Retirement Today Autumn 2018 by Amra Media Solutions

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R E T I R E M E N T

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The magazine for pre and post retirement

FINANCE•LIFESTYLE•TRAVEL•CULTURE•COMPETITIONS•HEALTH•RECIPES

Issue 96 Autumn ‘18 2.90

RETIREMENT

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CONTENTS

4 It’s about being positive

Don’t get to the end of your life just living the length of it, live the width of it as well, and do it with all your heart and soul.

7 Update

Heavenly Hybrids-golf clubs designed for seniors; Stay connected with Onestream; England the ‘poor man’ of group of developed countries when it comes to funding care for older people; Millennials want more from pensions.

WELCOME TO RETIREMENT TODAY MAGAZINE

8 Easy Comfort Food

Easy recipes to try when the weather is grey, the day just hasn’t gone your way, you don’t want to think about cooking complex meals packed with the latest nutritional food-fad.

11 Hearing Loss – Your Rights

Whether you have partial hearing loss or enough to cause difficulty with everyday communication, read about your rights and what you may be eligible for.

15 Learning in Retirement

Retirement is a perfect time to consider learning a new skill or to start something you have always wanted to do but perhaps never really had the time whilst working.

19 Welcome to Devon – and you’ll never want to leave!

Image top right From Easy Comfort Food © Ryland Peters & Small Image bottom left: From Charleston ©Gavin Kingcome

With two beautiful coastlines, and many areas of outstanding natural beauty, read how Devon has so much to offer for people of all ages.

ete Ryland, P rs & Small

21 Perfect Stay

A review of the Royal Adelaide Hotel in Windsor, full of charm and period history.

23 Out and About

Birmingham International Tattoo; Designers & Jewellery 1850-1940; Julian Trevelyan: The Artist and His World; Rembrandt – Britain’s Discovery of the Master; Festive Gift Fair. Charleston remains a unique example of the decorative style of Bloomsbury artists Duncan Grant and Vanessa Bell. We take a look at Vanessa’s bedroom, unaltered since she died in 1961.

27 Property News

New Court-a selection of new retirement apartments in Cheltenham;You shouldn’t be alone with Homeshare; Actress and media personality Sherrie Hewson becomes ambassador to The Hawthorns.

28 Volunteering in Retirement

With extra time on your hands when retired – why not consider volunteer work. Read how it can improve your self-esteem and well-being, and at the same time make such a difference for you and the charity you support.

• Tel: 01296 632700 • Email: info@amramedia.co.uk • www.retirement-today.co.uk • Designed by: Tom Evans Design All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced without the prior permission of the publisher. The opinions expressed in this magazine are not necessarily those of the publisher. Although every care is taken to ensure the accuracy of the information and the advertisements contained within the magazine, the publishers cannot accept any liability. Retirement Today would be pleased to receive your articles and photographs for possible publication. Although all reasonable care will be taken the magazine can assume no responsibility and contributors are advised to retain a copy.

32 Make a Will. Leave nothing to chance

Mike Francis writes about the importance of making a will and how it can make such a difference.

41 Charity News

Legacies Give Serenity a Second Chance in Life; Purple Angel ponies to the rescue Mare & Foal Sanctuary gets dementia aware; Peregrine plummets.

42 Charity News

Shipwrecked Mariners Society Christmas Card Appeal ; Children in Distress-race against time; A smart new approach to MS care; Rethink cares about those suffering with mental illness.

Gavin Kingcome

Lee and Les share their experiences while travelling to India and China, with amusing stories due to lack of understanding of local lingo!

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34 Lost in Translation • Published by:-

24 Charleston – Vanessa Bell’s Bedroom

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D It’s about being positive

on’t get to the end of your life just living the length of it, live the width of it as well, and do it with all your heart and soul (Diane Ackeridge). Life really is too short to sweat the small stuff. Dream big and enlarge the borders of your imagination. As I discovered on the Camino, there were no short cuts, bar cheating. I learned that falling in the mud didn’t spell the end of an adventure but rather initiated the beginning of the next stage of swallowing my pride, dumping my ego and taking care of my hip. The chasm between your dreams and making them into a reality may seem vast, but perseverance, patience and backbone form part of the reward on your way to success. Start at the beginning by holding your dream sharply in focus then follow through with action. Of this one thing you can be sure, if you don’t take a step of action the only outcome can be disappointment. Without a breath of action your dream can never succeed but will remain as illusory as the proverbial pot of gold at the end of a rainbow. So take the first step, if not today or this week, at least set a time of your own choosing. Each new day allow yourself to imagine rolling up your sleeves, then pulling on your socks, pushing back the boundaries of the things you thought possible, and discover fresh horizons, at first perhaps just a glimpse before realising your full potential.

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It’s about being positive

In my early 50s, an idea that crept into my mind was to learn to ride a horse – quite a foolish idea you might think for someone who wouldn’t even go near a field if a horse was there. Nonetheless came the day when I found myself, drenched in sweat and anxiety, sitting on a pony and, oh my goodness, the ground seemed a long way off. Then, to my dismay, the pony moved, just one foot, and nervousness almost paralysed my vocal chords as I squeaked to the riding instructor, ‘What is it doing? Tell it to stop’. Exasperated, the instructor replied, ‘It’s moving one foot and then the next, that is what horses have to do to move forward’. I had a choice; to either feel the fear and do it anyway or get off and never learn to ride a horse. Sensibly I stayed put. You will, of course, understand that I never made the Olympic team but I did go on a pony riding holiday in Northumbria. That was achieved by continually reminding myself it was my goal in spite of falling off twice while still at the indoor riding school. On my first day out trekking my pony bolted while I clung on and screamed. Life is too short to live it small. If you hit a brick wall of discouragement take note that the brick wall is there as

an opportunity for you to pick yourself up, reappraise the situation, put your determination shoes on and then get moving. It is your own special character that will not allow you to devalue your dreams. It is your mindset alone that can shape your present and your future; it is your responsibility to choose how to follow your dream. Your imagination can soar like a helium-filled balloon that tries to reach the sky; it might just reach above the treetops, but what a ride it had to get there. While at university as a mature, getting on for ancient, student, my goal was a first-class degree and even the tutor’s comments on my first assignment were not a deterrent as I read ‘This is not an essay, it is a suet pudding with too many currants unevenly mixed’. I never did get a first-class degree with honours. If my goal had been set lower the results might have been failure, but I shot for the moon and got the stars. There is an Arabic proverb; Throw your heart out in front of you and run ahead to catch it n An extract from How to be a SuperAger by Angela S Lucas, published by Panoma Press Ltd RETIREMENT

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It’s about being positive

Plan for the golden years – you may get to experience them

An introduction to Heavenly Hybrid golf clubs

Christmas Card appeal Every year the Shipwrecked Mariners’ Society pays over £1m in grants to the dependants of those lost at sea, as well as sick, disabled and retired seafarers struggling to make ends meet. Please help us to continue this important work.

Calling all SENIOR & LADY golfers If you were to ask yourself what you would like in an iron, you would probably say -

• Easy to hit • More forgiving • Shank proof • And that’s exactly what we asked ourselves when we were designing these clubs, as we wanted to produce a set irons which brought the enjoyment back to YOUR game and looked fantastic in your bag. With sales at record levels (making us the UK’s number one) now is a great time to purchase your set of Heavenly Hybrid full hybrid irons, and start enjoying your game to the max. Clubs available from 3 iron to sand iron and can be purchased separately or as a full set from £79 plus postage per club

www.heavenlyhybrid.com Or call Stuart on 07766 733560

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Quality Christmas Cards • Gift items CorrespondenCe Cards • Birthday Cards maritime photoGraphy Calendar To receive a copy of our new 2018 brochure and order form please contact: dept rt, 1 north pallant, Chichester po19 1tl Tel: 01243 789329 • Fax: 01243 530853 e-mail: general@shipwreckedmariners.org.uk

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UPDATE

MILLENNIALS WANT MORE FROM PENSIONS Millennials may get regularly mocked as Generation Snowflake obsessed with spending on luxuries but new research from Prudential shows they are focused on saving for retirement and want more support.

Its study found nearly seven out of 10 (69 per cent) of under35s are saving into pensions either through work or in personal schemes but they are struggling for help. Over half (53 per cent) wish their employer would explain pensions and benefits and nearly a quarter (24 per cent) say they find pension rules very confusing. Two thirds (66 per cent) have signed up for workplace schemes underlining the success of auto-enrolment. However, many recognise they are not saving enough with 23 per cent saying their current workplace or personal pension contribution is not high enough. Just 24 per cent admit to not having a pension fund currently and 27 per cent say pensions either do not motivate them or are not relevant to their generation. It all adds up to a responsible attitude to retirement planning from millennials - over a quarter (26 per cent) have found out more about their financial options and current situation and say they see a financial adviser regularly.

England the ‘poor man’ of group of developed countries when it comes to funding care for older people A new report commissioned by Age UK highlights the different approaches to long-term care across a group of countries in the developed world, and how they compare to the system in England. The findings suggest that creating a sustainable social care system fit for a rapidly ageing population is a challenge in every one of these countries, which none has completely overcome. However, most of the countries featured in the report have grasped the nettle and implemented significant reforms during the last 25 years. For example, Germany began to modify its system in 1995 and Japan in 2000. Over the same period, despite two Government consultations, two official Commissions, five Green or White Papers and one Act of Parliament, England’s system of means tested care funding is broadly unchanged. It is notable that England has a stricter means test than the other countries examined in the report. England has a fixed means test limit for all long-term care services, meaning anyone with savings or assets above £23,250 has to pay all the costs of their long-term care (with tapered means tested support available to those with savings and assets between £23,250 and £14,250). Even those with savings and assets below the £14,250 threshold will still be expected to pay a contribution towards the costs of their care through a deduction from their State Pension. Other countries have more progressive systems, either providing a non-means tested basic level of support (Germany), capping the level of co-payment for all (at 10% in Japan), or using a more generous and gradual means test (France).

Heavenly Hybrids

Stay Connected

Many readers of Retirement Today are keen golfers and according to statistics provided by Sports Marketing Surveys, our Seniors now represent the largest percentage of golf memberships in Golf Clubs around the world. With £900m spent on golf equipment each year it is not surprising the latest entry into the equipment market is a set of golf clubs specifically designed for the Senior player, both mens and ladies. Heavenly Hybrids, a UK based company, has produced a full set of irons based on your favourite club, the rescue hybrid. The clubs are available from a 3 iron to a wedge and are available for both men and women golfers. The manufacturers claim Heavenly Hybrids are easier to hit, more forgiving and have a “NO SHANK” guarantee. The clubs are available to view on www.heavenlyhybrid.com. Happy Golfing.

Internet access can provide a whole new lease of life. Being able to communicate with those you love is priceless. You’ll never miss those important moments, whether you’re near or far. However, being connected can mean much more than communication. Appointments can be booked, groceries can be ordered, and days out planned. What’s more you can watch your favourite shows when it suits you, check in on that rainy day fund, and order a little treat for the grandkids (or maybe just for you). Onestream is a new provider that understands what it’s all about, with call plans tailored to what you need, and broadband connectivity with no usage caps. They believe everyone can benefit from being connected, so they’ve come up with some unbeatable offers that really do make it oh so easy to get online. Call their friendly team in Fareham, Hampshire, on 0800 862 0449 to find out what Onestream can do for you.

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Easy Comfort Food

hen the weather is grey and the day just hasn’t gone your way, you don’t want to think about cooking complex meals packed with the latest nutritional food-fad. At times like these what we need is something simple, soothing and satisfying. Welcome to Easy Comfort Food, with over 100 fuss-free recipes to lift your spirits. Here are some of our favourites for you to try.

