Get up and go

This life

Home and lifestyle

Money

TV queen

To market

My generation

Esther Rantzen on why it’s great to be in your 70s Page 5

Rural towns are a magnet for retirees Page 9

Top tips on giving to your grandkids Page 18

mygetupandgo.co.uk

November 2011

Get Up And Go

Distributed within the Sunday Telegraph, produced and published by Lyonsdown which takes sole responsibility for the contents

Let it snow

Live life to the full this season

See our Christmas feature on pp 10-11

Retiring soon? Worried about low annuity rates?

Explore your options. Page 7 explains more. www.pension-drawdown.co.uk I Email: info@pension-drawdown.co.uk I Tel: 0800 03 04 008

2

Get Up And Go 路 November 2011

AN INDEPENDENT REPORT FROM LYONSDOWN, DISTRIBUTED WITH THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH

Get Up And Go · November 2011

AN INDEPENDENT REPORT FROM LYONSDOWN, DISTRIBUTED WITH THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH

Get Up And Go – in this issue

New adage for old age

This life

After decades spent making a house a home, should older people downsize to ease housing shortages for the young?

By Julie Nightingale

Get Up And Go Publisher Bradley Scheffer brad@lyonsdown.co.uk Managing Editor Lucie Carrington lucie@lyonsdown.co.uk Editor Julie Nightingale Creative Director Martin Nolan studio@lyonsdown.co.uk Sub Editor Amy Dickson amy@lyonsdown.co.uk Journal Assistant Natalie Luketic production@lyonsdown.co.uk Project Manager Ben Loftus ben@lyonsdown.co.uk For more information on any of our supplements please contact us: Telephone 020 8349 4363 Email info@lyonsdown.co.uk Online www.lyonsdown.co.uk

mygetupandgo.co.uk Cover: Lucy Ward

A

report by think-tank the Intergenerational Foundation triggered a wave of alarming headlines recently when it appeared to suggest that, to ease the housing shortage for younger people and families, older folk should be urged to vacate their spacious homes – and that the government should offer tax breaks as an incentive.

Campaigners, charities, commentators and politicians queued up to lambast the idea as heartless.

The essence of their objection – that no one should be obliged to surrender their home – goes right to the heart of our dearly-held belief that an Englishman’s home is his castle and anyone who tries to breach its walls, whether criminal intruder or thinktank upstart, deserves everything that’s coming to them.

The researchers under-estimated the sensitive nature of this particular debate. But their argument might have received a more positive response had they taken a different tack and pitched downsizing as an issue of self-interest for older people – rather than something they could be emotionally blackmailed into for the sake of the rest of society.

In the US, the idea of downsizing when one passes retirement age is viewed much more pragmatically.

Moving to a smaller home when the family has flown the nest is seen as a logical step, enabling older people to realise the investment on their property and to relinquish the cost and hassle of maintaining a larger place. Hence the enormous popularity of retirement villages, where people live in a community with a range of services, including on-site care.

3

Here, on the other hand, as Nick Sanderson, chairman of the Association of Retirement Village Operators, observes on page 13, “it’s a very British thing to stay put to maintain your independence and let the house fall down around you”.

Moving house is never straightforward, of course. And when you’re older and moving to a smaller home, deciding which of the family heirlooms accrued over decades, much-loved books or children’s toys to dispose of can cause major heartache, even if they have been boxed up in the loft for many years. The problem looms so large for some that the only answer is to call in professional declutterers, as our feature on page 13 explains.

Esther Rantzen, TV personality and campaigner, faced precisely this issues when she chose to downsize from a five-storey family home in north London to a two-bedroom flat nearby. It was, she admits to our interviewer, Maureen Paton, “agonising” to whittle down her mountain of possessions – including editing a collection of 250 vases down to 30 – but was content with the final outcome: “I found I didn’t miss the stuff I threw away.” Esther has embraced a new streamlined life wholeheartedly but she is one of the lucky ones. Not because she had the money to move in comfort but because she had the wisdom to do so while she is still in a position to choose.

It’s a refrain our writers often hear from older people who opted to downsize: “We are choosing to do it now rather than be forced into it later.”

Think-tankers take note: freedom of choice still matters. And not only to the young.

Esther Rantzen still looking for a challenge p5

Home and lifestyle Why we love market towns p9 Get rid of the clutter p13 House swap in the USA

Travel and leisure Get out and about this Christmas p10

Health Does acupuncture work p17 Treat yourself to a spa

Money Grandma helps out p18 Keep abreast of state pension changes Supporter

Contributors Julie Nightingale specialises in information communications technology and education. She writes mainly for The Guardian, education press and for the magazines and web publications of several education bodies.

John Holt writes on museums and heritage for specialist magazines and national press.

Deborah Wain specialises in health and social affairs and is a past winner of the Paul Foot Award for Campaigning Journalism.

Graham Norwood has been a property journalist for 10 years, writing for national newspapers and industry magazines. He has written four books on housing.

Maureen Paton is a feature writer and interviewer for mid-market and quality national newspapers and magazines.

She specialises in arts, showbusiness and women’s issues.

Dorothy Lepkowska has been a journalist for almost 25 years and has worked on the Daily Mirror, The Guardian and The Daily Telegraph and The Sunday Telegraph.

Gemma Stroud is a freelance journalist specialising in consumer issues.

Ruth Lythe is a personal finance journalist. She writes for the Daily Mail, The Guardian and a range of financial publications.

4

Get Up And Go · November 2011

AN INDEPENDENT REPORT FROM LYONSDOWN, DISTRIBUTED WITH THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH

advertisement feature

Time to say goodbye Ease the distress of your family when the time comes by planning ahead and arranging the funeral you want, today

I

n 1789 Benjamin Franklin wrote that ‘in this world nothing can be said to be certain, except death and taxes’ – a phrase that still rings true today, and yet so few of us plan our own funeral or choose our own burial space. It may be only when you are faced with the task of making funeral arrangements for a loved one that it occurs to you to make plans for yourself, and even then very few of us follow it through.

Death is not a topic that is easy to discuss with either family or friends, but having to plan a funeral for someone without knowing their wishes is extremely difficult and is often a source of stress for years after the event.

Our Woodland Burial Parks are tranquil and beautiful places where burials, ash interments and ash scatterings take place beneath mature trees. Plots can be selected adjacent to relatives or under the same tree, allowing families to create an area from which their legacy can develop. This may not always be possible in other cemeteries if pre-purchase is not an option and out-of-area fees make it financially impractical, while capacity issues limit plot availability. It is the peace of mind given by making these arrangements, as well as the hope of lessening the burden on those left behind, that encourages people to choose their own plot

– even when they are in the best of health.

We offer an instalment plan for plots, with varying periods of repayment. The plot is reserved from the date the initial deposit/ payment is received and the purchase price is held at the level agreed at that point. Individuals who have made a pre-need purchase tell us how important it is to them that they have personally chosen and paid for their plot in advance – securing it at today’s prices in times of decreasing burial space – and taking away the stress of the person making the final arrangements.

The parks all have a mature woodland landscape, providing a haven for wildlife. The woodland managers and their teams work to long-term management plans that seek to restore neglected plantation sites to broadleaf woodlands, high in biodiversity. The beautiful timber buildings at each site offer a range of facilities, providing a convenient venue for either religious or secular services. A two-hour time slot is offered as standard, ensuring that each family has sufficient time to celebrate a life – an option not always offered by the standard 30 minutes available at most crematoria.

Each park runs a varied programme of entertainment and educational events throughout the year.

Get Up And Go · November 2011

AN INDEPENDENT REPORT FROM LYONSDOWN, DISTRIBUTED WITH THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH

This life

5

Ready for the next chapter Campaigner, broadcaster, writer and reality TV star – Esther Rantzen has never shied away from reinventing herself and, at the age of 71, has new challenges in her sights

By Maureen Paton

“Sexist ageism is definitely still a problem in television – it’s a very unflattering medium for older women”

T

here are far worse places to be on a sunny afternoon than on Esther Rantzen’s two-tiered roof terrace, gazing out at the panoramic view over north London as she tells me her latest plans. Now a chic 71-year old in sleeveless shift dress and heels, this lifelong campaigner wastes no time in adding the annihilation of an Argentinian flying ant (“absolute bastards”) to her to-do list.

With her populist instincts, quick wit and ability to surf the zeitgeist, she was always a natural fit for broadcasting; and she was lucky enough to get into television at the onset of its golden age in the mid-1960s. As she puts it: “There were far cleverer people than me at university [Somerville College, Oxford], but I’ve always thought a bit outside the box.”

After making her name with a heady blend of entertainment and hard-core campaigning on such influential humaninterest shows as BBC1’s That’s Life! from 1973 to 1994 and successors such as Hearts Of Gold and That’s Esther, she could be fairly described as the godmother of reality television.

