Group News
Guernsey Young Consumer Group continues to be active. Recent surveys have included testing out the quality of :
The YCG has representation on the Guernsey Police Consultative Council and that, it seems to the Editor, is quite an achievement.
Tyneside Consumers' Group
The Group is carrying out a project to identify the oldest working electrical appliances in the hands of members. This has excited media interest. Their findings so far, published in Tyne Buy, the Group's magazine, are that among the Group there are a number of appliances which have had a much longer useful life than might have been expected.
Hand mixers seem to last; two Kenwood Cheffettes and a Phillips, dating from the 1960s are still in regular use and working perfectly. Liquidisers of the same vintage did not last. It is perhaps surprising to learn that electric radiant fires and fan heaters also seem to last well. One family has three radiant fires from the 1960s or even earlier which are still in perfect working order though, admittedly, only used occasionally and when no children are around. Five early 1960s fan heaters made by HMV and Morphy Richards have been found, in regular use for short periods of time. Editor John Brown has a very old but substantially made one in his office, marked "Cavendish - Made in England", which works well but is rather noisy. It lights up with a red bulb inside.
Other old appliances still in use include a Bridges power drill new in 1959, a Singer sewing machine from 1963, and a Hotpoint cooker from 1966.
The Group makes the point that it is essential that electrical appliances are maintained in a safe condition and warns users never to make repairs themselves if they are unsure of their competence in doing so.
Any Old Irons?
Do you have any domestic electrical appliances older than these? Tyneside Group would be interested to know about them. They plan to find out which manufacturer made the longest lasting ones. Tyne Buy's Editor is Mrs Dorothy Craig, 35 Graham Park Rd., Newcastle upon Tyne. NE3 4BJ. (0191 285 2879).
Elsewhere Individual member Mike Holmden mentions clearing away the mail as an important task to do before going away on holiday. The problem remains with the build up of mail when you are away. In Tyne Buy there is mention of a Royal Mail service "Royal Mail Keepsafe" whereby the delivery office will hold on to your mail for any period you want up to two months. The charges are reasonable - one day and up to two weeks - £5, rising to £15 for two months. Recorded delivery items are held for one week then returned to sender but a dated "While you were out" card is kept with your Keepsafe mail.
Bromley Group
Bromley and District Consumer Group's magazine is called Watchdog. It used to be a bulldog but in recent times many dogs have been featured. In February it was a pointer, in April a very handsome Dalmatian.
The Group's recent AGM was followed by a talk about an enterprise called Kentish Fare. This is an organisation to promote all the best in food and drink production in Kent and neighbouring counties. A surprising number of members are vineyards. A "celebration of Kentish fare" is being held throughout the area from may to October. Of interest to readers outside Kent is the fact that there are a number of similar promotional groups doing a similar job for their producers. Judging by the food and wine festival put on at Leeds Castle (in Kent) it is well worth while looking out for such events near you.
Sandwich Survey
Bromley Group carried out a survey in the town to check out availability and value for money as there are now a considerable number of sandwich outlets. They also considered the savings in resources and reduction of environmental impact when sandwiches were made locally. Readers may wonder whether this is important but, it turns out that, for large stores, sandwiches are distributed from central sandwich making sources and not made on the premises. These include Marks and Spencer, Safeway, Waitrose, Boots, Superdrug and Sainsbury. Alldays and Dillons chain stores sandwiches are not branded as their own and some came from as far away as Cornwall.
Some petrol stations had a good range of sandwiches and, in some cases, obtained supplies from Q8 (itself a petrol supply chain) in Bromley. Others came from Somerset.
Small shops, bakeries and sandwich bars where the places to obtain locally or made on the premises sandwiches.
The surveyors concluded that sandwiches were deservedly popular, with a wide range to suit all tastes and pockets.
The Group wrote to all retailers whose sandwiches appeared to have travelled some distance, asking where they were made and about the company environmental policy. The only reply received by the April deadline was from Marks and Spencer who provided a copy of their environmental policy. This sets out aims to reduce all levels of natural resources consumed, create less waste and save costs(of course). M & S has introduces a gas (LPG) powered vehicle with low exhaust emissions and an eco-friendly silent nitrogen chill unit for London deliveries.
M & S sandwiches sold in Bromley could have been made in any one of several sandwich suppliers in Northampton, Luton, Sheffield or Lincolnshire. [900]
Bath Group
The Bath and District Consumer Group Newsletter carries advertising for local shops, two butchers, an estate agent, an optician, a carpet warehouse, a hardware store and a fruiterer and florist and carries the slogan" "SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL SHOPS. THEY ALSO SAY THAT WHILE THEY ARE VERY GRATEFUL FOR THE ADVERTISING SUPPORT THEY DO NOT ENDORSE THE SERVICES ADVERTISED.
Inside, the newsletter carries a report on Surgery Practice Leaflets. They do not do things by half in Bath, they visited thirteen practices and reviewed their leaflets and found three others where no leaflets were available as they were being reprinted, in two cases since last September!
Standards vary considerable as does size. Some practices produce glossy booklets containing so much information that it is difficult to find the really important items such as emergency telephone numbers. Some contain self help advice which the Group thinks it would be more appropriate to print separately on a card which is given to patients on their first visit.
The best leaflet the group found was from a non-fundholding practice. It was attractive and easy to read and contained all essential information on an A4 card, folded into four to fit easily into a pocket or handbag.
Some leaflets were difficult to read because the print was small, especially difficult for older patients, or the colours inappropriate. The Group found that certain colours showed up the print much better than others - black on gold on yellow is good, blue print on blue paper is, not surprisingly, difficult to read. May leaflets could be improved without extra cost at the next reprint and would make all the difference to the ease with which patients used them.
The spring issue of The Oxford Consumer contains the news that the Energy Efficiency Advice Centre in Oxford is closing. There are, or were, a number of these branches of the Energy Saving Trust but it seems they are closing through lack of Government funding despite the fact that John Waite featured this shocking decision in his programme "Face the Facts" on 15th January.
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