## Enfield Borough Over 50s Forum Annual Report For the year ending 31st March 2021 This report is to be presented at the Forum’s annual general meeting as a Zoom webinar on Tuesday 29 June 2021. This report will be sent out to all members with an email address in June 2021. **“Helping our members keep active, involved and healthy”** www.enfieldover50sforum.org.uk Registered Charity No. 1122859 May 2021 ## President Monty Meth, MBE Executive Committee/Trustees 2020/21 Chair Christine Whetstone Social Events Team Secretary John Ball Roy Barrows Assistant Secretary Tony Watts Cheryl Byamukama Vice Chair Peter Smith Heather Cole Olivia Goodfellow Treasurer Champaklal Mistry Jean Mittins Health Team Lead Vivien Giladi Membership Secretary Jan Oliver Jan Oliver Jacky Pearce Members: Walter Bowry Sue Scott Jim Cantle Graham Thomas Chris Chinnery Gail Hawksworth Yvonne Mulder George Rufai Talat Shaikh Meetings arranger Ann Zinkin Finance Committee John Ball Newsletter editor Yvonne Mulder Champaklal Mistry Newsletter editorial team Monty Meth Tony Watts Tony Watts 200 Club organiser Jim Cantle Office Staff Ruth Fathaddine, Development & Office Manager Diane Barron, Administrative Assistant ## Representation on external organisations ## John Ball: Chair, Outer North London Companions Friendship centre Vice-Chair, Greater London Forum for Older People Walter Bowry: Trustee, Enfield Voluntary Action Vivien Giladi: Enfield Health & Well-Being Board Enfield’s Health Improvement Partnership North Central London NCL Watch Health Campaigns Together ## Gail Hawksworth: Vice Chair of Enfield Saheli Monty Meth: Chair, Oakwood Medical Centre Patients Committee ## Talat Shaikh: MCEC Trustee Committee member Faith Forum for London Member Enfield Faith Forum Muslim Faith rep London Resilience Group. Member LBE Strategic Partnership. Member Brunswich Park Medical centre PPG Trustee and Chair of North London Asian Care ## Peter Smith: Enfield Transport Users Group. ASLEF representative and Executive Member on the NPC London Region. Patient Representative Forum (PRF) and Public Led Assessment of Care Environment (PLACE) at the North Middlesex University Hospital. Heathwatch Public Involvement Association ## Champaklal Mistry: Trustee Director and Treasurer of North London Asian Care ## Irene Richards: Enfield Older Peoples Board Enfield Safeguarding Adults Board (ESAB) Chair Service User, Carer and Patients subgroup of ESAB Chair of Community Awareness Group (ESAB & Enfield Safeguarding Children Arrangements) Quality Checkers Chair, PPG Abernethy House Trustee, Edmonton United Charities ## Tony Watts: Enfield Strategic Partnership Board Enfield Older Peoples Board (Vice Chair) Enfield Leisure & Culture Board AgeUK National Policy Sounding Board ## Christine Whetstone: Amnesty International Speaker Amnesty International Project Member Enfield Youth Offending Unit Volunteer Police Community Monitoring Group Police Independent Advisory Group 2 ## Chair’s Report What a year it has been – and not just for the Forum. But I will begin by remembering Monty Meth, our President, who sadly died in March. Monty was described in one local publication as a figurehead – oh no – Monty was so much more than that! He took the Forum from a tiny membership to its current status as one of the largest organisations representing older people in the country. He was a dynamic, inspired and incredibly well informed campaigner for the rights of older people, who gained the respect of politicians and activists. And he certainly kept members of the executive committee on our toes. In his last column in the Forum newsletter Monty described the Forum as, “A force to be reckoned with.” In my opinion that description applied to Monty himself! My goodness we will miss him. During the past year Forum activities have been largely on Zoom. We have enjoyed some interesting talks from a variety of speakers and the Book Club and Writing Group have kept going successfully. Unfortunately our two regular big events, The Winter Fair and Falls Day could not go ahead but let us keep our fingers crossed for a gradual return to normal when it is safe to do so. We will keep you all informed and will be getting in touch with our trusty volunteers when we are able to start activities once again. Your Forum Executive Committee has continued to meet monthly on Zoom but unfortunately some members will be standing down after the AGM. We need to recruit members, either to fill current vacancies or people with new ideas to take us forward. Please take a look at the front page of the April/May newsletter where you will find a list of suggestions for roles you might consider. As this is my last Chair’s Report, I would like to take the opportunity to thank my friends on the Executive Committee, Ruth and Diane for all their hard work and friendship. Finally, I would like to thank you, our members. It is always such a pleasure to meet up with you (even on the dreaded Zoom) and I have enjoyed working with you all. ## Christine Whetstone ## Forum in Focus We have continued to produce and distribute our Forum Focus newsletter over the last year, albeit we combined the June/July and August/September issues. This