“I always felt viewers preferred danger to sanitised television, and that’s why reality shows work so well,” she says. Always up for a challenge, she even tested her theory by hanging up her presenter’s hat and becoming a contestant on the elimination shows Strictly Come Dancing and I’m A Celebrity, Get Me Out Of Here.

She’s equally well known for her charity work, most notably as the founder of ChildLine, the world’s first national helpline for children which began in 1986. To mark the 25th anniversary, she has written Running Out Of Tears, bringing together stories of some of the abused children that the charity has helped.

It wasn’t until 2001 when she published her autobiography that Rantzen wrote about her own experience of abuse, recalling how she was groped at 15 by a “disgusting” male relative. Explaining the long delay in going public about it, she says: “The man was still alive; and I suppose I had buried the memory deep. I don’t know how far it influenced my setting up ChildLine, because the experiences of children who phoned the hotline were on a totally different scale to what happened to me. However, I probably had been sensitised by my own experience to the huge difficulty a child faces when the abuser is part of the family circle.”

More recently she has become a champion of better care for the elderly and terminally ill. “I enjoy being useful,” explains Rantzen, who was brought up to be public spirited; her younger sister Priscilla is a retired social worker and their mother Katherine was governor of a day nursery in London’s East End. But after receiving an OBE (for services to broadcasting), a CBE (for services to children) and a Lifetime Achievement Award from Women In Film And Television, is

Heart of gold: Esther’s book, Running Out Of Tears, marks 25 years of ChildLine

“This is a good time in human history to be the age I am: there are so many opportunities open to us that weren’t available to our parents” there anything left for her to achieve? You bet. Having written a book on growing old disgracefully – If Not Now, When? – she’s not about to ignore her own advice.

“If I felt confident that ChildLine would be fine if I fell under a bus, it would be very interesting to take on another challenge. And there are also bits of the world I’ve never seen. My husband [TV producer Desmond

Wilcox] died at 69, so you don’t want to hang about and put things off too long,” she says.

“And this is a good time in human history to be the age I am – there are so many opportunities open to us that weren’t available to our parents’ generation. Mental and physical health and an inquiring mind are the crucial things. And we also have the time to do things. When I was doing That’s Life! or my Esther talk show, the job really devoured my life.

“But sexist ageism is definitely still a problem in television – it’s a very unflattering medium for older women,” she says, admitting that these days her TV career is an “ad hoc” one and describing the habitual on-screen pairing of an older man with a younger woman as “the Brucie syndrome”.

Having had age-defying Botox in the past,

she won’t rule it out again – and not just for her, either. “Someone should tell Ed Miliband he needs it, because he does frown a lot…”

She’s set to make a return to consumer broadcasting as co-presenter – with her daughter Rebecca Wilcox – of the new BBC1 show The Food Factory, in which two eccentric inventors make rival versions of well-known foods to be judged by teams of consumers.

“Do I over-commit work-wise? I’m told so by my children. The difficult thing for me has been the domestic,” she says wryly, having just downsized from a five-storey family house in Hampstead to a two-bedroom flat nearby.

“It was a real waste, all that space. I don’t think the older generation necessarily has a right to hang on to a bigger house than they can actually use. It was agonising to whittle possessions down, but to cheer up anyone going through the same process, I found I didn’t miss the stuff I threw away. I originally had 250 vases, and why don’t I mind that I’ve only got 30 left?”

Far too busy with the here and now to think about such things as making a living will for the future, she says she doesn’t have an average day. “My diary is always a bit of a nightmare because I tear round the country for ChildLine and the NSPCC, of which I’m a trustee.”

But she will always find time to socialise with her children, whom she describes as her “best friends”; her daughter Em even lives in the same apartment block. And although Rantzen is not yet a grandmother, she’s relaxed about it. “It’s not my business – it’s for my children to decide.”

Having loved doing her vox pops on That’s Life!, her one regret is that she didn’t get to work with the public again by becoming an MP when she stood as an independent in Luton South last year at the General Election. She lost her deposit, coming fourth, but is still glad to have made the effort “even though all the experts told me that no one votes for an independent, and my family thought I was crazy”.

She remains single but has good friends of both sexes among a dining club of Hampsteadians who dub themselves the Hamsters. “There’s no-one in my life romantically. Whether it’s because Desmond was irreplaceable, I don’t know. It would be lovely sitting on this terrace with a glass of Pimms and someone you are mad about.”

Nevertheless she seems sanguine about her lot. “One of my children said to me, ‘You have the happy gene’ – and I think that’s a huge stroke of luck in life.”

Running Out Of Tears is published by Biteback.

6

Get Up And Go · November 2011

AN INDEPENDENT REPORT FROM LYONSDOWN, DISTRIBUTED WITH THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH

Industry view

Managing arthritis – the natural way Arthritis can strike at any age but with the right support, this painful and debilitating condition doesn’t have to control your life

T

here won’t be many sufferers who think that arthritis is something we should just put up with as we grow older, although that is often what we are told. For many it is a painful, debilitating condition that limits several aspects of their lives and its enjoyment.

But it doesn’t have to be. The founder of The Arthritic Association, Charles de CotiMarsh, spent the 1950s and 1960s developing a regime that manages the pain of arthritis in a completely natural, drug-free way.

There are more than 100 different recognised types of arthritis, and between nine and ten million people suffer from it here in the UK – 10,000 of them children, although it is most prevalent in older age groups. The most common forms are osteoarthritis (OA) and rheumatoid arthritis (RA), while psoriatic arthritis and gout are also quite widely experienced.

OA is often described as the “wear and tear” arthritis, whereas RA is one of the inflammatory forms. Even the description “wear and tear” implies that there is an inevitability about arthritis, but in fact OA is often triggered by an injury early in life, or as the result of carrying too much weight.

Indeed, de Coti-Marsh was so convinced of the link between injury and arthritis that he was in danger of saying that everyone

who had a spinal injury would inevitably experience arthritis later in life.

Today we understand that a spinal injury may adversely affect a person’s posture and movement so that they hold their body out of alignment, sometimes to minimise pain but in the process putting incorrect stresses and strains on muscles and tendons and so on to joints. Arthritis is often the result.

That is why Charles advocated regular physical therapy treatments based on deep

The correct physical therapy is important

massage – something that the association makes available to members today through qualified and insured practitioners licensed by its own qualified and insured practitioner.

De Coti-Marsh also discovered that certain foods aggravated the condition of those with inflammatory arthritis. He identified the main culprits as red and processed meat, white sugar, salt and high-fat dairy products, and promoted a lacto-vegetarian type eating regime.

Today the association advises that members following its eating plan obtain a well-balanced and healthy diet. A qualified nutritionist monitors the eating habits of every participating member and advises him or her on changes that could ease their symptoms.

De Coti-Marsh developed his own preparations to help arthritics. Interestingly, many of these use seaweed as a base – something that scientists have only recently agreed can prove helpful.

The association hears regularly from members who say that following the de Coti-Marsh Programme has helped them recover their “get up and go”. Indeed, one member used a wheelchair before starting the programme, and is now able to walk in comfort on the South Downs.

For just £6 annual membership, and with non-means-tested grants available for physical therapy and preparations for those following the programme, joining the association may be the key for many to reduce their symptoms and lead a more active and pain-free life.

Lynda Scott-Williams is chief executive of The Arthritic Association Call 0800 652 3188 for an information pack, or visit www.arthriticassociation.org.uk

Get Up And Go · November 2011

AN INDEPENDENT REPORT FROM LYONSDOWN, DISTRIBUTED WITH THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH

Industry view

Make the most of your money

7

An alternative to annuities, pension drawdown plans could offer greater flexibility, investment control and opportunity to grow your fund

M

ost people think that when it comes to receiving a pension you must buy an annuity. But there is another way.

It’s called a pension drawdown plan.

Like an annuity, it provides an income – but unlike an annuity, you still keep part of your pension fund invested. If managed correctly, that fund could continue to grow and eventually be left to your family.

Pension drawdown plans (now known as flexible or capped drawdown), allow individuals to take pension benefits from age 55 onwards, immediately and without buying an annuity.

Put simply, a pension drawdown plan is a personal pension plan from which you can draw an income while leaving the residual fund invested – and it can offer big advantages, according to Jonathan Walker, managing director of The Pension Drawdown Company.

Walker says: “Pension drawdown plans are an alternative to annuities.

Drawdowns have been perceived by some as high-risk investments, but really the level of risk is based on the funds or assets that the client has agreed to invest in, which can range from very conservative to more adventurous, and the big advantage is that funds can be changed frequently to suit different investment conditions.”

Robin Leat: his decision has paid off

Interest rates influence the rates paid by annuities. “The Bank of England’s base rate is at an all-time low, so if you can afford to wait, it may make sense to delay buying an annuity until the environment is more propitious,” says Walker.

Annuities carry other disadvantages, he explains. “Using an example of a £100,000 pension fund, and an annuity paying 5.9 per cent, after 25 per cent tax-free cash you would get an income of £4,425 for the rest of your life. But if you have a spouse who is younger than you, the joint annuity rate could fall to around 4.7 per cent.”

“Moreover, if inflation concerns lead you to index the annuity, that rate may fall to around 2.5 per cent, giving you £1,894 per annum. Finally, building in a capital guarantee to ensure that any undrawn capital is paid out to your estate – thus benefiting your children, for example – would reduce the annuity rate even further.

The more flexibility you demand from an annuity, the poorer the rate is likely to be.”

“However,” he adds, “if you die and you have a pension drawdown plan, all of the pension fund capital will be passed on to your spouse, who can pass it on to children or other beneficiaries, subject to tax (currently 55 per cent). Many of our clients now realise their pension fund could be a legacy to their children that may be worth more than their residence.”

Tax-free lump sum

So how does drawdown work? Walker says: “You can immediately take a 25 per cent taxfree lump sum, amounting to £25,000 if you have a pension fund of £100,000. Compare this with a final salary scheme, where an income of £4,000 could mean you only received £12,000 tax-free cash.” (Individuals are allowed a tax-free lump sum often equivalent to only three years of income.)

“In the drawdown scheme, the remaining balance will generate an income, which is roughly the same as your single life annuity rate. In this case, the rate is 5.9 per cent, or £4,425.”

“Meanwhile you need to ensure that your remaining fund grows at a faster rate than you are taking the income out. So as well as receiving an annual income of up to £4,425, our aim as advisers would be to grow the residual fund, so that the income taken doesn’t start to erode the remaining invested amount.”

Moreover, some forms of drawdown have guarantees, where the fund value is ring-fenced annually and guaranteed to appreciate by at least three per cent. “So your investment will be protected if the stock market plummets just after your fund has passed a guarantee date,” says Walker.

“The amount of income you can receive also grows if the fund value of your plan rises. So if your residual fund was to increase to say, £150,000 from £75,000, the amount of income you receive, using the above example, will increase to £8,850 (5.9 per cent of £150,000) – though this, of course, is subject to future annuity rates.”

Walker points to the experience of a client, a lawyer based in Hampshire, who received

a tax-free lump sum and is now getting the maximum income possible from his pension.

With the ongoing help and advice from The Pension Drawdown Company, this client has still seen his fund increase from just over £99,000 to £119,000 within two years.

Mr Walker believes that proactive management and advice are essential.

“We advise our clients to reduce exposure and risk as the market rises, so that the pension fund is protected when markets fall,” he says.

How Robin increased his nest egg

Former business development manager Robin Leat, 65, of Worthing, West Sussex, says: “After researching pension options I chose a drawdown scheme over an annuity, and it was arranged through The Pension Drawdown Company just over two years ago.”

So far his decision has paid off. Leat says: “Had I chosen to take out an annuity, the total income from the fund would have been about £10,000 to £11,000 maximum – significantly less than I have drawn down.

Meanwhile, the fund has grown by more than 31 per cent since April 2009.”

The moral is simple, Walker concludes.

“If you’re about to retire – don’t expect your pension provider to spell out your options.

Talk to The Pension Drawdown Company to find out what they are, with a free consultation. We can also outline the risks and whether or not pension drawdown is suitable for you.”

Call 0800 03 04 008 or visit www.pension-drawdown.co.uk

8

Get Up And Go · November 2011

AN INDEPENDENT REPORT FROM LYONSDOWN, DISTRIBUTED WITH THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH

Industry view

A place you can aspire to retire in Retain your independence as you get older by choosing dedicated, luxury retirement accommodation

A

sk anyone what they aspire for in retirement, and independence will be near the top of the list. So how is that best achieved? By accepting the fact that as one gets older health and wellbeing may decline by varying degrees.

What is the best way to address this? A new development in Wiltshire has the answers.

“Better healthcare means we’re all living longer: for every six years that passes, average life expectancy rises by one year.

And while healthcare is making positive strides, so too are our housing options”.

Typically we now enjoy several decades of retirement. What is critical to our quality of life is that we should both maintain and enjoy a measure of independence. The fact is, our much loved family homes aren’t necessarily the best place to achieve that. They may be too large for our needs, they require maintenance – indoors and out – and they’re often distant from services and facilities we’d like closer to hand. And as it may become necessary to put adaptations in place such as stairlifts and handrails, the home may well lose its original appeal.

All of this helps to explain the growing popularity of dedicated retirement developments such as Chantry Court, tucked away close to the centre of the delightful Wiltshire town of Westbury.

Chantry Court is designed specifically to enable everyone to live retirement to the

full. There’s a mixture of designs within the 68 apartments to meet all requirements.

A number of the apartments have private gardens, patios and balconies and family pets are allowed. The look and feel is of a luxury apartment in a well-appointed private

Chantry Court is designed specifically to enable everyone to live retirement to the full development: only when you study the smaller details do you realise they’ve been cleverly and subtly designed.

They’re certainly spacious: the four penthouse units are 1200 sq ft and the two-bedroom apartments are about 800 sq ft. The ambience is of a comfortable, wellmaintained country hotel, making the move to retirement accommodation an aspirational one – not one dictated by circumstances.

On hand are all the resources and facilities to make life relaxed and fulfilling. A central area has a restaurant, bar, lounge, bridge room, library, hair salon, therapy room, doctor’s surgery and even a cinema – which doubles up as an exercise classroom. With trained staff on site 24/7, the security is a real comfort, as is the knowledge that – if

Independent living: the retirement village offers all amenities

someone was taken poorly in the night – help is on hand.

The in-house domiciliary service is available if one needs it. This can add a ‘peace of mind factor’ in that residents will not have to worry about moving out of Chantry Court should they develop needs of any kind.

Chantry Court’s Independent Living apartments are good value for money, whether one is buying, taking advantage of a shared equity option, or even renting. Special

packages are available, allowing flexibility when it comes to moving, for example when you opt to move before you sell your own property. The village staff are happy to help explain the options to you, just call them to find out more.

Apartment prices start at £187,500 or rental from £295 a week. Assisted Living apartments are from £395 a week, including a service package.

Call 0800 0147552 www.chantrycourt.com

Get Up And Go · November 2011

AN INDEPENDENT REPORT FROM LYONSDOWN, DISTRIBUTED WITH THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH

Home and lifestyle

9

Best of both worlds?

Quieter than a city but with more facilities than a village, market towns are proving the ideal location for an increasing number of retirees

By Graham Norwood

I

f you believe later life inevitably means moving to a traditional retirement location such as the coast or the countryside, think again - many of today’s retirees are heading for the café culture and growing culinary reputation of Britain’s market towns.

The big advantage of market towns is that they increasingly have the facilities of a city but on a far more human scale. Therefore they attract retirees moving up from villages where they may feel cut off, and moving down from large conurbations which may appear less hospitable to older residents.

“I’ve seen a lot of people wanting to move to market towns recently,” says Ben Pridden of estate agency Savills, which deals with large numbers of buyers approaching retirement or having already stopped work.

“Post offices are closing and local village shops are struggling to stay open, making villages less appealing for people to retire to and in turn making market towns much more popular,” Specialist retirement developers are often a good gauge of trends among older owners.

“People may be attracted to retiring to the country, but the reality is that a move to a rural area can be too drastic on several levels,” says Angela South of specialist Beechcroft. “The most obvious is isolation;

Liveable location: convenience and character to be found in Ludlow, in Shropshire

following severe winter weather there’s always a dramatic increase in the number of visitors from rural areas registering interest in market-town developments.

“Many buyers are aware they may need to give up their cars in the future. Living in the country means they’re reliant on private transport. A market town offers an excellent compromise: shops, services and open countryside within easy reach.”

There is no firm definition but the Association of Market Towns – an umbrella group to promote small communities – says the population of such a town will be between 2,000 and 35,000, and it will have good shopping including local specialist stores, plus a doctor’s surgery, bank and cashpoint, a library and a market.

Market towns typically have a good variety of property types, too - most such towns are historic so there will be Georgian,

Victorian or even older homes, often close to the centre where a market tends to be held still on one or two days a week. But many also have convenient modern properties on

“People may be attracted to retiring to the country, but a move to a rural area can be too drastic” – South the outskirts as the towns have grown in recent decades.

Diana Winterson, a retired book-keeper originally from Enfield in north London, wanted to move closer to relatives and to what she calls “a more liveable location”, so

chose Ludlow in Shropshire. An amateur dramatics enthusiast, she found that she began to drop out of activities in London, and started going to fewer theatrical events, because travelling was difficult and expensive. Now she believes she goes to more events in a year than she did in London - and walks to most of them.

“I’d visited the town over the years and liked it. There was a lot of character but it offered almost all of the practical conveniences that I’d enjoyed in Highgate, plus a lot more in terms of culture and entertainment. It seemed a logical move and I’ve been very happy ever since,” she says.

Reports from estate agents suggest that many other prospective and existing retirees want to take a leaf out of her book and enjoy an increase in activity in later life, rather than the decrease that often happens in villages and big cities.

Location, location, location Out of 200 or more market towns across the UK, which should you choose? Here are ten of the best, complete with typical property costs: Ballater, Aberdeenshire Ideal for active retirees with walks and cycle paths aplenty, and characterful homes offering great value for money, many with superb views.

Three-bed homes: from £225,000; Bonus: Balmoral Castle and the Cairngorms are close by.

Dorchester, Dorset There is plenty of variety here – classic homes in the centre with thoughtful, modern and environmentally friendly homes in trendy Poundbury on the town’s fringe.

Three-bed homes: from £325,000; Bonus: Work is under way on a new shopping, leisure and housing complex.

Henley-on-Thames, Oxfordshire Perfect for retirees who love sailing, packed with character homes and good shopping for landlubbers.

Three-bed homes: from £425,000; Bonus: Well under an hour by train from London so good for culture-vulture retirees.

Pickering, North Yorkshire This is Heartbeat country so expect beautiful stone houses and a friendly community. Plenty of tourists visit, so facilities are good and year-round.

Three-bed homes: from £250,000; Bonus: Near the North York Moors National Park.

Uppingham, Leicestershire Its centre has period stone houses with newer estates and barn conversions on the outskirts. There is a great market and distinctive shops.

Three-bed homes: from £400,000; Bonus: There’s yet another excellent market in nearby Oakham.

Burford, Oxfordshire It’s hilly and expensive but beautiful and historic. It is also close to Oxford and Cheltenham yet surrounded by protected countryside.

Three-bed homes: from £450,000; Bonus: Perfect for touring Cotswolds villages and gardens.

Hay-on-Wye, Powys Just on the Welsh side of the border, there are only 1,600 residents – but 80,000 visitors during June’s book festival. Thatched cottages and period houses abound.

Three-bed homes: from £375,000; Bonus: Many retirees rent out their home during the festival.

Ludlow, Shropshire There are more than 500 listed buildings, many from medieval times, and the town is surrounded by beautiful countryside.

Three-bed homes: from £300,000; Bonus: The town has year-round music, drama and food festivals.

Totnes, Devon There’s a relaxed foodie vibe to this town packed with independent shops and boasting one of the south-west’s busiest communities.

Three-bed homes: from £350,000; Bonus: Centrally located for the sea, moors and booming Exeter.

Wymondham, Norfolk Despite a flurry of new housebuilding, this is one of the prettiest market towns in East Anglia. The area is flat, characterful and has a tradition of excellent local food.

Three-bed homes: from £300,000; Bonus: Nature parks, walks and bird-watching areas proliferate.

10 10

GetGet up Up andAnd go ·Go November 20112011 · November

ANAN INDEPENDENT REPORT FROM LYONSDOWN, DISTRIBUTED WITH THETHE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH INDEPENDENT REPORT FROM LYONSDOWN, DISTRIBUTED WITH SUNDAY TELEGRAPH

Industry Travel and view leisure

Deck the halls

Panto, presents and plenty to do for the fast-approaching festive season

A Dickens of a celebration Richard Emmitt, Grassington Dickensian Festival

On three Saturdays before Christmas (December 3, 10 and 17), the village of Grassington in the Yorkshire Dales really goes to town and back in time for its famous Dickensian Festival, now in its 30th year.

Leading the entertainment is Richard Emmitt and his Penny Plain touring theatre company (left) with an ages-old mummers play as the whole village – and visitors from around the UK – dress in authentic garb and tuck into traditional food and drink.

A huge amount of thought goes into each year’s festival which attracts some 20,000 tourists to the area. “It would be very easy to fill the place with, shall we say, ‘tat’ and try to turn it into some sort of Covent Garden but these are authentic stalls selling authentic goods and food,” says Emmitt.

He has been involved in the theatre most of his adult life but swore he’d scale it down when the family moved to the Dales.

Unfortunately for Emmitt, news about his theatre career leaked out and the Penny Plain players now tour the country.

“Among our number is an international opera singer and a lady you’ll know from the BBC. But deep down, we’re just a group of old actors spreading a little cheer.”

Visit: www.grassington.uk.com

Your festive cheer starts here

From food to falconry and bells to re-enacted battles, there’s a wide range of events on offer to excite and entertain across the country

By John Holt Despite the very best efforts over the years of Oliver Cromwell and our more politicallycorrect local councils, all things Christmas continue to dominate the endof-year calendar in communities up and down the country.

Food-wise, a

Medieval: Caerphilly Christmas Fayre

smorgasbord of events takes place in the UK designed to appeal to all palates – from turkeyand-trimmings traditionalists to haute cuisine existentialists.

The main course is provided by the BBC’s Good Food Show Winter (NEC Birmingham, November 23 to 27) which has a strong Masterchef flavour this year. Presenters John Torode and Gregg Wallace will be inviting members of the public to cook their own favourites in a special version of the

show which will also see former rugby player Phil Vickery, this year’s Celebrity Masterchef champion, take on last year’s winner Lisa Faulkner.

If the countryside is more your thing, visit Rufford Abbey Country Park in Nottinghamshire, where the must-see

Wonderland: Aurora tree sculptures

event is the Aurora Christmas Illuminations (December 2-4, 9-11) which transform the trees into spooky sculptures and the park into a colourful winter wonderland.

Talking of pleasing aesthetics, the sixth Folkestone Rendezvous Art Mart takes place in the Kent town on December 16 and 17. It provides an opportunity to browse and buy fine art and crafts items with more than two dozen specialists on hand to advise on that perfect present

purchase.

Meanwhile, outdoor types who prefer to see their animals in the flesh as opposed to on the plate should head for the Royal Welsh Winter Fair Llanelwedd, Builth Wells, on November 28 and 29. There are 300 trade stands, as well as handicraft displays, a floral art

Bell ringing: Dewsbury Minster

show and antiques, while judging of cattle, horses, sheep, pigs and poultry takes place in the International Pavilion.

For days out with a difference, sample some of the traditions and historical events celebrated over the Christmas and New Year period.

There’s a chance to enjoy the winter sport of medieval millionaires when the roles of royal falconers and hawkers are recreated at Kenilworth Castle, Warwickshire, on

Step back in time: traditional food and carols at the Bea

November 26 and 27. Visitors can find out how hawks were trained to catch specific birds and animals for the

Tasty: John Torode and Gregg Wallace

Christmas table.

Campanologists should head for Dewsbury Minster in West Yorkshire on Christmas Eve for Tolling the Devil’s Knell, a centuriesold tradition based on the tale of a medieval knight who, after committing a foul deed, donated a bell to be rung at his local church. Each

and November2011 2011 GetGet Upup And Gogo· ·November

ANINDEPENDENT INDEPENDENTREPORT REPORTFROM FROMLYONSDOWN, LYONSDOWN,DISTRIBUTED DISTRIBUTEDWITH WITHTHE THESUNDAY SUNDAYTELEGRAPH TELEGRAPH AN

Travel andxxxxxxx leisure

11 11

Winter wish-list Help make the festive season extra special this year by treating the youngest in the family to these Christmas classics

Nothing like a dame Bear necessities Kenneth Alan Taylor is leaving the high heels at home for his 28th panto production Writer, director and veteran panto dame Kenneth Alan Taylor has become one of the bestknown names on the festive theatrical circuit.

An accomplished West End performer, the grandfather of five has directed Nottingham Playhouse’s seasonal offering for the best part of three decades. His 28th panto, Cinderella, opens on Friday, November 25.

The dame this year is an oddly topical aristocrat. “I’ve made the stepmother a Dowager Duchess,” he says. “Everyone will think that’s a Downton Abbey reference but I write the scripts two summers beforehand – Julian Fellowes must have sneaked a peek.”

Although he won’t be

amish social history museum

Christmas it strikes the number of years since Christ’s birth.

The fishing village of Stonehaven in Grampian provides

Tall tails: pig judging at Welsh Winter Fair

donning high heels and hairpieces this time around, having allegedly “retired” from damehood in 2009, he plans to be back in the big frocks for 2012. “It’s the dame or nothing at all. That’s the diva in me,” says the 74-year-old.

With up to 14 changes a show – “I’m a seasoned speed stripper” – Taylor has worn everything from a 12ft train dress to one made completely of rubber ducks that was so heavy he ended up at the physiotherapist.

But there are benefits to dressing up in women’s clothing.

“Walking in heels eases my back pain,” he says. “I always insist they’re a worn-in pair.

Breaking-in new shoes is torture.”

Visit: www. nottinghamplayhouse.co.uk

some very different thrills and spills on New Year’s Eve. As the clocks strike midnight, the High Street is lit up by 60 local fireballswingers marching down to the harbour where the balls are thrown into the sea.

On the historical front, away-day revolutionaries have two important dates for their diaries. At Swarkestone Bridge in Derbyshire and in Derby city centre on December 3 and 4, there are re-enactments of the events leading to the about-turn of Bonnie Prince Charlie and his Jacobite forces as their quest for the English throne ended in the East Midlands in 1745.

