Author Archives: wendy

Anger as lone parents face benefit cuts

May 20, 2012   Carers, charities, family, ukcuts

Short notice of welfare shake-up hits 124,000 now under increased pressure to find work

 

A young mother with her daughter outside her home on a council estate in Bristol.

Charities have spoken of their fury over changes to the welfare system which from tomorrow will force unemployed single parents with children about to start school to find a job or risk losing part or all of their benefits.

These 124,000 single parents with children aged five and six were given only eight weeks notice of the fact that they would have to move from income support to jobseeker’s allowance (JSA). Previously, lone parents of older children have been given up to 12 months notice, giving them a greater chance of planning ahead and improving their skills and qualifications.

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Help is on hand for dementia sufferers in Worcester

May 20, 2012   Alzheimer’s, Carers, dementia

A CARE home is opening its doors to people who look after loved ones or friends with dementia.

8:10am Sunday 20th May 2012

A CARE home is opening its doors to people who look after loved ones or friends with dementia.

Regent Care Home in School Road, St John’s, is hosting a dementia awareness afternoon between 2pm and 4pm tomorrow, where carers can find out more about the support available to them.

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The GPS ‘smart shoe’ that can track Alzheimer’s sufferers on Google Maps if they go missing

May 18, 2012   Alzheimer’s, Carers

GPS technology can help Alzheimer’s sufferers and their carers, with the release of a shoe that tracks the wearer’s position and plots their position on Google Maps.

By Eddie Wrenn

PUBLISHED: 15:11, 18 May 2012 | UPDATED: 15:33, 18 May 2012

GPS technology can help Alzheimer’s sufferers and their carers, with the release of a shoe that tracks the wearer’s position and plots their position on Google Maps.

The GPS Smart Shoe embeds a GPS receiver and SIM card to send the shoe’s position to a private tracking website – helping to find people if they wander off.

With 800,000 sufferers in the UK – which is predicted to expand to one million within the next decade, manufacture Aetrex said they wanted to use technology to enable extra support.

The shoes and the GPS receiver sends co-ordinates to a tracking website, so they can be found if they go missing

The shoes are available for both men and women, with either straps or shoelaces, and goes for around £300 a pair, with a monthly service plan of £30.

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