Transport to appointments

I have been contacted by Cotswold Friends who can arrange transport for various appointments. They currently cover Moreton in Marsh but are now expanding to Cirencester.

They can help people with any appointment they may need to attend (anything from personal things such as meeting family to medical appointments and can include a 2-hour wait.

They also want to increase the number of volunteer drivers in the area. Being a driver is totally flexible and people don’t have to commit to anything.

They just contact the driver who is closest to the person requiring help and see if they are available and they can just say yes or no on a case by case basis.

If you need transport or would like to volunteer as a driver, please just contact the person detailed in the attachments.

Do you need transport?

Can you volunteer as a driver?

No more Premium Bond cheque payments

From December 2020 NS & I will no longer send any prize money by cheque. Instead they will pay only into your bank. If they have your bank details you should be OK.  If they don’t the easiest way to let them know is via their website (nsandi.com). If you don’t have a password for this site, you will probably have to phone them – good luck!  

More details can be found here: https://www.nsandi.com/get-to-know-us/goodbye-to-paper-prizes

About the LMHA, or Bill Irving’s interesting hobby

The LMHA was founded in 1983 by a group of individuals mainly, but not exclusively, from the teaching profession. All were involved in the study and dissemination of information on life during the Second World War. In 1989-90 we worked in close cooperation with Cirencester’s Corinium Museum presenting an exhibition of Wartime Life in the Cotswolds in World War Two.

For the first time in 30 years Bill has had summer Saturdays to himself. Usually at this time of year he would by manning the air raid shelter and greeting hundreds of visitors from all over the country and indeed from all over the world. However, social distancing this year has so far meant this is not possible.

For more information, check the website http://www.livingmemory.btck.co.uk/ and their leaflet can be found here

Also, if you use Amazon, you can go to their Smile page and add the Living Memory Historical Association as your charity – money is already coming in, and, every little helps.

Cirencester U3A

The University of The Third Age (U3A) is a unique and exciting nationwide movement with over 1000 U3As, which provide its 400,000 members with life-enhancing opportunities. Retired and semi-retired people come together and learn together, developing their interests in a friendly, enthusiastic and supportive environment.

U3As are not universities in the traditional sense. There is no curriculum, no entrance qualifications, no campus and no examinations. They are self-funded informal learning co-operatives, drawing on the strengths and enthusiasms of their members who share their knowledge and skills with each other. This results in a wide range of interest and activity groups from art to zoology with pretty much everything in between and plenty of social events and outings.

See http://www.cirencesteru3a.org.uk

Your Electricity Supply

If you are in a household where there is a person of pensionable age (must be most of us…) SSE, our electricity supplier treats you as a priority customer.

If you have not already registered with them, simply dial 105 and you should be put through.
 
It doesn’t matter which company bills you for your electricity, SSE supplies it in the area.
 
To contact them in the case of a power cut, or if you have any questions, dial 105
 
 

Amazon Charity Donations

If you are an Amazon user you can help a charity of your choice by using their Smile URL:

instead of the regular amazon.co.uk, and it doesn’t cost you anything.
The first time you go there you will be asked for your charity – they suggest a few, but you can search for others. From that point on, 0.5% of your order value will go to that charity, so, if you are a regular user, it builds up.
Please let me know if you have any questions
Regards
Andy
PS – there is a local connection here; if you search for the Living Memory Historical Association, the donations go to Bill Irving’s air raid shelter charity, another worthy cause.

Potential Tax Savings

Many of you will probably be aware of this already, but if your wife earns less than her personal tax allowance some of her allowance can be transferred to you, meaning you have a higher personal allowance and you could save tax. The same rule applies should your wife be earning above the threshold and you are not.

It can be backdated, so if you haven’t been doing it, then you could have a small windfall.
More information here, from HMRC:
Or here, from YourMoney.Com: