Dear LPG,

As I am getting older it is getting harder to get out but, for all that, I am sure that I am not the only octogenarian that is determined to live life as independently as possible.  Another thing that I have in common with many others of my age is that I live alone and, as such, I think that one of the most important things needed for me is routine.    I also think that getting out of the house is important and try my best to have an excursion at least four times a week.

Falls are the problem with my strategy here, and as I have become older walking sticks and push trollies have helped a lot but the borough’s streets are gradually proving to be as much and even more of a challenge than ever before. 

The trolley I nearly always take with me is invaluable because it steadies me when I need its help and allows me to move shopping and other things I need to have with me without having to carry them.  I have to admit to being aware that the obstructions found on the roads at times can be a challenge.  The number of bins on the streets was increased last year with the introduction of the grey ones for instance, and the result of Lewisham councils dustbin day’s requirements to householders, do prove to add to the trials of people like me as our eyesight fails a little and the strength we have is tested more when these trolleys need to be steered around such things.   I understand that rubbish has to be collected  but it has to be said that getting the trolley through the maze of them is a trial in itself.

Navigation of the street furniture, as there becomes more and more of it, is difficult but I think that a much bigger barrier to getting around is the road surfaces themselves.   Even with eyesight that is failing a little furniture is easy to see.  We all know about the cracks in the road and often see the marks left by our councils’ workman which appear to be there to highlight parts of the pavements and roads that need attention but  it is what we can’t see which poses the biggest danger.  

Our pavements often are not level which results in my trolley’s need to take itself off in its own direction regardless of where I plan to go and they often slope toward the curb.  When I have it with me, my trolley gives me forewarning of this by pulling me a little off course as I push it but I am even more worried for those who do not use one.

In my opinion there appear to be so many more houses with driveways and consequently, dropped curbs which alter the level surface of the pavement, but the dropped curb is also a warning of the problem it causes so, on the occasions when I am depending on my walking stick I look for the driveways and take special care when passing them, and I hope that passing on this bit of information may help some of my peers.

OL, Catford