amalgamation was mainly due to problems with stuffing (the newsletter into envelopes) and distribution while Millfield House was closed. This issue was solved by newsletters, inserts and envelopes being delivered to the home of our secretary, Tony Watts, with volunteers then undertaking the stuffing at home. The first mention of Covid-19 was in our April/May 2020 newsletter, where we noted that there was only one reported case in Enfield when we went to press. Like many others, we realised that the virus would have a serious impact on our activities, and the newsletter has reflected some of those changes. We have continued to cover the main issues, including a special focus on loneliness, and outlined how the Forum is campaigning for a better Enfield. Look on the Bright Side of Life is very popular as always, and we value our regular columns from the Police and Glenn Stewart at Public Health Enfield. Obviously our reports on Social Events and Forum activities were limited but our move to online meetings /speakers and several of the Forum Groups meeting via Zoom did ensure we have been able to offer our members some activities throughout the year. As reported elsewhere, our much-loved President Monty Meth died in March, just a few days after delivering ForumApril / May 2021Focus his regular President’s Point E n F I E l d B O R O u G H O V E R 5 0 s F O R u M n E W S l E T T E RStep up to help out of View. He launched the people of Enfield informed, entertained and encouraged to fight for a better worldMonty is irreplaceable but the Forum needs new blood to help us keep the older newsletter, establishing its Monty Meth (1926 – 2021) in full flow reputation for delivering informed and wide-ranging content. He continued to be The sad passing of our President Monty Meth the fact that several other Executive Committee members are standing down for various reasons at the next AGM, has brought into sharper focus the need for the Forum to recruit more volunteers, especially for the Executive Committee and Social Events Team.We are a small group of people with busy lives and other commitments, so we need extra people to help us cover the many activities needed to keep the Forum running. Often we have one person doing a job that really needs at least two or even a small group of people.We want a new fundraising sub-committee, for instance. Jim Cantle does an amazing job with the lottery and bingo, but we need new projects to be developed to address the needs of older people in the borough and to bring us new funding streams. We are looking for people who can bring ideas to the group and also those who may be interested in researching where necessary and/or helping Jim out with new ideas – for example a quiz league. We also need people to make applications for funding and to join the finance committee.The Social Events Team and those running Forum groups do a great job – but they need more help. You could volunteer to organise just one outing or event _(see p15)_ . _(see p5)_ , as well as Our membership secretary Jan Oliver is full of energy and ideas for increasing membership participation but can’t do it all on her own. Ann Zinkin who finds speakers for our meetings (webinars) is constantly looking for suggestions.Vivien Giladi and Gail Hawksworth work tirelessly to keep us up to date with the latest developments in the health economy, but it’s virtually a full-time job. It is also a busy time for Peter Smith who keeps an eye on the latest transport developments and for Irene Richards who covers safeguarding issues.These monitoring activities can lead to the Forum developing a campaign where we see injustice or potential loss of local control – and we need people who can help drive these campaigns, especially now that Monty is no longer with us.We need an assistant to help our Secretary John Ball and as our online life becomes more important, Chris Chinnery could do with help in his IT support role and we definitely need someone who is keen to increase our social media presence. And Yvonne Mulder, newsletter editor, needs a deputy editor. If you would like more information about how you might help, please contact the office Committee to call you for an informal chat. Remember this is your Forum. **The Forum Executive Committee** _(details p2)_ and they will get a member of the Exec closely involved after Yvonne www.enfieldover50sforum.org.uk Mulder took over as editor a Forum Newsletter Apr : May 21.indd 1 22/03/2021 12:11:40 few years ago. His contributions and guidance will be sorely missed. 