in our view, be a retrograde step and flies in the face of the popular demand for more power and decision-making being in the hands of local people and out of the control of central government’, says Forum chairman Monty Meth.

"The fact that some MPs forced this issue to a Commons vote - which defeated the change by 244-139 on June 28 -convinces us that this is a serious threat to the Freedom Pass as we currently know it and it will come back to haunt us unless we convince those who want to change the law to back off", he added.

The petition, unanimously approved at a Forum meeting attended by more than 80 people, asks people to express their support for the Mayor’s guarantee of a London-wide free travel scheme for over one million older and disabled people. It expresses concern at the repeated attempts to abolish the Mayor’s role in guaranteeing the scheme,
return to top of the page

PRESS RELEASE 9th July 2007

Forum fights for fair funding for pensioners
Enfield pensioners are being treated as second class citizens compared with those in Haringey and Waltham Forest. While recreational part-time further education courses continue to be subsidised in Haringey and Waltham Forest, Enfield pensioners are compelled to pay the full cost unless they receive means-tested help - and the fees are going up a whopping 40% to £270 in September..

Enfield’s Over 50s Forum has finally exposed the inequalities in lifelong learning opportunities for pensioners in the three adjoining boroughs. Although there are 44,000 pensioners living in Enfield, compared with 28,800 in Waltham Forest and 25,000 in Haringey, the total 2006 - 7 grant for adult and community learning in the three adjoining boroughs is: Enfield £443,809, Waltham Forest £1,764, 816 and Haringey £2,131,411.

Using the Freedom of Information Act, the Over 50s Forum claims that Enfield has been victimised since 1999 when the Government introduced a new basis for funding adult learning based on the spending plans submitted by each council for the following year and which would be administered by the then newly-formed Learning and Skills Council.

If all three councils then acted in good faith and declared their real budget spending plan on adult learning - and did not put in some fictitious figure - then it is hard to believe that six years ago Haringey was spending five times and Waltham Forest four times more than Enfield on adult learning, said Forum chairman Monty Meth.

It is now blatantly obvious that the original basis for financing adult learning was flawed since it took no account whatever of the much larger pensioner and total population in Enfield. So while Enfield claimed £129,181 for adult and community learning in 2001/2, which has since increased by 243%, the same if not higher proportionate increases has been given to the other boroughs thus perpetuating the funding differentials.
 

return to top of the page

PRESS RELEASE 16 June 2007

Forum's Chair honoured  -  MBE award for Monty Meth

The efforts Enfield's Over 50s Forum Chair, Monty Meth, on behalf of older people in the borough have been recognised in the Queen's Birthday Honours awards for 2007.
Monty was born in the East End and grew up in Bethnal Green. He left school at 14 and became a runner in Fleet Street. Three years later he joined the Navy and was posted to Palestine until the end of WWII. After demobilisation he returned Fleet Street and settled into a 30-odd year career in journalism eventually becoming the Industrial Editor for the Daily Mail newspaper. Prior to retiring Monty headed Beechams' corporate communications team and finally set up a PR serving major industrial corporations.
Since retiring Monty has been a tireless campaigner for older people. Under his leadership the Over 50s Forum has increased in stature; it now has over 1400 individual members and most of Enfield's older peoples groups have become affiliated to the Forum. More importantly the Forum is now listened to by the Local Authority where its constructive criticism and advice is treated with great respect not just by Officers and Councillors, but also our local members of Parliament, leaders of the Police, Primary Care Trust and other groups that comprise Enfield's Local Strategic Partnership. Monty continues to exercise his journalistic skills, by writing and editing the Forum's newsletter with its circulation of 5,500.
Monty is a regular among the early morning swimmers at Southgate pool and has been the key to the special discounts older people enjoy at Enfield's leisure centres. Besides his efforts in Enfield Monty is treasurer and a trustee of the Bethnal Green Boys where he was a founder member.
ends

