PAB
____________________________________________________________________________
December 2013 Newsletter
Welcome to the last newsletter of 2013. In it you will find feedback from the 2013 Low Vision Day, details of coffee mornings for the next few months, ways in which you can get involved in campaigning for bus services and other news of services and activities.
Chairman’s Chat
Just a few brief words to say that we are now nearly at the end our centennial year. An eventful year in which the PAB has progressed steadily and achieved much but of course there is always a lot more to do.
Throughout the year, the PAB has attracted more members, more volunteers and a part-time office co-ordinator to help ensure that the PAB provides an ever-improving service for members.
The PAB is now well established at Centre 68 in Westgate, which is still only a small office but the beating heart of the
PAB! Did you know that the Association has moved six times during the last twenty years?
If you want to know more about what has been happening at the PAB during the last twelve months then come and hear the
Chairman’s report at the Annual General Meeting.

Until then, may I offer my very Best Wishes to you all for a
Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.
Christmas Coffee Morning Wednesday 11th December
Don't forget the Christmas Coffee morning at St Peter's and All
Souls Church Hall, Fitzwilliam Street from 10.30am to noon on
Wednesday 11th December. The choir of All Saints Church will be with us as well as another seasonal guest.
PAB's Annual General Meeting Wednesday 22nd January
2014
Please come along to PAB's Annual General Meeting on
Wednesday 22nd January at St Peter's and All Souls Church
Hall in Fitzwilliam Street at 11am, with coffee available from
10.30.
If you would like to nominate somebody for the committee, please contact Barbara at the office (01733 344 844).
The Peterborough Low Vision Day September 2013
The fourth Peterborough Low Vision Day on 26th September was held at the Bull Hotel Conference Centre in Westgate.
There were fewer exhibitors than previous years as there was less space for them, but this year over 300 visitors took advantage of the central location of the hotel and better weather than last year! It was a very busy day and exhibitors were very pleased with the level of interest in the products and services they were promoting.
However the venue was not ideal for visitors and the
Peterborough Low Vision Forum, a group of local organisations providing services for blind and partially sighted people in
Peterborough (including PAB) will be looking for a venue for next year that combines the advantages of the previous venues but hopefully closer to the city centre.
During the day visitors were invited to two seminars to discuss with service providers (statutory and charities) what is good in

Peterborough and what could be better. Several positive points were made - hospital transport schemes, input by voluntary groups, the difference a guide dog can make, useful technology and volunteers at the hospital. Several suggestions emerged about how things could be improved including better information and signage at the hospital, improved employment opportunities and better awareness of the needs of blind and partially sighted people through training of anyone providing customer services particularly bus drivers.
The need for improved partnership working was also raised - the Low Vision Forum will be working on this over the next few months.
Bus User Group
The next meeting of the Peterborough Bus User Meeting will be on Wednesday December 11th from 2 - 4pm at the
Council Chamber room, Town Hall, Peterborough.
The meeting will focus on the findings from the recent workshop which identified issues regarding bus users' experiences in and around Peterborough. The meeting which is open to all will look to identify how we develop local campaigns we can deliver over the next 12 months.
We need your help to actively change the future of bus travel for Peterborough.
There will also be an opportunity from 4pm to 5pm for people to discuss their concerns with council representatives regarding the former 406 service.
Further information can be provided by contacting either
George Woods on 02075298051 email: woodsg@tssa.org.uk
or
Helen Sismore 08453727425 or email: helen.sismore@guidedogs.org.uk
New Minor Illness and Injury Unit

The services at the Walk-in centre, located at the City Care
Centre in Thorpe Road, have been upgraded to a minor illness and injury unit (MIIU). The unit will be led by staff with both nursing and medical backgrounds with enhanced skills, enabling them to see, treat and discharge patients independently and provide a range of urgent care services in
Peterborough. The new unit will offer access to a wider range of treatments and facilities including diagnostics such as xrays, which will reduce the need for people to attend A&E with non-life threatening illnesses and injuries.
The unit is open from 8am to 8pm 365 days a year and is staffed by a team of clinicians including doctors & nurses.
Two important Peterborough public realm improvement
schemes:
City Centre - Long Causeway Improvement Scheme
This scheme is the next phase of the council’s public realm improvement works in the city centre. The works will start from April to late Summer 2014. The proposed improvements will match those successfully carried out in Bridge Street. They will create the same brighter, lighter, street scene and maintain the ‘Green Axis’ of these two important streets in the city centre. In addition to new paving, seating and lighting, a new square and meeting place with public art will be created mid way along Long Causeway and opposite the entrance to
Queensgate.
Bourges Boulevard Improvement Scheme (Crescent
Bridge to Bright Street)
In April 2014 the council will start work to transform the section of Bourges Boulevard between Crescent Bridge and
Bright Street to give it a genuine boulevard character and appearance.
The design principles are to create a positive gateway to the city; support the redevelopment of the Station Development
Quarter and the North Westgate Development Area, and improve pedestrian connections between the railway station and the city centre. The works will see the widening of the