Recipes and images from Easy Comfort Food, published by Ryland Peters & Small Images ©Ryland Peters & Small

MUSCOVADO BANANA COBBLER The sugar in this decadent pudding melts into the cream around the bananas, making a rich and sticky sauce. Cutting the scone topping into little rounds helps it to cook faster and looks very decorative. Preheat the oven to 220°C (425°F) Gas 7. Peel the bananas and slice thickly. Put them in a baking dish. Mix the cream or evaporated milk with the sugar and pour over the bananas. To make the topping, sift the flour and salt into a bowl and rub in the butter. Mix in the sugar and cinnamon. Dissolve the treacle in the milk and quickly mix with the flour to form a soft dough. Knead this briefly on a floured work surface until smooth. Pat out to a thickness of 2 cm, no more, and cut into as many 3-cm rounds as you can, re-rolling the trimmings as necessary. Use these to cover the bananas. Brush all over with a little milk and bake in the preheated oven for 15–20 minutes until well risen and golden brown on top. Cover with foil if the scones are cooking too quickly and the banana is still raw. Serve warm with pouring cream or vanilla ice cream. 4 medium bananas 150 ml double cream or evaporated milk 2 tablespoons muscovado sugar for the treacle scone topping 225 g self-raising flour 1 ⁄2 teaspoon ground cinnamon 3 tablespoons black treacle 150 ml milk, plus extra to brush pouring cream or vanilla ice cream, to serve a baking dish serves 4

Walnuts are heavenly packed in a soft, sticky tart, which is superb with the quick fudge ice cream. In fact, the plain vanilla ice cream marbled with fudge toffee is a treat to enjoy just on its own. Bring the pastry to room temperature. Preheat the oven to 190°C (375°F) Gas 5. Roll out the pastry on a lightly floured work surface and use to line the tart tin. Prick the base, chill or freeze for 15 minutes, then bake blind (follow the method given in the recipe on page 192). Leave to cool. Lower the oven to 180°C (350°F) Gas 4. To make the filling, put the butter and sugar into a bowl and cream until light and fluffy. Gradually beat in the eggs, one at a time. Beat the orange zest and juice into the butter and egg mixture. Heat the golden syrup in a small saucepan until runny, but not very hot. Stir into the butter mixture, then stir in the walnuts and salt. Pour into the pastry case and bake for 45 minutes until lightly browned and risen. The tart will sink a little on cooling. While the tart is cooling, make the ice cream. Put the toffees and double cream into a small saucepan and stir over medium heat to melt. Leave to cool slightly and stir quickly into the ice cream so that it looks marbled. Put the ice cream back in the freezer until ready to serve. Serve the tart at room temperature with scoops of the fudge ice cream. 1 recipe Sweet Shortcrust Pastry walnut filling 125 g unsalted butter, softened 125 g light soft brown sugar 3 large eggs grated zest and juice of 1 small orange 175 g golden syrup 225 g shelled walnut pieces a pinch of salt quick fudge ice cream 150 g chewy toffees 100 g double cream 1 tub (600 ml) best-quality vanilla ice cream, softened a fluted tart tin, 23-cm diameter serves 6

Easy Comfort Food 8

WALNUT TART WITH QUICK FUDGE ICE CREAM

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A BIG POT OF CASSOULET This hearty dish from south-west France is a firm family favourite. It is big and filling, and all parts of the dish can be made days in advance, and assembled on the day. It reheats well (add more liquid if it’s dry). Put the beans in a very large bowl, cover with plenty of cold water (to cover them by their depth again) and let soak for several hours, or overnight. Drain the beans well and tip into a large saucepan. Cover with fresh water, bring to the boil, then simmer for about 1 hour or until just cooked. Drain well (reserving the cooking liquid). Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F) Gas 4. Trim and discard the rind from the pancetta, and cut the flesh into large pieces. Heat 2 tablespoons of the oil in a frying pan, brown the pieces in batches and transfer to a plate. Heat the remaining oil in the pan, add the duck breasts and fry skin-side down until the skin is golden. Transfer to the same plate as the pancetta. Cut each sausage into 3 and brown in the same way and add to the plate. Add the onions to the pan, then the carrot, garlic, bay leaves, dried thyme, cloves, tomato purée and sun-dried tomatoes. Cook for 5 minutes until softening. To assemble the dish, put half the beans in a casserole. Add an even layer of all the meats, then the onion and tomato mixture. Season well with salt and pepper. Cover with the remaining beans, then add enough reserved hot cooking liquid until the beans are almost covered. Sprinkle evenly with breadcrumbs and dot with butter. Bake the cassoulet in the preheated oven for about 1 hour until a golden crust has formed. Serve warm straight out of the casserole.

Sublime comfort food to eat by a roaring fire. If you can’t find Italian sausages, choose those with the highest meat content and bags of flavour. Although not authentic, Spanish chorizo would be great, too. To make the traditional polenta, bring 1 litre of salted water to the boil, then slowly sprinkle in the polenta flour through your fingers, whisking all the time to prevent lumps. Cook, stirring with a wooden spoon, for 45 minutes on low heat. Transfer from the pan to a wooden board and shape into a mound. Let cool and set. If using quick-cook polenta, cook according to the packet instructions. Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F) Gas 4. Slice the sausages very thickly. Heat the olive oil in a non-stick frying pan, add the sausages and fry until browned on all sides. Add the onion and cook for 5 minutes until softening. Add the stock and half the chopped herbs, salt and pepper. Cut the polenta into 1.5 cm slices and arrange a layer in the prepared dish. Add half the sausage mixture, half the Taleggio and half the Parmesan, in layers. Cover with another layer of polenta, add layers of the remaining sausage mixture, Taleggio and Parmesan and dot with a few pieces of butter. Sprinkle with the remaining herbs. Bake in the preheated oven at for 40 minutes until brown and bubbling. 300 g traditional polenta or quick-cook polenta 500 g fresh Italian sausages (or good, strongly flavoured butcher’s sausages) 1 tablespoon olive oil 1 red onion, finely chopped 150 ml vegetable or meat stock 3 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary and sage, mixed 350 g Taleggio cheese, grated 150 g freshly grated Parmesan cheese a few pieces of butter sea salt and freshly ground black pepper a shallow ovenproof dish, buttered serves 6

Easy Comfort Food

POLENTA BAKED WITH ITALIAN SAUSAGE & CHEESE

675 g dried butter beans, or other white beans 500 g smoked Italian pancetta, fat bacon or belly pork, in a piece 4 tablespoons olive oil 4 boneless duck breasts, halved crossways, or chicken legs or thighs 750 g fresh Toulouse sausages or Italian coarse pork sausages 2 onions, chopped 1 large carrot, chopped 4–6 garlic cloves, crushed 3 bay leaves 2 teaspoons dried thyme 2 whole cloves 3 tablespoons tomato purée 12 sun-dried tomatoes in oil, drained and coarsely chopped 75 g fresh white breadcrumbs 50 g butter sea salt and freshly ground black pepper a large, deep casserole serves 6–8

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23/03/2018 15:04

Hearing Loss – YOUR RIGHTS Does hearing loss count as a disability?

Financial help

If you are working and need extra support because of your hearing loss, it is your employer’s responsibility to provide it. However, financial work is available in the UK through a scheme called Access to Work. This can help meet the costs of special equipment (such as a loop system) and also support services, such as a speech-totext reporter at meetings.The scheme can also provide funding for support at a job interview.You can contact an Access to Work adviser through your local JobCentre Plus. You may also be eligible for government benefits because of your hearing loss, even if you have a job. The benefits system is under-going

Whether or not you consider yourself to be disabled is partly a case of personal identity. Some people do not think that their hearing loss is significant enough to be thought of as a disability, and some people who have grown up using sign language see deafness as a cultural identity rather than a disability. Others feel that using the term ‘disability’ helps to reflect the seriousness and permanence of their condition. The British government defines disability as ‘a physical or mental impairment which has a substantial and long-term adverse effect on your ability to carry out normal day-to-day activities’. Any hearing loss which is significant enough to cause difficulty with everyday communication would probably fit this definition. Being classed as ‘disabled’ means you are protected and supported by legislation. However, whether you describe yourself as ‘disabled’ in your day-to-day life is very much a personal choice.

The Equality Act applies to both work and public services. It makes it illegal to discriminate against disabled people directly (for example, by refusing to serve a deaf customer) and indirectly (for example by offering only telephone interviews to people applying for a job).The Act also requires employers and services to make ‘reasonable adjustments’ to meet the needs of disabled people. Such adjustments include things like adapting buildings and providing equipment (such as a amplified telephone or loop system) but also altering the way things are done, for example not requiring a secretary with hearing loss to take minutes at meetings.

Registering as deaf or hard of hearing

Hearing Loss – Your Rights

There is no requirement to register yourself as deaf or hard of hearing, and doing so (or choosing not to) does not affect your rights. However, if most people did register, this would give local government a more accurate idea of how many people with hearing loss live in the area. This should help to influence the planning of local services so that the needs of people with hearing loss are taken into account. In the UK, you can register by filling in a short form available from your local social services. Different countries have different kinds of legislation to protect the right of minority groups. In the United Kingdom (not Northern Ireland) the Equality Act was introduced in 2010. It brings together anti-discrimination laws for all kinds of minority groups, including disabled people. RETIREMENT

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substantial changes at the time of writing and the charity Action on Hearing Loss has a lot of helpful information about this.

Complaining

Just because there are laws against discrimination, this does not mean that it no longer happens. However, you do not have to put up with it! There are many ways in which you can assert your rights, from taking an employer to court right down to writing a short letter of complaint when you feel you have been treaded unfairly. Some of the charities for people with hearing loss run campaigns for greater awareness and fairer treatment, so you donâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t have to be a lone voice. The number of people with hearing loss is steadily increasing and companies cannot afford to lose your support.

Hearing Loss â&#x20AC;&#x201C; Your Rights

Seeking compensation for hearing loss

The following is a brief overview of the compensation system in the UK. It does not apply in other countries and is not a substitute for expert legal advice. To fulfil the legal requirements for compensation it must be possible to demonstrate three things: 1 There has been exposure to excessive noise levels 2 There has been a hearing loss as a consequence of that exposure 3 There was a foreseeable risk of injury from the exposure and appropriate remedial measures were not instituted. The regulations regarding excessive noise have changed over the years, but depending when your noise exposure happened, different criteria may apply. There is also a time period during which a claim should be launched. Generally, this is within three years of the excessive noise exposure but courts do have some leeway regarding this.

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The first step in pursuing a compensation claim is to obtain appropriate legal representation. If you are a member of a trade union they may be able to help in this respect. If you do not have trade union support and are arranging this yourself, remember that not all legal representatives are equally experienced in noise-induced hearing loss work. It is worth asking about their relevant experience and doing some shopping around. Once you have engaged the services of a legal team they will generally arrange to obtain a report from an independent doctor, who in turn will arrange hearing tests. This independent doctor will not be one of your usual ENT or audiology team, though their medical notes will be photocopied and made available to your legal team. There is a complicated set of tables that shows what hearing loss is expected at any particular age and this is subtracted from the results of your hearing test

to find what percentage of hearing loss is caused by noise exposure. This figure is then used to apportion compensation. If your hearing loss was caused by military service, compensation can be sought through the Armed Forces Compensation Scheme or War Pensions Scheme (which scheme applies depends on when you served in the armed forces). Details of these schemes with regard to hearing loss are available from Action on Hearing Loss or the Royal British Legion of, if you are from Scotland, the Royal British Legion in Scotland n An extract from Living with Hearing Loss by Dr Don McFerran, Lucy Handscomb and Dr Cherilee Rutherford, published by Sheldon Press.

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Painting In Italy

• Now taking Bookings for 2019 • Perfect holiday for solo travellers. • All guests occupy a comfortable double room (no sharing) with en suite facilities. No single supplement charged. • Fully organised holidays including airport transfers, tuition, excellent accommodation, dinners/lunches including wine and excursions with a professional guide. • Professional tutors teaching all media to all levels of ability. “I was very nervous going on holiday on my own for the first time. I shouldn’t of worried. It was absolutely brilliant. Lovely hotel, food excellent and I learnt so much from Fiona. I’ve just booked again for next year” “Thank you Sheila. This was the best painting holiday I’ve been on and I’ve been on LOTS. The hotel was gorgeous and the staff so helpful. I feel like I’ve gained so many friends and I look forward to putting everything I learnt into practice. You’ll definitely see me again”

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Learning in Retirement

etirement is the perfect time to consider learning a new skill, whether purely for pleasure or with an anticipated qualification in mind. You are never too old to learn, and retirement is a good time to start doing something you have always wanted to do but perhaps never really had the time whilst working. Whatever you choose to do, it’s a great way to keep the mind active and at the same time gives you the opportunity to socialise and meet new people who have similar interests to yourself. There are many organisations and establishments available to assist you in choosing, whether part-time, weekend or distance learning courses. Here are some examples.

