July and August 2009

Our fourth AGM, which was held on July 14^th, signified another successful year of the Residents Association, formed not only to address the numerous problems of antisocial behaviour but also the lack of maintenance to the surrounding wooded areas and infrastructure. Thanks to the support of the Police, the Borough Council and our Councillors we have made real progress with these issues; of course we still have a long way to go before we can ‘sit back and relax' but with the commitment shown by our chairman Graham Sutton and the committee I am certain we will be able to.. one day !

Our chairman made it clear in his report; there are a number of projects with which we have not made progress, due in the main to lack of funding. However, this will not prevent us from pushing for a satisfactory conclusion to these issues in the near future.

We are very grateful for the grants received throughout the year, which have already been acknowledged, and for the recently awarded grant from Kidsgrove Town Council and Newcastle Under Lyme Borough Council Community Chest.

A full report of the AGM is available and is published on our Web site - www.cloughhall.co.uk.

Our June meeting was held jointly with the Newcastle 50+ Forum and after a short update by our chairman and PC Dave Woodward, the chair was handed over to Mike Reynolds (50+ Forum) to introduce the guest speakers who presented the topic ‘ Care In The Community'.

The panel of speakers consisted of ..

Chris Davies - Regional Development Officer for Help the Aged.

Wendy Snell - Service Manager Wellbeing and Older People, Social Care Newcastle-under-Lyme.

Val Rowley and Linda Regan, ELITE (Enabling Living Independently Today and Everyday).

Jayne Rigby - Service Manager for Community Living, Staffs County Council.

Wendy Snell (Social Care) and Jayne Rigby (Community Living)

Following informative presentations from the panel, the chairman invited questions from the floor, which covered such topics as :-

Elderly people fear that if they are taken into care they will have to sell their property to fund the care, and the family will lose their inheritance. Is this true? What would happen in this case?
Aspire provide a care call system which has increased from £12.03 to £14.03 per month. In Stoke-on-Trent this service is provided free to those over 80 years of age, but not in Staffordshire - why?
Do those living independently in their own homes, but close to complexes which are being built, have access to these complexes?
People have died because of a lack of simple care; is there a list of vulnerable people in the community who need help?

These are just a few of the varied topics discussed; for answers to these questions see our Web site or request a copy of the meeting report.