return to top of the page

PRESS RELEASE 5 January 2007

Forum Calls for Big Shake-up in GP Services

A big shake-up in services provided by Enfield's family doctors is required before any changes in hospital facilities are implemented, says the Boroughs Over 50s Forum following a survey of surgery opening hours and ease of telephone access.
Data obtained by the Forum has revealed a wide discrepancy in the level of service offered to patients with some surgeries open for ten and a half hours a day -from 8am - 6.30pm while others open for just four hours a day from 9am - 11.30am and then 5.30pm to 7pm.
We know of only around 15 of the 62 surgeries in the Borough that you can phone anytime between early morning and early evening and get a person to speak with at the other end of the line, said Forum chairman Monty Meth.
We know of only four surgeries that are open continuously from early morning to early evening five days a week - Forest Primary Care Centre, Hertford Road; Green Lanes surgery, Abernethy House in Silver Street, Enfield and Oakwood Medical Centre.
We have seen estimates that up to 70% of people seen by hospital departments could be treated equally efficiently by local GPs if only they were available to see people. So a crucial element in securing public acceptance of any changes in local services must be their belief that surgeries ought to be open all-day, five days a week - and they should then be able to deal with more if not most emergencies, he added. The Forum is asking why is it that some surgeries shut between 12.30 and 4 in the afternoon? Why do some surgeries open from Monday to Friday while others close on a Wednesday or Thursday afternoon? Is this a throwback to the days when shops had a half-day closing or when surgeries opened on Saturday morning? or local GPs did home visits at night?
We've asked before whether there is any other business that puts up the shutters at around 12 noon, shoves on the answer machine and comes back at 4pm, or 4.30pm for a couple of hours work? said Monty Meth.
The Forum recognises that the Primary Care Trust (PCT) is keen to improve the ease of telephone access to surgeries and increase GP consultation time. This is part of a four-point directed enhanced service, which the PCT is trying to get local GP practices to support.
Adopting this service criterion would also mean surgeries should offer patients a GP consultation within two working days, the opportunity to book appointments more than 48 hours in advance and the opportunity to be seen by your preferred GP.
The Forum believes its survey exposes a gap between promise and performance at different surgeries in the Borough judging by the problems Forum members raise which could be due to some GPs having more than the ideal 1,700 patients on their list. So a practice with three GPs should have about 5,000 patients to look after - but some surgeries have around 10,000 patients on their books and it is questionable whether they are being adequately cared for.
Are we being unfair if we ask our GPs who have recently had big pay rises - we have read that the increase was 20% and that doctors earned on average £106,000 last year, the second best in the world after the US - to look at the service they are providing and whether it can be improved to meet the changing pattern of life we are now witnessing?
Do our GP surgeries still not have the financial incentives to change their methods of work to meet the challenges of an ageing population, in which there are now more over 65s than under 16s and it is estimated there will be 2.4 million more over 65s in the next ten years?
We are told that GPs are not employees of the PCT - they are self-employed under contract and so cannot be compelled to open for longer hours or man their phones all day. But we believe there is nothing to stop patients asking, gently and politely, whether the service at their surgery should be on par with the best in the Borough. And we would like to see the PCT exercising some influence in this direction too.
We've now been told that patients unhappy with their GP will be able to influence the income of their surgery. Some five million patients are going to be asked in an NHS survey this month how easy they find it to have telephone access and get a prompt appointment at a convenient time - and part of the GPs income will depend on the satisfaction level of their patients said a Forum statement.
The average practice with some 6,000 patients can earn an extra £8,000 if it scores well. So by asking surgeries to look at their opening hours and telephone access, their patients could be helping them get a juicy bonus in June. So the Forum is asking its members to look out for posters and leaflets at their local surgery seeking their views.
Between the Forum's campaign for more telephone and opening hours at local surgeries getting results, it is reminding older people that if they need urgent medical advice out of hours they can call NHS direct 0845 46 47 or Barndoc 0845 389 0945 or use the walk-in centre at North Middlesex University Hospital 020 8887 2680 where no appointment is necessary and it is open until 10pm
ends

return to top of the page

PRESS RELEASE 15 May 2006

Forum’s shock findings on people dying alone

Enfield Over 50s Forum members are to consider the shock findings that people are dying in the Borough without family or friends, leaving the local authority to carry out funerals because there is nobody else to make the necessary arrangements.