Painting in Italy

Learning in Retirement

Recently retired or finding yourself alone after a separation or bereavement and nervous about travelling on your own? Perhaps this is an opportunity to pick up a pencil and paint brush again since leaving school. Painting in Italy has found the perfect formula for guests travelling on their own for the first time or for partners/ friends who want to go on holiday together but do different activities. Guests are looked after personally by the owner/organiser, Sheila de Vries, from the first point of contact. The week-long course, based in beautiful locations in Italy, is not about producing masterpieces, it’s about learning new skills in the company of likeminded people, eating wonderful food, drinking fabulous Italian wine, visiting historic beautiful towns, making new friends, losing yourself in the creative process and finding a renewed self on the other side. The company has been featuring relaxed and supportive painting holidays for over 14 years in sublime locations in Umbria, Tuscany, Lake Garda, Florence,Venice and Sicily. Painting in Italy was included in The Times’ top 100 holidays and The Telegraph’s top 50 activity holidays. Hotels have been carefully selected and include a stunning hotel overlooking the Bay of Naxos in Taormina, a Castle in Umbria and high standard small boutique hotels. The painting tutors on all holidays are successful artists with years of teaching experience and teach in all media. These tutors will lead students of all levels of ability in improving their painting and drawing skills in their media of choice. The composition of the week has been very well thought out. Painting/Drawing tuition takes place each morning followed by lunch followed by more painting or relaxing around the hotel and on two afternoons during the week there are

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excursions to interesting places such as Assisi, Siena etc. (depending on location of the holiday).At the beginning of May there is a holiday to enjoy the Fabriano Watercolour Festival in Umbria. Holidays vary in price according to location and what’s included. Typically the holiday costs £1740.00 (no single supplement) and includes airport transfers, 7 nights hotel accommodation, dinners and lunches with wine, painting tuition and excursions to wonderful interesting towns with guide (according to the programme). Cooking lessons are available to non-painting partners or other activities can be arranged such as bike hire. Help with travel arrangements can also be provided. Further information Painting in Italy (Freephone 08081185729, info@paintinginitaly.com, paintinginitaly.com)

Benslow Music Courses and Concerts

Learning in Retirement

LCCH International

“It’s like a retreat with music, I’ve been three times now and find the courses, food and accommodation superb.” At Benslow Music they offer a huge variety of informal residential and day courses to musicians of all abilities on a wide range of instruments and voices at their beautiful campus in Hitchin, Hertfordshire. They boast ten designated rehearsal rooms, including two recital halls, good quality accommodation and in-house catering for up to fifty guests at any one time. Their tranquil four-acre gardens are an integral part of the Benslow Music experience and provide an inviting space in which to relax and re-gather energies between sessions. Whether your musical taste is for classical, jazz, popular or folk, Benslow Music has a music course to suit you. They run over 200 residential music courses annually and their tutors are the best in the business! From their Baroque Opera project, Late Starter String Orchestra, wind quintet courses to their Big Band Summer School, there is something for you! If you would like to extend your stay, explore Hitchin’s historical town or just pop into London (direct line to Kings Cross is just 30 minutes), they offer very competitive Bed and Breakfast rates. In connection with their courses, they host a fantastic season of world-class chamber concerts throughout the year across many genres. Tickets cost from just £15 and they offer free entry for under 27s and carers accompanying disabled ticket holders. Pre-concert dining opportunities are also available to make your evening concert experience even more special.Two courses and a glass of wine or soft drink costs £20pp. Benslow Music, Benslow Lane, Hitchin, Hertfordshire SG4 9RB www.BenslowMusic.org RETIREMENT

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Learning is a lifelong endeavour, never more so when one has stepped into an active retirement. Many people fear that as they age, their ability to learn diminishes. This is patently untrue as research has repeatedly shown that age-related decreases in perception and learning are reversed in older people when they regularly engage in active learning. If you think about it, the brain is a bit like a muscle, and as such the old adage “use it or lose it” comes very much into play. Basically, if you keep your mind fit and active you will enhance your memory and mental acuity. And what better way to do so than by learning a skill that will not only help you to do this as you become more relaxed and motivated, but allows you to help others young and old? Used for centuries, hypnotherapy involves being guided into a deeply relaxed trance-like state, during which an experienced therapist encourages positive changes to help overcome life-challenges and improve well-being.You can also learn how to do it to yourself using self-hypnosis, a wonderful way to relax and take more control of your life. Many people think hypnotherapy is only a method to help people stop smoking or lose weight. However, it has many applications and here some that you might not have realised it can help with: 1. Dealing with stress 2. Coping with IBS 3. Pain management 4. Healing trauma 5. Overcoming phobias and bad habits 6. Improving focus and concentration 7. Coping with bereavement 8. Overcoming loneliness 9. Helping to motivate and engage people with rehabilitation advice given by medical professionals As it grows in popularity, demand is growing for well-trained practitioners, especially those with life experience. So why not use your life experience and learn to become a hypnotherapist in order to help others on a voluntarily basis, or to perhaps gain a little extra income and to keep your mind fresh and healthy? LCCH International has training centres across the UK offering a variety of courses n To find out more contact info@lcchinternational.co.uk, www.lcchinternational.co.uk, 020 3 603 8535.

M . TH O L N R C O F IN M R LL E FE A N F Y O L O DA IA R TR PE 5 £6

DISCOVER A NEW STYLE OF RETIREMENT A cost effective way to try out all-inclusive retirement living without any commitment awaits you at The Hawthorns. • No stamp duty • No survey costs • No legal costs • No exit fees • • No service or maintenance charges • No minimum rental term just 30 days notice • Why not experience retirement living for yourself on our one-month trial offer? You’d want to try something this important before making a decision and it’s an option you don’t have with retirement property purchase.

Why Buy When You Can Rent?

Call 0800 114 3504 Search ‘Hawthorns Retire’ online or

Braintree, Essex | Clevedon, Somerset | Eastbourne, Sussex | Northampton, Northamptonshire RETIREMENT

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yd FR ro EE Sp as

TheManor House

& Ashbury Hotels

- The Only Sport, Craft & Spa Hotels in the UK

Set in the foothills of Dartmoor in Devon, The Manor House & Ashbury Hotels offer the unique combination of activity and leisure breaks - All on a FULL BOARD basis!

Additional Facilities FREE to residents of both hotels Sports Racket Sports Leisure Bowls Tennis Swimming Table Tennis Badminton Spa & Sauna 5-A-Side Squash Snooker Basketball Short Tennis Ten-Pin

Family Funhouse Gamezone Waterslides Play Area

Ranges Archery Air Pistols Air Rifles Laser Shoot

Golf 99 Holes of Golf 400+ Buggies Par 3 Course Practice Facilities

PLUS FREE TUITION IN 18 DIFFERENT CRAFTS (Material Costs Apply)

E Fa Acc asy ci es lit s ie s

NOVEMBER 4 NIGHT MIDWEEK BREAKS FROM £252PP 99 Ground Floor rooms, many with patio doors and outstanding views of Dartmoor. Easy Access Wetrooms • Mobility Scooters • Ramped Pool Access

0800 458 3026 • sportsandleisurebreaks.co.uk GREAT CHOICE, GREAT VALUE, GREAT BREAK! 18

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Welcome to Devon

and you’ll never want to leave!

isit Devon and you’ll want to stay forever … The county of Devon has a great many contrasts, with two beautiful coastlines, two National Parks and five official Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty. There’s so much choice for people of all ages including family attractions, historic buildings, award-winning places to eat, thrilling outdoor activities, and exciting events happening all year round. Devon has to be one of the most diverse counties in England, East Devon with its sandstone coloured cliffs and Jurassic coast, Mid Devon with its rolling hills and the Tarka Trail, South Devon with its sandy beaches, vibrant towns as well as England’s Seafood Coast – rich in seafood. The historic Brixham fish market is well worth a visit! And in North Devon the stunning rugged coastline and Lundy Island will take your breath away. The South West Coast Path snakes along the coastline so perfect for rambling.

Beaches, cities & countryside

For beaches, Devon can’t be beaten. Sandy family-friendly beaches, tiny pebbled coves, wild and windswept bays with stunning views – we have them all, both north and south. And, the glorious green countryside? Devon has got it in abundance, plus rolling hills, bountiful farmland and craggy moorland with wild ponies roaming free. There are many myths and legends allocated to Devon – Clovelly

Exeter - Elizabethan House

Families, thrillseekers & romantic souls

Whatever it is that makes a perfect RETIREMENT

a visit to Dartmoor is not complete without a visit to Kitty Jay’s Grave. She supposedly took her own life after being spurned, and the small burial mound is on the side of the road about 1 mile north west of Hound Tor. She is said to have died in the late 18th century. It has become a well-known landmark and is the subject of local folklore, and several ghost stories. Fresh flowers are regularly placed on the grave, although no-one admits to putting them there. The English Riviera encompassing Brixham, Paignton and Torquay is a vibrant and delightful destination for all ages, with beautiful sandy beaches surrounding the magnificent bay. It is also home of England’s Seafood Coast and its September food festival will delight all seafood lovers across the globe. North Devon, with its world famous surfing beaches and rugged coastline, it's the perfect playground for doing things that will remind you

of childhood! Golden sandy beaches like Saunton Sands and Croyde Bay are just perfect for rock pooling, and swimming. A visit to the Victorian Tidal Pools is a real step back in time. Surfing and body boarding is another wonderful way to enjoy the beaches – and is available for everyone of all ages and abilities. or just spending time with the family, walking the dog, eating out or celebrating with friends, to the people that live here, and visit here, it really is the perfect place. Golden sandy beaches perfect for rock-pooling, swimming and surfing, dramatic coastlines, rugged moors and verdant valleys all demand to be explored. Amazing attractions, great local food and drink and a wealth of cultural experiences await you in North Devon. Devon is also proud of its historic cities of Exeter and Plymouth, with great shopping and bustling nightlife, as well as friendly towns and pretty villages like Sidmouth, lined with the pastel-coloured cottages of paintings. Plus, the food scene here is second to none, with cosy foodie pubs, great restaurants, traditional tearooms and everything in-between serving fantastic Devon produce. Make sure you find time for a cream tea, pint of cider or Devon crab sandwich during your visit– or perhaps all three!

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Welcome to Devon – and you’ll never want to leave!

Devon coast and countryside

Welcome to Devon – and you’ll never want to leave!

holiday, you’re sure to find it in Devon. Such natural beauty attracts walkers, artists, camping enthusiasts and those who just like to sit and gaze. Families love the amusements – from large adventure parks and farm attractions to traditional seaside fun. Thrillseekers, sports fans and lovers of the outdoors come to Devon to surf, kayak, walk, cycle, paddleboard, sail, fish, ride … and have a great time doing so. Romantic souls enjoy the secluded beaches, country walks and great restaurants – and then, there’s the romantic (and the not-so-romantic) tales of the past, evident in Devon’s historic monuments, museums and geology.

Luxury, budget & quirky

And of course, there’s a huge choice of places to stay in Devon, whether you’re looking for a relaxing long weekend or fun-packed fortnight, luxury hotel or a budget break.There are lovely guesthouses with sea views, quirky glamping, fun family camping, pretty self-catering cottages with woodburners ... and much more besides.

Jurassic Coast Ladram Bay ©Jurassic Coast Team

Food and Drink

Devon has to be one of the richest counties in England for producing exceptional quality food and drink and is highly regarded. Many Michelin star Chefs reside here and are ambassadors in promoting fresh locally sourced produce to add to their menus. Michael Caines has recently opened Lympstone Manor, and gained a Michelin star within 6 months of opening. The views over the Exe Estuary are to die for, as is the food. He has recently planted a 10 acres vineyard. There’s so much to do and so much to see in this beautiful county.Visit Devon – and you’ll find that there is more to this spectacular and diverse country than you may have thought! You’ll sure to be back, time and again n

Pony on Dartmoor

Off the Derbyshire Beaten Track

return to home territory, as part of a downsizing exercise, has produced an unexpected new business venture, started on my 75th birthday! It began on a journey south from Scotland when conversation was lagging. ‘What did you do before driving a taxi?’ I asked. The answer was totally unexpected. Two comparative strangers travelling together had identical background experiences: tours. Mine had been smuggling trails in south-west Scotland. How could I convert these to Derbyshire? The answer was obvious. My parents were both local historians, I had been brought up to know and understand what had happened in my home area in the past. Surely I could convert this knowledge into something that would interest and entertain other people. How could this happen now I no longer drive? Experienced transport was available. The idea behind Off the Derbyshire Beaten Track is to offer travellers the chance to discover hidden treasures away from RETIREMENT

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the familiarity of typical tourist routes, concentrating on the people involved. A 50 mile journey from Ashbourne crosses the centuries from Roman times until the present day. Answers are provided to a series of questions, such as: what is the connection between Joseph Strutt and the slave trade? What happened when a gravel pit was the site of a bare knuckle fight? Why was a 19 arch viaduct built over the Duffield to Wirksworth railway? What is the connection between the film star Rudolph Valentino and Hazelwood? when did mice delay a major explosion? what is the link between Oscar Wilde and Hopton Wood Stone? In each case, there is a unique addition to the story. The 50 mile tour can be tailor-made to fit the specific interests of the participants: more specialised themes include lead mines and the history behind rose gardens. ‘Retirement’ is most enjoyable n For further information www.offthederbyshirebeatentrack.co.uk

PERFECT STAY

indsor is a town very much in the news this year, firstly with the wedding of Prince Harry and Megan Markle and now we are only a few weeks away at time of writing from the marriage of Princess Eugenie and Jack Brooksbank. Images of Windsor played out on our TV screens have left many wanting to sample the town for themselves. The Royal Adelaide proved to be a perfect hotel for doing just that. Originally built in the 1830’s for Queen Adelaide this elegant Georgian hotel is in a quiet road surrounded by private period properties and opposite the long walk. It is only minutes from the centres shops, restaurants and famous castle, but in a tranquil setting. The bedroom for the duration of our stay was a superior room, elegantly furnished with a queen size bed and air conditioning, which had we arrived a couple of weeks earlier would have been totally essential. Although Windsor boasts a huge number of restaurants offering international cuisine, the hotel has encouraged guests to dine

in by providing an interesting but very reasonably priced menu. We both settled on prawn/crayfish cocktails followed by haddock and seabass which proved to be an excellent choice.The wine list, although short, had a carefully chosen range of reasonably priced wines. Pudding wasn’t quite up to starters and mains but adequate for those wishing something simple. Staff were warm, friendly and extremely helpful, providing maps and information on the local area along with personal recommendations. An early start is encouraged as breakfast finishes at 9.30am but checkout is not till 11.00am. I am not one for a cooked breakfast so stuck to coffee and toast as did my partner. Our stay was for a single night so it soon became time to say our goodbyes. Those wishing to stay in Windsor in style and comfort couldn’t make a better choice than the Royal Adelaide n

For further information www.royaladelaide.com tel 01753 863916

Perfect Stay

Maria Hann pays a visit to the Royal Adelaide Hotel in Windsor and finds a hotel full of charm and period history.

m T it Tor or o fin ww na e a d w. do bo a1 To ut ste ur am s .co m

vis

EXPERIENCE THE GOLDEN AGE OF STEAM

Passengers are invited to join new build steam locomotive Tornado, travelling across some of the most scenic routes in the country for a nostalgic day of steam hauled travel in 2019. David Robinson

Andy Horne

‘The Aberdonian’ Picking up at Edinburgh and Haymarket stations, join us as we travel over the Forth Bridge and along the stunning Scottish Coast as we travel to the historic coastal city of Aberdeen.

