Time passes so quickly it is hard to believe that I am now coming to the end of my tenure, having been a Trustee for four years and it was three years ago that I was elected as Honorary Secretary. There have been some interesting, challenging times, but some happy ones too. The year started in June 2018 with three new Trustees elected to the Trustee Body and one new member to the Management Committee.
Category Archives: News
Visit to Woolston Eyes – 14th May 2019
Nine members of the Bird Watching group attended this our fourth visit to this ‘Site of Special Scientific Interest’. Access to the site is restricted to permit holders and our thanks go to reserve volunteer David for unlocking the gates for us and helping with some of the sightings.
Photo taken by group member Graham Cawdell when we visited this site in 2016
The site is well known as the home for probably the largest breeding site in the UK for the rare black-necked grebe. This year there are 26 of them although we only saw a fraction of this number as many were on their nests hidden among the reeds.
Amongst the total of 39 species recorded another special highlight was the sighting of a Garganay.
Click ‘Continue reading’ for the full list of species seen:
West Lancashire Dementia Hub-Talk by Peter Horton
The West Lancashire Dementia Hub – launched in May and its monthly meeting – will now take place at the Age UK building (the Wellbeing Centre) in Moorgate, Ormskirk, each third Wednesday from 2.00 – 4.00 p.m.
On 19th June there will be a short talk by Peter Horton from Age UK Lancashire on ‘Local Dementia Services’. There will be an opportunity to meet representatives of the local agencies and organisations that support those living with dementia, their carers and families. U3A members are providing the ‘meet and greet’ service. There will be tea/coffee throughout the afternoon.
Keyboard Open Day
After having a peek at Dee’s career in the recent magazine we are eager to know more, so she has agreed to bring along some pictorial exhibits of her musical life including a short video.
We are making this an excuse to have a fun day without keyboards just cakes, chat and bubbly. We realise that other U3A members may wish to meet Dee, so you are invited to drop in and raise a glass to Dee Sheard to thank her for the 14 years of dedication to our Keyboard Music group.
Watch a video made for Dee’s 80th birthday in 2011 to celebrate her life with music.
https://youtu.be/PDZaMYDaULA
The Website turns 3-years-old
The current Aughton & Ormskirk U3A Website has been going now for 3 years. The Web Team hope you find it informative and useful. We know that some potential members do refer to it prior to joining, so please help us keep it interesting and relevant.
This year, we have been making some changes to help the Website adhere to the new GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) law. Please do a quick check for any text or photos referring to you and contact the Web Team if there is anything you would like removing or changing.
Remember – it is your website. Comments are always welcome as are contributions such as News Reports and Photos relating to events to keep it looking lively. Email the Web Team (Joyce Nolan, Maureen Boumphrey and Alan Nolan) at:
webteam@aughton-ormskirk-u3a.co.uk
The Web Team would like to thank all the Group Authors, past and present, for their invaluable help in maintaining a very good proportion of the Pages on our extensive List of Groups. Much appreciation should also go to Willem Wiechers, the IT Manager, who does all the essential background work relating to the running of WordPress on the Host Server. And to Margaret Wiechers, the previous Web Master for her continued help and advice.
GDPR Matters…
GDPR (General Data Protection Regulation) is currently much in the news!
We have a Working Party delving into possible implications for an organisation such as Aughton & Ormskirk U3A. The Working Party has published a Privacy Policy.
More documents providing advice and some new or adapted forms are in the pipeline. In the meantime, if you have any urgent concerns, please send them to the Hon. Secretary via the web form on the Contact Us page.
Anniversary Celebrations in 2018
Aughton and Ormskirk U3A has much to be proud of in its 15 years of existence. To this end, a party was arranged on 19 May where speeches, nibbles, and meeting and chatting to fellow members were much enjoyed and appreciated by those who attended. See Let’s Celebrate.
The Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service was on display in its fine new casing.
The wonderful 10th Anniversary Quilt also made a reappearance at this celebratory ‘do’!
Please click or tap to run this gallery with captions.
Lynn Chute, Eileen Evans, Barbara Littler and Barbara Brookfield with the 10th Anniversary Quilt
The letter that Alex McMinn received from Buckingham Palace in respect of the Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service
Anniversary Celebration – May 2018
In a year when Britain celebrates a Royal Wedding, our U3A has two Anniversaries to celebrate, one with a royal connection.
The Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service, 2008
- It’s 15 years since the founding of the Aughton & Ormskirk U3A.
- And 10 years ago this U3A won the Queens Award for Voluntary Service.
- And just 5 years ago, we were commemorating the 10th birthday with a very special quilt made by talented members.
Val Bullen, Chair of the Social Subcommittee has sent the following message to be published on the U3A Website:
Let us extend a big thank you to all those who helped make the Anniversary Celebration on 19 May 2018 a success. As well as the Anniversary Working Party who planned and coordinated the event (Val Bullen, Linda Burden, Peter Trigwell, Jane Astles, Bill Evans, Alex McMinn, Jeff Roberts), many others also played their part including other members the Management Committee, our Trustees and the Social Subcommittee, plus quite a number of U3A members not on any committee – THANK YOU all for your contributions!
Here are two galleries of photos from the recent Anniversary Celebration event held in the Christ Church Ministry Centre on 19 May 2018. Some of these photos feature a number of long-standing members including our founder Chairman, Alex McMinn, member number 1. Click or tap on any photo in a gallery to run that gallery as a slideshow.
Queen’s Award 10 years on
Photos by Geoff Roberts
Photos by Bill Watkinson
Writing for Fun – Best Competition Entries
Earlier this year we held a competition, open to non-members, for the best story or poem on the subject of Home. Though the number of entries was not overwhelming, the quality was excellent! The best entries are listed below. The overall winner was judged to be the story The House by Sue Watkinson. Congratulations Sue and everyone else who entered.
(If the writer of The Wren will get in touch I can reattach your name to your poem!)
The House by Sue Watkinson
The See-Through House by Megan Tomlinson
Home Counties Home by Joan Potter
Houses and Homes by Joan Ridout
The Wren by ????????
Brian Yates (Writing for Fun Group Leader)
Memories of Aughton
A member from Oundle U3A – Kathryn Baird, a former resident of Aughton – has contacted the Web Team as follows:
I was born and brought up in Aughton but left in 1980. I am a member of Oundle U3A where I belong to two Creative Writing groups. Inspired by those U3A groups, I have published my family’s memories of Aughton Parochial School and added the Aughton memories of Miss Marjorie Holmes which she wrote in 1978. To make it available to as many people as possible, I have published it as a website:
https://aughtonmemories.wordpress.com/
I wonder if this is something you could publicise to your members?
Do take some time to check out this website. I’m sure it will be of great interest to long-time residents of the parish, as well as members of groups such as Local History and Writing or Fun and those members on the Writing Your Life Story short course.
Joyce Nolan (Web Manager)