Minutes GREEN SENIORS AGM 8 NOVEMBER 2019

Minutes GREEN SENIORS AGM 8 NOVEMBER 2019

5.30 pm at Café Caritas 30 Euston Square, London NW1 2FB

1. Election of Green Seniors’ committee 2019/20

 Co-Chairs: MAUREEN CHILDS greenseniorsuk@gmail.com/ NOEL LYNCH: noellynch@lineone.net
Secretary: PETER MURRY yrrumuk@googlemail.com
Acting Treasurer: MAUREEN CHILDS

Media Officer ERWIN SCHAEFER

2. Finances: agreed that Maureen Childs would investigate opening a bank account. All committee members to be signatories.

3. Report on Green Seniors’ activities 2018-9 including Minutes Green Seniors’ meeting: Friday 16 August 2019. Minutes agreed for accuracy.

MATTERS ARISING

a) Maureen to update on LOPSIG

b) Positive Ageing meeting at City Hall discussed outsourcing and London Strategy for Age Friendly cities. Next meeting Toynbee Hall (nr Aldgate) 4 December 2019 1-4pm

c) TfL bus route cuts 10, RV1, not adequately signposted Maureen Childs, Erwin Schaefer to attend future meetings.

d) TV licenses, BBC to pay for licences for those aged 75+ Apparently only for those on benefits. Noted that those aged 75+ had lived through ww2.

e) Erwin Schaefer wrote article on “Are pensioners to blame for Brexit?” – A personal view by an enraged EU citizen” which appeared in Watermelon autumn 2019 see http://greenleftblog.blogspot.com/p/w-t-e-r-m-e-l-o-n-conference-newsletter_9.html , now posted on GS blog at  https://greenseniors.blogspot.com/2019/11/are-pensioners-to-blame-for-brexit.html

f) GP Disability group co-ordinator is Paul Weaver. London Federation Disability Officer is Zi Neil, Erwin to introduce her to Maureen.

g) Maureen is now the Special Officer for Diversity at the British Computer Society

h) British Computer Society asked by House of Lords for evidence that IT can assist with well-being. Suggested that M. Childs contact Baroness Jones about this, who replied that this was not within her remit

i) . Noel Lynch to provide membership update.

j) email problems, size limits, no attachments, banning of members (?)

k) Erwin to investigate possible 5G problems.

l) LB Barnet is abolishing the public right to speak at council meetings. (?) . Noel Lynch to check.

4. Green Seniors’ constitution and aims agreed see http://greenseniors.blogspot.com/p/green-seniors-re-formed-29th-november.html

5 Green Seniors’ meeting a GP Autumn conference 2019 notes at http://greenseniors.blogspot.com/2019/10/minutes-green-seniors-meeting-6102019.html

6 Future events and activities including social media

a) National Pensioners Convention (https://www.npcuk.org)

·         Maureen to pay NPC sub, to be reimbursed from GS bank account.

·         Maureen to circulate details of NPC activities

·         Maureen is on NPC digital working group. Reported that 20% of the population don’t use the internet  

b) Fundraising walk led by Roy Vickery (ex Natural History Museum, currently South London Botanical Institute) 24 November 2019, approx. 2hrs meet East Finchley tube 2pm £10/8 concessions, proceeds to Barnet GP.

6. AOB

a) GROUNDSWELL - THE GRASSROOTS BATTLE FOR THE NHS AND DEMOCRACY is a moving, inspiring David and Goliath documentary about ordinary Britons challenging the free marketeers’ annexation of the NHS and 40-year dominance of our society. A unique, wide-ranging, revelatory personal journey by filmmaker John Furse on the pulse of our times.

Filmed mostly by the director between 2015-18, using cheap domestic cameras, and edited at home with Gus Coral, this independently made documentary features powerful testimony from Professor Stephen Hawking and NHS staff, with a moving climax by dying actor Dudley Sutton.

Guest Speakers: filmmaker John Furse. Larry Sanders, the Green Party spokesperson on Health and Social Care will also be attending.

Recommended Donation: £4/person (to cover room hire)

Trailer

Those interested in finding their local campaign groups:

www.healthcampaignstogether.com
www.999callfornhs.org.uk

Contacts:

John Furse: http://bit.ly/GroundswellNHSFilm

 

 Date And Time

Tue, November 12, 2019

7:00 PM – 9:00 PM GMT

Add to Calendar

Location

The Tabernacle

34-35 Powis Square

London

W11 2AY

View Map

b) Wales gov’t tablet loan scheme for seniors: more info needed.

c) Maureen Childs now on the board of Age UK London

7. Date of next meeting 31 January 2020 at 6pm meeting at the Green Room 7 Grand Arcade Tally Ho Corner North Finchley 

“Are pensioners to blame for brexit?” – A personal view by an enraged EU citizen by Erwin Schaefer

 “Are pensioners to blame for brexit?” – A personal view by an enraged EU citizen

You’ve heard this before: ‘The older generation is responsible for brexit, they voted to leave.’ You may also have heard this: ‘The younger generation is responsible for brexit; they did not bother to vote.’ Both generalisations are obviously incorrect and annoying to those misrepresented. We can see on every march, on every campaign event, at any leafleting street stall, how many silver-surfers are actively opposed to breaking up our relationship with our European neighbours.

It is likely to be worse still for older pro-EU activists in areas regarded as ‘leave-supporting’. But even in locations exceeding 70-75% this still means that one out of four or five of those who actually voted chose ‘remain’ across all age groups. How do they feel being lazily, and incorrectly, labelled?  Of course, this goes both ways – London is regarded as strong pro-EU territory but 1.5 million voters still opted the other way.

The younger generation has over the last three years jumped at the chance to brush off the accusations of apathy and indifference – be it through political engagement, campaigning at concerts and events and a whole new ecological dimension, based on the realisation of a climate emergency.  Perhaps not every campaign and protest step taken has turned out to be flawless, nevertheless there’s an engaging energy-flow transcending topics ranging from the climate crisis via social injustice to free movement and an internationalist outlook. And they make sure they are visible on social media.

And how is the older generation being portrayed in the media? There are the odd news stories, bordering on quaint quirkiness in their reporting; about grandmothers being ‘exposed’ as secretly chalking antibrexit messages. The endearing impression in the visual media still remains the image of a cloth-capped gent or a scarf-wearing lady talking in a regional accent about how ‘we will take back control’; with all other nuances of views conveniently ignored.

But hasn’t the older generation only itself to blame for this sorry state of affairs? If statistics are anything to go by, ‘We, the Elders’ had the highest leave-vote ratio in the referendum of any age group. And how much effective energy have ‘We, the Elders’ invested into changing the perception of us as a stubborn, obstinate age group?

At this point we could usefully add some observations along with some empathy. The older generation does have something that younger generations are still in the process of acquiring: a potential for broken dreams, combined with the challenges of advancing years. The austerity decade has had a profound effect on all segments of society, accentuating problems with precarious life-planning by people already struggling to stay afloat to keep their self-respect intact.  Experiences such as these tend to affect middle-aged or older people disproportionally if their options keep diminishing at the same time. In my own 20s I had the energy to make a new start in a new country. Now, in my 60s, I can understand the resentment by people who feel their struggles to feel valued and respected to be under threat. Civic pride is easily eroded with constant media exposure to alleged, or indeed real, incidents of a society in crisis with the accompanying blame-game and appeal to the ‘strong’ personality to make everything right again.

It is possible to be a proud and engaged citizen of a great country and still have an open internationalist outlook, while acknowledging the challenges faced by society. Evidence for this can be found across Europe. Sadly, it is not easy to recreate such a mindset once it’s severely damaged. And how would this be done, given the media landscape responsible for much of the damage?

I conclude that a generational blame-game is unhelpful in our political circumstances. Emphasising a path forward based on green ideas, a Green New Deal, resisting austerity- and encouraging a confident internationalist outlook – all embodied in the Green Party Manifesto – might be the one sensible way forward, in a confident and cooperative partnership as a proud member of the European Union. Done sensibly, with empathy and understanding, giving people a chance to re-evaluate their choice without being labelled, and promoting policies that empower rather than disempower, this approach would have a chance to bring together all affected communities instead of setting them off against each other.

(Erwin Schaefer – West Central London Green Party secretary and membership officer) 28 August 2019

Wednesday 27 November 2019 (noon), Trafalgar Square, Pensioners' Network supports NPC campaign

https://www.tuc.org.uk/tuc-lese-pensioners-network

Capitalism Didn’t Make the iPhone, You iMbecile

Capitalism Didn’t Make the iPhone, You iMbecile

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8jTCBirELDU

Economist Rob Larson explains why the free market isn't the force of innovation it's commonly believed to be. Support Current Affairs: http://currentaffairs.org/donate Buy Rob's book: https://www.johnhuntpublishing.com/ze... For more on the state's role in innovation see Mariana Mazzucato's "The Entrepreneurial State": https://marianamazzucato.com/entrepre...