‘The North Briton’ With four departures from London and East Coast stations, and two further departures from the East Midlands*, travel with Tornado over the world famous Settle and Carlisle Railway.

Thursday 14th March 2019 l Thursday 1st August 2019 l Thursday 8th August 2019

Saturday 31st August 2019 l Saturday 7th September 2019 l

TICKET

PRICES (STARTING FROM)

First Class Dining

£235.00

First Class Non-Dining

£159.00

Standard Class

£99.00

Saturday 9th February 2019 * l Saturday 16thFebruary 2019 l Saturday 8th June 2019

To make a booking visit a1steam.com/railtours or call 01438 715050 Full T&C’s are available on the booking site.

Saturday 20th July 2019 l Saturday 17th August 2019 l Saturday 24th August 2019 * l

6 0163 TORN ADO New Steam for the Main Line

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Off the Derbyshire Beaten Track A 50 mile journey of discovery leaving Ashbourne @ 1.30pm

Why was a viaduct built over the Duffield to Wirksworth railway? What is the link between the filmstar Rudolph Valentino and Hazelwood? When did mice delay a major explosion? What is the connection between Oscar Wilde and Hopton Wood Stone?

Booking essential

phone: 01335 345239/07771667097 or email frances@franscript.co.uk Bespoke tours also available For further information see www.offthederbyshirebeatentrack.co.uk or contact us for an information pack

Experience a ride on a real steam train with Thomas, meet Father Christmas and The Fat Controller! Buckinghamshire Railway Centre DECEMBER 1st & 2ND 8TH & 9TH WEEKENDS 15TH & 16TH 22ND & 23RD

2018

www.dayoutwiththomas.co.uk Day Out With ThomasTM © 2018 Gullane (Thomas) Limited. Thomas & FriendsTM Based on The Railway Series by The Reverend W. Awdry. © 2018 Gullane (Thomas) Limited. Thomas the Tank Engine, Thomas & Friends and Day Out With Thomas are trademarks of Gullane (Thomas) Limited. ©2018 Mattel. All rights reserved. ® and TM designate U.S. trademarks of Mattel, except as noted.

ARCHAEOLOGY & TRAVEL Fascinating journeys into history, prehistory and the ancient world.

Sicilian Civilisations

Crete & Santorini

Malta's Millennia

Ancient Greece

Pompeii & Campania

Romney Marsh

Andorra & Occitan

Bulgaria: Old Europe

Makings of Asturias

Cyprus: North & South and more...

Informed Travel Expert Guides Small Groups Beautiful Locations RESERVE YOUR PLACE www.hiddenhistory.co.uk Tel: (UK) 0121 444 1854 22

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Out&About...

Designers & Jewellery 1850-1940

Jewellery and Metalwork from the Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge Until 11 November

Jewellery and metalwork created during this popular period represents an intensely productive and exuberant phase of design from mid-nineteenth century to the beginning of the Second World War. Seventy exquisite examples are on display made by some of the most notable craftsmen to work in precious metals during this time. They span a range of styles, encompassing the intricate historicist and neo-Gothic (Castellani, Giuliano and William Burges) the naturalistic Arts & Crafts (C. R Ashbee and Phoebe Traquiar), the sinuous curves influenced by the European Art Nouveau movement and the structural modernity of the 1920s and 1930s (Omar Ramsden and H G Murphy). www.fitzmuseum.cam.ac.uk

Rembrandt – Britain’s Discovery of the Master Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh Until 14 October

Blue Bird Brooch, designed by Charles de Sousy Ricketts, made by Carlo & Arthur Giuliana, 1901 © Fitzwilliam museum

Birmingham International Tattoo

Arena Birmingham, Birmingham Saturday 24 November 2018 at 6pm & Sunday 25 November 2018 at 2pm

Experience the pomp and pageantry of the Birmingham International Tattoo. Now in its 30th year, Britain’s biggest indoor international tattoo (a type of military show), with over 1,200 performers, will return to Arena Birmingham in November, bringing together international military and other marching bands in a three hour spectacle for all the family. In 2018 the Tattoo will bring together international marching bands from Austria, Poland and Russia who will join our own British forces through the international language of music, with lots of pomp and pageantry thrown in for good measure. The massed bands will be joined by exciting displays including field gun, dog display teams and many other performers culminating in a spectacular grand finale featuring over 1,000 performers. The Birmingham International Tattoo would not be complete without The Spectacular Grand Finale featuring all the performers and guest vocal soloists. Whether you prefer the massed marching bands, the skirl of the pipes and drums, the fast-paced action of the field gun or the flyball dog races, or the pomp and pageantry of the massed standard bearers, there is something for all the family at the 2018 Birmingham International Tattoo. www.birminghamtattoo.co.uk Box office 0844-33-88-222

Festive Gift Fair

Rembrandt van Rijn (1606-69) An Old Woman Reading, 1655. Oil on canvas, 78.7 x 66 cm. Buccleuch Collection

Britain’s love affair with one of history’s greatest artists is explored in this major exhibition. It is the first exhibition to tell the exceptionally rich story of how Rembrandt’s work in Britain has enraptured and inspired collectors, artists and writers over the past 400 years. See key works by Rembrandt which remain in British collections, as well as treasures that have left the country, with some of the exhibits never having been on public display before. www.nationalgalleries.org

Julian Trevelyan: The Artist & His World

Pallant House Gallery, Chichester 6 October – 10 February 2019

Julian Trevelyan (1910-1988) was a painter, printmaker and designer. This exhibition brings together 90 paintings and prints, as well as rarely seen sketchbooks, letters and photographs that emphasise Trevelyan’s extensive contribution to mid-20th century British art. Surveying the broad scope of his career, the exhibition examines Trevelyan’s early surrealist works, his depictions of the industrial north of England as part of the Mass Observation project, his fascination with foreign places and his years in London, when he lived and worked alongside the River Thames and taught printmaking at the Royal College of Art. www.pallant.org.uk

Julian Trevelyan, Self-Portrait 1940, Oil on canvas, 61 x 46.4 cm © National Portrait Gallery / The Julian Trevelyan Estate

The Festive Gift Fair, now in it’s 23rd year, continues to be the best place to start your Christmas shopping. With 325+ stalls all under one roof, the variety is huge, with clever gifts for all ages and tastes. As well as finding great gifts for your loved ones, treats for yourself and Christmas essentials, you are sure to have a fun-packed day! Make sure you visit the popular Festive Food and Drink area too, where you will find 40 tempting stands selling everything from cheese to chutneys, spices to spirits, puddings to preserves and much more! Take advance of the special ticket offer – ‘Buy 3 and get 1 free’ on advance adult tickets. Visit www.festivegiftfair.co.uk or call 0844 581 0808/09 RETIREMENT

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Out & About

NEC, Birmingham 15-18 November

Charleston

Vanessa Bell’s Bedroom

‘I am sitting at my open bedroom window… it opens down to the ground and I look out on to the lawn which has been extended up to the terrace – Quentin’s idea for making our garden a second Versailles. The monthly roses are in bloom. It’s a hot summer evening… the pinks are making the whole place smell…’ (Vanessa to Janie Bussy, 6 June 1940). On top of her desk is a portrait bust of Angelica, made in painted plaster by Quentin around 1935. The curtain fabric, ‘White’, was originally designed by Vanessa for the Omega Workshops in 1913; this is a reproduction of the original design, carried out by Laura Ashley in 1986.

QB Vanessa’s bedroom has remained unaltered since she died here. But before her occupation, that is to say before the remodelling of the house and the building of the studio, it served a very different purpose. It was then the larder and was in constant communication with the kitchen. At that time the window was small and protected by iron bars and the furnishing consisted of a slate shelf which occupied the outer wall. At some early stage in our occupation, someone – probably Maynard – had the extravagant idea of buying a barrel of oysters. The oysters covered the entire slate shelf in the larder and although a great many went to the dining room a great many remained on the shelf, until eaten by Julian and myself. After a time even our appetites could not keep pace with the mortality rate among the oysters, many of which had to be thrown into the pond. I remember the incident with gratitude because oysters, when not too desperately expensive, have been my favourite luxury ever since. VN In 1939 the larder was converted into Vanessa’s bedroom. The tiny barred window was replaced with a French window opening onto the garden, and a door was made communicating with the studio. A bath and wash basin were installed and a screen was placed to separate them from the rest of the room. The cupboard, which was decorated by Vanessa when she first came to Charleston, and the bed were moved downstairs from her previous bedroom, now the library. When she came to inhabit the room, Vanessa’s passion for her family was reflected in her choice of paintings for the walls. QB That Vanessa should be remembered as the devoted mother surrounded by her children is no doubt proper. But Vanessa herself would have been a far less interesting character if she had always been proper. There was a famous supper party in 1918, at which Diaghilev and Picasso were present, RETIREMENT

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when Clive, who could be a dreadful tease, tormented Vanessa mercilessly. She tried to silence him, to persuade him to stop, all in vain. It so happened that while he was teasing her, she was serving jam tarts to the company. She took a tart, as a player might take a cricket ball and threw it with all the force that she could command so that it burst – as Maynard Keynes put it – like a shell, upon her husband’s solar plexus. The point of my story is that in taking the initiative and resorting to rather unconventional methods,Vanessa was acting in character. I do not mean that her life was marked by continual

An extract from Charleston: A Bloomsbury House and Garden by Quentin Bell and Virginia Nicholson. White Lion Publishing, £18.99 Images ©Gavin Kingcome

resorts to direct action, but merely that she was always ready to assert herself. In truth I do not suppose that she ever threw a tartlet at her father, Sir Leslie Stephen, although I imagine that she would have liked to have done so. Sir Leslie must have infuriated Vanessa with his constant complaints (after his wife’s death) that she would ruin them all with her prodigality in running the household. She is more likely to have answered his accusations with a composed silence than with a shrewdly aimed tartlet, and I dare say that was almost equally provoking. Vanessa was sixteen when she lost

After her death, Grace Higgens was left many of Vanessa’s belongings, including the straw hat she wore for painting. It was recently returned to Charleston. Two of Vanessa’s three children are the subjects of the paintings, which are all by Duncan. Left to right: Lessons in The Orchard, 1917; Julian Bell Writing, 1928; Quentin Bell, c.1919.

her mother, the parent whom, she had confided to Virginia at a very early date in their childhood, she loved best. Her photograph by Julia Margaret Cameron stands today on the desk in this room. Vanessa knew early on that she wanted to be a painter, an objective which her mother’s family would have understood, while Virginia wanted to follow her father’s profession and become a writer. Sir Leslie, much to his credit, wanted to help both his daughters achieve their ambitions. He opened his library to Virginia while he allowed Vanessa to prepare for and

only person alive who can remember the time when Vanessa was young and beautiful, the time when it was natural to think of her as someone who was always laughing. One of my funniest memories is of Vanessa as an instructress. Julian and I were sitting with Vanessa on a garden bench and she was telling us how babies were born; I must have been four or five.The babies were inside her, she said. Julian, as usual the one with the adventurous mind, thought this out for a moment. ‘In that case you must have a considerable stock of babies

The bath was installed in the corner of Vanessa’s bedroom in 1939; it’s panel decoration was carried out by Duncan in 1945; the ‘Fountain’ behind the taps was added after Vanessa died, in 1968. The hanging cupboard was decorated by Angelica in the late 1930s. her daughter Nerissa, Vanessa and Duncan’s granddaughter, sat (rather glumly) for her portrait by Duncan in 1965. The room is divided by this striking OmegaWorkshops screen, painted by Duncan in 1913. It was on exhibition at the opening display of the Omega Workshops in July of that year. The washbasin is utilitarian in appearance, particularly in contrast to the mirror, whose wool-work frame is decorated with half cross-stitch; Duncan designed it in about 1940 and his aunt Violet McNeil carried it out. The simple marble-topped washstand is an early piece by Vanessa, from around 1917.

ready to be produced when needed… Do you mean to say’, he asked, ‘that there are hundreds and hundreds of babies inside you?’ I remember one of those great explosions of laughter to which I think I was prone, an explosion which set off the other two. Whether Vanessa managed to bring back the discussion to a more serious plane I cannot remember, all that remains is that impression of wild comedy which I experienced again when Vanessa read us Alice inWonderland for the first time. Our odd family life was indeed one in which laughter was the predominant theme, the leitmotif.We laughed at and with Vanessa, she laughed at and with us, we all laughed at Duncan. VN And yet Virginia Woolf once described her sister as ‘terrifically monolithic and imperious – a terrifying woman in her way…’ (Diary, 8 April 1935). She surely recognized something that Quentin was also well aware of, that her sister possessed a dictatorial streak. Quentin recalled, ‘Vanessa was the firm pillar of our existence. She was sensible, practical, imperturbable, at times filled with a gentle gaiety, always morally and physically beautiful. She didn’t talk much but she controlled everything.’ Perhaps this combination of hilarity