A hundred years earlier, another

royal’s luck ran out when Charles I was executed in London.

On January 29 2012, the King’s Army (the Royalist half of the English Civil War Society) retraces the route taken by the king from St James’s Palace to the Banqueting House where he lost his head in 1649.

The spirit of Christmas past is celebrated in a series of themed events around the country.

The town and pit village at Beamish

Beamish museum: traditional stalls

Cornwall Christmas Bear Fair Teddy bears are doing a roaring trade at present and fans of all ages will flock to the Cornwall Christmas Bear Fair in Lostwithiel (November 27) to find out what’s new and, hopefully, discover what’s old and valuable.

The event includes valuations and restoration advice, a bear hospital which aims to have childhood favourites looking their best again, bear-making patterns and kits and, of course, a wide selection of designer and antique bears.

“All sorts of people come and all sorts of exhibitors are on hand to help them,” says Tricia Butler (below) who runs Teddies of Trenode with her husband,

social history museum in County Durham go back to the Edwardian period for special nights of street entertainment, traditional food, gifts and carols on December 9 and 16.

Meanwhile, Caerphilly Castle goes the whole hog with its Medieval Christmas Fayre (December 10 and 11) with seasonal music of the period, a court jester, food, replica medieval goods and traditional crafts.

If men and women in uniform – rather than peasants’ garb and armour – is more your thing, head for the British Military Tournament at Earls Court, December 2 to 4. The update

Richard. “Artists come with very collectable new limited editions, and then there are the antique teddies we have been dealing in for ten years.”

Butler has some advice for people looking to collect the older examples: “First, you really have to like the bear and, secondly, you shouldn’t give it to a young child; bears can be too rare and valuable to be ripped apart. The really high prices are paid for ones in good condition. In 1994, a teddy made £110,000 at auction.”

People who make their own bears also come to seek out the right fabric, eyes or joints. “Bears are quite complex things to create,” Butler says.

Visit: www.urchinsbears.com

of the old Royal Tournament is now a theatrical tour de force and this year is being presented

by ABF The Soldiers’ Charity in association with the Royal Navy and Royal Marines Charity and the Royal Air Force Benevolent Fund.

The 2011 show tells the story of “the special relationship” between the UK and US, recreating dramatic episodes in history, from the American War of Independence

Daring dip: swim in the Serpentine

to operations in Afghanistan.

If you’re after something a little quieter but equally as invigorating on Christmas morning, go for a refreshing dip in icy waters.

Or, at least, laugh and point at other people turning an unseasonal shade of blue.

As well as the famous seasonal swim in the Serpentine in London’s Hyde Park, hardy revellers – some in fancy dress, some in less – will be taking the plunge at Hunstanton in Norfolk at 11am), Lowestoft in Suffolk (at 10.30am from the Hatfield Hotel), Porthcawl beach (at 11.45am) and Weymouth.

By Gemma Stroud All wrapped up Make sure they keep snug this winter in this simple classic from iconic brand Barbour. Barbour unisex duffle coat, available in a variety of colours, ages 2 to 15, £139.95 – £179.

Available at all good stockists.

Shiver me timbers Certain to provide hours of swashbucklin’ fun, this beautiful, hand-finished wooden pirate ship is the perfect present for any budding adventurer. Allow seven days for shipping.

Suitable for five-year-olds and over.

Wooden pirate ship, £75. www.wheniwasakid.co.uk Home comforts This delightful Georgian-style wooden doll’s house has six bedrooms and a removable roof, and will leave any child feeling right at home.

Suitable for three-year-olds and above.

Pintoy Marlborough doll’s house, £125.

Available at John Lewis and all good stockists.

Map it out An educational staple, this stunning globe is the ideal present for young, inquisitive minds. Available with political or physical cartography, each has a powder-coated, scratch-resistant steel base. George F Cram Madison Globe, £59.99. www. stanfords.co.uk Fun squared Make learning enjoyable with this interactive cube complete with a reversible and removable top, sliding peg board, clock and animal flip blocks. Suitable for 18 months and over. My first 5-in-1 cube, £39.99. www.brightminds.co.uk

12

Get Up And Go · November 2011

AN INDEPENDENT REPORT FROM LYONSDOWN, DISTRIBUTED WITH THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH

Industry view

Still living life to the full Retaining independence and a sense of community is paramount at award-winning country retirement village

“I

f I have one complaint,” said a relative of one of the residents of St George’s Park retirement village, “it’s that I can never get hold of my mother. She’s always doing something!”

I had done my homework, so I knew that St George’s Park was set in 250 acres of beautiful Sussex countryside and I anticipated that the standard of the purposebuilt apartments would be very high. What I had not considered was that the community would have formed its own active identity so quickly. And active is the key word here. As a resident, there’s plenty to do.

Maes Court, the community building at the heart of the village, offers a range of facilities including a mini-supermarket, an attractive bar/bistro and restaurant,

Ever active: from bowls ...

a library, a games room, a hairdressing salon, a therapy suite, and a gym. Outside is a bowling green and croquet lawn. Many other functions are arranged by the residents themselves – from the film club to the summer boules competitions.

As I was being shown around, I noticed a list of November activities pinned to the notice board. It included a firework display and dinner, a forthcoming concert, Mahjong, painting classes and much more. This may be a retirement village, but there doesn’t seem to be much retiring going on!

When I asked Philip Smith, marketing director at St George’s, what he was most proud of among the many awards won by the development over the last few years, he surprised me by saying: “It’s the warm

... to painting and much more

St George’s Park: spacious, light and thoughtfully designed

community spirit which has developed among the residents.”

Of course, a sense of community is very important. Most retired people rightly prize their independence – and a great strength of the village is that – while no one is ever pestered to ‘join in’, nobody need be alone if they don’t care to be.

Spacious, light and thoughtfully designed, each two-bedroom, two-bathroom apartment is a stylish example of how good modern design can be. The buildings, too, display the same attention to detail with covered entrances and carpeted halls.

There is a regular minibus service to the local towns and group outings to popular destinations such as the theatre or cinema. Safety is particularly important in a community such as this and nothing has been left to chance, with monitored 24-hour

CCTV coverage of the whole area.

When St George’s Park was voted the UK’s Best Retirement Development in the prestigious What House? property industry awards, one of the judges commented: “The bar for retirement villages has certainly been raised. Here, residents can enjoy their retirement in the manner that best suits them.” It seems to me that St George’s Park is not just a well thought-out retirement development, managed and maintained to the highest standards, but a vibrant social environment in which life can be lived to the full.

Prices from £345,00 Call 01444 259732 www.stgeorgespark.co.uk

Roger Linn is a freelance journalist

Get Up And Go · November 2011

AN INDEPENDENT REPORT FROM LYONSDOWN, DISTRIBUTED WITH THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH

Home and lifestyle

13

Move out, move on With an all-day eatery and jeweller, has one retirement community in America got the right idea?

Stash in the attic Sorting through a lifetime of possessions and memories can be traumatic, but the right help can take the distress out of downsizing

By Dorothy Lepkowska

D

ownsizing from a large threebedroom house to a retirement flat half the size threatened to be a highly distressing experience for George and Elizabeth Whittle.

The 75-year-old former City banker and his wife, 68, had lived in the same house in Ealing, west London, for 42 years. Four decades’ worth of crockery, books, clothes and family mementoes were never going to be easy to give up, but the Whittles had help from Seamless Relocation, specialists in helping people to make what can be painful decisions ahead of a house move.

“We could not have done it without help,” George Whittle says. “We had been very worried about how we were going to declutter and move, and we didn’t want to have any regrets.

“We have not missed any of the items we got rid of because we received a great deal of help in deciding what we wanted to keep. Without support it would have been a very stressful experience.”

Decluttering is a very difficult hurdle for older people yet having a good throw-out can be very liberating and energising, according to Charmian Boyd, joint owner of Seamless Relocation.

Older people need a particular care and respect as their homes are repositories of precious memories, she says. “Often they are

the guardians of family heirlooms, so a great deal of sensitivity is required. We would never go in and ask someone ‘Why on earth are you hanging on to this?’ but sometimes you have to ask subtle and probing questions to help people make a decision.”

Besides downsizing, some people seek to move because they think they need more space. Lynn Pick, from Home Stylers, once saved an elderly couple from spending

Decluttering: tough decisions to make

thousands of pounds on an extension by showing them how to use the existing space more efficiently.

“A good decluttering gives you freedom to move without feeling constricted,” she says. “I often notice the dark cloud lifting off people as we sort out their things and they suddenly become more relaxed and happy.”

Jon Ramsay, owner of Clutterbee and spokesman for the Association of Professional Declutterers and Organisers, has seen some startling examples of clutter that has exploded into mayhem.

At one house every inch of floor space was covered with papers, clothes and empty drinks cans. Other instances include rooms full of clothes and goods which still have shop labels attached to them.

