Inside this issue:

August / September /October 2009

OLDER ANDBOLDER

Age Concern Hamilton—“Serving the needs of older people”

Newsletter for Age Concern Hamilton

Highlights of this issue:

Manager’s Memo 2

News 3

Education 4

AVS Corner 5

EAN article 6

Local News 7

Contacts 8

Membership 8

International Day for Older People

Come join us for our annual celebration of theInternational Day for Older People.

Walk Local, Think Global

Friday 2 October 2009.

Celebrating Age Centre

We invite all older people to celebrate with us byjoining in a short walk in Memorial Park then back

to the centre for breakfast, bubbles andentertainment.

Details will be published closer to the event

International Day forOlder People

Eat Well—Live WellNutrition course

Christmas Celebration

Operation MedicineCabinet

Memoir Writing

Don’t Wait ‘til You’re 80 Matey2010 CalendarThe calendar is another way Age

Concern Hamilton celebrates the achievements andspirit of older people and it will be available inOctober.

All members receive a complimentary copy. Forthose who wish to buy a calendar the cost is still only$5 which is incredible value. Snap one up and sendit overseas as a Christmas present to friends andfamily.

Congratulations to Marguerite Warnock on beingmade a Life Member of Age Concern Hamilton.Marguerite has been the volunteer Visiting ServiceCo-ordinator in Te Awamutu for twelve years.

She won the Volunteer of the Year Award in 2006 and continuesto help and support local people and organizations.

NEWS FROM AGE CONCERN HAMILTON

Page 2 OLDER AND BOLDER

Manager’s MemoWelcome to Older & Bolder’s third issue of 2009 and as usual there has been a lot of activityat Age Concern Hamilton. Our AGM in June saw us farewell Desni Flay andShu-Yin Wong as Council members and welcome on board three new faces.

Les Christopher comes with an impressive background in InformationTechnology having worked in the UK, Canada, Holland and New Zealand forlarge multi-national companies. He is now retired.

Brenda Gray has 20 years of experience as a Case Manager with Work & Income andcurrently is the Specialist Case Manager for Senior Services. Brenda is very experienced inworking with the community sector.

Irene Bryant has been a member of Rural Women since 1986 rising to Provincial President.She is currently President of the Hamilton branch of the National Council of Women and isvery involved in community work.

We welcome them all as valued additions to our Council.

The new Education Programme plus details of The International Day for Older People, themid-winter lunch and even our Christmas party are all listed in this edition. I hope you enjoyreading about our services and plans for the rest of the year.

Kind regards, Gail Gilbert

President Peter’s PenI write this after this year’s AGM and the first meeting of the new Council. While I

was pleased to be able to report on a successful 2008/2009 year, I am aware that weare facing a difficult period both as an organisation and as individuals. As an organisationwe are faced with funding cuts by our sponsors who themselves have been affected byfalling returns on their investments. Many of you will also have suffered losses or at leastdiminishing incomes as a result of the economic recession. We are also experiencing anunusually severe winter with the increased costs that this entails. Government cuts inareas affecting seniors, such as the withdrawal of subsidies for tertiary study for peopleover 65 amount, in my view, to institutional ageism.

Shakespeare used the metaphor of the ‘winter of our discontent’. But the quotationcontinues that it has ‘turned into glorious summer’, as the result of good news. This timelast year I wrote that spring is just around the corner, and thank goodness for thenever-ending rotation of the seasons. While it has been a hard winter for many of us, Ihave personally been cheered by being able to work with a group of people at Age Concern,both staff and volunteers, who are dedicated, professional and, above all, caring. So let’slook forward to the coming spring and in the meantime draw warmth and comfort from eachother’s support. Peter Oettli

Page 3 OLDER AND BOLDER

NEWS AND EVENTS IN HAMILTON

Memoirs – Little gemsof historic magic

All of us, no matter how quiet

or humble we believe our lives

have been, have stories to tell, knowledge

to share and wisdom to pass on. The older

we get, the more we have to share, and

sharing it isn’t really as difficult or daunting

as may first appear.