Vanessa’s bed is covered with an embroidered bedspread bought in Broussa, Turkey, when she travelled there in 1911 with Clive, Roger Fry and Harry Norton. The tall cupboard was decorated by her in 1917; it originally contained a foldaway bed.

with discipline was what made Charleston such a creative and congenial place to be. At the centre of everything was Vanessa, a woman who had, as Quentin put it, ‘stared catastrophe in the face and smiled at it’, reckless yet resilient, her love for Duncan surviving everything that fate could throw in her path. Duncan’s self-portrait, moody but handsome, hangs by the door. Though Duncan often strayed, being, as Quentin put it, ‘rather a cold-hearted bugger’,Vanessa made a milieu for him at Charleston which was so utterly irresistible that he always returned. ‘For all his defects as a lover, Duncan was in her view a genius; to work with him was an honour, to be criticized by him a delight, his qualities as an artist outweighed all other gifts and graces. For the best part of half a century she managed matters so that this impossible love affair was made possible. And she had a wonderful gift,’ Quentin recalled, ‘like Madame de Sévigné, of turning her rivals into her friends.’ Vanessa died in this room in 1961. After her death it was Duncan who wept over his own heartlessness: ‘I could have been kinder to her,’ he said n RETIREMENT

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Vanessa Bell’s Bedroom

eventually enter the Academy Schools, where she was taught by Sargent. Just how remote Vanessa’s ambitions were from anything contemplated by Sir Leslie may be judged by the fact that when Vanessa returned from her art school with an écorché (anatomical figure), her father was astonished. He had never seen such a thing in his life. Thus the two sisters were trained in two very different disciplines and, although united by an affection which was very strong, they were divided by their very different perception of the arts. Virginia would refer to Vanessa’s ‘strange silent fish world’ and although Vanessa found Virginia’s description of the Stephen family at St Ives in To the Lighthouse almost unbearably moving she could also, as Virginia herself despairingly recorded, ridicule her taste in green paint. It must be said that the bath in Vanessa’s bedroom is not exempt from green paint, and nor is Charleston in general, but it was part of Vanessa’s character, like her husband’s, that she enjoyed teasing and had a strong sense of the absurd. The sadness of her old age often obscures the memory of more cheerful days. Nothing is more difficult than to revive the merriment of the distant past, and yet I am the

Your Independent Lifestyle Starts Here

ne of retirements best kept secrets are The Hawthorns independent living communities, where the friendly staff work hard to ensure that everyday worries are replaced with everyday pleasures and the happy retirement you’ve worked hard to enjoy becomes a reality. With locations in coastal towns or semi-rural positions in the centre of England, the Hawthorns independent retirement communities offer a choice of stylish and spacious 1-bed and 2-bed apartments and studios. They all have great restaurants and cafés, hair salons, lounges, and an active well-being programme and social calendar. With all your bills, quality

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dining, housekeeping, council tax, internet access, property and garden maintenance, plus trips out in the minicoach all included in one simple monthly rental, life is enjoyable and stress free. Your well-being is a key concern for the Hawthorns staff, and the experienced management team are on hand around the clock for your peace of mind in this safe and secure environment. The Hawthorns provides a great opportunity to make new friends, enjoy new experiences, and relax in the freedom of an all-inclusive lifestyle. Unlike purchasing a retirement property the Hawthorns is based on a rental model, meaning considerable savings. No survey fees, legal costs or

stamp duty on moving in; no service charges, repair costs or ground rent as you live there, and importantly no exit fees should your circumstances change. There’s no binding contract either, just 30 days’ notice, so very flexible and very clear. For more search ‘Hawthorns Retire’ online or on Facebook, or call 0800 114 3504 to book your personal tour or talk to us about your retirement options.

The Premier Independent Retirement Communities Braintree, Essex Clevedon, Somerset Eastbourne, Sussex Northampton, Northamptonshire

PROPERTYNews Left to right: Sandra Stark (Managing Director, Retirement Living) and Sherrie Hewson

Actress & media personality Sherrie Hewson Ambassador to The Hawthorns The Hawthorns independent retirement communities are delighted to announce that stage and TV actress and media personality Sherrie Hewson has been appointed as an Ambassador for its brand of all-inclusive rental senior living.

NEW COURT, nestled in the heart of Cheltenham’s desirable Montpellier District, is a collection of superb retirement apartments exclusively available for the over 65s to buy now About New Court These beautiful one and two bedroom apartments are spread across two adjoining aspects, one of which is a stunningly renovated Grade II listed building. The homes have been expertly designed to deliver light, spacious living combined with effortless style and character. This exciting development makes living at New Court a unique opportunity to own a part of both Cheltenham’s prestigious past and vibrant future.

Sherrie is passionately concerned about the senior living sector, conscious that “We are all going there”, in her terms regarding retirement. Now a prominent voice in the quest for better choice and improved standards for those seeking a certain style of retirement, she is very interested in the Hawthorns quality approach to independent living. Sherrie has a glittering TV, film and stage career, playing key characters in Benidorm, Coronation Street, Emmerdale, Crossroads, In Loving Memory and Z Cars, plus 14 years on Loose Women, ten years on the Russ Abbot Show and several Carry On films. Sherrie will visit all of the Hawthorns communities around the country and bringing her energetic and lively personality to delight the residents and staff alike. www.hawthornsretirement.co.uk

You Shouldn’t Feel Alone

As well as enjoying the benefits of New Court’s excellent central Cheltenham location, homeowners are able to take full advantage of the welcoming on-site communal features and landscaped gardens. Whether it is relaxing in the Owners Lounge, enjoying wine or soft drink with friends in the Strand Bar or appreciating a delicious meal in the Shapland Restaurant, there is something for everyone. New Court’s highly trained and friendly staff are on-hand 24-hours-a-day, 7 days a week.

Why choose New Court? An important factor for most people, is finding a location which is close to family and friends, or at least ensuring there’s enough room for them to come and visit. At New Court, that won’t be a problem. There is a gorgeous guest suite which can be booked and used by homeowners’ friends and family; perfect for those perhaps concerned about space for their guests in New Court’s one bedroom apartments. With the ideal location that New Court offers, it’s only a short walk into Cheltenham, home to Regency mansions, the Town Hall and Pump Room, providing lots of local history to explore. New Court is selling fast but there are a range of apartment types remaining to choose from including a handful of unique Signature Collection homes. All properties come with their own private terrace, balcony or outdoor patio space and are finished to impeccably high standards with carefully chosen fixtures and fittings.

Find out more For more information, you are welcome to visit their marketing suite and take a tour of three stunning show apartments. They are open 7 days a week from 10am – 5pm, no appointment necessary. You can also browse their website at www.newcourtcheltenham.co.uk and contact them on either 01242 572 676 or sales@newcourtcheltenham.co.uk

In the UK, 11% of older people are in contact with friends, family and neighbours less than once a month with over half the elderly aged over 75 living alone. Loneliness is a big problem in the UK which is why Novus Homeshare has been working with communities to present a solution. Homeshare schemes allow people to develop meaningful relationships and tackle loneliness by sharing their homes and time with another person. It has been studied that emotionally loneliness can has as much of an impact on health as smoking 15 cigarettes a day. With years of experience and a number of existing matches Novus has brought people together with similar interests and backgrounds together to make meaningful relationships between older and younger generations. Homesharing also helps people stay independent in their own homes. With a homesharer, tough tasks such as cleaning, cooking or other things that may not be so easy in later ages can be dealt for by a homesharer offering a helping hand at least 10 hours a week. Homeshare can help prevent a rapid decline in health conditions causing a need for care homes or full time care. www.novus-homeshare.org.uk RETIREMENT

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Property News

Downsizing and moving to a retirement property is a big step in life and there are many considerations to take into account before doing so.

Volunteering in Retirement

British Heart Foundation

Volunteering may be a great way of helping others but it can do you the world of good too. More than 20,000 people volunteer for the British Heart Foundation, a contribution of time that accounts for around £40m of our income every year. But their impact goes far beyond money.Without their support, we simply wouldn’t be able to do the lifesaving work that helps thousands of people living with heart conditions each year. RETIREMENT

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So what are the benefits?

One of the truly fantastic things about volunteering is that it can boost your health, both mentally and physically. Keeping active can get harder as you get older but volunteering can help increase activity and at the same time improve your self-esteem and wellbeing. It’s also a great way to meet new people and get to know your local community. Many of our volunteers really enjoy the social side of volunteering and the new connections they have made.

‘Volunteering really helps me feel like I’m making a difference says BHF volunteer Gill from Liskeard, Cornwall. ‘I just love working in the shop, I love the camaraderie and it’s helped me to meet so many people in the community who I might not otherwise have got to know.’ Each year the British Heart Foundation funds over £100 million of research into all heart and circulatory diseases. But we couldn’t do it without the amazing support of our volunteer network. Whether

Volunteering in retirement

erhaps in retirement you are looking forward to leaving behind your busy day to day routine but at the same time are anxious to have something interesting and rewarding to fill your days. People chose to volunteer for a variety of reasons. It may be that you want to learn a new skill, build upon the skills you already have or with a lifetime of experience pass on your expertise to others. Or, you may just feel you want to give something back to your community. Whatever the reason, volunteering can give you a great sense of achievement and fulfilment. Depending on what you chose to do, it can be hard work at times, but helping others and giving something back to society provides a natural feeling of accomplishment, while at the same time keeping both your mind and body active. Numerous charities couldn’t function without people gifting their time to help others. Thousands are helped every day by volunteers in all areas of society, for many different reasons. There are many easy ways you can help to make a difference to the lives of others, from helping out in your local area to making a regular commitment to volunteer with a charity. But whatever you chose to do, volunteering really does make a difference, for you and the charities you support. Here are a couple of examples from charities on how you can help and the benefits of volunteering.

CALLING ALL GRANDPARENTS

Your legacy is our future

The Animal Health Trust is the leading veterinary and scientific research charity dedicated to the health and welfare of your animal.

randparents are a major part of 21st Century family life and the support they provide, especially in the first six months of having a new baby is invaluable. In the UK, we have 14 million grannies and granddads. They provide a reassuring presence and down-to-earth advice. Of course, not everyone is lucky enough to have grandparents on their door step and that’s why the charity Cry-sis is looking for grandparent volunteers to man their support line.

Thanks to previous legacy gifts, the AHT is constantly finding new ways to prevent and reduce the suffering of present and future generations. For further information please call: 01638 555648 or email us: legacies@aht.org.uk or visit us online: www.aht.org.uk

Send today for your FREE Legacy Guide Title

Surname

Address

If you’re a grandparent or a parent with grown up children and some free time on your hands, then get in touch. Cry-sis will provide training for anyone who can give a few hours per week to take calls from mums or dads who are struggling with babies who don’t seem to be sleeping or crying incessantly. No health professional experience is required and you will not be expected to provide advice of this nature To get advice on excessive crying, including one-on-one phone support, visit www.cry-sis.org.uk

Initials

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Email Yes

We’d love to keep you updated with our news, and fundraising activities. Please select your preferences:

Post Email Telephone

n n n

Please return to: Fundraising, AHT, Lanwades Park, Kentford, Newmarket, Suffolk, CB8 7UU RT18

Registered charity no. 209642

VOLUNTEERING CHANGES LIVES Volunteering with the British Heart Foundation can change more lives than you think. You will help raise the money that drives our life saving research whilst meeting great people and being part of a friendly team.

Volunteering in retirement

Whether you can give just a few hours or a few days, every minute of your time is valuable to us. Find out more at bhf.org.uk/volunteer or call 0300 330 3322

Registered charity numbers 225971 & SC039426

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it’s serving customers in one of our nationwide shops, fundraising in the community, or cheering on the sidelines at one of our events, our volunteers are truly vital – and every penny generated by activity in shops, events and community fundraising pays for research to save countless lives. To find out more visit www.bhf.org.uk/volunteer or pop into your local British Heart Foundation shop to speak to the team about our opportunities.