3 Membership and Small Projects This year has been a challenging time to take over as Membership Secretary of the Forum. The National lockdown has, of course, led to all of us staying indoors for much of the year and consequently many Forum members have let their membership lapse and our staff have been furloughed. However we managed to raise money from the National Lottery to fund a mobile telephone friendship tree which is enabling us to put some of our members in touch with each other in a safe way – we hope that some long lasting friendships will be made and, certainly we may gain information from the project which will help us to plan for the future. Members were also invited to spend their time at home creating works of art and crafts for an exhibition which is due to be displayed, just after lockdown finishes in July 2021. Some of our members have been baking cakes on a regular basis for the staff in local residential homes as our way of saying a small thank you, from our generation, to the carers who have looked after the most vulnerable so well. We all sadly miss our President, Monty Meth but notice that one of the tunes played at his funeral was Natalie Cole’s song “Smile though Your Heart is Aching” and hope that our membership can continue to do just that. So we are looking forward to a better year in 2021/2022 for which we are currently planning – hopefully with some new social events to celebrate the ending of lockdown. fact, historical, political………….. Each month we respond to a topic suggested by one of our members so there is endless variety. For us the writing group has been a highlight of delight during a difficult time. Naturally we are keen to welcome new members – if you would like to join us you are guaranteed a warm welcome. ## Book Club For 4 months of 2020, there were no meetings, but then one of our members, Gillie suggested using zoom and we started in May. Then Anne took over until January this year when we were invited to use the Forum’s zoom account which has made it much easier. I was unable to attend the first few meetings because of medical problems, but was always sent comprehensive reports to keep my records straight. From February, I have hosted the meetings which are thriving. The meetings were always well attended, with any average of 12 members joining in, but as time passed numbers grew resulting in 19 in February and an amazing 22 in March. We have had 6 new members join too which is wonderful and we hope more will join. Our monthly book choice has been very varied, as befits the personalities of our membership - there is something here for everyone. The meetings are lively and interesting. ## Sue Scott ## Coffee Club ## Jan Oliver Membership and Small Projects Secretary ## Forum Writing Group The Writing Group has, like many pandemic activities, moved to Zoom. It is great to report that we have continued to meet monthly (3[rd] Friday of the month 10am until 12 noon) throughout all the lockdowns. During the summer of 2020 we did get together several times in Enfield Town Park where we simply chatted and consumed tea, coffee or ice cream. These were rather jolly social occasions and it is hoped that very soon we will be able to start real face to face meetings again. Most of our members are not professional writers. Each month we listen to the work of other members which generally leads to a fascinating discussion. Our writing may be fiction, Unfortunately, with the closing of Pearsons in Enfield Town, we had to cease meeting and it was decided that we should wait for the store to open again. It has always been well attended and we will start as soon as it is viable. ## Lunch Club This was on the brink of starting, but was put on hold for obvious reasons. We have the list of everyone who has shown interest and will contact them as soon as it becomes viable for non-family members to meet up in public. Anyone, who is interested in any of the clubs, who hasn’t contacted us already, please feel free to do so. and you will be added to our list. You should contact Sue Scott on 020 8368 0861 or at scotsf48@hotmail.com 4 Social Events and Holidays Health Issues 2021 Social distancing is not something we normally aspire to for our programme but like the rest of the world, we have had to follow the government’s instructions. The uncertainty of lockdowns, venue openings and destination availability, meant that forward planning for group events became difficult to achieve with the goal posts changing all the time. As we are all volunteers, the time spent in potentially rearranging all our plans made it very difficult to stay motivated at times. However, the confidence of our members having had their vaccinations and their desperation to get back to normal again, means that we have lots of new planning opportunities ahead of us and that will no doubt be reflected in next year’s report for sure!! Holidays cruising the Danube, exploring Sri Lanka and the Channel Islands, have all been postponed but thankfully the majority of members are still happy to come on the new dates, subject to restrictions being lifted of course. The social events are never a closed shop and all members are welcome, particularly those joining in for the first time and those coming on their own. A very welcome day coach trip to Holkham Hall in Norfolk was thoroughly enjoyed by all who came and we were looked after brilliantly by the staff and volunteers there from start to finish. This trip donated £28.60 to Forum funds. _Holkham Hall gardens_ Our Social and Events Team is and always looking for new and challenging destinations to keep the membership happy. We are already planning for the coming year and beyond, so please keep supporting their efforts. Your feedback is important in showing that they are getting it right! The Forum is so lucky to