The Forum has established that between October 2003 and March 2006, the Council had to arrange 57 funerals, which it is compelled to do under the Public Health Act 1984, when there is nobody else to meet the cost.

Of the 57 funerals taking place in Enfield, 45 people were aged over 65 and 40 of them were men, reflecting the fact that millions of older people are living lonely, isolated lives and many of them are cut off from their family and local communities. In Enfield, of the 80,000 people aged over 50 some 20,000 live alone.

Forum chairman Monty Meth said: "Nationwide about 1.5 million pensioners are classed as being "socially isolated". This means that they have no weekly contact with either family, friends or local clubs. One quarter of older people say they have no best friend and one in seven with a long-term illness feel as if no one knows they exist.

"It surely is a scandal that In 21st century Britain with all the talk of modernisation, high technology, increased wealth and progress since the poor law Victorian times, 182 councils reported that they had carried out more than 11,000 funerals of people dying alone over a five-year period - or 43 every week.

"The majority were of older men, who were two and a half times more likely to die alone than women. Between 2001 and 2005 it is estimated that around 16,000 people in England received council - arranged funerals because there was no one else to bury them", said Mr Meth.
Steve Tall, the LBE head of adult social services told the Over 50s Forum:" Any help you can give to support the avoidance of lone, vulnerable people ending up so isolated that the Council has to step in to arrange their funeral is, of course, very welcome".

Forum members determined to end this neglect of older people have already held an Elders Friendship Day providing high tea and entertainment for people living alone - and another will be held later in the year.

return to top of the page

PRESS RELEASE 15 May 2006

Forum Offers Free Fitness "Taster Days" for a Longer Life

Enfield Over 50s Forum is organising two free "Taster Days" at the Albany and Southgate Leisure Centres as part of its "Get Fit for a Longer Life" campaign. They will take place from 11am to 3.30pm on Tuesday 23 May at Southgate and Wednesday 24 May at Albany.

The Forum is planning to introduce a range of activities such as Pilates, tai-chi, gentle gym and swim sessions to encourage people to start regular exercise and so add more years to their life.

Recent research into the lifestyle and life expectancy of more than 25,000 people in Norfolk showed that with moderate exercise they lived three years longer. Cutting out smoking meant an extra five years and eating five portions of fruit and veg. a day added another three years.

"If we can repeat this Norfolk study in Enfield and practise self-help in this way there is a good chance of boosting our lifespan by a decade or more. The Mental Health Foundation even says that exercise can be just as effective as antidepressant drugs. Just 15 minutes a day can improve your mood which they say is the first line of self-help", said Forum chairman Monty Meth.

"Our Forum has been at the forefront of the successful campaign encouraging older people to make greater use of the Borough’s leisure centres, with exclusive discounts for its members. The special over-50s day every Wednesday at Southbury leisure centre is a tremendous success which we want to repeat elsewhere", he added.

The free taster days are being funded by Enfield Council Leisure Services and Enfield Leisure Centres Trust. The various activities will take place at specified times so people are asked to book their place with the Forum’s Olivia Goodfellow on 020 8447 8841 or email olivia.g@virgin.net
 

return to top of the page 

PRESS RELEASE 20 March 2006

Open your loos call to shops and pubs

Enfield's Over 50s Forum is urging the Council to launch a new community toilet scheme in which restaurants, garages, supermarkets and pubs are asked to open their toilets to the public, without having to first make a purchase, and in return they would get a Council grant towards the upkeep.

The plan will be discussed by Forum members attending the Councils Health scrutiny panel on Thursday 23 March, 7pm at the Civic Centre. The Forum has already asked the Enfield Business and Retailers Association (EBRA) to support the scheme and approach their members in all the Boroughs shopping centres - Edmonton Green, Enfield Highway, Ponders End, Enfield Town, Oakwood, Cockfosters, Southgate, Winchmore Hill and Palmers Green.

