Category Archives: News

Come to the Sunday Social on Sunday 22nd for Songs from the U3A Choir, Refreshments and Prize Bingo.

A new challenge for you to take on……..

Click to view poster full-size.

Items for the enews should be sent by NOON on the last Monday in the month for publication soon after. 

Please send enews items to:

enews@aughton-ormskirk-u3a.co.uk

or

use the contact form on the web contact page selecting enews Editor from the drop-down list.

Note that if you want the same information to be published in the Magazine, facebook or the Website, you need to send it in separately to the appropriate editors. Magazine and website editors also appear on the dropdown list on the afore-mentioned contact form.

If you missed this Year’s AGM, you can read Reports from the past Chair and Hon Sec via the links in  the AGM 2019 webpage.  You can also browse for full details  such as the Agenda and Minutes.

(Also find out more about all the hard work done by the various Committees and Subcommitees year-round to keep our U3A running smoothly on the How We Work  webpage and the sidebar which appears on this and all the other ‘admin’ pages.)

So come along to the Gardening Group.

Click or tap on any picture to run the gallery as a colourful slide show.

WOW! ~ hasn’t the last two years gone quickly, as your Chairman, as I realise I will very soon pass the reins of office onto my successor. In accordance with our Constitution the maximum period of tenure as Chairman is two years.

Continue reading →

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.

Continue reading →

For our next Speaker Meetings, on Thursday 6th June, we will welcome local resident, writer and photographer, Peter Rimmer,  who will present a talk on Morecambe Bay. 

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.

A message from Sue Watkinson about a Guest Visitor  that she has organised.

Our Guests at Horizons on Thursday 7th March will be two representatives of the Fire & Rescue Service.  They will bring along their literature and talk to individual members about safety in the home and what services they can offer to the retired population of Lancashire.

Recently they replaced a smoke alarm for me.   The neighbours were impressed to see a big, red Fire Engine outside the house for a good 20 minutes while the work was done and we were given a thorough Fire Safety check and good advice.

We have been very fortunate in having an excellent series  of Speaker Meetings of recent years organised by Sue Watkinson and her Team. For a resume of past Speaker Meetings, please see:

• Speaker Meetings
• Past Speaker Meetings

Sue has now retired from this important and valued role and member, Pam Ball, has kindly stepped forward to take over.  Here is a message from Pam:

I’ve been a member of the U3A for some years now – I attended the German group for a while when it first started and have been to one or two other events, but because of family responsibilities I haven’t been able to commit myself to anything on a regular basis. Things have changed for me now and I look forward to greater involvement and getting to know a few more people. My professional background is in teaching, and my interests range from gardening to all aspects of the arts.

Sue will be a hard act to follow I know, and initially I will be scaling things down a little bit so that we will have a speaker every other month. We will be starting on Thursday 7th February with a subject very dear to our hearts – Chocolate! Andrew Thwaite is a former chef who for many years has specialised in the history and manufacture of chocolate, and I’m sure his talk will be just the thing to brighten the dull days of February. Apparently he brings samples as well! Have a look at his website https://www.andrewthwaite.org.uk.

Looking forward to Thursday 4^th April, we have Carolyn Kirby, who will speak about her new book ‘Victorian Scientists and Scandals: true stories behind The Conviction of Cora Burns‘.

Carolyn writes: My novel The Conviction of Cora Burns will be published in the UK and USA in March 2019. This is a historical thriller set in 1880s Birmingham about a troubled young woman, Cora Burns who was born in a gaol and raised in a workhouse. Haunted by memories of a terrible crime, she seeks a new life working as a servant in the house of a scientist, Thomas Jerwood. Here, Cora befriends a young girl, Violet, who seems to be the subject of a living experiment. But is Jerwood also secretly studying Cora?

The novel is inspired by some real Victorian lives and events. My talk will give an insight into the research that underlies the fictional narrative of the novel.

Looking ahead, I would be very pleased to hear from any members who would like to give a talk, or maybe you remember a past speaker you would like to hear from again. Please email any ideas to speakerteam@aughton-ormskirk-u3a.co.uk  or phone 07974 749362.

In December, we received a message from Sur Watkinson:

The Jazz Appreciation Group held its last event on Friday evening 14 December with a superb performance by the Chicago Teddy Bears Society Jazz Band.  Group numbers for regular meetings have fallen to single figures and our mainstay, Keith Lamb, has retired to spend more time with his family.  In the circumstances, we find ourselves unable to continue, so the Group has now closed for the moment.

Alan Starkie has issued a message asking for volunteers.  Alan is to be found most Thursdays at Horizons at the Digital Camera / Computer Table in the far corner of the Aughton Room in the Scout & Guide HQ.  He also is a Helper at Computer Advice on Mondays.

There are vacancies on the Finance and Resources Sub-Committee. A background in finance is desirable but not essential. If you are interested in serving on this Sub-Committee or would like more information then please contact Alan Starkie.

A message from the current Magazine Distribution Organiser, Peter Trigwell:

Many rumours are flying about the U3A at the moment with a view to what is happening with the magazine distribution.  Let me try and answer some of them.  The next Distribution date is the 28th February, and nothing will change at this time, magazines can still be collected from Horizons and from certain group leaders who already hand magazines out at their groups.  Magazines will also still be posted out on this occasion.

The changes will be made on the subsequent distribution days.  On these days, each new magazine will initially be available for collection at Horizons, and there will be a distribution desk at the following three Horizons.  This provides four weekly opportunities to collect your magazine each time.
Hand deliveries will continue for as long as the volunteers wish to carry them out.  I would like to wholeheartedly thank all the volunteers who already give up their time to make this process work.

I do now need to ask if there is anyone who is willing to take on the distribution role as I am looking to step down from this post due to other U3A commitments. If anyone is willing could you please get in touch with a member of the Management Committee or me.  I would be quite willing to work alongside a new distribution manager for several copies.

A fuller explanation will appear in the next magazine.

Pete Trigwell

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.

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

Are you a U3A Aughton and Ormskirk member?

Are you a facebook user?

Have you ‘Liked’ the U3A Aughton and Ormskirk facebook page?

To be kept informed of U3A activities without the need to search for them, all you need do is ‘Like’ our page.   You’ll find it under ‘U3A Aughton and Ormskirk’ in facebook and all that’s needed is to click the box in the heading area and thereafter anything posted by a U3A leader who is an ‘Editor’  will automatically appear on your own page whenever posted.   

Group leaders can request to be a ‘Friend’ of Brian Bostock (need only be temporary until he appoints you as an editor) and then you can have almost instant communication with your group members by posting on the page.  Additionally, of course, it will make other U3A members aware of your group’s existence.

Brian Bostock

(U3A facebook Editor)