Retirement Insight BUS FUND November 2013 Issue 39 | Page 6

We have two centurions to celebrate in this edition
who both reached their 100th birthday in April. Our
congratulations go to Vincent Robinson whose
birthday was on 19th April, and to Eric Clarke who
reached his 100th on 22nd April.
Vincent started work at South
Kirkby colliery, when he was
just 14 years old. At 16 he
left to join the army, serving
in Egypt, Jerusalem and the
Gaza Strip. He later met and
married the local midwife in
Grimethorpe where he became
a plasterer, regularly cycling
to Hemsworth in all weathers,
carrying the tools of his trade,
until the day he retired. Until he was 90 Vincent
enjoyed a daily swim and a 4 mile walk around
Grimethorpe woods. Pictured above, Vincent
now lives in a residential home in Shafton but still
continues to exercise regularly as he has done for
the last 20 years.
Eric, a Bomber Command
veteran, was honoured with a
military award, a fly past by a
Lancaster bomber and enjoyed
a civic reception in Doncaster’s
historic Mansion House, at
which he was presented with
the Bomber Command clasp by
the president of the Royal Air
Force Association, Air Marshall
Sir Dusty Miller.
Way back in 1940 Eric volunteered for Bomber
Command and was accepted as a wireless operator
and air gunner. He was promoted to flight lieutenant
during World War Two before becoming an
instructor at RAF Finningley. After the war he helped
set up the Doncaster branch of the RAF Association.
Our picture shows Eric on the day after his birthday
when he was a guest of the RAF Flying Club,
Waddington, who treated him to a flight.

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new payslip letter, so
well set out and easy to
understand, it could not
be better

“

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“I am impressed with the
This is just one of the positive comments,
regarding the new payslip, which we
received from you via the combined
pension puzzler/survey in the last
edition of this newsletter.
Just over 93% of the responses received were
positive about the changes made to the payslip,
generally commenting that it was an improvement
on the old one, easy to understand and giving all
the necessary information in one place.
Only 6.6% of the responses received felt no
improvements had been made or preferred the
old payslip, with one stating that they were very
dissatisfied with the changes made.
We also asked you to rate our overall performance
and the results showed that 97% of you are
satisfied with our performance, of which 81.6%
are very satisfied. This is very reassuring to know
but, as always, we will be striving to better our rating.
Thank you to everyone who took part in the
survey, all your feedback is very valuable to us.

You may remember that we ran an article
in April’s edition of this newsletter for one
of our retired members, Philip Thompson,
appealing for volunteers who could help
the Barnsley and District Branch of
Parkinson’s UK.
Although there was not a great response, the good
news is that one member who read the article has
now joined the volunteers at the Barnsley branch of
Parkinson’s UK.
Volunteers are still needed, so if you can spare
some time for a very worthwhile and deserving
charity please contact Philip Thompson on 01226
730418.
If you have an article you would like to share
with us then please get in touch. Space is often
limited so please provide an article of no more
than approximately 300 words.

a

utumn
ALERT

The fire service is calling
on residents to take steps
to protect their loved ones
this autumn.
South Yorkshire Fire &
Rescue is asking people
to take action to prevent
fires and help keep 999
calls low, keeping fire engines
available to attend life threatening incidents.
More than 50% of fires attended by South Yorkshire
Fire & Rescue start in the kitchen, so people are
asked to take particular care when cooking. This
includes not leaving cooking unattended, never
using a chip pan and not attempting to cook after
a night out.
Other top tips for reducing your risk of fire include:
• Not placing candles next to anything
flammable, like curtains and furnishings.
• Never smoking in bed.
• Switching electrical items off at night.
Working smoke alarms are the best way of making
sure you have time to get out of the house if a fire
starts. They should be fitted on every level of your
home and tested weekly.

If you do have a fire, get out of the
house, stay out and call 999.

Smarter, Quicker,
Greener, Cheaper
Say YES to helping the environment and to
helping us provide you with a more efficient and
cost effective service, by registering your email
address with us.
• You will be one of the first to receive our newly
designed electronic newsletters, or online flip
booklet, as this type of design is sometimes
referred to. We will send you a link to the
newsletter for you to view online or to download
so that you don’t have attachments blocking up
your inbox.
• We will respond to any of your general information
requests and send you regular scheme news
updates as well as general updates to the content
of our website.
• You will not receive any junk emails as a result of
registering for this service.
Please register your details by logging on to our
website at www.sypensions.org.uk/online
and completing a few details, which will take
approximately a minute of your time.
Once you have registered, please remember to
inform us if you change your email address.

Thank you for thinking

Smarter,
Quicker,
Greener,
Cheaper

To sign-up for free smoke alarm test reminders, by
email, text or tweet, visit pressthebutton.co.uk
Or for more fire safety advice call 0114 253 2314 or
visit www.syfire.gov.uk

COMPETITION
WINNER
Thank you all very much for your response to the
crossword competition that we ran in the last issue.
Congratulations go to Mary Downend who
receives a £20 Marks & Spencer gift voucher for
her winning entry.
Why not try your luck with the competition in
this issue!

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