Cry-sis

Grandparents are a major part of 21st Century family life and the support they provide, especially in the first six months of having a new baby is invaluable. In the UK, we have 14 million Grannies and Granddads and 5 million (40%) help their families by taking on childcare responsibilities. They provide a reassuring Project2:Layout 1 17/4/13 12:51 Page 1 presence and down-to-earth advice. Recent research has found that helping family members has many benefits for our older generation. For example,

two-fifths of grandparents said that it gives them a sense of purpose and 14% admitted that it stopped them from feeling lonely. Of course, not everyone is lucky enough to have grandparents on the door step and that’s why the charity Cry-sis is looking for grandparent volunteers to man their support line. “When we set up the charity in 1981, we brought together a group of parents who were experiencing problems with their crying and sleepless infants and found that talking to other parents was helpful and reassuring.” Says Jan Bullen CEO of Cry-sis. “Parents lead increasingly busy lives and we’re hoping that grandparents might step in and help with our phone-lines. It’s such

an important job and a very fulfilling one too.” If you’re a grandparent or a parent with grown up children and some free time on your hands, then get in touch. Cry-sis will provide training for anyone who can give a few hours per week to take calls from mums or dads who are struggling with babies who don’t seem to be sleeping or crying incessantly. No health professional experience is required and you will not be expected to provide advice of this nature n To get advice on excessive crying, including one-on-one phone support, visit www.cry-sis.org.uk.

atastrophes Cat Rescue CATASTROPHES CAT RESCUE

home environment with the freedom of the country es Cat Rescue was set up through our Over the years we have helped an increasing number of garden that surrounds thecats sanctuary. nt in animal welfare campaigning in the kittens in distress, by taking them into our care and finding s we becameand established and our “no-kill” Ourtake work cats involves spaying and neutering ame known ourgood workhomes increased for dramatically. them. The cats we inwith haveferal often been rquay Torquay complete colonies and giving any necessary veterinary e cats have been abandoned or are simply abandoned or badly treated, some are simply strays who have treatment. Feral cats are returned to their site of capture a new home because of a change in people’s never had the chance of a caring home. ifproper long-term food and shelter can be provided. If not, ces. Some have been ill treated. They are in need and we to believe they are relocated a suitable farm or country home of love and care.Our aim is to help any cat that is or have a home for life with us with complete freedom that every cat deserves the chance of a good home. once they have settled in. s always been to help any cat regardless of rament or behaviour be in they wild animals to sleep unnecessarily We doproblems, not believe putting We believe every cat deserves a chance to have a safe, onsequently we tend to get desperate calls for and we actively encourage sterilisation as apeaceful vital partplace of pet caring and to live and enjoy the rest of derly, feral and ‘difficult’ to re-home cats. In remember ustheir in your will. donation lives. Its Your surprising how often the most seemingly eet these needs ownership. we have hadPlease to become a unfriendly called ‘spiteful’ cat that arrives hissing, or legacy help our work for the animalsand andsosave lives. s well as a cat rescue andwill re-homing spitting and lashing out, or has the most difficult and n. The cats in our care are given a high Contact Liz Varney anti-social habits and behaviour, can change with love, veterinary care and we strongly believe care and lots of patience. Catastrophes believe that and neutering as a responsible part of pet life saved is worth the effort it takes and with your The catschoice that are difficult•toGreat re-home facilities areGreatevery Great oice • facilities support more cats in need will have a bright future. hance to live out their days in a peaceful

Volunteering in retirement

el hotel smallwith hotelawith big heart a big and heart and ew... big view... in the in heart the of heart Torquay of Torquay Catastrophes Cat Rescue

Half Moon Great ertainment entertainment • Great value • Cottage, Great Bakers valueLane,

Cat Rescue Dallington,Catastrophes Heathfield, East Sussex TN21 9JS

mes...guaranteed eat times...guaranteed For further Varney Tel: 01435 information: 830212 Fax:Contact 01825 Liz 768012 Half Moon Cottage, Bakers Lane, Dallington, Heathfield, East Sussex, TN21 9JS Email: lizzie@internationalanimalrescue.org 00500 803 400500 Tel. 01435 830212, Fax 01825 768012, Email: lizzie@catastrophescats.org

Registered Charity Number: 1017304 uk w.tlh.co.uk sales@tlh.co.uk sales@tlh.co.uk Visit us on We’re social, join usWe’re on social, join us on

eisure elgrave Resort, Rd, Torquay, Belgrave TQ2 Rd,5HS Torquay, TQ2 5HS 30

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Legacy Yearbook#TLHhotels 2018 page 22#TLHhotels

Volunteering does make a difference

ield is one of Scotlandâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s leading providers of housing and services for older people. Offering a range of supported housing options, Bield enable people to live independent and fulfilling lives. Our dedicated band of volunteers make a hugely valuable contribution to enriching the lives of the people who live in our houses. Their energy, imagination and caring nature makes so much difference to many who without volunteer input would experience social isolation. We are always extremely grateful for the time and skills the volunteers bring. Bield volunteers come in all shapes and sizes â&#x20AC;&#x201C; from IT tutors to coffee morning hosts, from bingo callers to assistants on day trips and outings. From students who have been with us a number of months, to those who have volunteered for over 30 years - no matter who, what or how, our volunteers improve both the mental and physical health and wellbeing of our service users. Bield does not receive any government funding to run the volunteer programme and many projects would not be possible without the generosity of our donors. Donations come from a variety of sources, Trusts and Foundations, sponsored events, regular giving and legacies. We are using current grants to recruit, train and develop befrienders and social activity organisers to help older people develop hobbies, take gentle exercise, learn IT skills and just enjoy a healthy and happy life. Smaller donations pay for activity materials and fund outings and events. Volunteering changes two lives and our volunteers benefit by learning new skills, gaining valuable work experience and making new friendships. Volunteering really does make a difference to everyone involved at Bield. n If you would like to find out more about Bieldâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s volunteers and fundraising, please visit www.bield.co.uk or call Tel: 0131 273 4000. RETIREMENT

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Lost in Translation

ack in the 70’s, after saying ‘I Do’. Our honeymoon consisted of a long, wet weekend in the Lake District. From that day forward, we vowed to do better. Zipping through the decades... we now have a collection of passport stamps that Michael Palin and Judith Chalmers would be proud of. Chalking up more than 70 countries, enjoying the expat life in America, Europe, Asia and Africa, you might expect us to be a whizz with languages - but, England and America aside, we are pretty hopeless when it comes to the local lingo. Not that it curbs our enthusiasm for travel, or prevents us from enjoying housesits in far flung corners of the world… sometimes, the most amusing things happen when we are anything but word perfect.

Recycling in India

On a long-term housesitting assignment in Southern India, we arrived at a brand new, bright white villa just as the painters finished. Leaving behind a pile of plastic buckets, dried up paint pots and a good party’s worth of empty beer bottles. Way before the trendy tag line eco-friendly, villagers in India have eked a living from repurposing anything they can lay their hands on. When a pint-sized recycling lady stopped at the housesit, the painter’s castoffs brought an enormous smile to her face. Having piled their junk into her rickety wooden cart, she held out her hand, showing me a few small bills and several low value coins, indicating that it was not quite enough. More at home with a 1-800 phone number for companies in America, who collect junk then hand over an invoice for services rendered, I reached for my purse and offered the recycler a similar amount, plus a little extra. She looked at me in amazement, but was reluctant to take the money. Had I short changed her? Should I add some more? Which of course I did.

Let’s have a heart to heart. We are looking for volunteers living with high cholesterol, diabetes or other cardiovascular disease.

Lost in Translation

Learn more about our clinical trial opportunities and receive a health check & medical advice.

Visit synexusclinic.co.uk/CVD18 or call 0800 027 2269 Quote reference 141070

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Together we make a difference. Reasonable travel expenses will be reimbursed.

Apparently, local recyclers pay the homeowners to take items away, and, thanks to the heap of empty bottles left by the partying painters, the recycler was indicating that she did not have enough money to pay me. For the next few weeks every recycler within walking distance made a bee-line for our front gate. But they were out of luck... the painters had already left the building.

Confusion in China

Many moons ago, when tourism in China was just getting started... We flew back to the UK from America, joining a small group of fellow Brits on a Highlights of China Tour, arranged by a specialist travel company in Kent. While visiting Suzhou, an ancient water town on the Grand Canal, the typed itinerary stated Day at Leisure, which we read as, pick your own adventure. Suzhou is renowned for producing intricate silk panels with complex double-sided embroidered images. Creating a single image that can be viewed from either side, involves simultaneously embroidering two different patterns using one needle - all without leaving so much as a knot or trailing thread. We decided to take a closer look at the local craft. Starting with the hotel concierge, who spoke little English, he

In a room the size of a football pitch stood table after table of modern machinery, each piece clacking away; busily embroidering western logo’s onto fabric for the likes of Adidas and other sporting giants. Across the far end of the embroidery pitch, hot irons dangled from heavy duty cables, ready to press flat any logo that swashed their way. If failing to secure a large order for embroidered polo shirts disappointed Mr Chino’s, he didn’t show it. He was gracious enough to offer his western visitors a pot of pale green tea. Back at the hotel, we could hear the unmistakable sound of English laughter. Colin stood centre stage while Sue buried her face in her hands. At the porcelain factory Sue had endless choices, hundreds and hundreds - of bathroom fixtures. Loo’s and sinks a plenty, but not a blue willow pattern in sight. Should we have visited the giant pandas instead? Heck no. We might have been flushed out and stitched up, but we returned with broad smiles and amusing travel tales - the kind that keep us traveling and looking out for our next housesitting assignment. If you are in the market for experienced sitters to provide holiday cover, or to care for a house for-sale - please visit our website. If we sound like a good fit, we would love to hear from you n Happy Travels! Staying For Free.com RETIREMENT

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Lost in Translation

She didn’t look insulted... what was the problem? A neighbour, heading to pick mangos from a towering tree at the edge of a nearby paddy, witnessed the scene and walked across to help. Having listened intently to the neighbour, the petite recycler hesitantly took the money from my hand, then put the palms of her own hands together, as if in prayer, while repeating one of the few local words that I did understand Nandi, Nandi ... thank you. The neighbour flashed a huge grin with two thumbs up, so I figured it was a good deal. Later that evening, at the home of a local family - one of many who welcomed us to the village with open arms - somewhere between a mountain of white rice and spicy vegetarian curries, I relayed the recycling story, much to the amusement for our new friends.

quickly involved the front desk team, who then recruited staff from the back office. Each new face contributing a few extra words of English. Much talk and a few phone calls later, it sounded like we had a plan. As we understood it, the epicentre of Su Embroidery was out in the countryside. The hotel had arranged for us to visit the main village, where yes, we could study locals at work on the ancient Chinese handicraft. All we had to do was hop in a taxi. Knowing better than to set off without a backup plan, we arranged for the village address, and hotel contact details, to be written on the back of a business card. Confident that we had everything we might need, in both Chinese and English, we had one more request. Smiling and nodding politely, the concierge happily briefed the waiting taxi driver with directions taken straight from the business card. We felt good to go. Encouraged by our move, fellow travellers Colin and Sue, obtained their own business card and set off for a local porcelain factory - Sue in the back of the taxi making a mental list of the blue willow place settings she would ship back to Essex. Remaining travellers opted to visit a nearby orphanage for giant pandas. An hour or so later, the taxi driver made his way through a bustling village and pulled up in front of enormous wooden gates. Far from the cottage industry we expected, we pulled out the business card. Our driver nodded vigorously and pointed. Behind the gates lay a large compound of basic employee housing. The courtyard crammed with laundry, hanging from bamboo poles, as far as the eye could see. As if by magic, a chap wearing a smart pair of chinos and a crisp white shirt - without a single stitch of embroidery - appeared from nowhere and formally greeted us. We followed up a rickety wooden staircase, along narrow corridors lined with cramped, disorganised offices on either side and through an endless series of swing doors. Finally, a large set of double doors flung open and it was all we could do to stop laughing.

Advertorial

well presented fund and asset sector performance data. At Saltydog we analyse thousands of funds and present a summary on a weekly basis in a way designed to help private investors see which sectors are currently performing well, and importantly which are the best performing funds within these sectors. The homework has been done and the findings are presented to you on a silver platter. To make the most of your investments you need to follow a few simple steps: • Take advantage of the low– cost fund supermarkets and discount brokers. • Use tax-efficient wrappers like ISAs, SIPPs and Investment Bonds. • Manage risk. By understanding how different funds are classified it is possible to tailor your portfolio to match your own appetite for adventure. • Monitor your progress and be prepared to change tack as conditions vary.