have such a dedicated and enthusiastic team to organise and increase our offerings, so come and join us, even just arrange one event per year, every little helps. This has been a very grim year and we have yet to emerge into the sunny uplands of a post covid world but your Forum has continued to be active in representing your views and needs and Enfield is now doing well in terms of covid cases and in vaccinations. We were hard hit at the start of the pandemic, especially in our care homes of which we have 80, far more of than most boroughs, and they accounted for 49% of our deaths. The Forum contributed to discussions with the Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) about this horror and extra care is now taken to protect residents and our care homes are in far better circumstances There have been worrying losses and developments over the past year. The very successful Older Persons Assessment Unit at Chase Farm was moved without notice, much less consultation, to Barnet. When we protested we were told that it was temporary to ensure safety from covid, though other units were still open, and now there is clearly no intention of returning it. Enfield CCG has been amalgamated with the other four North Central London CCGs into a so-called Integrated Care Partnership (ICP) with a population of 1.4 million. Our council acceded to this without consultation and neither the public nor our elected councillors have direct access to it thus creating a serious democratic deficit and leaving us with few opportunities to express concerns or to help to codesign services. We’re working hard at ameliorating our exclusion. We still have a rump CCG and the Forum attends monthly meetings where, along with other “stakeholders” we are used as community assets to get messages out to our members. However, decisions are made at ICP level which appears to be staffed by number crunchers more concerned with cost than in providing a public service. Currently, by far the biggest problem has been caused by the lack of access to GPs following the introduction of e consult which has been useful for basic, routine matters but has cut off face to face consultations with GPs and has especially discriminated against those with no digital access or proficiency and those for whom the telephone is no longer easy; many Forum members have been numbered among these. Our fear is that virtual rather than personal consultations will become norm, the cheaper option. We know that GPs prefer face to face consultations as that is what they were trained for and, apart from those presenting with 5 self-limiting conditions, important “soft” clinical clues can be spotted and dealt with when the doctor actually sees and hears the patient. The ICP is already using F2F to refer to a mode of interaction that it seems to think archaic and too costly. This, of course, has accompanied the restrictions on GPs traditional rights to refer patients to hospital as administrative filters staffed by non-clinical administrators are now in the way. The dangerous backlog of patients waiting for hospital diagnosis and treatment consequent to the pandemic is made worse by this and welcome moves are being made to tackle it, in no small way by the use of private, profitmaking services. It’s not all bad news. A year ago we were facing quite serious failures in access to phlebotomy service due to the Royal Free withdrawing its services from a significant number of GP practices. The Forum helped to form a phlebotomy working party with the CCG and it has been successful in getting bloodtesting waiting times back up to where they were and they are still on an upward trajectory. There were grave failures in the initial, national test and trace system but Enfield is now doing well in terms of both infections and deaths form covid, both low, and its vaccination rates have been very good indeed because the programme was undertaken by our GPs and public health specialists who have knocked themselves out, working seven days a week to ensure coverage. They deserve the highest praise for this. Let’s hope the clever virus doesn’t present us with a new variant that means we have to repeat what we’ve all been through. There should be a booster jab coming up in the Autumn that should keep us reasonably safe provided we continue to take necessary precautions. There are still pockets of the Enfield population that have not taken up the offer of free vaccination for either flu or covid but they are dwindling. Please encourage anyone you know who is hesitant that vaccination is in everyone’s interest. Again, though the flu season is now ended, the CCG is continuing to work on improving the take -up of the flu jab. Enfield’s levels were better than ever as residents, especially older people, realised the need to be as fit as possible were covid to strike. We have to maintain this. The development of four Primary Care Networks which cover the whole borough and facilitate shared GP services should improve access to ancillary provision for patients, but we do have worries about recent developments elsewhere in London where 49 GP practices have been bought up by a private American company. Our GPs are