It is men who tend to fall at the extremes of clutter and tidiness, he says. “Men are territorial and will often surround themselves with things they think will come in useful. Gizmos and gadgets are often kept for their parts.

“At the other extreme they can be incredibly tidy. I went into one home where the husband’s suits were all labelled in order of colour and designer, while the wife and kids lived in a complete mess.”

Getting professionals in to help is more acceptable now, he thinks. “It’s a little like the culture of DIY where everyone used to have a go, but now people prefer to pay someone to do it for them.”

House-swaps with people abroad are usually a route to a cheap holiday, but an exchange between two couples in the US and UK was undertaken with more than a change of scenery in mind.

In an experiment by Audley Retirement in the UK and retirement specialists SRG in the US, Tony and Carol Gregory swapped their two-bedroomed cottage on Audley’s St Elphin’s Park Village development in Derbyshire for SRG’s Maravilla complex in Santa Barbara. Meanwhile, Lou and Muriel Schloss, who rent a two-bedroom, twobathroom apartment at Maravilla, travelled in the opposite direction.

St Elphin’s has 130 homes with facilities including a bistro and swimming pool, where people live independently but with care available. Maravilla has 350 residencies with a clubhouse, all-day restaurant, and services including cleaners, gardeners and even a jeweller.

Both couples were impressed by the facilities they saw at the different sites and the Gregorys were particularly struck by Maravilla’s “memory care” facility, for people with dementia.

They spotted some other practical ideas, Carol Gregory, 68, says: “The toilets were slightly higher which was a good idea for people when they are a bit older, and there are also little lights at the bottom of the skirting board in a couple of areas so you could see your way to the bathroom in the night.”

One of the differences Lou Schloss, 86, and 84-year-old Muriel noted was the size of the kitchen.

“The ones in the UK are bigger but they are set up to cook and we’re not,” says Lou. “We’ve lived in our community two and a half years, and we’ve never had a meal in our apartment.” And like the Gregorys, they stressed how living in a retirement community has enabled them to retain their independence and still feel secure.

Lou says: “The retirement community lifestyle is much more relaxed and easy for us.

Everything is taken care of and if something needs fixing it gets fixed by someone.”

Audley undertook the experiment to see what could be learned from the US and its well-established retirement home market. In fact, says chief executive and chairman of the Association of Retirement Village Operators Nick Sanderson, the level of facilities is much the same, though the scale is larger there. But in the US, the attitude towards moving house and retirement living is markedly different.

“The US are much more open to the idea of downsizing and changing one’s way of life later on,” he says. “They think it is much more logical than staying in a family home that’s now too big and could be full of potential health risks – worn carpets, things needing rewiring, stairs to negotiate. It’s a very British thing to stay put to maintain your independence and let the house fall down around you. Whereas if people take the decision early and move into the right accommodation for them, they can avoid a lot of the risks that they believe they are avoiding by staying in their own home.”

Experiences of both couples can be viewed on the Audley blog and images are on the Facebook page. www.audleyretirement.co.uk

14

Get Up And Go · November 2011

AN INDEPENDENT REPORT FROM LYONSDOWN, DISTRIBUTED WITH THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH

Industry view

A new lease of life

Chew with confidence

A unique knee brace is helping chef Stuart Ford continue to cook up a storm at work

If you want to regain that winning smile, you can’t do much better than opt for dental implants

S

tuart Ford enjoys his career as a chef, but there was a time when knee pain threatened his job. The 53-year-old, who spends hours on his feet as head chef at a restaurant in Newquay, Cornwall, says: “When I was younger it was no problem, and I used to play football, squash and golf. But osteoarthritis runs in my family and by the age of 30 my right knee was giving me a lot of pain.”

Two sessions of surgery and a series of injections solved the problem for several years, but then the pain returned.

“A new round of injections did not work, and the next option was partial knee replacement,” he says.

“However, my doctor advised delaying it as long as possible, because long hours on my feet meant that the new joint would wear out quickly, so I would soon need another operation. It began to look as if I would have

to give up my job.”

Ford did not want that. “I never intend to be unemployed. I’d go crazy sitting at home all the time,” he says.

Then he was referred to a physiotherapist who recommended the Össur Unloader One knee brace. “From the moment it was fitted it reduced my pain,” he says.

“It takes about ten seconds to put on, it’s comfortable to wear and invisible under trousers. It will not cure my osteoarthritis, but it has reduced the pain so much that I can still work. I’m sure I’d have had to give up my job without it.”

Ford is even considering returning to the sport he had previously been forced to give up. “I had a few practice swings with my golf clubs recently,” he says. “Soon I’m going to try to get back into the game.” www.oakneepain.co.uk

Back in the swing of things: the Össur Unloader One is getting people back on their feet

Success: a happy customer after completed bridge work

W

hen you lose a tooth, it is often best for your oral health to have it replaced. Missing teeth can affect your ability to chew and speak, and can increase the burden on your remaining teeth as well as affecting your appearance and self-confidence.

An implant, which is made from titanium, replaces the lost root of a tooth.

A post is screwed into the centre of the implant and a crown is then either screwed in or cemented on top.

The new tooth will look and feel like your own teeth. You do not have to wear a denture or grind down the adjacent healthy teeth to support a bridge. In addition, implants can secure a denture thus improving your chewing and confidence.

The whole procedure can be done simply in the dental chair and is pain free. Post-operative pain is usually not a problem for patients either. Simple painkillers taken for one or two days are all that is needed.

Sometimes it is possible to take out the tooth and place the implant in one visit thus shortening the treatment time.

However, this approach may not be

suitable for everyone as it can involve a greater risk of complications for patients.

If your tooth has been missing for some time, the bone is likely to have become thinner or to have shrunk. If the bone has shrunk, you may need to have additional bone built up. This procedure can be done when the implant is placed and is not painful.

Implants are a predictable, long-lasting and successful treatment option.

Harley Street Dental Clinic www.harleystreetdentalclinic.co.uk

Pedja Pavlovic, specialist in periodontics, ITI fellow

Get Up And Go · November 2011

AN INDEPENDENT REPORT FROM LYONSDOWN, DISTRIBUTED WITH THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH

Industry view

15

The gift of companionship Older people don’t have to be lonely this Christmas as Abbeyfield prepares to open its doors to those facing the festive season on their own

C

hristmas for most people is a time of cheer and being together with family and friends. Sadly, however, that’s not the case for everyone, and a growing number of older people will face spending the festive season alone.

To help combat this increasing trend in festive isolation, charity Abbeyfield is launching a nationwide campaign, Companionship At Christmas – a homefrom-home alternative for older people wishing to spend the festive period with others.

Abbeyfield is inviting older people who

Palmer: campaigning for Christmas cheer

are alone over Christmas, residents with elderly neighbours living alone and family members in need of respite support over the Christmas period to get in touch.

Actor Geoffrey Palmer, who is a spokesman for Abbeyfield’s Christmas campaign, says: “It is so sad that 850,000 older people are chronically lonely and while this is a daily issue, being alone or lonely is particularly heartbreaking around Christmas time.

“If the offer of free lunches and overnight stays over this time at an Abbeyfield house brings a bit of festive cheer to just one older person faced with spending the Christmas holidays alone, it will be worthwhile.”

The charity wants to hear from people who are over 55, are currently living independently in their own home and who will be alone over Christmas.

Abbeyfield chief executive Paul Allen says: “Our mission is simple; to enhance the quality of life for older people.”

It is a stark reality that in this day and age, charities such as Age UK have to highlight that many people, especially OAPs, will this winter have to choose between either heating their home or eating, and sadly this is even more poignant

Festive friendship: 2,000 Christmas lunches will be available across England and Wales

over the Christmas holidays.

Abbeyfield’s Companionship At Christmas initiative echoes the key mission of Abbeyfield to alleviate loneliness and recognises that the mind, body and soul are all of equal importance.

As part of the Companionship At Christmas campaign, the charity will be offering over 2,000 delicious Christmas lunches and over 1,000 overnight stays in Abbeyfield locations across England, Wales and Ireland.

The campaign has already received the backing of a number of MPs, other charitable organisations and local authorities charged with taking care of the elderly around the country, who agree that the scheme provides an invaluable lifeline to older people.

To find your nearest participating Abbeyfield, please contact 0845 052 3553 quoting The Sunday Telegraph – or visit www.abbeyfield.com

Get Up And Go – goes monthly From January 2012, Sunday Telegraph readers can enjoy Get Up And Go every month.

Next issue – Sunday 29 January.

Look out for our new columnist, Hunter Davies and his treasures.

Plus more on home, leisure and personal finance.

More at www.mygetupandgo.co.uk

16

Get Up And Go · November 2011

AN INDEPENDENT REPORT FROM LYONSDOWN, DISTRIBUTED WITH THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH

Industry view

Adding growth to your pension Investing in timber can offer a stable, flexible and secure eco-friendly saving plan

I

f you require an investment that offers good returns, stability and security, then Ethical Forestry’s timber investments deserve your consideration.