If we could get 50 premises in the Borough to open up their toilet facilities it could cost the Council about £25,000 a year compared with over £100,000 for a single automatic public convenience and which costs £15,000 a year to maintain, said Forum chairman Monty Meth.

Greater access to public toilets would help make Enfield a better place to live. I have been to Richmond to see a similar scheme in operation and it works with some 70 outlets in membership.

It would mean outlets here signing contracts allowing the public to use their safe and accessible customer toilet and in return the Council would pay them say £500 a year to cover their extra costs.

The Richmond experience shows that 50% of people using the toilets come back to support the business and that providing more toilets in shopping areas is an integral part of an improving street scene, which is supposed to be one of the Councils priorities, said Mr Meth.

The Council would provide stickers to be displayed by the supporting retailers saying they are members of the community toilet scheme and indicating they have male and female facilities and whether it is disability accessible. There would be accompanying street signage saying toilets are available where you see this sign.

Can the scheme work in Enfield? The Over 50s Forum put it to the test at Charlie's Italian Restaurant in Colman Parade, Southbury Road, which actually has a sign in the window saying its toilets are NOT for use by the public. But he expressed interest in joining a Community Toilet Scheme if it was financially supported by the Council.

The Open Your Loos campaign follows an Over 50s Forum survey of 550 people which showed that 64% of respondents were deterred from shopping in the Borough because of the lack of public toilets and 94% thought that Enfield would be a nicer place to live if we had more loos.

return to top of the page

PRESS RELEASE 20 March 2006

Going Oboe Solo at 16

James Greveson Hicks, a 16-year-old student at Latymer School, Edmonton, will give his first solo performance when he joins the newly named Southgate Symphony Orchestra on Sunday 2 April at the Church Hall, The Green, Waterfall Road, Southgate at 7.30pm.

The orchestra, once linked with Southgate College until it imposed prohibitive increases in student fees, is now supported by Enfield Council and the boroughs Over 50s Forum.

James will perform Haydn's oboe concerto in C with the orchestra and the Forum sees his involvement as a splendid example of inter-generational activity giving pleasure to people of all ages, said Forum social secretary Carol Sivak.

The concert will begin with Rossini's overture, The Thieving Magpie and the programme includes Schubert's ninth symphony and the March Slav by Tchaikovsky. Admission at the venue : £8 and £6 (concessions).

Note to News Editors: To contact James Hickie please call 020 8340 0557

return to top of the page

PRESS RELEASE 14 March 2006

Fight for fair Council Tax  -  MAKE 31 MARCH PRESCOTT DAY

Enfield Borough Over 50s Forum is urging all council taxpayers to bombard deputy Prime Minister John Prescott with copies of their higher than inflation council tax bills, timed to land on his desk on Friday 31 March.

The Forum is joining a nationwide campaign launched by the IsitFair protesters and aimed at speeding a change in the present system of collecting Council tax to one based on the ability to pay. We believe it should be people's income - not the properties they live in - that should determine council tax payments, said Forum chairman Monty Meth.

IsitFair campaign supporters throughout the country are being asked to take a photocopy of their council tax bill when it arrives. Then write a comment of their choice across the photocopied bill. They could, for example, write: This increase is more than double the rate of inflation or they can relate it to the increase in their state pension by writing: This takes X% (whatever it is) of my basic state pension.

The Forum is asking people to choose something which represents their own views and IsitFair insists that comments exclude bad or abusive language - and the Forum endorses that plea.

Council taxpayers are asked to send the photocopy - not the original bill to: Rt Hon. John Prescott MP, Deputy Prime Minister, Eland House, Bressenden Place, London SW1E 5DU. They are urged to post the duplicate council tax bill on the same day - Thursday 30 March by first class post so that letters from all parts of the country arrive in Mr Prescott's postbag on 31 March.

