Now… Not quite so handy Lewisham.
07 Oct 2018
Dear LPG
I read with interest your article entitled ‘Alarms we sometimes ignore and forget to maintain.’, which was posted on July 1st 2018, and I have to say that LPG and PB are quiet right; this is something that I have been truly meaning to get organised for quite some time.
For me the problem is not buying a carbon monoxide alarm, but I think that I would have some trouble getting it put up on the ceiling. I am not as young as I used to be and the thought of climbing a ladder and having a go is a lot less attractive as my sense of balance is failing.
It is also the case that as I get older, there are fewer people I know who I can ask these days.
I thought of the Lewisham Handy Persons’ scheme, but I remembered hearing that Lewisham Council were going to discontinue running it and so my alarm remains in the packet waiting for me to work out how to get it installed.
I went to Lewisham Peoples’ day at the beginning of July and, while there met an LPG representative who asked what issues I thought should be added to their pages, and when I mentioned this situation, promised to do a little research.
I have used this vital service in the past but, when it came to an end, there appeared to be very little information publicised about what would replace it. I understand that there is now an alternative service that one has to pay for which, depending on the charge, I would be willing to use although I am sure that there are quite a lot of people who would find a charge really hard to afford.
There were many jobs that they used to do, such as installing a carbon monoxide alarm, which were thought to be important for the safety of the older and more infirm amongst us elders, but in spite of that, the council appear to be chipping away at all the facilities that we thought we paid for while working and having national insurance payments taken out of our wages for all our working lives. And this is happening at a time when more and more statistics produced show that more and more elders now live alone and are among the number of the official UK poor.
GE, Catford
LPG asked a few questions and found out that there are two things that Lewisham Residents can do if they need some DIY help and can find no other way to get the help they need. Lewisham Homes will help if you are one of their tenants or not, but there is a fee of £40.00 per hour for their services and that also appears to be the minimum charge for any work they take on, even if the job takes them less than an hour. Their telephone number is 0208 314 7171 or Freephone 0800 028 2028.
Age UK have a London Business Directory. Age UK vet all the traders and businesses included on the directory adding that they charge competitive prices for the work that they do. Their telephone number is 020 8690 9060 while the telephone number for their directory is Freephone 0800 334 5056.
