NEWTON St Cyres Community Support Group met in the Clubroom of the Parish Hall on Saturday, October 10, to hear John Musty from Age Concern Crediton talk about how to keep warm in winter, how to make sure our houses are draft free and the consequences of getting cold and losing body heat.

John explained that Age Concern Crediton supply transport for the housebound, provide lunches for the elderly to go to and enjoy and visit people in their own homes as company. Volunteers are always needed to help with these essential services.

Some of the points John raised were:

Make sure that chimneys are kept swept, even if it only has a gas fire in the grate

Gas cookers need ventilation so an open window will provide this while the cooker is on

Fumes can escape from gas fires so adequate ventilation is essential

Do not make your house completely sealed – some ventilation is always needed

Keep moving around, at least for about 10 minutes every hour

Intake of fluid is very important – drink at least two pints every day

Your intake of calories is important too, make sure you eat properly

Wear several layers of thinner clothes rather than a heavy fleece or sweater

Keep a torch handy

Make sure you have more than one clock so that you can be sure to take medicines correctly or make that important telephone call if someone is expecting you to telephone

Keep a list of contact telephone numbers to hand including the non-emergency number of 101

Take keys out of locks when locking up your doors and do not use bolts on the inside of doors. If someone is trying to get in to help you with a key then bolts or keys left in the lock will make this impossible.

The next meeting of the Group will be on Saturday, December 12.

This will be a social occasion when we will bring along some seasonal food to share and Jacqui and Maureen will devise some quizzes and fun games with prizes!

There will also be a raffle at this event. Please let Jacqui know if you can provide any food on 01392 851918 so that she can co-ordinate the refreshments!

Jill Baker