Caribbean time rules OK. Last year I went to the Haringey Older Citizens Afro-Caribbean Christmas lunch as the invite said at 12.30 – and we got going an hour or so later. So – one year on and smarter – yesterday I got there at 1.00 and we got going around three quarters of an hour later. So next year…

It was an absolutely packed event and very pleasant. But there is obviously a threat hanging over the West Indian Community Centre as the Government shifts on the issue of integration and desires that state funding for such segregated centres must be used now to integrate or funding will cease.

Now as someone myself who believes that funding needs to be increasingly used for joint ventures and not for separate centres, I am glad of the shift – but as ever they (the Labour Government and Haringey Council) get it wrong. You cannot say to the older generation who have gone there all their lives that they should change radically overnight. Far better to foster a growth in joint projects initially – and make them projects decided on by the groups themselves.

Anyway – it was a jolly nice occasion – as always!