We know it is too late to influence the 2006-7 council tax increase but the campaign will serve two purposes. Firstly, it will remind Mr Prescott of the support there is for a fairer council tax system and the urgent need for the committee now sitting under Sir Michael Lyons to complete its inquiry and report its findings.

Secondly, it will remind him and his fellow Cabinet Ministers that the £2.20 weekly increase in the basic state pension to £84.25 for a single person from April and the £3.55 rise to £134.75 for couples will be more than largely eaten up by the council tax increase when taken with the recent massive fuel price rises, with a further 22% hike in gas and electricity prices in the pipeline - even with the £200 winter fuel allowance.

The winter fuel allowance - it is £300 for a household with somebody aged 80 and over - will be paid each year until the next General Election. But last years £200 grant to help older people pay council tax is said to be a one-off - unless Gordon Brown springs a surprise rabbit out of his Budget Day hat on 22 March!

Remember to photocopy your council tax bill and post it to John Prescott on Thursday 30 March.

return to top of the page

PRESS RELEASE 13 May 2005

Forums FAST CALL TO BLUNKETT - Urges Blunket to scrap the 25p a week

Enfield Borough Over 50s Forum has asked David Blunkett, the new Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, to give urgent and early consideration to two issues as part of his wide-ranging review due for completion by the end of the year.

Firstly, we are asking him to scrap the 25p a week addition to the State retirement pension at the age of 80 and replace it with something more meaningful. Despite inflation reducing its value, it has never been increased since it was introduced in 1971 and now you cannot even buy a cup of coffee once a month with the money so, not surprisingly, our members regard it as paltry, derisory and embarrassing, said Forum chairman Monty Meth.

When the age addition was introduced 34 years ago because of the special needs of elderly people, the pension for a single person was £6 a week and the extra 25p equalled just over 4%. The Government still recognises the special needs of the over 80s by giving them higher winter fuel payments. So a bigger age addition could be incorporated quite easily into that - but it should be paid to everyone over 80 and not just to a household with someone aged over 80 and this could be arranged with a big saving to the Government in administrative costs. Even if the Government stuck to the 4% of the retirement pension it would be worth £3.28 a week, but we think this should form part of a much wider review of the basic state retirement pension with a bigger increase for the over 80s.

Secondly, we are asking Mr Blunkett to remove the rule that people receiving pension credit lose their entitlement if they are out of the country for more than four weeks. They then have to go through the paraphernalia of re-applying which must be an unnecessary and costly administrative burden to the Government.

"Many of our members are invited to visit their families in Australia, Canada, India and Pakistan for a holiday or to attend a family bereavement and going away for a month is not unusual. So we have asked Mr Blunkett to speedily extend the leave period to 13 weeks or more in line with other entitlements.

return to top of the page

PRESS RELEASE 29 MARCH 2005

Mayor launches London's best PE deal for Over 50s Urges Seniors to Get Fit for a Longer Life

Mayor of Enfield, Councillor John Egan and the Mayoress, Mrs Therese Egan, will on Wednesday 30 March launch** London's most attractive and innovative new PE deal for older people, encouraging them to exercise daily, so giving them a better chance of living longer and a better quality longer life.

Under the new PE deal negotiated with the Boroughs Over 50s Forum, Enfield Leisure Centres Trust (ELCT) will from April 1 be slashing its gym and swim charges for people aged over 60, with special discounts for Forum members aged over 50.

The new off-peak charges for the over 60s will make accessing Enfield's four Aspire Health and Fitness suites much more affordable for older people on fixed incomes. For example, the fitness membership fee is being cut 60% from £30 a year to £12.

Access to the gym will cost £3.20 per session instead of £5.70 - and this includes a bonus of a free swim. The discounts apply from 7am to 5pm Monday to Friday, all-day Saturday and after 2pm on Sunday.

The current £36 a month gym and swim pass will be cut to £27 for Forum members and the annual fee will be reduced from £360 to £270 - bringing the monthly charge down to £22.50. For those using the fitness facilities more than seven times a month, the charge is even lower.

In addition, there is a 50% reduction in the price of the energy discount card - to £10 a year for people over 60 and £5 per year to Forum members. The card is valid for admission and membership across all ELCT centres.