the very backbone of our NHS and we must do everything possible to maintain the integrity of their service. We’re all emerging into a different physical and mental world from the one we lived in before the pandemic and we have yet to learn what else it will leave us with or what to expect. We know that there is a legacy of long covid as well as the pain of loss and the fear of a return of the scourge but your Forum will continue to keep holding a strong watching brief on your behalf. Don’t let down your guard too soon, keep safe, keep well and help us to continue to fight for our beloved and more needed than ever NHS. ## Vivien Giladi ## Fusion The Forum has a long-standing relationship with Fusion Leisure which runs the council leisure facilities at Southgate, Southbury, Albany and Edmonton. Forum members who are Enfield residents are able to buy the annual Fusion concession card for just £7.50 compared with £21.50. With Forum membership a mere £11 a year, members using Fusion are in profit before they even use the centres. But there is an additional discount, with Forum members paying just £5.60 instead of £8 a session/class/swim, a discount of 30%. Obviously the Fusion centres have been closed for many months in line with government guidelines and the Forum has endeavoured to keep our members as informed as possible. The very popular Over 50s Days have not been able to take place but, as this report goes to press, the Fusion management is seeking to remodel the days so that they comply with social distancing guidelines. One major change is that all activities now need to be booked in advance online and the Forum has worked with members who needed help to sort this out. We continue to liaise with Fusion management to ensure our members views are heard. ## IT and the Forum Website Following the relaunch of thr Forum’s website in the previous year by Chris Chinery and Yvonne Mulderver the web site has continued to become more informative. It remains up to date with information about the Forum, and has become the first port of call for members seeking to keep abreast of Forum groups and activities. Members can search our archive of Newsletters (Forum Focus), annual reports and Zoom records of meetings held during the year. Important news 6 Universal Credit Project appears regularly on the front page of the site. Our office relies on a variety of key systems and software - Zoho for our members database; Quickbooks for our accounts; HMRC for payroll; Sendinblue for circulating our eNews; Microsoft Office 365 for our basic office requirements; and Zoom for online meetings and webinars. Plans are in hand to improve performance our computer systems; and for members to pay for subscriptions and events via credit card payment. Members and applicants can already take advantage of online banking or standing orders for membership and renewals. ## Fundraising report The 200 Club Lottery started in 2015 and our first draw was for £150, it has grown through the generosity of our members so that we now have a monthly prize of £300. If we can reach our target of 200 members of the lottery the prize will rise to £500. During the last year the lottery has raised over £3000 for the forum which is roughly the equivalent of an extra 300 Forum members. The cost is £5 per number per month for our monthly draw and can be paid by cheque, cash, standing order or online banking. At least half of the money goes into the prize and the rest into the Forum. This money is used to help with the cost of producing and distributing the newsletters. Some of our members see the lottery as a good way to make a donation to the Forum with the added advantage of perhaps being a winner and some have multiple numbers. Another idea that has worked is to buy a number for a gift, perhaps for grandchildren. As long as it’s in your name this is acceptable. Not all of our lottery members are Forum members and some are not even local. We have a member in Southern Ireland and several members who have retired away from Enfield have retained their numbers. We have recently welcomed back some original members of the lottery who had dropped out for various reasons so if you were a member in the early days we would love to welcome you back. We are always looking for any fundraising ideas and would possibly like to start a quiz league with enough interest and help. Unfortunately the premises that we used for Bingo has changed hands and is no longer able to accommodate us. We are looking for an alternative venue that may be suitable. If you know of anywhere that can accommodate 25-30 people please let me know. Once again thanks to everybody for your support. The Forum-initiated project was extended for a further period, However, changes within the Council required that Enfield Voluntary Action took on the role for financial administration of the project in conjunction with the Forum and with Williamz Omope responsible for the day-to-day management of our volunteers. Covid virus and consequent lock-downs necessitated that the project had to pause in early 2020. To comply with social distancing, safety of the volunteers and clients new ways of working were introduced. Thus in