In Pursuit of a Common Wealth | Interview with George Monbiot

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FyP6zkWLJTE  

Novara Media

CRIBE

George Monbiot is a writer and activist. He is the founder of The Land is Ours, a campaign for the right of access to the countryside and its resources in the United Kingdom. His latest book, Out of the Wreckage: a new politics for an age of crisis sketches a new political story, tailored to the needs of the 21st Century, to replace the failed models of the 20th, with which we are currently still stuck. Eleanor met with George at the World Transformed Festival to discuss Labour's plans for a Green New Deal, the transferring of wealth away from private hands to the commons, and the need to address colonialism and include the Global South in demands for tackling the climate crisis.

MINUTES GREEN SENIORS MEETING 6/10/2019 at Green Party Conference, Newport

1) P.Murry introduced Green Seniors  mentioning that:

·      Membership of GS is open to all GP members who are interested in ‘senior’ issues, irrespective of age.

·      GS meets regularly in London, but members are encouraged to set local/regional groups.

·      Details of GS’ aims, constitution, current committee and minutes of previous GS meetings can be found at https://greenseniors.blogspot.com/ which is linked from the GP members’ site.

·      GS also has a twitter account and a facebook page which needs updating.

·      Maureen Childs regularly organises visits to places and events of interest in and around London for GS members.

·      GS is affiliated to  the National Pensioners Convention (https://www.npcuk.org)

·      GS, along with some other internal GP groups, is being offered £400 to fund it’s activities. To use this it will be necessary to open a bank account and elect a Treasurer to run it.

2) TV Licenses campaign, GS members had supported this, but some felt that it was an example of how many older people were privileged in terms of housing, income etc relative to younger generations.

3) In the context of GP and elsewhere the experience of seniors was often ignored

4) GP local/regional parties should make age profiles of their memberships.

5) Some members present proposed to liaise in order to organise a GS conference.

Next meeting GREEN SENIORS AGM 8 NOVEMBER 2019

5.30 pm at Café Caritas 30 Euston Square, London NW1 2FB

1. Introductions and alterations to agenda

2. report on Green Seniors’ activities 2018-9 including Minutes Green Seniors’ meeting: Friday 16 August 2019

3. Election of Green Seniors’ committee 2019/20

Nominations are invited for the following posts

 Co-Chairs
Secretary

Treasurer

Events Officer

Please send Nominations or expressions of interest to Peter Murry, Acting Secretary at yrrumuk@googlemail.com

4. Green Seniors’ constitution

5 Future events and activities including social media

6. AOB

7. Date of next meeting

MINUTES GREEN SENIORS MEETING 6/10/2019 at Green Party Conference, Newport

MINUTES GREEN SENIORS MEETING  6/10/2019 at Green Party Conference, Newport

1) P.Murry introduced Green Seniors  mentioning that:

·      Membership of GS is open to all GP members who are interested in ‘senior’ issues, irrespective of age.

·      GS meets regularly in London, but members are encouraged to set local/regional groups.

·      Details of GS’ aims, constitution, current committee and minutes of previous GS meetings can be found at https://greenseniors.blogspot.com/ which is linked from the GP members’ site.

·      GS also has a twitter account and a facebook page which needs updating.

·      Maureen Childs regularly organises visits to places and events of interest in and around London for GS members.

·      GS is affiliated to  the National Pensioners Convention (https://www.npcuk.org)

·      GS, along with some other internal GP groups, is being offered £400 to fund it’s activities. To use this it will be necessary to open a bank account and elect a Treasurer to run it.

2) TV Licenses campaign, GS members had supported this, but some felt that it was an example of how many older people were privileged in terms of housing, income etc relative to younger generations.

3) In the context of GP and elsewhere the experience of seniors was often ignored

4) GP local/regional parties should make age profiles of their memberships.

5) Some members present proposed to liaise in order to organise a GS conference.

Next meeting GREEN SENIORS AGM 8 NOVEMBER 2019

5.30 pm at Café Caritas 30 Euston Square, London NW1 2FB

1. Introductions and alterations to agenda

2. report on Green Seniors’ activities 2018-9 including Minutes Green Seniors’ meeting: Friday 16 August 2019

3. Election of Green Seniors’ committee 2019/20

Nominations are invited for the following posts

 Co-Chairs
Secretary

Treasurer

Events Officer

Please send Nominations or expressions of interest to Peter Murry, Acting Secretary at yrrumuk@googlemail.com

4. Green Seniors’ constitution

5 Future events and activities including social media

6. AOB

7. Date of next meeting