There is also a much reduced monthly swim pass for over 60s valid any time and any day for £17 - the more you swim the cheaper the cost.

ELCT has also established an all-day Wednesday session for over 50s at Southbury Leisure Centre and on Thursday at Edmonton Green offering swim, Pilates, yoga. short mat bowls, sauna etc and lunch for £4.10.

Worldwide medical evidence shows that regular physical activity of at least 30 minutes a day can reduce the risk of major killer diseases such as cancer, stroke coronary heart disease, osteoarthritis and diabetes. So we have been working with the Leisure Centres to devise an affordable, something-for-everyone programme that can have a major impact on health standards in Enfield, said Over 50s Forum chairman Monty Meth.

It is estimated that there are more than 30,000 deaths a year in Britain attributable to the effects of being overweight which in itself can reduce life expectancy by around nine years. So we now want to see the health professionals, GPs, doctors, nurses and hospital staffs, older peoples clubs and others publicising and recommending this new deal which will, in turn, relieve the pressure on local medical services, he added.

In return for these concessions, the over 50s Forum has undertaken to do everything possible to increase the membership of the leisure centres, their income and cash flow to make them more viable and possibly less reliant on a Council subsidy.

We have argued that the leisure centres are a community asset that must be utilised to the full by offering facilities that older people can afford. The Leisure Centres Trust has met our challenge head on. Now it is down to us to fulfil our side of the bargain by getting more people through their turnstiles, said Monty Meth.

This is not just in our own interest. It is in the interest of everyone who sees the leisure centres as an essential preventative service - helping to prevent older people declining prematurely into ill health, loneliness and depression, he added.

**Note: The launch takes place at Southbury Leisure Centre at 10.30 am on Wednesday 30 March 2005.

return to top of the page

PRESS RELEASE 19 AUGUST 2004

FREE SMOKE ALARMS FOR SENIOR CITIZENS

Working in partnership with Peter Roll, Enfield's community fire safety officer, the boroughs Over 50s Forum is launching a campaign to ensure that every older person is living in a home fitted with a smoke alarm. They will be supplied free of charge with a 10-year battery and help may be obtained to fit them.

The alarms will be available at the Stay Safe, Fit and Healthy free open day which runs from 10.30 - 4pm at the Edmonton Leisure Centre on Thursday 9 September organised by Enfield Leisure Centres and the Over 50s Forum to encourage older people to adopt a healthier and safer lifestyle.

More than half of those killed by fires in the home are aged over 60. Smoke alarms are an important first warning of danger, providing the vital seconds to help people reach safety and we want to make sure that older people, particularly those who may have health or mobility problems, have at least one alarm in their home. There are also special alarms for the very hard-of-hearing linking their bed to the alarm, said Over 50s forum chairman Monty Meth.

Peter Roll and his team have already supplied some 1250 alarms and while many people have fitted their own alarms, with 40,000 or more Enfield pensioners there is almost certainly a gap to be filled. In the last six months Peters team have completed 171 free home fire safety risk assessments checking on kitchens, bedrooms, dining and living rooms and this service can also be booked at the 9 September Edmonton Leisure Centre Open Day, added Monty Meth.

The Open Day programme, which includes talks ranging from healthy eating to crime and safety will be opened by the Mayor, Councillor John Egan and Andy Love MP. Experts will be on hand to discuss pensions, council tax, housing allowances, warm home grants and health matters.

In addition, people will be urged to take part in a range of physical activities from swimming to table tennis, gentle exercises, Pilates, yoga, short mat bowls and the day will include lunch and end with a tea dance.

To book your place at the free open day ring 020 8379 2490. To enquire about free smoke alarms ring 020 8803 9316

return to top of the page

PRESS RELEASE 13 February 2004

FORUM URGES COUNCIL TO LAUNCH  -  TAX REBATES CAMPAIGN FOR PENSIONERS

Instead of Enfield councillors blaming each other or the Government for another above-inflation Council Tax increase, they should join together to help and protect thousands of pensioners and others on fixed incomes who are entitled to but not claiming council tax discounts, says the Boroughs Over 50s Forum.

