Age concern

The Gurkhas got Joanna Lumley - now sheltered housing tenants are looking for their own celebrity backer.

The pensioners are looking for a famous face to help halt the removal of live-in wardens from their housing schemes. The UK pensioners strategy committee will be demonstrating at the Conservative Party headquarters and at Downing Street on 30 November.

Celebs interested in taking part (you read it here first Ms Lumley) should contact David Young, who chairs the group.

Meanwhile, solicitor Yvonne Hossack, who has represented many people affected by care home closures and the loss of live-in wardens, took a novel approach to lobbying on 10 December.

She was all set to visit Downing Street with two of her clients, one an impressive 106 years old, to protest about a care home closure. But the weather turned chilly and, worried about the well-being of her supporters, Ms Hossack made life-sized cardboard cutouts to accompany her instead (obviously…).

The policeman on duty at No 10 wasn’t impressed with her argument that the cutouts were not props but stand-ins for the absent pensioners. Perhaps she should get them cloned next time?

The first forays into ‘operation pink’ - the unofficial campaign to save the Tenant Services Authority from Tory cuts - may be coming to a conference or seminar near you.

Apparently, Sarah Webb, chief executive of the Chartered Institute of Housing, has started using a walking stick in the exact shade of TSA pink. Closed Circuit looks forward to seeing pink ties, socks and glasses spreading to board rooms and offices across the land. Just ask TSA boss Peter Marsh if you need the exact pantone colour - we hear he knows it off by heart.

Closed Circuit doesn’t normally like to mock the efforts of chief executives to communicate using new technology.

But we couldn’t help a chuckle over the photo of David Montague, chief exec of L&Q reclining on a sofa in his office, on his new blog. it looks like an advert for the DFS sale and begs the question, where was the poor photographer - suspended from the ceiling?

Send all your juicy housing gossip to closed.circuit@insidehousing.co.uk