Positive thinking, polish up your profile, staying safer and the NHS - again. (5 minute read)

 Hi Swantv Viewer          

Be Positive    Kiwi Shoe Polish   Safer Swansea Neighbourhood Watch   NHS                                                                                                                             

 All I read about in the papers and see on the news is negative. So how does that make you feel? Particularly at the moment? Christmas, the happiness of being with your family, good food, not working was an uplifting time. Now January is here, cold, windy and wet, so no wonder we are all feeling low and wondering how the future will pan out.

Well it is time to be positive.  And here are 5 ways to make yourself have postive thoughts:

• Every morning over coffee write down 3 things that you are grateful for, and these could be quite simple. For example the sun is shining, you are going to enjoy a happy evening with your partner or family, someone smiled at you, you achieved something no matter how small.
  
• Go for a brisk 10 minute walk or do some exercises that make you breathless. This will increase your heart rate and will make you feel good about yourself. Do this every day.
• When you are dressing look in the mirror, smile and think how good you look. You could write "Super Star" on the mirror so you see it when you look at yourself!
• Stop watching the news or reading depressing newspapers. They make their money through sensational articles and bad news. 
• Try to do a simple Act of Kindness every day, if possible. Simple things like help an elderly or blind person across the road, talk to someone maybe at a bus stop or when you are queueing in a shop - just smile and comment on the weather or something that has happened and add "How are you today". There are a lot of lonely and unhappy people everywhere today. When you fo an Act of KIndness you cheer the other person and you will feel better too.

I see the shoe polish company Kiwi will stop selling in the UK because demand has dropped. Kiwi was originally an Australian company and the name was decided as the native flightless bird of New Zealand where the owner's wife came from. The polish was favourite with the

Australian and British armies, whose soldiers always presented in perfect uniforms and highly polished boots, and still do today.. 

As a lad I remember having to polish my fathers, my two sisters and my own shoes every evening ready for the next day. My grandfather had a green apron he wore just for polishing  his shoes. Now most people wear trainers and leather shoes are only worn on formal occasions by a minority. I guess they are more comfortable! I recall going into Clarke shoe shops and standing on an x-ray machine so the shop assistant could decide on the correct size and width. It was said that this helped feet to grow well and not be deformed. Trainers have soft coverings so this is not so relevant.

Polished shoes were associated with dressing smartly. My shirts were always ironed as were my trousers with a straight crease down front and rear. I wore a suit, shirt and tie for almost all my working life and still do on special occasions. I till feel that it is important to start my day with a shower and shave, dressing appropriately for what I am doing. It is strange for me to hear of some home workers staying in pyjamas and dressing gown for the morning, or even whole day. Call me old fashioned but I still feel that I am more efficient when dressed. 

Today I had a talk with Paul Evans of Safer Swansea, whose responsibility is to promote safety in Swansea and combat crime. One of the things we discussed was Neighbourhood Watch, something I am very interested in. Around 1987 I formed a group in Watford  and eventually signed up more than 80% of the residents on the Tudor Estate where I lived. I remember producing a monthly printed newsletter (the internet was in it's infancy then) and we had monthly meetings in the local pub where the landlord gave us free use of the first floor

meeting room. He did that because many members bought beers in the bar to drink during the meeting. 

The interesting thing is that we did watch out for anything suspicious but we also informed the neighbours of any area problems, a fallen tree, accident that closed a road and so on. We also knew which neighbours were vulnerable because they lived alone, were elderly or disabled and were able to 

 We had no mobile phones but a regular system where one person called 5 people who in turn called another 5 each and these call more so that information was passed quickly. An interesting additional benefit is that you will often be able to reduce your home insurance premiums if you can show there is an active group in your street by as much as 10%.

The days of knowing all your neighbours in the street have sadly passed in most places, especially large towns and cities, but that shouldn't stop you from wanting to keep yourselves and others safe. It's never been a question of nosy neighbours but just being alert. Neighbourhood Watch is not peering out through the curtains to see what is happening but merely being alert. Let's make Swansea safer than it already is, let's deter criminals and ensure everyone  You can see that I am passionate about Neighbourhood Watch and believe it is good for everyone in the community and we will be promoting this during 2023 on SwanTV. 

And back to the NHS. I've been so very lucky. 3 letters arrived on Thursday with appointments for various tests and scans that my hospital consultant has arranged for me. And I hear of
people waiting longer than ever, long ambulance queues waiting to discharge patients into A & E, and then long delays whilst waiting to be seen by a doctor and treated, patients fit and able to be discharged from wards being detained because there is no care plan in place either whenthey are sent home or in a care home, care homes being unable to take more residents because of staff shortages.And a high percentage of doctors and nurses leaving the NHS whilst replacements are not coming forward to be trained. It is pretty obvious that governments have failed miserably over the years in training, offering decent salaries and building sufficient new hospitals or updating existing buildings and equipment.  Promises have been made by governments over and over by both Tory and Labour and now it is time for action.

In Wales Mark Drakeford and his merry men should now take action and use the powers they asked for and received from Westminster, one of which is the power to increase taxes. Yes life is tough but if the NHS declines further then life will be yet still tougher with longer waiting for operations, the exudus of more staff, no-one wanting to train as a doctor or nurse, and possibly the only solution then being to use private health facilities. Lack of investment now will be a heavy burden on many and in fact will mean that they won't be able to afford treatment at all for their ailments. In Australia it cost up to £580 to call out an emergency ambulance, imagine that charge here plus hospital care charges. We have to be realistic and, despite the cost-of-living crisis we should realise that the NHS is the backbone of our way of living. We have dropped from offering the best health care to way down the line. Nursing now is not just a calling but a profession that should be treated as such. Remember clapping outside our doors? Does that mean nothing now? The next person needing an emergency ambulance or hospital care might be someone close to you, a family member, close friend. How will this crisis affect them . . . and you?

SwanTV is your local TV station and we want to hear your views. Want to come to our studio and have your say? Record yourself on your smartphone and send us a copy but use it landscape and not portrait please. 

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Director Swantv Community Interest Company Ltd