central reservation and planting about 30 mature London Place trees, 12-15 metres tall along the central reservation and footway providing a boulevard effect, repaving, other landscaping works and public art integrated into the scheme.
In addition to viewing and downloading the plans from http://www.peterborough.gov.uk/community_information/cons ultation_and_engagement/current_consultations.aspx
you can view the plans for Long Causeway and Bourges Boulevard
Improvement Scheme (Crescent Bridge to Bright Street) as well as the proposals for the new Waitrose (former Royal Mail
Depot on Mayor’s Walk) at a public exhibition at the Great
Northern Hotel on Thursday 5 th December 2013 between 11am to 4pm.
An exhibition of the proposed Long Causeway Improvement
Scheme (and Bourges Boulevard Improvement Scheme) will be held at St Johns Church, Church Street on Monday 9 th
December between 2pm and 7.30pm. Officers will be on hand at both venues to explain the schemes and answer any questions
Consultation will be open until 20 December and you can send your comments by email to
builtenvironment@peterborough.gov.uk or by post to: Jim
Daley, Planning Services, Peterborough City Council, Stuart
House East Wing, St John’s Street, Peterborough, PE1 5DD.
Cross Keys Homes new care services
Cross Keys Care have recently launched a new care service which provides help with activities such as washing, dressing, cooking, medication and cleaning. They are also offering
‘companionship’ services, accompanying people to medical appointments to ensure they understand what is said, take people shopping instead of shopping for them, and taking them out for social events or visits such as to garden centres. Cross
Keys Care will not offer less than 30 minute care appointments, to ensure clients receive a good level of service.
Sporting Saturday 2014

On Saturday 18 January 2014 the Mayor’s Charity Committee is organising a day of stands, stalls and exhibitions showcasing the many organisations, clubs and venues which offer accessible sport and leisure activities for disabled and older people in the Peterborough area. The event will take place at the Cresset, and be attended by local guests to include the
Mayor, Cllr June Stokes and Mayoress, Karien Gait,
Peterborough City Council CEO Gillian Beasley, Council Leader,
Marco Cereste, and Peterborough MP Stewart Jackson.
Celebrity guests have also been invited. There will also be
“taster sessions” for people to try activities such as indoor archery, bowls, soccer, cricket and more leisurely pursuits like arts and crafts. The sporting and leisure showcase and taster sessions last from 10.00am to 4.00pm, and Sue Ryder will conclude the proceedings with a Fashion Show and disco.
PAB will be there on the day, so do come and say hello.
Coffee Morning Dates
January to June 2014
Coffee mornings take place every 2 nd and 4 th Wednesday of each month at St. Peter and All Souls Church Hall, Fitzwilliam
Street, Peterborough, starting at 10.30 am and finishing at
12.00 noon. Future dates for your diary are:
Wednesday 8th January
Wednesday 22nd January (including the PAB AGM)
Wednesday 12th February
Wednesday 26th February
Wednesday 12th March (with Debbie James from
DeafBlind Enablement)
Wednesday 26th March
Wednesday 9th April
Wednesday 23rd April
Wednesday 14th May
Wednesday 28th May
Wednesday 11th June
Wednesday 25th June

200+ Club
Thank you to all of you who have taken out shares and renewed their 200+ Club subscriptions, which help us fund this newsletter. Shares are still available, and you can obtain an application form at any coffee morning, where the draws are held each month, or from the office. Lucky winners for the last draws were:
11 September Mrs Pam Watling £50
Mrs C Hart £30
Miss M Preston £20
9 October Mrs Elizabeth Barrett £50
D Hayward £30
E Kisby £20
13 November Mrs Joan Walter £50
Mr Alan Joyce £30
Mrs Sue Beasley £20
0FFICE CLOSURE
The office will close for the Christmas holiday period on
Thursday 19 December and reopen on Tuesday 7 January 2014
Very best wishes for a happy and peaceful holiday period from the PAB Committee
__________________________________________________
Peterborough Association for the Blind
Centre 68, 68b Westgate, Peterborough, PE1 1RG
Tel: 01733 344 844