Club News
Last month we reported the loss Douglas Elliott (83) and Roger Brunton (83). Doug’s obituary was in the January issue and Roger’s is on today’s back page. In January we heard the sad news that Harry Cundell (94) has passed away. In January, for a variety of reasons, we had 18 absences: Dave Garner and Norman Pollard are caring for their wives, Roger Gourd and Arthur Trunchion are both receiving treatment for leg ulcers, Eric Jenkinson is still recovering from stroke and others are temporarily unwell or were unable to attend. There is, of course, a lot of flu about.
Please contact our almoner hughroberts67@aol.com, 01737 202243, if you, your partner or another member is unwell. Please let Andrew Kellard know on 01737 554055 by 10.30 am the prior Tuesday if you can’t make the lunch. Is anyone willing to take over from Andrew who is stepping down shortly?
Chairman, Gerry Thompson welcomed back David Holmes, one guest from Caterham Probus and our speaker. There were 27 members present. The Chairman’s Charity contribution was £51 – next month our speaker will be Major Mike Lloyd-Jones, pastor of the Salvation Army to whom our cheque will be presented. The raffle raised £27 for the amenity fund.
Secretary Dennis Evans had received a letter from Jim Mulvey resigning from the Committee to become a backbencher. Jim has been a stalwart and has made such a valuable contribution to our Probus Club over many years with organising outings, Ladies Lunches, the Website, Old Coulsdon Fair stall and much more. He will be a hard act to follow – please consider if you would like to take up one of these challenges. Next month is our AGM. All officers will stand down and all posts are open for nomination.
Outings and Events
See page 3 for special 50th Anniversary Year events. The Committee meets prior to our February meeting and will be discussing our 2018 programme.
Speakers
Today: Jim Mulvey: Royal Marsden Cancer Hospital
March 1st: The Chairman’s Charity – The Salvation Army
April 5th: Laurence Fisher:
May 3rd: Dr Linda Makepeace: Poles Apart
Gaye Illsley: Lasting Powers of Attorney Made Simple
‘LPA Made Simple’ is the name of Gaye’s company which gives advice on (you’ve guessed it) Lasting Powers of Attorney. LPA is a bit like a will – it is a permanent legal document granting powers of attorney to your chosen family members or trusted friends authorising them to make decisions and arrangements on your behalf to meet your needs should you become unable through lack of capacity (mental health). Gaye got into this via the City where she worked in IT for 30 years. Then she used her skills in charity work providing technology services to help others.
The Mental Capacity Act 2005 created two LPAs: one for Financial Affairs including property and one for Health and Welfare. Gaye explained how the absence of these documents can make things very difficult. For example, you may believe that a joint bank account will continue to give you access if your spouse becomes incapacitated. Not so, the bank will freeze the whole account on being informed of mental incapacity. The Financial LPA overcomes this. Another example – GP refers case to a memory clinic but refuses to discuss the outcome with the spouse. Even if the GP consults next of kin, he can disregard their wishes without a Health LPA. Without an LPA, spouse and children do not have rights to make decisions on behalf of the person, e.g. regarding a care home. One can apply to the courts to be made a deputy, but this is costly, intrusive and requires annual renewal which an LPA does not.
How to go about it? Download the forms and guide from the internet, or use a solicitor (expensive) or use a specialised company (like LPA-MS) at half the cost to draw up the documents and get them registered. Gaye told us that it’s good to get spouse and children as attorneys, because one of them may not survive, but make it severally, not jointly, otherwise the documents will have to be re-created if one of them is no longer competent. Severally allows each to act alone and it is possible to name replacements.
The big message was ‘everyone should have one’. If you have the old Enduring Powers of Attorney, replace it, because it was less comprehensive and required all the family to agree on any action. You still need to choose your team carefully – they need to be able to work together and, of course, they need to act in your best interests, not theirs. The documents are registered with The Office of the Public Guardian (a government agency) who will also offer support. Finally, the LPA documents cease to be legal on the death of the principal. A show of hands indicated that many had never heard of LPA – perhaps Gaye is about to become very busy.
Editorial – Ian Payne
In addition to the club’s 50th Anniversary Year in 2018, this edition of the Newsletter is my 50th having taken over from the illustrious Ian Scales.