Author, journalist, tutor and amateur

historian Kingsley Field is to hold a small

series of classes for people interested in

writing their memoirs. The weekly classes,

will be held at the Celebrating Age Centre

in Victoria Street from 10am – 12.00noon(information in the notice to the right of this article).

Age Concern manager, Gail Gilbert, is

currently taking names of those interested

in becoming involved. The classes will be

restricted to a maximum of 12, and will cost

$25 per person per class, with tea and

biscuits included. Kingsley will help

people get started, suggest a wide range of

topics, discuss the use and value of

photographs, explain how to gather

material, put it in order, and eventually

have it published in one of several forms.

Contact Gail for further information at Age

Concern Hamilton Ph: 838-2266 or email

her at postmaster@ageconcern.gen.nz

Jenny Magee

For those people whohave been regularattendees at the Fridaymorning education seminars you willknow of Jenny Magee’s fantasticmonthly sessions where she educatedand informed, entertained andengaged us all in a wide variety oftopics. Jenny has been running thesesessions for Age Concern since 2004and never missed a beat. She hasbeen instrumental in developing theeducation programme, had input tothe calendars and supported many ofour activities over the years.

Jenny has decided the time is right forher to move on now and wants to passthe reins over to a new facilitator tocarry on the good work. Age Concernwould like to sincerely thank her forthe invaluable contribution she hasmade over the five years.

There will be a morning tea at 10.30on Friday 14 August to wish Jennywell and on her way to newadventures.

Memoir Writing course:Dates:Wednesday 12 AugustTuesday 18 AugustWednesday 26 AugustWednesday 2 September

Time: 10am to 12noonVenue: Celebrating Age CentreCost: $25 per sessionRegister: Age Concern Hamilton 838 2266

Page 4

EDUCATION EVENTS AND PROGRAMME

OLDER AND BOLDER

What’s Coming Up at Age Concern Hamilton

Mid Winter Lunch:Book now for the mid-winter lunch at the Celebration Café on Friday21 August 12 noon. A two course hot lunch with a choice of roasts andscrumptious dessert with tea or coffee to finish. Complimentary wine orjuice included. The cost will be $12per person. Only 40 people can beaccommodated so it is essential to book early. Don’t miss out on this great little socialoccasion.

Christmas party:Our party this year will be held at the Celebrating Age Centre onWednesday 9 December . This will be the last event of the year as theeducation programme ends on Friday 4 December

Gail

Age Concern Hamilton OnlineThe Age Concern Hamilton website can be viewed at - www.ageconcern.gen.nz

Seminar for Mature Drivers

‘Safe with Age’Free

The mature drivers course issuspended for August and shouldre-start on the 17 September.Contact Age Concern on (07) 8382266 for details.

Older Peoples Network Meeting

The third meeting of the yearwill be held at theCelebrating Age Centre onThursday,3 September from 9.15am –12.00noon.

This meeting is for all service providerswho support older people and theirfamilies living in the community.

Operation Medicine Cabinet:This initiative is being organized by Home Instead Senior Care and we encourage people to: -* Check medicines for use-by date / * Don’t flush them down the toilet / * Don’t throw themin the rubbish / * Don’t use them for conditions other than that prescribed / * Don’t give themto anyone else.

DO take your expired or unused medicines to you own/regular/local chemist OR drop them offat the Beerescourt Pharmacy, 1365 Victoria Street, Hamilton.

AVS CORNERAccredited Visiting Service — Jane 07 838 0328 or Makerita 07 838 6716

Page 5 OLDER AND BOLDER

Support Group meetings for the monthof September:Cambridge: 7 Sept: 11am-12noon

Hamilton: 1 Sept: 1.15pm-2.25pm

Huntly: 2 Sept: 1.30pm-2.30pm

Raglan: 2 Sept: 10.30am-11.30am

Matamata: 3 Sept: 10.30am-11.30am

Morrinsville: 3 Sept: 1pm-2pm

Te Awamutu: 8 Sept: 12noon-1pm

Thames: 9 Sept: 10.30am-11.30am

Paeroa: 9 Sept: 1.30pm-2.30pm

If you are unsure of the venues please ring theco-ordinator in your area.