In a five-point plan presented to Council leader Michael Rye, the Forum is calling for the setting up of a special Council Tax Appeal Panel for individual claimants. Phil Hope, parliamentary under-secretary of state in the Deputy Prime Ministers Office, disclosed in a letter to Forum committee member Stan Anderson that there is newly introduced legislation which allows billing authorities to grant reductions or exemptions on an individual basis.

Councillor Rye has therefore been asked by the Forum to urgently implement this provision in current legislation as well as doing much more to publicise more widely the entitlement to Council Tax rebates available to many pensioners. Over 50% of pensioners are now entitled to Council tax discounts but about one in eight fail to claim them.

So we think that far more can be done by the Council to increase the current level of take-up says Forum chairman Monty Meth. For example, when details of the Council Tax due for the coming year are sent out, they should include as much information as possible on where people can enquire about reducing their bill. The Councils telephone help lines should be publicised more widely and the Council should consider having free telephone help lines for a month or more.

We would also like to see a series of roving surgeries manned by specialist Council Tax advisers who can give confidential advice to older people. These surgeries could be run for six or eight weeks in the most deprived areas of the Borough. In addition, we would like to know that the Council is mobilising all the resources of the social services department assessors to make sure that they are getting the message out on the availability of Council Tax rebates.

We think the Council could produce a special Council leaflet outlining who is eligible for help which could be distributed through post offices and libraries in the Borough.

It is important to realise that discounts won by pensioners are not levied on other council tax payers but are paid for by the Government and this is new money brought into the local economy helping to boost our shops and local jobs, says Monty Meth.

We think the Council should invest money, time and energy in running a top level council tax discount campaign as one way of helping low-income pensioners from paying council tax bills they cannot afford.

How many people, for example, know that the the Government has now repealed the rule that people living in council tax bands F,G and H cannot get full reductions in their council tax bills even if their income is well below the poverty line? This change will mean people living in larger houses will be £6.5 million a year better off - but only if they know about the rule change and apply for the discount, he added.

return to top of the page

PRESS RELEASE 6 February 2004

Forum wins Lottery Grant for Expansion

A three-year grant totalling £53,802 has been awarded to Enfield Borough Over 50s Forum by the National Lottery Community Fund to meet the salary of a part-time development officer and the overheads and running costs associated with the appointment.

In exchange for the grant the Forum has agreed to involve more older people in the issues that concern them in the Borough; to make the Forum more effective at influencing the decision-makers on matters such as leisure, health, transport, social and community care; to improve communications between the Forum and other organisations of older people in the Borough; and to play a fuller part in the Enfield Strategic Partnership.

The grant will be paid annually to the Forum and is conditional on the Forum recording progress on each of the above projects every year. The Community Fund will set up a tracking system to monitor progress and we are required to account for every penny of the grant.

If the Forum does not for any reason meet these requirements it could lose the balance of the grant and the Lottery Fund is unlikely to fund any future application. The Forum must start the grant within six months and its first task is to recruit a suitable part-time worker and it will be looking for someone with organisational and leadership ability and experience of the issues facing older people.

The post will be advertised and the final choice will be made by a selection panel including people independent of the Forum.

For more information about the Community Fund click here.

return to top of the page

PRESS RELEASE 31 January 2004

Pension Top Up for 9500 Enfield Homes

Over 9500 pensioner households in the Borough are now receiving an average payment of more than £58 per week in addition to the basic state retirement pension. The additional money is mainly made up of the minimum income guarantee plus the new Pension Credit, says Enfield Borough Over 50s Forum.

The figures for the three parliamentary constituencies in the Borough are: Edmonton 3589 pensioner households receive an average £60.29 each per week. Enfield North 3269 households receive an average £53.55 a week Enfield Southgate 2660 households receive an average £61.90 a week.