Momentum Trading Works

lthough it has its critics, it`s generally accepted that momentum trading works. It is widely used by professional investors as well as legendary historic figures in the past. In the summer of 1891 a fourteen-yearold farmer’s son ran away from home with five dollars in his pocket. Thirty-eight years later, having spent his entire adult life as an investor and trader, he was worth over $100million - equivalent to $1.3billion in today`s money. His name was Jesse Livermore, and his immense success was largely due to one investment strategy - momentum trading. This remains just as effective today as it was one hundred years ago. The theory of Momentum Trading, like all the best ideas, is simple - the greater the amount of money that is being invested into a fund, or asset class, the quicker its value will rise. This in turn will attract further investment, pushing the price even higher. Obviously, the opposite also applies. As a fund or asset class loses investors, the upward momentum ceases and it will reverse, gaining impetus in the opposite direction. Time to move your money and exit stage left! Another successful momentum investor was a man called Richard Dennis. He was born in Chicago in 1949 and in the early 1970s started to trade commodities with a small loan from his family. By 1973 this had risen to $100,000 and by 1975 he was a millionaire. By the early eighties he was said to be worth more than $100million. It was at this time that he and his long-term friend, the RETIREMENT

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by Douglas Chadwick

financial genius Bill Eckhardt, made a bet – that any sensible person with training and a supply of relevant financial information could become a successful momentum trader. It goes without saying that Dennis won his bet. He selected twenty or so novices (‘Turtles’), gave them $1million each, and let them loose. Three years later their combined value was $175million. The same momentum principles underpin the Saltydog philosophy and our approach to investing. At Saltydog Investor we do not believe that people should necessarily work longer, pay more into their pensions, or take out extra insurance in order to cover their living expenses during their twilight years. These are all the things that are currently being advocated by politicians and the financial industry and which might well be necessary for some; but why oh why doesn’t anyone suggest the obvious - make your current savings work harder! To become a D.I.Y. investor with some of your money (whilst you learn) you will need a source of clear

We combine the Investment Association asset sectors into our own proprietary Saltydog Groups which are: • Safe Haven. • Slow Ahead. • Steady as She Goes. • Full Steam AheadDeveloped Markets. • Full Steam AheadEmerging Markets. The nautical names of these groups give an easy recognisable indication of the volatility of the sectors and funds which are allocated to the groups. Using the performance data it is easy to see whether the increased risk associated with the more volatile funds is then being rewarded. The recent growth in on-line trading has been astonishing.The way we shop, bank, arrange our insurance, book our holidays and choose our utility providers has changed forever. Surely now is the time that our approach to our pensions and savings should follow suit? These are your baby and nobody else should have a stronger desire to see them perform well than yourself. I am not particularly computer literate, I do not come from the investment industry and I do not have formal financial training - yet my own investments have consistently out-performed the market. The time has come for the D.I.Y. investor, and if I can do it, then so can you n

www.saltydoginvestor.com

Would you like to receive a complimentary digital copy of the next issue of Retirement Today? Registered charity number: 1087579

Please help us secure the future of wild moorland ponies by remembering us in your will

Email info@amramedia.co.uk with code ‘Comp RT’

London Waterbus Trips

] LITTLE VENICE ] LONDON ZOO ] CAMDEN LOCK

Ponies are an iconic part of Dartmoor and Bodmin moor, grazing the commons since 2,000 BC, and are a priceless part of our heritage. We need to remain a lifeline for these incredible animals. A gift in your will could help us to safeguard the future of all moorland ponies For more information call 01822 854823 or online at www.swep.org.uk Unit B4, Yelverton Business Park, Crapstone, PL20 7PE

Cruises along the peaceful Regents Canal, through Regents Park, the Maida Hill tunnel and London Zoo. Trips on traditional canal boats, one way or return, with a stopover to shop in the lively bustle of Camden Lock or a picnic in the tranquil elegance of Little Venice, or trips with entry to London Zoo. Daily service April to September, weekends in winter. Discount fares for booked groups.

Registered Charity Charity NumberNumber 271028. Registered 271028.

Tel: 020 7482 2550 www.londonwaterbus.com

‘No parent should lose their child ‘No parent should lose their child down a hole in the healthcare system’ down a hole in the healthcare system’ by Sue Sheppard

by Sue DAUGHTER Sheppard CHARLOTTE LOST HER LIFE WHEN SHE WAS JUST 19 YEARS OLD SUE’S SUE’S DAUGHTER CHARLOTTE LOST HER LIFE WHEN SHE WAS JUST 19 YEARS OLD MY DAUGHTER Charlotte was for therapy was so long that for so get longanthat MY DAUGHTER was shetherapy couldn’twas even a real characterCharlotte and so bright. Find out couldn’t even getonan22nd a real character and so bright. she appointment. Sadly Find out She started self-harming at 13, appointment. Sadly 22nd how you February 2009, she on self-harmed She self-harming at 13, but itstarted took five years for her to how you February 2009, she self-harmed but it took five years for her to can remember and lost her life. be diagnosed with Borderline

can remember Rethink Mental Mental Rethink Illness in your Illness in your will will

be diagnosed with Borderline Personality Disorder (BPD). Personality Disorder (BPD). Other than than aa short short spell spell in in aa Other private hospital, hospital, thanks thanks to to my my private limited work benefit, Charlotte limited work benefit, Charlotte had no no help. help. The The waiting waiting list list had

and lost her life. There are so many holes in There are so many holes in the system system and and Charlotte Charlotte fell fell the through all all of of them. them. through After her her death, death, II found found Rethink Rethink After Mental Illness. Illness. They They help help people people Mental

like Charlotte to get the care

like get the theyCharlotte need, buttomuch of care this work they but much of this work reliesneed, on legacies. relies on legacies. Any gift you can give in your Any gift you can give in your Will can make a difference. Will can make a difference. don’t want want another another young young II don’t person to to suffer suffer or or aa parent parent to to person lose their their child. child. Please Please will will you you lose help me me change change the the way way mental mental help illness is is treated? treated? Thank Thank you. you. illness

Leave Leave aa legacy legacy to to change change how how mental mental illness illness is is treated. treated.

If If we we don’t, don’t, who who will? will?

For a free guide, please return this coupon. Simply write ‘For the attention For a free guide, please return this coupon. Simply write ‘For the attention of Dan Walshe, Freepost Rethink London’ on the envelope and it will get of us. DanYou Walshe, Freepost Rethink London’ on the envelope and it will get to don’t need a stamp.

to us. You don’t need a stamp.

Name

Address

Postcode

Rethink Mental Illness will not contact you about anything other than this. Postcode Charlotte Sheppard 1989 – 2009

Charlotte Sheppard 1989 – 2009

Rethinkus Mental not contact youor about anything other than this. Call on Illness 020will 7840 3032 visit rethink.org/wewill

Call us on 020 7840 3032 or visit rethink.org/wewill

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MAKE A WILL

LEAVE NOTHING TO CHANCE By Mike Francis

ou know what it's like when you must do something important but can't summon up the energy or enthusiasm to do anything about it.You put it to the back of your mind and there it stays. Making a will is like that. We know we should be doing something about it, eventually we'll do it, but it's much easier to push the matter aside until much later in life. The sad fact is that although we've had the chance of making a will from the age of 18 perpetual postponement will mean that 60 per cent of us will never get round to making a will at all.

The simple fact is that making a properly drawn up will is the only way we can guarantee that our family and friends, charities, people who are important to us in life will receive the exact bequest we want them to receive and ensure that our estate, our money, our possessions reaches the right people in the right proportion. It leaves nothing to chance. There are other good reasons for putting pen to willpaper. Itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s an opportunity to put our affairs in good order and provide for the family. We can choose who should be our executors, make proper provision for our children under 18 and reduce or even eliminate inheritance tax. Most importantly it avoids financial squabbles within the family.

Like many of us I left it late in life to make a will. It had been nagging me for some time to do the deed and eventually I did. I contacted the Law Society for advice on a reliable solicitor in my area. I chose one, had a couple of meetings with them, received good instruction and advice and after subsequent correspondence the will was drawn up and signed. I must say it was a tremendous relief when it was all over having prevaricated for so long over doing something about it. I could stop worrying and get on with my life. One intriguing aspect I noticed when totting up the value of my property, shares, possessions and money in the bank was how much I had undervalued my worth and not realistically taken into account inflation. Another discovery is that it allows you to set out and consider the true value of your estate and appreciate the real risk you might run by not making a proper will.

PITFALLS OF NOT MAKING A WILL

WHO TO CHOOSE?

If a person dies without making a will countrywide searches to track down all surviving relatives have to be made which can take months even in this computerised age.Trawls through offices of the local banks, solicitors and through the belongings of the deceased have to be carried out to check that a will is not lurking in a dark corner somewhere. The lack of a will can also trigger financial disputes within the family. In extreme cases where no relatives can be found HM Government will be the sole beneficiary. When there is no will there are strict rules as to how the estate is divided up determined by the order of surviving next of kin. RETIREMENT

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You can make a will in a variety of ways. The most usual method is to use the resources of a reliable solicitor. Like me you can contact the Law Society who can give you a list of recommended solicitors in your area. The cost involved would be determined by whether your will is straightforward or more complicated. For cost and convenience, you might choose one of the many willwriting services which are available

online. Using a will-writer is another option or, you could write your will yourself. Whichever route you choose remember that wills need to be treated with the utmost care. A will can be a minefield waiting for a mistake to blow up in your face which could make the will invalid. All the witnesses have to be in the room at the same time, for example and an undated will can be a real headache.

KEEP WILLS SAFE

A will is an important document and therefore needs to be kept in a safe, secure place under lock and key. If your will has been prepared by a solicitor the original will normally be kept in his strong room free of charge and you will be given a copy. If kept in a bank deposit box you will have to pay an annual fee but make sure the executor is known to the bank. Hiding such a valuable item away in some dark cubby hole known only to you in your own home is not a good idea. Much better to keep it in a safe and make sure someone knows where the key or combination can be found.

BE CHARITABLE

Apart from nearest and dearest bequests you may consider leaving a legacy to a charity that you have supported or worked for during your lifetime or for some reason have a close affinity with. Charities are under great pressure in the present austere economic climate to continue getting sufficient financial support to fund

Make a will. Leave nothing to chance

BENEFITS OF A PROPER WILL

PERSONAL EXPERIENCE

LEGACIES ARE A LIFELINE FOR HORSES LIKE SERENITY * * Gifts in Will s make up 75 % of charity inco me.

• Half of people with MS struggle with everyday things like walking, talking, remembering things and writing them down; • Half live with depression and pain every day of their lives. MS may be incurable, but the day-to-day suffering it causes is PREVENTABLE. David (pictured) relies on weekly physio to stay mobile and positive. Most of us know someone like him. After family, would you leave a simple legacy in their memory MAKE A DONATION TO REVIVE MS SUPPORT IN YOUR WILL. Help us protect people like David from needless suffering; Help them make the most of their lives!

al S e re n it y on a rriv

BRANSBY HORSES, DEPT. RT., BRANSBY, LINCOLN, LN1 2PH BRANSBY HORSES IS A REGISTERED CHARITY NO: 1075601

www.bransbyhorses.co.uk | 01427 788464 Bransby Horses is a Registered Charity No: 1075601. Company Limited by Guarantee Registered in England and Wales No: 3711676.

Call: 0141 945 3344 legacy@revivemssupport.org.uk revivemssupport.org.uk/legacies Revive MS Support is a Registered Charity (SC022886) that provides ten specialist therapies, under one roof, for people affected by MS, their families and carers. Supported by Cochrane Dickie, Solicitors

What will you leave to our most faithful friends? Elsie’s come a long way since she was cruelly thrown from a car window – and her new owner, Gina, adores her. That’s why Gina is leaving a gift in her Will to make sure more animals like Elsie find loving homes. Will you join Gina and help create a world where abused and abandoned animals get the care they need? It takes all of us to create a future that’s kinder to animals. Find out the difference you can make with a gift in your Will.

For your free Gifts in Wills guide: Call: 0300 123 0239 Visit: rspca.org.uk/giftsinwills

Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals. Wilberforce Way, Southwater, Horsham, West Sussex RH13 9RS. The RSPCA helps animals in England and Wales. Registered charity no. 219099. ©RSPCA 2018. All rights reserved.

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the good work they do in an increasingly competitive market. Some get no government grant, others rely heavily on legacies to provide a big part of their income.Therefore, it is extremely important if you are leaving a legacy to make sure the charity still exists then get the name, address and charity number correct otherwise the donation could be invalid. This may seem obvious but some charities have similar names. Also, just in case the charity mentioned is not in existence when the will is read it's worthwhile to refer to a second charity as a backup. Recent research showed that although 70 per cent of people give to charities in life only 4 per cent leave legacies to charities in their will. So another good reason to remember a kind donation. And remember gifts to charities are free from inheritance and capital gains taxes.

SURPRISING STATISTICS

Nearly two-thirds of parents have not made a will so are missing a straightforward way of ensuring that their children are financially provided for and guardians appointed.

Over 50 per cent of married people incorrectly believe their husband or wife would inherit everything even without a will. Although most people living as unmarried couples realise their partner will not automatically inherit from them only 23 per cent have made a will.

CHANGING A WILL

A will can be changed at any tiime. It is particularly important that you should review it whenever circumstances change and in any event every 5 years as legislation can change even if your personal circumstances do not. If you do change your will you need to destroy your previous one and any copies of it. You may want to change

your will for several reasons such as going through a divorce, getting married for a second time or the death of a partner. For small amendments a codicil to the original will is sufficient. For anything major it is better to write a new will.