50th Anniversary Year 2018
Celebration Dinner: 11th May 2018 at 6.30 for 7 pm at the Coulsdon Manor Hotel: with the Mayor of Croydon, special guests, reception drink, entertainer and free raffle. £35 per person. You should have already received your invitation and menu reservation form. If you need a lift please let the committee know and we will make it happen.
Old Coulsdon Fair: July 2018: Andrew Banfield and Ian Payne are planning our stall. Support and ideas are welcome to make this a Probus showpiece.
600th Meeting: 2nd August 2018: This will be our annual Open Meeting.
Celebration Lunch: 17th October 2018: Coach House Restaurant, Godstone. 3 courses, £5 reservation, otherwise free for members, partners and widows. A top three-course menu has been chosen – menu choices will be available August or September. There isn’t a coach, but again, the committee will support car sharing.
Other Outings: Following Jim’s resignation from the Committee (see front page), we will be discussing the way forward. There’s still some money in the kitty – have you got an idea to contribute to our Celebration Year?
How Coulsdon has changed over fifty years
We had three railway stations, Coulsdon South, Coulsdon North and Smitham. Coulsdon North was a terminus and Smitham has become Coulsdon Town. Old Coulsdon was served by London Transport red bus 190 and London Country green buses 409 and 411. There was no Relief Road and one took one’s life in one’s hands getting out of Marlpit Lane.
Cane Hill Hospital was still operating and it was normal to see patients shopping in Coulsdon or on the bus. After the hospital closed there were plans for a science park, then a large ‘medium secure unit’ (which was heavily opposed) and now we have housing. Over the years Croydon has produced several ‘Coulsdon Plans’ but never had the money to implement.
Our telephone number was Downland 54449 with an STD code 07375 (71 from London). Then the ‘5’ got transferred to the number so it became 0737-554449 and later we lost the ‘Downland’ and gained an extra ‘1’ to give 01737.
We had the Red Lion Pub, a large Tesco and Co-op as well as Waitrose, three shoe shops and haberdashery, several dress shops, furniture shop, three butchers, fishmonger and greengrocer and a petrol station. We were almost self-sufficient.
Do you have any memories of Coulsdon that you’d like to share?
Roger John Brunton 29th May 1934 – 17th December 2017
by Paul Brunton
Roger was a kind, quiet, self-sacrificing man on the surface but underneath he was an acutely ambitious individual who worked tirelessly to improve life for himself and his family. Born in Tadcaster, Yorkshire, to two Sam Smiths brewery workers, he went to the local grammar school and left with a scholarship to study Chemistry at St Catherine’s College Oxford University.
While he was still studying, he married his school sweetheart Anne Wellings. After university he did his national service in the RAF working on Radar. During this time Anne fell pregnant with Geraldene. Although Roger was stationed in the south, Anne returned to Tadcaster to give birth in his part of the country with family around them. After completing his national service to improve his prospects he had to move south. The family moved first to Coulsdon for a while, where their son, Paul, was born. Then Kent for a short period followed by Hertfordshire where their second daughter, Kate, was born.
His final job in the chemical industry was in the industry’s power house, Widnes. He worked for Croda in Widnes for 15 years and rose to the rank of Managing Director. Sadly, his job fell victim to the recession of the 1980s only a short time after what he said was the most difficult job of his life, when he had to tell each worker, to his face, that they had lost their livelihoods. At a difficult age, he did what he had always done, and moved on to find a job in Whitehall as an Inspector at the Department of the Environment and moved back to Coulsdon.
Although never sporty Roger had a competitive streak playing vicious games of scrabble with Anne where neither would give an inch. At Coulsdon Probus Club he formed a team with Anne, and Roger Udall and his wife Christine in the regular Quiz nights. They emerged as victors on nearly every occasion. This being a testament to the extensive knowledge of the team, and Roger’s invaluable contribution to this. Their teams name was ‘Roger & Out’ denoting the two Rogers and his happy memories of flying as a teenage air cadet years ago in Yorkshire.
A man is often judged by his career or wealth. It was Roger’s humanity that set him apart. His compassion and self-sacrifice were most evident in the way he looked after his wife, Anne. She had suffered from chronic rheumatoid arthritis most of her adult life and in her final years became bed-bound and required around-the-clock care which Roger dutifully provided without a grumble but a great sadness he rarely expressed to others.