Thought for the day; The reasonvolunteers are not paid is not because they areworthless, but because they are PRICELESS.

… for the awesome work you do, you are wonderful.

to all our volunteersWell the year has gone so quickly andwe still have lots to do. I’m pretty sure

you agree with me. Anyway we need morevolunteer visitors in all areas. The care andsupport you give to our clients is crucial to theirhealth and wellbeing. We are very grateful for allthat you do for our clients and we look forward toseeing you at our next support group meeting inSeptember. We are in a process of organizingspeakers for our meetings, if you would like anyparticular speaker to share with us, please let usknow. Remember to invite a friend who may beinterested in becoming a volunteer.

We would like to acknowledge thelong service for our oldest volunteerBob O’Brien in Te Awamutu. He hasbeen a visitor for 6 years, he is 87years old and for the last two years he has beenwalking to visit his client just down the road fromhim. Thank you Bob for your continued support ofour visiting service. And we hope you will stillcome along to the meetings, it’s not the samewithout you there.

Shoppers. Please let us know if you stop shoppingfor your client. We have to keep very accuraterecords because of the funding we receive. If youare uncertain as to why the client doesn’t wantshopping anymore, let us know and we will findout what is going on.

We were very concerned when wewent to visit a client and he had nosmoke alarms in the house. This isreally important, so could you please

check to see if clients have smoke alarms.

If you are visiting a client and are concernedthe client isn’t receiving adequate help orassistance, please call us to discuss it. Manypeople are not sure what they are entitled to.

Please remember to send / phone/e -mail yourrecord of visit forms to us.It is really important to get thisinformation as we are funded bythe number of visits we do. Alsodo let us know if you are no longervisiting or your client has gone into arest home.

Page 6 OLDER AND BOLDER

ELDER ABUSE PREVENTION

All consultations are confidential and free Hours: 9am –2pm, Direct phone: 07 839 6714Kay Kirby-Curtis NZRN, LLB, Co-ordinator Elder Abuse & Neglect Prevention Services

I usually base my article on some matter I have had a number of recent referrals about.

One of the issues I have had to deal with recently is the family dynamics where an olderperson has remarried and each partner has their own children. If the marriage is of longstanding then the children of the blended family will often know each other. However, if themarriage is more recent then the children may be strangers to each other as they will haveleft the family nest before the new relationship began. In any event each family seems toremain as separate units and look after their own interests.

A number of family problems can arise for the older married couple:

The children of each family do not have any “relationship” to each other The children of one family can perceive that their parent’s new partner is

only in the marriage for what they can get. If one of the parents has a health problem then the children of that

person can interfere/exclude the partner from the decision making and careof their parent.

If one parent has to go into care then their children want them near them so that theycan be cared for properly.

Property matters can rear their ugly head if one of the parents dies and their childrenexpect to get their inheritance now.

What can you do?

Communication is most important between all family members —the parents and both setsof children ( a good idea is to exclude the spouses of the children).

Communicate to your children a “worst case scenario” and how you would like to betreated.

See a lawyer to sort out property matters and communicate this to all the children. Thismay mean having a matrimonial property agreement to set out the separate property.

NB: If the property “is joint” then it passes to the surviving spouse by law and in due courseis passed on pursuant to the surviving spouse’s Will when that person dies. This can mean thechildren of the first spouse to die miss out/are exclude from receiving anything.Couples will say that they trust their partner “to do the right thing” but many things mayintervene between the death of the first spouse and the death of the second spouse that“upsets the apple cart”. If property is held as tenants -in-common then it remains separateproperty and will be passed on in due course pursuant to the Will of the first spouse to die.Tell the children that those of the first parent that dies will probably have to wait until thesecond parent dies before they receive their share.

Just remember that communication between all family members is the key

OLDER AND BOLDERPage 7

LOCAL NEWS

Eat Well — Live WellA Nutrition and WellnessProgramme for Older People

BOOK NOW to take advantage of the opportunityto attend a FREE Eat Well—Live Well courseVenue: Vision Forest Lake

Minogue Drive, Te Rapa, HamiltonDates: Tuesday’s—1 Sept, 8 Sept,

15 Sept & 22 SeptTime: 9.30am—11.30amContact: Margrit Neukomm, Age Concern

office, Phone: 838 2266, to reserveyour place on this popular course

There are three more courses this year: —October, November & December.Venues in Hamilton, Huntly, Cambridge.