The Forum is reminding people that a claim can be made with a single free telephone call to 0800 99 1234 - and 96% of these calls are answered within 30 seconds.

The Pension Credit will increase again in April by £3 a week for single pensioners and £5 a week for couples, and will continue to increase linked to average earnings for the rest of this Parliament.

Forum members Derek and Helen Friggens and Stan and Maisie Anderson have done a sterling job in drawing the Pension Credit to the attention of members of their respective clubs and others have told us that claiming the credit over the telephone is quite easy.

Stan made a test-run himself on behalf of five people. Two had good private pensions and did not qualify, but the other three are now receiving £7, £9, and £14.99 a week extra.

All 14 public libraries in the Borough have the pick it up...it's yours pension credit leaflets and there is now an easy-to-use free website where, in a couple of minutes, anyone can find out what benefits they are entitled to and how to claim.

The free website is www.entitledto.co.uk and if you don't have access to a computer, the Central Library in Cecil Road, Enfield Town will help you.

return to top of the page

PRESS RELEASE 22 August 2003

Tea Dancing is back in Enfield
Mayor to Open First Over 50s Fitness and Healthy Living Day

By popular demand an Over 50s Tea Dance has been added to the varied programme for the first free Fitness and Healthy Living Day at Southbury Leisure Centre, which will be opened by the Mayor, Councillor Anne-Marie Pearce at 10 am on next Tuesday (2 September).

Initiated by the Borough's Over-50s Forum, the six-hour programme devised by Enfield Leisure Centres Trust will include demonstrations and opportunities to participate in swimming, badminton, table tennis, short mat bowls, short tennis, gentle exercise, yoga, Pilates and board games.

The ladies and gentlemen's tea dance will feature Bob's Big Band Sound playing music for ballroom, Latin American, sequence and line dancing. DJ Bob Whiteley, now in his 70s, says this will be the first tea-dance in Enfield since the closure of Pickett's Lock.

A buffet lunch will be served courtesy of Greggs, the bakers and caterers, and free draw prizes have been donated by the Outback restaurant and Pegasus Retirement Homes.

"We have long been urging our local leisure centres and primary care trust to work together to get more older people to exercise - and this is now beginning to happen," said Over 50s Forum chairman Monty Meth.

"There is enough medical evidence to show that physical activity for 30 minutes two or three times a week can significantly reduce the onset of serious illness and reduce the risk of falls which account for over 70% of hospital admissions by people aged over 65."

"We appreciate all the work being done by Leisure Services staff for next Tuesday's Fun and Fitness Day. But it must not be a one-off token gesture. It has to be be matched by lower charges to encourage more people to exercise which can, we believe, relieve the pressure on our health and social services" said Mr Meth.

return to top of the page

PRESS RELEASE 24 September 2003

50 VITAL QUESTIONS FOR THE OVER 50s FIRST HOME SAFETY AUDIT LAUNCHED TO CUT FALLS AND ACCIDENTS

Enfield Over 50s Forum and the local Primary Care Trust (PCT) have combined to create the country's first home safety audit produced by health officials and older people. Written by Forum committee member Derek Friggens, a retired health and safety expert, the checklist has been designed and printed by the PCT as part of its award-winning campaign to cut accidents in the home.

People who complete the audit by 1 December will be entered in a free prize draw with the PCT donating £145 in Marks and Spencer vouchers to the 13 winners.

A retired chief safety adviser to a major construction industry company, Derek compiled the checklist after reading that the Department of Trade and Industry listed Enfield as being second only to Brent in having the worst figures in London of falls in the home.

Between 1995-97 there were 21 fatalities, 1500 serious cases and 2000 minor accidents in the Borough and the picture is getting worse. Each year, it is now estimated that throughout the country 4,700 people aged 65 and over die as a result of a fall, 340,000 people suffer serious injuries and 460,000 from minor injuries.

If we add to this appalling record those people killed and injured by electric shock, burns, scalds and fires, you can see that this is a major problem for older people. I am delighted that the PCT and the Forum are working in partnership to cut this accident rate which can in a flash change the life.