A typical forestry investment of £18,000 over 12 years projects returns of £104,189. The investments pay out in regular intervals, making them ideal for mid to long-term financial planning.

Ethical Forestry also tailors investments to suit an individual’s budget, making them flexible. Many investors are taking advantage of this opportunity for saving plans, family trust funds and personal pensions. The investments are HMRC-compliant and SIPP approved, so your IFA can simply transfer an existing SIPP pension, or start a new one, making investing a simple process.

Investing in forestry (and ultimately timber) for profit is not a new concept.

Financial institutions, hedge fund managers and trusts have invested in timber for years and produced consistent long-term profits for themselves. They are popular with investors as they offer steady, stable increases with predictably high returns and, as they are not correlated to the stock market, they do not suffer from unpredictable peaks and troughs. Ethical Forestry has made this lucrative investment available to everyone, allowing small cap investors to

benefit from this unique proposition.

A strong, influential factor in deciding whether to invest in timber is the continuing rise in demand, which is projected to rise in line with the growth of the global population; as much as 55.88 per cent (UN) by 2050. Developing countries such as China, India and Russia are unrelenting in their requirements for timber for construction and energy wood.

A strong, influential factor in deciding whether to invest in timber is the continuing rise in demand, which is projected to rise in line with the growth of the global population This is driving illegal forestry operations worldwide to cope with the demand, all with devastating effect. Combine this new appetite for timber with the existing and projected global demand, and it is easy to understand why the rainforests continue to be felled at a rate of 13 million hectares per annum – the equivalent of one football pitch every second.

To help relieve this pressure on the

natural supply chain, Ethical Forestry has created sustainable plantations, which offer an alternative, ecologically friendly supply source.

Matthew Pickard, Ethical Forestry’s MD says: “Our plantations are run on a ‘for profit’ basis, clearly focused on producing a good ROI for investors.

Investor security is of paramount importance to us, for this reason we own all of our plantations outright and have our own onsite management teams caring for them on a daily basis. No third parties are involved with our operations that you can’t keep your eye on. This way, we can ensure that all our trees are well maintained and protected, creating investor security thus making us unique within the market place.

“We know that investing for profit and having a clear conscience are important considerations for investors. For every plantation that Ethical Forestry buy, we also purchase existing wild forests and place them within our forestry easement trust. This easement trust preserves these valuable forests, forever protecting them and the wildlife within them that can be so easily lost.”

For more information about Ethical Forestry, call 0800 0753 010 or visit www.ethicalforestry.com

Get Up And Go · November 2011

AN INDEPENDENT REPORT FROM LYONSDOWN, DISTRIBUTED WITH THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH

Health

17

Pains and needles Once thought of as a quack treatment, acupuncture is now available for some on the NHS

By Deborah Wain

W

hen Vanessa Cox Pendray developed osteoarthritis in her neck following an injury, moving her head became extremely painful and restricted. As a textile designer and later a ceramic artist, it was especially hard for her to cope.

“I’m a creative person with lots of life in me but some days I couldn’t get out of bed.

Conventional treatments weren’t really helping which was depressing,” she says.

Cox Pendray’s “release”, as she describes it, came in the form of acupuncture – the practice of inserting and manipulating fine needles into specific points on the body. Acupuncture is increasingly being used to relieve symptoms of degenerative and inflammatory arthritis and other musculoskeletal conditions.

“It’s given me lift-off again,” enthuses the 65-year-old from Ware, Hertfordshire.

“I work, have completed a master’s degree, and can dance, which I love to do. I have the treatment ‘topped up’ and pains that have started to come back again recede.”

Lavinia Dionisio, 76, of Chiswick, west London, turned to acupuncture after 18 years of pain and stiffness in joints in her body.

“Some parts of my body are now painfree and my movement has also improved,” she says. “I used to crawl upstairs but can now go up normally. I take only a small dose of anti-inflammatory drugs which used to cause side effects like an upset stomach and hair loss.”

Based on principles of Chinese medicine dating back almost 2,000 years, acupuncture aims to correct imbalances of energy flow in the body. It is thought to relieve pain by diverting or changing

sensations sent to the brain and stimulating the release of natural pain-relieving chemicals such as endorphins.

Typically, a course of six to eight weekly sessions lasting up to 30 minutes each is required for pain relief. Once relief is achieved it can last for several months.

Acupuncture has its detractors and it is widely acknowledged that further research is needed into its efficacy as an arthritis treatment, but a growing collection of evidence-based clinical research is lending weight to practitioners’ claims.

This has prompted rationing organisation the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence to give NHS patients

Getting to the point: acupuncture relieves pain by stimulating natural endorphins

Success story: Vanessa Cox Pendray

with chronic lower back pain the right to free acupuncture. Acupuncture on the NHS is also becoming more available for patients with knee osteoarthritis through pain clinics, physiotherapy departments or GPs. The St Albans and Harpenden Acupuncture Knee Clinic, the only clinic of its kind in the UK, offers nurse-led sessions for patients with knee osteoarthritis as an

alternative to knee replacement surgery.

All are originally referred by their GP. Marion Richardson, an acupuncturist and lecturer who set up the service with GP Dr Jonathan Freedman, explains: “Of 165 patients seen over three years, about half have had their pain and disability levels reduced long term and haven’t sought referral for surgery.”

The team says cost savings made through the project are currently being evaluated but are “considerable”.

Vast numbers of sufferers will, however, still have to pay for acupuncture, according to Dr Mike Cummings, medical director of the British Medical Acupuncture Society, a nationwide group of doctors and health professionals who use the therapy alongside more conventional techniques.

He says: “Services are patchy. In some areas access is easy while, in others, there’s no chance. Although people argue over

aspects of acupuncture, research overall looks good and I think access would have expanded further in the past few years if not for difficulties around funding.”

Because acupuncture focuses on the individual and not the illness, practitioners advocate it as especially beneficial to older people’s broader wellbeing.

Acupuncturist Maureen Cromey, who practises in Chiswick and Harley Street, says: “Chinese medicine is gentle and reverent towards people who are ageing and is geared towards supporting and caring for them.”

Charity Arthritis Research UK recently announced a trial at the University of York to investigate the effectiveness of acupuncture in easing chronic neck pain.

A spokeswoman says: “Acupuncture is among therapies we’re looking at for our forthcoming authoritative report on complementary therapies for osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis and back pain.”

Soaking up the atmosphere Help soothe away the aches and pains of the winter months by treating yourself to a spa experience

By Gemma Stroud

Smooth moves Champneys Age Excellence range of skincare products and treatments has been designed for mature skin and aims to improve elasticity and skin tone, and target blemishes. The products contain Tetrapeptide-21, the latest beauty buzz product that is said to minimise the appearance of wrinkles and reduce skin roughness.

Promising to leave you feeling fabulous, Champneys pampering Ultimate Age Excellence Facial (85 minutes – £90) includes a relaxing hot stone massage for the face and shoulders using techniques to improve muscle and skin tone.

The treatment aims to leave your skin feeling smoother and plumper

by boosting blood flow.

To find your nearest Champneys spa, visit www.champneys.co.uk

Turn back time Relax and recharge this season at the beautiful Ragdale Hall, an award-winning thermal spa in the Leicestershire countryside. Its threenight Time For Me packages are designed to help target your needs and body hang-ups.

Country retreat: Ragdale Hall

Try the Timeless Me package to help revive and revitalise tired skin and give you an all-over body boost.

Ragdale also offers healthy eating demonstrations and style and lingerie advice. The cost of breaks is dependent on room type and time of year. For a full price list, visit www.ragdalehall.co.uk

The heat is on Ideal for those who suffer from back pain or have tired, tense muscles, the Infrared Experience at The Sanctuary Spa in Covent Garden, central London, is a bespoke, low-temperature heat treatment that penetrates deep into the skin.

The 30-minute experience involves an infrared light panelled seat that warms the body from the

inside out, releasing tension and helping to relax muscles.

For more details of the 30-minute treatment, call 0844 875 8443, or visit www.thesanctuary.co.uk

Fresh faced Set in the picturesque Cotswolds, Calcot Spa’s Aromatherapy Associates’ age repair facial is a great way to unwind, relax and feel your best this Christmas.

Ideal for those looking for a fresher, more youthful complexion, the facial stimulates collagen production in the skin, tightening and firming its appearance without the use of harsh chemicals. The skin is cleansed and exfoliated, before being massaged with refreshing apple and raspberry seed oil.

This lymphatic technique aims to

Unwind: Calcot Spa

improve the skin’s elasticity and suppleness. Beauty manager Francesca Jordan says: “The essential oils provide deep nourishment and visible plumping effect on fine lines.”