One course especially for men.

Contact the Age Concern office, 838 2266,if you are interested in attending any of thesecourses.

Hi, I’m Margrit, the Health EducationTrainer at Age Concern Hamilton.Our next workshop will be:Elder Abuse and Neglect PreventionElder abuse is a universal problem, notlimited to one income group, genderor race.Can your recognise abuse?

For family carers who are AgeConcern members andAVS volunteers it is free to attend.

Contact Margaret Sweeney to register 838 2266

The workshop will be heldTuesday, 8 September, 1pmat the Celebrating Age Centre

Newsletter mail outassistance -If you can assist us withcollating our newsletter in anyway then do contact Margaret atthe office (Ph: 838 2266) and let herknow you are able to help. Our nextnewsletter mail out will be the week of 9November 09.

We welcome Beth Sampson, Mrs PaulineO’Callahan, Ray & Elaine Gardner, AlexMarcon, Mary McKay, Mr & MrsNicolaas, Maxwell Martin, NormanRouse, Christine Wong, Mrs RosemaryMcVeigh and Sallie Spiers to AgeConcern Hamilton.

The Hamilton Hearing Association can help byproviding:

Membership discounts on batteriesHearing helpAmplified telephoneRingersTV headsetsMinor hearing aid repairs

Plus- FREE HEARING TESTS FOR ADULTSFor more information 07 856 2008

to a couple of organizations forassisting us at Age ConcernHamilton…..

Dilmah New Zealand Limited who suppliedus with tea bags for use at our trainingworkshops. We facilitate eighteenworkshops in the region each year. (seethe information detailed below for the nextworkshop in Hamilton)

Hamilton Canvas in Frankton for repairingour Laptop carry bag used by Margrit atthe training workshops.

AGE CONCERN HAMILTON30 Victoria Street

HAMILTON

Phone:07 838 2266

Fax:07 838 2268

Email:postmaster@ageconcern.gen.nz

Website:http://www.ageconcern.gen.nz

2009/10 Council Members

Peter Oettli (President)

Geoff Brazier (Vice President)

Philip Taylor (Treasurer)

Pat Bent (Secretary)

Steve BrookerIrene BryantLes Christopher

Peter Goble

Bevan GrantBrenda Gray

Suman Kapoor

Evelyn Weir

Staff MembersGail GilbertService Manager,Education Development Co-ordinatorRosemary SollyOffice AdministratorMargaret SweeneyOffice Administration SupportKay Kirby-CurtisElder Abuse Prevention Co-ordinatorJeni HawkerFieldworker

Jane Grantham & Makerita WadeAccredited Visiting & Shopping ServiceCo–ordinatorsMargrit NeukommHealth Promotion Co-ordinator

CONTACT DETAILS

Age Concern depends on Membership Subscriptions as part of itsfunding base. If you would like to be a member of our organisation,please forward your $10 annually (per household) or $50 annually(per group) to cover membership from 1 January 2009 to31 December 2009.

For your annual subscription you will receive: -

Quarterly issue of our Age Concern Hamilton newsletter OLDER AND BOLDER Invitations to gatherings, seminars, fun days and festivals Complimentary copy of the Age Concern Calendar Access to information available at Age Concern An opportunity to be part of an organisation serving the needs of older people.

Mr / Mrs / Ms / Miss : Subscription / Group Subscription (tick as appropriate)Donation — $5 / $10 / $15 / $20 (circle as appropriate)

NAMEADDRESS

TELEPHONE Existing member / New member (tick as appropriate)Please forward your subscription and this form to: -

Age Concern Hamilton Inc, 30 Victoria Street, Hamilton 3204

Page 8 OLDER AND BOLDER

Subscription

Group Subscription

Donation

RECEIPT No.

CARD ISSUED

OFFICE USE ONLY

EMTERED

2009 MEMBERSHIP FORM