October retraining of existing volunteers took place on how to use the Zoom platform to help job centre clients needing IT support. The project was then relaunched as a “Virtual Job Club” in early January 2021 and now has 5 trained volunteers able to help job seekers. Face to face support will resume once Enfield libraries are fully re-opened. ## Forum Finances The Covid pandemic has understandably severely impacted on our members activities and our ability to run face to face events. This curtailment has had a significant impact on our finances. As can be seen from our annual accounts (in Appendix II) subscription income was down by over £25,000 compared to the previous year. A reduction of income by this amount would have threatened the Forum’s ongoing viability had it not been for the government job retention scheme allowing us to furlough our two staff for considerable periods. We also benefited from donations from members and the 200 club lottery. The committee thanks all of those that made donations in response to Monty’s appeal and support the lottery - this has made a real difference. The final outcome at the end of the year shows that our balances were up by just over £15,000 but this includes almost £8,000 restricted for use on the loneliness and isolated project described elsewhere in this report. With the horizon prospect of the leisure centres opening and resuming our normal face to face meetings and events we are reasonably confident that we will continue to support older people across the borough and represent their views for the foreseeable future. The Forum is indebted to our Treasurer, Champak Mistry, for his diligence in keeping our accounts in such good order. We also thank Miss Heloni Vipani for her meticulous examining of these accounts. Jim Cantle 7 Meetings Programme With the onset of lockdowns early in 2020 Government Guidelines did not allow us to hold our usual two meetings a month so we were forced into using online Zoom events thanks to the initiative of newly elected Committee members Ann Zinkin and Chris Chinnery. The first such meeting was a webinar held in conjunction with the Enfield Older Peoples Partnership Board. The keynote speaker was Jan Shortt, General Secretary of the National Pensioners Convention, Britain’s largest campaigning organisation for pensioners who spoke about on threat to the triple lock and issues, while others looked at changes affecting the lives of older people in Enfield. Guest speakers were from the National Health Service and the Councils Social are team Full details and a recording of the webinar can be found on the Forum website. ## Subsequent Zoom meetings included: Ruth Bourne, a Bletchley Park veteran talking about here experience in working with Alan During on the Enigma programme intercepting messages to enemy naval vessels in WWII. Cllr Mary Maguire, Cabinet Member for Finance, spoke about Enfield’s Council’s proposed £18m budget cuts planned for the 2021-22 financial year. Geraldine Gavin, Chair of Enfield Adult Safeguarding Board on abuse of vulnerable adults. Anna Dixon, Chief Executive of the Centre for Ageing Better Ageing talking about the research programmes designed to improve services and support for older people. Our year end speaker was Dr Ian Rubenstein discussing ‘Medicine, mediumship and messages from beyond’. ## APPENDIX I ## Organisations Affiliated to the Forum Enfield Soroptimists Enfield U3A Gardening Friends Grovelands Bowling Club Keep Fit - Dance Fit Macular Society Enfield Support Group Mayfield Athlectic Table Tennis Club Meet a Need with Christian Care North London Humanist Group North London Morning Orchestra Oakwood Horticultural Society Palmers Green & Southgate U3A Probus Club of Enfield Stroke Social Club Park Avenue The Arts Society of Enfield The Walkabouts Rambling Group The Winchmore Singers Weir Hall Ratepayers Winchmore Folk Dance Club Winchmore Hill Bowling Club Adoramus Choir & Orchestra Age UK Enfield Arnos Bowling Club Association of Ingleborough Residents BHP Bowls, Tennis and Social Club Cockfosters Probus Club Deep Indian 50 Plus Assoc - Enfield Elizabeth Lodge Care Home Enfield & District Veteran Vehicle Society 17125R Enfield & Southgate Workers Educational Association Enfield Arts Circle Enfield Asian Welfare Association Enfield Carers Centre Enfield Community Singers Enfield Croquet Club Enfield Light Operatic & Dramatic Society Enfield NHS Retirement Fellowship Enfield Over 50s Fun Group The Forum thanks our affiliates for their continuing support throughout the year. In return the Forum promotes their activities and programmes in our newsletters, eNews and website. Affiliates can also insert their leaflets in our mail-outs for a nominal cost. 10 NDIX 2 ENFieL0 80ROLIGH OVER gjs FORUM IR¢glgt¢rod Chorfty numb•r 11228091 RECEIPT8 ANO PAYMENT8 ACCOUNTforth• y•ar•thd•d 91¥t Marth 2021. Notso tothTr Accoun1* RE¢EIPTS 2020121 l &thcriptions- lficludes advanc* payrnert$ rec*¥•J for 2020r21 and onwArds frcth hfe nEmbers. Ro•trlctsd UnreBtrlct•d 21,743.68 16,7L.60 9,618.95 8,636.69 3,$55.00 720.29 485.00 SubsulplloThs Grants and don•Von6 New51eller Grft Tax retynd 200 Club Lottery contrbuuon Bank ￿terest Ovèrhèa