The 85-minute treatment costs £85. For more information, visit www.calcotspa.co.uk

18

Get Up And Go · November 2011

AN INDEPENDENT REPORT FROM LYONSDOWN, DISTRIBUTED WITH THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH

Money

Pensions Roger Turner

The decision to change how the state pension is increased will have a far-reaching impact. Everyone should oppose it, says Roger Turner Until 2011, increases in the basic state pension and SERPS were linked to the September retail prices index (RPI). Few people had heard of the consumer prices index (CPI).

Then, out of the blue, without consultation, the government announced that it would be using the CPI as the measure for increases in state benefits from April 2011.

Many occupational pensioners in the public and private sectors have also been affected.

Does it matter which index is used? Yes, very much so. The RPI is normally about 0.5 to 1.0 per cent more than the CPI, so under RPI pensions would increase more quickly.

The effect of this in any one year may be small but compounded over several years the difference is significant.

For example, with the RPI at 4 per cent and CPI at 3 per cent, someone with a pension of £120 a week would be £1,560 a year (£30 a week) worse off after ten years.

After 20 years, they would be £4,160 a year (£88 a week) worse off. Even if RPI is at 2.5 per cent and CPI at 2 per cent the difference is over £600 a year after ten years.

With about one third of pensioners relying only on their state pensions, the switch from RPI to CPI will be a massive blow.

Coming at a time of rapidly increasing fuel and food costs, it will cause real difficulty for the most vulnerable in our society.

Even for people with defined contribution occupational pensions – where their contributions grow each year and the resulting pot is used to buy an annuity – there are difficulties ahead.

Six months ago £100,000 would have purchased a flat rate annuity with no indexation (that is, no rise in line with inflation) or survivor benefit of about £7,000.

Today, due to low interest rates and other economic factors, the same amount will buy only £6,000 – a 14 per cent reduction for the whole of someone’s retired life. Add indexation and survivor benefits and the annuity rate could drop to £3,000.

NFOP has joined with several other pensioner organisations and trade unions to challenge the secretary of state’s decision to switch to the CPI measure in a judicial review. A judgement is due at the end of the month.

Roger Turner is general secretary of the National Federation of Occupational Pensioners. For more on the NFOP’s campaign go to www.nfop.org.uk

A gift that is priceless From pension pots to bonds, how can you give your grandchildren a head start?

F

or growing numbers of British families, there’s no one quite like grandma (or grandpa) for help with everything from babysitting to household chores.

Soaring childcare costs and long working hours mean that 7m grandparents now look after their grandchildren and help around the home while mums and dads work, according to insurer Aviva.

But a grandparent’s work is never done.

Fearful for little Freddie or Fiona’s financial futures, many are also stashing away cash on their behalf – hoping to build up a nest egg for their grandchildren in future. It’s easy to understand why. As the cost of a university education now tops £63,000 and first homes are impossible to buy without a hefty deposit, any financial help offered can go a long way.

But the list of products on offer can leave even the savviest grandparent flummoxed.

What on earth is a JISA? Do simple savings accounts pay a decent rate of interest? How does a Children’s Bonus Bond work?

Start early The stock market has been highly volatile in recent years but if you want to grow your fund quickly an investment fund is regarded by financial experts as the best option. The recent financial turmoil might mean that you’re even able to find bargains – especially

if you’re investing over a longer time-frame.

There are a number of investment funds targeted at children, but it is key that you consider the best performing plans – even if they’re targeted at adults. You can open the plan yourself and then add the child’s initials to the account holder designating it for them in future. This gives you control over when your grandchildren can access the cash.

Tax perks

Every penny counts, so make sure you look out for products offering invaluable tax breaks. The very new and tax-efficient kid on the block is the Junior Individual Savings Account (JISA).

Introduced in November as a replacement for the Child Trust Fund, any child under the age of 18 who is a resident in Britain and does not already have a Child Trust Fund is eligible for a JISA. Just like an adult ISA it allows friends and family members to save up to £3,600 tax free in cash, stocks or investment funds over each year running from April 6 to April 5.

Use JISA allowances to their full potential and you can build up a sizeable stash for your grandchildren. For example, a child born this year who used their JISA allowance up every year until 2029 would see their savings swell to more than £120,000 – with an annual growth rate of 4 per cent.

Other tax breaks

Another tax efficient long-term savings option is the government-backed Children’s Bonus Bond from National Savings and Investments. This allows anyone over the age of 16 to squirrel away up to £3,000 tax free for any child under 16 with a minimum investment of £25. The bonds – designed to be held over a five-year period – pay an annual rate of interest of 2.5 per cent and include a bonus at the end of the fifth year.

Simple savings

Most banks and building societies offer savings account targeted at youngsters which, in many cases, you can open on behalf of your grandchildren. Grandparents can be particularly helpful in this situation.

If a child generates more than £100 interest in a year from money given by a parent, this income is taxed at that parent’s rate – either at 20, 40, or 50 per cent.

However, grandparents can give as much as they like and it will be exempt of the £100 limit on interest earned. Making cash gifts is an excellent way of aiding your child’s future.

HM Revenue and Customs allows you to gift £3,000 every year to an individual.

Assuming average compound growth of 6 per cent a year, this should be worth over £400,000 by the time the child reaches age the age of 38, if you give £3,000 each year.

Pension pot Retired teacher Pearl Horner (left) and her husband, Arnold from Brighouse, West Yorkshire have put away thousands of pounds in cash ISAs for their granddaughter, Eloise (far left). Ever since Eloise, now 12, was born, her grandparents have saved £50 a month on her behalf. Mrs Horner, 58, isn’t sure how much they have accumulated so far. But by the time Eloise is 18, the couple expect to have raised a good nest egg on behalf of their granddaughter. This should help with university costs should Eloise choose to go.

Retirement might be more than 60 years away for your grandchild, so starting up a pension fund while they are in nappies may seem like madness. But your actions could give your grandchildren a vital head start.

You can put away a maximum of £2,880 on behalf of a child each year.

The government will add £720 in tax relief, boosting the value to £3,600. The investments then grow free from income and capital gains tax. Bear in mind that this type of saving is very unflexible. Your grandchild won’t able to touch the pension before the age of 55.

Get Up And Go · November 2011

AN INDEPENDENT REPORT FROM LYONSDOWN, DISTRIBUTED WITH THE SUNDAY TELEGRAPH

Industry view

19

The price of peace of mind Move to a retirement village and live inexpensively – and in a better environment

W

orrying about money is the last thing you want to do when you retire, but with the cost of living rising and incomes often failing to keep pace, it’s not always easy to ensure you can enjoy the quality of life you want at a price you can afford.

However, most buyers of homes in specially designed retirement villages, where maintenance costs are met with one annual service charge, can enjoy significant savings, as well as the peace and prosperity they dreamed of. Not only have they been released from the financial burden of running a home, they have added facilities for making their lives more comfortable.

This is welcome news for the over-60s – energy bills are expected to rise by an average of nearly £200 a year, the present economic turmoil has sliced through their pensions, and household budgets continue to be squeezed after repeated increases in inflation.

How do the figures stack up? Council tax, energy bills, water rates and home insurance now cost more than ever. Then there’s general maintenance and those unexpected repair bills, expenses that often tip the balance for people weighing up the costs of staying in their family home.

Also, as people get older, the rural idyll that was once so appealing starts to have

Most buyers of homes in specially designed retirement villages are enjoying significant savings, as well as the peace and prosperity they dreamed of

Socialise: residents can enjoy on-site amenities including a bar and restaurant

disadvantages. Travel costs more, with recent steep price rises in fuel and car insurance hitting those on retirement income especially hard. There is also the increasing need to be near facilities and to be within walking distance of shops and GPs. Hence the appeal of the retirement village. Fellow residents at Bramshott Place Village in Liphook, Hampshire, say that our energy efficient new homes save money and further savings are made in a myriad of ways, including no joining fees for clubs and organisations.

Access is available to a ready-made community of like-minded individuals and having all amenities on hand certainly

negates the need to travel. Set within its own park and woodland, we all enjoy the delights of a garden without having to employ and pay individual gardeners, and weekly cleaning is included in our service charge, along with laundry and window cleaning.

On-site amenities such as a swimming pool and gym replaces the need for expensive gym membership; a library, games and meetings rooms, bar and restaurant allow us to dip in and out of events ranging from coffee mornings and wine tastings to keep-fit and dance classes, photography, snooker and table tennis. Complimentary broadband internet in the library is another saving.

Another benefit for residents facing more frequent surgery visits is that Bramshott Place Village has its own medical centre, with a nurse and GP on hand. A corner shop and restaurant cut the need for, or reduce the frequency of, shopping trips, or the expense of cooking for one.

And as the weather deteriorates, it is a comfort to know that the paths and roads at the village will be kept clear of snow.

There are also advantages that you can’t put a price on, such as avoiding loneliness, often cited as ‘the hidden killer’. There is no loneliness in a kinship of like-minded individuals, all looking out for each other, socialising and working together for their mutual support.

Bill Gair is chief executive of Urban Renaissance Villages, and is also a village resident.

Call 01428 722800 www.bramshottplace.co.uk