to think marathons in cities cause too much mayhem?

[Bottlew]

There is a full marathon in my city on Sunday. They will start to close the roads 5pm on Saturday and it is impossible to drive anywhere.

My neighbour is immobile and relies on carers. All his visits are severely delayed and it means he ends up sitting in his faeces and urine for hours and hours. He won't get his meals till a lot later. There is access given for carers, emergency services but this still ends up in a lot of delays.

I know it brings in a huge amount of income for the city but the disruption is terrible particularly for those who are vulnerable. It means I don't get to visit people in need because I can't drive anywhere. Public transport doesn't work as I often have a lot of shopping etc.

I live near Twickenham rugby ground
There are constant road closures
We plan in advance

Because cities are snarled up with traffic every day

@Bottlew life is so much easier when you know how to use google https://www.londonmarathonevents.co.uk/london-marathon/road-closures

There is a help desk for people worried about people on the route with disabilities or who use carers

Do you mean by car?

Thank you but how does this help the carers who end up being hours late for vulnerable patients due to the convoluted routes?

This doesn't fast forward the carers being able to get to the people they need to care for. They are still subject to severe delays and often have to drop a visit.

Why don't you vall the helpdesk and ask? You have done a lot of moaning and not a lot of action.

You can see the action I have taken?

Wow.

There's an annual event in my town that means loads of roads are closed and the entire town is closed to vehicles from late afternoon until midnight. They even stop the trains at midday, to reduce the numbers of spectators arriving from elsewhere.

The roadblocks are manned by police who always let emergency vehicles through, and notify other police, who pass the message on to those who are marshalling the event. People in the streets get out of the way so quickly and efficiently that any emergency vehicles probably get to where they're going more quickly than on a day of normal traffic, especially as it means they don't have to observe the one-way system and can take the shortest route.

Carers know well in advance, so do their visits earlier than usual.

If my small rural town can manage this effectively, I'd think the London marathon organisers, the London boroughs, the GLA, and the London fire, police and ambulance services should find it quite a doddle, especially as it's confined to a fairly narrow area.

@Bottlew well seeing as you didn't even check to see if there was advice or help available from London Marathon until I posted the link, I would venture your whinging to action ratio was heavily balanced towards whingeing.

It’s much more fun to moan and whinge, especially about nice easy targets like runners, cyclists, MAMILs etc.

I mean by any method. Can't cross the road that the route is on, or cycle on it, obviously no buses, and there's no other way out of the streets that run off it.

They wouldn't have to drop a visit if their employers added a few agency staff to the team for the day.

I lived in Twickenham near the rugby ground too before moving to MarathonLand. This is a different ballgame living here.

So you are here to whinge about someone whinging?

Do you think it might be considered dismissive when someone is articulating an opinion about the street they live in, to describe them as “whinging and moaning”?

I'm really sorry to hear that your neighbour is having such a hard time. That does sound extremely difficult. I thnk that in the wider world, these big events can be very difficult for vulnerable individuals, but it isn't always possible to just stop the world for them. I wish I knew the answer, but I'm not sure that there is one.

💕

I think your neigbour probably needs to get live in carers for the marathon days, now I think about it. Is that an option just for a day or two?

If you are having to do a lot of the caring and you are not happy about it, then you probably need to put your foot down, and then he could move into a care home. It just sounds as though the situation is not feasible. Care homes are so expensive though. My friend was quoted £2000 a week, which is crazy money.

Would you consider requesting that this thread is moved the forum for caring for the elderly? You might get better help there. I don't think the London Marathon is going to get cancelled really, but there might be a better solution for you and your neighbour.

OP is referring to a neighbour who is so vulnerable, he cannot tolerate any interruption to his care visits. Not his fault, obviously, but he has elected not to move somewhere that can better meet his needs. OP thinks that the event should be cancelled instead.

Sorry but if that was my family member I would make the time to go there for the day rather than leave him sat in his own mess, local or not. Why are they unable to use the hoists? Have they never learned how to care for their loved on?

Yes they are
I’m amazed people are shocked at this. It’s standard and not just on a marathon day
if someone has 2 or 4 visits a day, let’s say they go to bed at 8pm and use their pad at 8.30pm

they're not going to have another visit until the morning which could be 12-13hrs later depending on timings of visits

Where did I say that?

This is now the second time.