National Service

Until this week I'd never heard of Lord Wei. According to Wiki he's a 35-year-old social entrepreneur who is associated with David Cameron's Big Society as an unpaid adviser. 

Nat Wei wants to help change society: in other words to further socially engineer the population.

Along with more of his colleagues he has decided there should be a National Retirement Service for senior citizens.  According to Mr Wei, us baby-boomers are a drain on government resources because we cost the taxpayer double that of non-retired households in NHS services - £5,200 against £2,800.  Of course the fact that older people may have more health problems doesn't enter the equation.

A few of his ideas include setting up local networks of recently retired individuals who would organise excursions to meet with young people looking to help set up a business or us oldies could help groups of older, frailer pensioners in nursing homes.

Sometimes I wonder if Mr Wei and his ilk live in the real world.

When I first retired, I undertook a small selection of voluntary positions, but quickly decided working for nothing wasn't how I wished to spent my retirement years.  In two of the 'charities' with which I was involved, I found myself more qualified than most of the  highly paid staff, who used volunteers like myself for the more tedious tasks involved with social work. Running around the various agencies for paperwork to be signed or sitting for hours in dismal court waiting rooms isn't how many of us want to spend our time. None of those who 'joined' these two charities with me stayed longer than three months.

The manager of one actually suggested that, instead of meetings being held in the charity's offices, volunteers from rural areas (there were a few of us) could hold meetings in their own homes. "That would be a nice wee change for us desk-bound folk to have a day out," she said. I refused and told her my home was not an extension of her office.

I wonder if Mr Wei has ever tried to offer help to those in nursing homes. It's a ludicrous idea that nursing homes would welcome more able strangers into their midst and the reason they are so reluctant is because of the endless legislation involved in the private care of the elderly. First there is Health and Safety. All staff (including volunteers) require regular training in H and S and no nursing home or care home will pay for volunteers to attend training courses. 

The voluntary sector has become a bureaucratic mess with many charities offering similar services. How some gain their 'client' group can be more by error than design. Many requiring help can be passed through several of these agencies.

Back to Mr Wei's idea of a National Retirement Service.  He's not keen on pensioners wasting time playing golf, gardening or caring for young or elderly relatives. He wants oldies to 'be useful'. 

Some of his suggestions are just common sense, but no older person - after working for 40+ years - should be made to feel that they must contribute to a National Retirement Service. Using unpaid pensioners instead of training a paid workforce will not make a healthy economy or society.

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"I Do? Golly What Do I Do? Gosh...

Eddie Mair interviewing Francis Maude about the Big Society.  No further explanation necessary.

thanks to Tris

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Madness

Regulation in these islands has gone mad. Allotment holders in Carlisle, who have donated home-grown vegetables to the local hospice have been banned because their gifts breach health and safety rules.

For years amateur gardeners at Botcherby Paddock, Carlisle, have donated their produce to Eden Valley Hospice for them to sell at its city centre shops. But hospice managers told them this week they would not take any more because it contravened health regulations.

The legislation says products like jam must be sold with a list of ingredients and information about where it was made. Fresh produce like fruit and vegetables must be sold from chilled cabinets which Eden Valley Hospice do not have.

Frank Dolan, spokesman for the allotment holders, said the group were heartbroken.

"This has upset a lot of people. There is a lady here in her 90s who has made jam for the hospice for years and she is devastated.

"People have been donating their produce to the shops for a long time without any problems. We have never had any complaints before.

"But we were told this week the hospice would no longer accept it. This has put a lot of people's backs up.

"These health and safety rules are totally out of control. You can't do anything nowadays, it's barmy.

"What's the difference between this and taking produce to a harvest festival or a gala day? Are those going to come under threat now?

"We don't blame the hospice; they do a wonderful job and they are only following orders.

"But it will be the poor folk who are patients there that lose out because of this."

He's right. The laws are barmy. The FSA said: " The rules don't apply to food that isn't prepared as part of a business. So this means that most food being sold for charity won't need to be labelled, including food sold at one-off events such as church fetes and school fairs. But if you regularly sell and package food for charity, for example, jars of jam or boxed cakes, you might have to follow regulations."

I suggest there is a surplus of staff at the FSA.

Shame on the FSA and it's disappointing that the Hospice hasn't put up more of a fight to defend the good folk who contribute to their income.

John Stevenson is the new Conservative MP for Carlisle. He ought to be onto this right away and ensure these difficulties are resolved. After all it's his boss who says the 'Big Society' is the means to a more secure financial and sustainable future for us all.

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