LAST WORD

A writer produced a bestselling book on the importance of making a will. Unfortunately, he died intestate. Don't let this happen to you n The Law Society (England & Wales) 0207 242 1222 www.lawsociety.org.uk The Law Society of Scotland 0131 226 7411 www.lawsot.org.uk

Make a will. Leave nothing to chance

Case Study: Former police officer and novelist will leave her estate to charity

The former police officer has helped bring dog fighters and badger baiters to justice, has two beloved rescue dogs and plans to leave a gift in her Will to the RSPCA She will also leave a legacy to Sea Shepherd UK and The Brooke Hospital for Animals in Egypt. Chris, who now lives in Wales with her rescue dogs, Bing, a Jack Russell, and Bailey, a Bichon Frise, joined Thames Valley police in 1984. She spent 16 years fighting crime and would sometimes work alongside the RSPCA. She explained there is a strong link between human and animal abuse. Chris, 59, said: “When I was a police officer, I was dealing with a woman suffering from domestic violence. I spoke to her on her own in the garden where I saw rabbit hutches stacked on top of another with no water bottles. She wasn’t allowed to have anything to do with them. It was a control thing; he controlled both his wife and those rabbits. I called in the RSPCA who acted quickly and removed the rabbits immediately. Seeing something happen, something change, and the abuser losing his control of the rabbits, gave his wife the confidence to leave that night too and go into a shelter.” She continued: “In all my dealings with the RSPCA, whether as an officer or as a private individual, their response has always been entirely appropriate. In the majority of cases an inspector gives advice and supports the owner, but there are also those times when a prosecution is needed, and the overstretched police rely heavily on the RSPCA for such prosecutions.” Chris has witnessed some of those times first hand, from a dog-fighting ring she dealt with in the serious and organised crime units, to catching a badger-baiter red handed as a sergeant in Henley. After retiring, she set up a writers retreat in Wales. Last year her memoirs Into the Valley were published by Trinity Mirror, covering her time in the police during Thatcher’s Britain Legacies raised £77.1 million for the RSPCA last year which is over half its total income and helps the charity continue to rescue, rehabilitate and rehome animals in desperate need of care.

www.rspca.org.uk/giftsinwills RETIREMENT

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Case Study: National Animal Welfare Trust (NAWT) Gifts in Wills provide a lifeline for NAWT and are vital in keeping their centres running so they can continue to help homeless animals. Animals like Hector, who arrived at NAWT with burns all over his body. Poor Hector’s wounds were some of the most severe they had ever seen and appeared to have been caused by hot oil. Over the next few months, NAWTs Animal Care team soothed Hectors wounds with a prescribed cream, and bandaged and re-bandaged him regularly to keep the wounds clean and protected in order to heal. They bought Hector baby jackets to wear over his bandages and gave him the time he needed to heal, until eventually the wounds closed. Meanwhile, Hector’s regular visits to the vet saw her falling for his charms. When Hector was ready to be rehomed, his vet had to have him and offered the lovely little cat, who had stolen everyone’s hearts, a loving home. Hector is just one of the 1,200 animals NAWT rehome each year, all with their own unique story. None of this work would be possible without the support of the animal-loving public and the gifts people kindly choose to leave NAWT in their Wills. Any gift, big or small, can make all the difference to a scared, homeless animal like Hector.

www.nawt.org.uk

30-34 New Bridge Street, London, EC4V 6BJ page ad.pdf UK registered Legacy charity no. quarter 208530

20/04/2012

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Last year we helped over 80,000 wild birds and animals like Rudolph

Please help me get better

Not only do we treat more hedgehogs than any other wildlife hospital, but our caring teams save lives every day. Our aim is simple, to treat injured British wildlife, then return them to the wild. Like Rudolph, who arrived badly injured at just five days old. Our specialist care saved this little deer and he is now facing a brighter future. But it is only with your support we can help casualties like Rudolph; please remember Tiggywinkles in your Will.

CMY

“Happy & Healthy” thanks to you & Children In Distress

Text: JDUK£5 to

Our late friend Dame Thora Hird actively encouraged others to help us secure funding for our lifesaving work. In her words "All the little wild creatures and I thank you so very much".

Gif t

For more information please contact: Jenny Babb, Tiggywinkles, Aylesbury, Buckinghamshire HP17 8AF

FREE AD

01844 292 292 mail@sttiggywinkles.org.uk www.tiggywinkles.com Registered Charity No. 286447

Come and have a look around our Visitor Centre. Opening times can be found on our website www.tiggywinkles.com.

70070

OPE N S WE EK

is the busiest wildlife hospital in the world. 34

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TOGETHER WE CAN CHANGE THE ENDING. When Gordon’s wascan diagnosed Through a gift indad yourSandy will you make sure with heartliving failure, theasupport the whole family everyone with chest, heart or stroke received from Chest Heart & Stroke Scotland condition in Scotland gets the help they need. was, in their words – priceless. After you have taken care of your loved ones, Through a Gift inleaving his Will, Gordon is making please consider a Gift in your Will to sure everyone living with our conditions Chest Heart & Stroke Scotland. continues to get the help they need.

www.chss.org.uk

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Loving is easy, caring costs It costs over ÂŁ8,000 a day to care for the homeless animals in our centres. Animals like Hector, an unloved stray cat who required urgent treatment for his painful burns. Please help more animals like Hector with a gift in your Will.

Visit nawt.org.uk/legacies Call 0208 950 0177 option 1 Email legacies@nawt.org.uk

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Registered charity no: 1090499

Charity N E W S

Purple Angel ponies to the rescue as Mare & Foal Sanctuary gets dementia aware

Equine rescue and welfare charity, Bransby Horses, rescued a horse earlier this year that was found collapsed in her field by authorities.

The organisation was launched six years ago by Torquay man Norman McNamara, his wife Elaine and friend and co-founder Jane Moore after he was rudely spoken to by a shopkeeper. Norman was diagnosed at the relatively young age of 50 and has been campaigning to raise awareness of dementia ever since. The trio award Purple Angel status to organisations which have trained their staff to be "dementia aware".

Bransby Horses is funded entirely by public donations and gifts in Wills; without these donations and legacies the charity wouldn’t be able to help horses like Serenity. If you would like to make a donation towards the charity’s vital rescue and welfare work or find out more about leaving a gift in your Will. Please visit www.bransbyhorses.co.uk or call 01427 788464.

abandoned, mistreated and orphaned horses and ponies, is using its five adoption stars as Purple Angel Ponies to help raise awareness, complete with bright purple rugs provided by Norman, Elaine and Jane. Norman said: “We were welcomed so warmly by the Sanctuary and they have really bent over backwards to help us”. Visitors to Coombe Park will now see Purple Angel signs – and the staff will be able to help anyone they think may be struggling.

To be accepted staff at the charity’s Coombe Park Visitor Centre near Totnes learnt a few simple steps to help people living with the disease, from speaking slowly and clearly to helping with confusing coinage.

And as well as presenting the Sanctuary with its new signs and purple rugs the organisation, which has grown to more than 900 ambassadors worldwide, handed over a cheque for £600, raised to help rescue even more horses and ponies.

The Sanctuary, which rescues and rehabilitates

www.mareandfoal.org

Serenity, named by members of staff, was unable to stand by herself because she was severely dehydrated and emaciated. She was given pain relief, a special diet and put on a drip. It became apparent that one of the major causes of her poor state of health was an internal parasite infection. Frustratingly this is something the charity sees far too often, though it can be easily avoided with a treatment plan. Despite her ordeal of needing help to stand and numerous veterinary examinations and treatments, Serenity has taken it all in her stride and has grown to be a confident and loving mare.

Norman McNamara with his favourite horse Kavaner.

PEREGRINE PLUMMETS A member of the public arrived with a cardboard box containing a juvenile peregrine falcon. Found on the ground underneath Aylesbury’s tallest building, it was obvious to Tiggywinkles that the chick had plunged the 200+ feet, from the nest at the top of the building. They checked the details of a leg ring, to find that this was one of this year’s chicks. A 2018 baby, so to speak. Immediately this rare and beautiful Falcon was given a full diagnostic assessment by one of their veterinary team. She was kept overnight and given the all clear. The following day they called the local Raptor Group who had been monitoring the nest and who ringed the chick back in May (they work under licence so can access the nesting site). They quickly came to collect the chick and returned her back to the roof of the building where her parents were circling and calling out to her. They kindly provided the photos of her return. Catastrophe….. she once again decided to do her “Tom Daley” impression and dive off the huge building. She appeared back at Tiggywinkles a day later, looking rather forlorn, as you would! Thank heavens that the X-rays came back clear once more. She was monitored over a few days and moved to an outside aviary – and eventually return her to the wild…. with a fresh m.o.t and a clean bill of health! Motto of this story…whilst walking under tall buildings, don’t look up. There might be a Peregrine in training for the next Olympic Games high board diving! www.sttiggywinkles.org.uk RETIREMENT

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Charity News

Legacies Give Serenity a Second Chance in Life

Devon’s largest equine charity the Mare & Foal Sanctuary is now an ambassador for Purple Angels founded to help people living with dementia.

Charity N E W S RACE AGAINST TIME

Children in Distress, a small British paediatric palliative care charity, is in a race against time to create an emergency reserve water tank to feed the sprinkler system installed in the charity’s St Margaret’s Hospice in Bucharest. The completion of the tank and installation of the necessary pumping system will guarantee the operating license and save the lives of the 25 terminally or incurably ill infants and children who are cared for there. St Margaret’s is unique, in offering highly specialised multiple therapy care to children challenged by congenital, genetic or neurological conditions or those arising from accident or infection. Losing this exceptional and unique national child care resource and breaking up the highly qualified care team would be a sin, however the estimated £25.000 cost greatly exceed the planned maintenance budget of this exceptionally well run facility. An emergency appeal has so far raised half the amount, help is needed to finish the job. Your donation can be made at www. childrenindistress.org and clicking the link to online donations, where the secure JustGiving link could help ‘save a children’s hospice’ to say nothing of changing the lives and future of children who desperately need your help.

If we don’t, who will? You and I know what it’s like to try and navigate the healthcare system to get the help we need. We’ve lived through the anger and frustration. And we don’t want other families to have to face it alone. We know that mental illness isn’t necessarily a popular cause. So because of those we’ve lost and because of those we’ve saved, it’s down to us. We can change how mental illness is treated, by leaving a legacy to Rethink Mental Illness.

Charity News

Rethink Mental Illness help stop people with mental illness falling through the gaps in the system, but they rely on gifts in wills to fund their Advice and Information Service, peer support groups and campaigning work.

If your brother or sister, family member or friend has a mental illness, you’ll know that this kind of help is priceless. Few of us can afford to make a generous gift to Rethink Mental Illness right now, but there is something we can do easily. We can remember Rethink Mental Illness in our wills. If you’d like a little more information visit www.rethink.org/wewill to request a free guide or call Dan Walshe on 020 7840 3032. RETIREMENT

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Supporting the Seafaring Community for 179 Years Christmas Card Appeal

No.1 HMS Warrior Escorting the Royal Yacht Victoria and Albert, 1861. By S. Francis Smitheman Pack of 10 cards £4.60 (126mm x 172mm - 5” x 7”)

Founded in 1839 the Shipwrecked Mariners’ Society is a charity that provides financial help to merchant seafarers, fishermen and their dependants who are in need. They pay an immediate grant to the widow of a serving seafarer who dies, either at sea or ashore. Regular grants are paid to former seafarers, their widows and partners, whose circumstances justify their on-going support. Special grants are made to meet particular needs in crisis situations. They also make funeral grants. Practical assistance is given to seafarers of any nationality shipwrecked on the coast of the British Isles. In the last year they paid grants totalling £1.4 Million in over 2,000 cases of need. The Society’s annual Christmas Card Appeal is their major national fundraising campaign. Please help them to support those from this hugely important and vulnerable sector of society. For further information visit: www.shipwreckedmariners.org.uk To view and order their charity Christmas cards online visit: www.christmas-cards.org.uk/shipmariners/ If you would like to receive a catalogue containing all their charity cards and gift items please contact: Shipwrecked Mariners’ Society, 1 North Pallant, Chichester PO19 1TL Tel: 01243 789329 Email: general@shipwreckedmariners.org.uk

A smart new approach to MS care The worst symptoms of MS are “preventable and treatable”, according to new research. Several recent studies have found that depression, pain, tiredness, weakness and bowel problems, which get worse with age, can all be helped with physio, the advice of a specialist nurse or other targeted support. Most older-people live with at least eight separate symptoms, every day. A study in the European Review of Ageing found that exercise, physiotherapy and other specialist therapies can actually reverse some of these symptoms. They can even prevent cognitive decline (problems like memory loss), which affects half of people with MS and is “not necessarily permanent”. Glasgow-based charity, Revive MS Support, has opened a new Centre providing all of the therapies needed by people with MS, under one roof. Scotland has the highest rate of MS in the world, with over 11,000 people affected by the incurable condition. Most don’t really receive the help and support they need. Their symptoms are invisible and they feel invisible. Revive is also about to launch the first nationwide service offering support via smartphone or PC. This ground-breaking approach reaches right into the homes of people with MS, providing a link to the outside world and giving them the help they really need. It is a lifeline for those most-disabled by MS, for those in employment, who have no time to access support, and for those in rural areas – a smart new approach to MS that will benefit hundreds of people every year. www.revivemssupport.org.uk

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for the over 65s, are available to buy now. New Court is home to excellent communal features for homeowners to enjoy and is nestled in the heart of Cheltenhamâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s charming Montpellier district. To find our more and take a look around our three show apartments, please visit our marketing suite, open 7 days a week from 10am â&#x20AC;&#x201C; 5pm or call 01242 572676. New Court, Lansdown Road, Cheltenham. GL50 2JG sales@newcourtcheltenham.co.uk

www.newcourtcheltenham.co.uk Sanctuary Group is a subsidiary of Sanctuary Housing Association, an exempt charity.

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