News and Reports

As you probably are aware, enews is emailed to all members with an email address on the Beacon Membership System.  But you may not be aware that Group Leaders can send emails to all members in their Group.  A number of Groups are set up in Beacon to enable this already – extremely useful in the current circumstances. If your Group cannot do  this, contact the Web Team and we’ll explain the procedure to get you started.

Remember too that all members are very welcome to make use of our U3A’s facebook page. You can send in items to Brian Bostock, the facebook editor. And you can even arrange with him to be allowed to post info on U3A facebook for yourself. If you don’t know how to get in touch with Brian, contact the Web Team.

Website Group Leaders and Authors are encouraged to add appropriate information applying to the current situation on their Group Pages and Posts. Members of Groups with no Author can  send their content direct to the Web Team.

There are many other technologies useful for communicating remotely via social networking, web conferencing and such, that can help us all keep in touch with family and friends and neighbours as well as fellow U3A members.  Common examples, in addition to facebook above,  are Skype, FaceTime, Twitter, (the very popular) WhatsApp, (the increasingly well-known) Zoom, Echo Show,  WHYPAY? (for conference calls) and (the latest to have come to my attention) TikTok. Over the following weeks, we could perhaps use this website to provide info on and experiences of some of these, if there is a demand.

There are also YouTube videos and TED talks that might be pertinent to your Group or other U3A activities that you organise. Let the Web Team. know of your interest in learning about them and especially if you have expertise to impart.

Do return to this  Website regularly as these are fast-changing times. And please do send your ideas to the Web Team (email address below) on your ideas on how to keep in touch and help each other during social isolation.

For now …….

Stay Safe, Stay Well and Stay in Communication with the U3A.

from the Web Team (Maureen, Alan and Joyce)

Email: webteam@aughton-ormskirk-u3a.co.uk

The Management Committee  and Trustees think it would be a good idea to pass on this message from the National Office regarding the U3A National Newsletter to the membership to help keep them in touch.

The National Newsletter is crucial in reaching out to members as we have no direct contact with them. During this period we would be very grateful if you could assist members who are happy to do so, to sign up to the national newsletter.

The March Newsletter can be found here.

Textile Group – Tap to enlarge

In mid February,  a representative from the Alzheimer’s Society, Gina Berry, came to collect all the knitted, crocheted or stitched ‘Forget me not Flowers’ made by our own Textile Group, the Creative Stitchers from Aughton Village Hall and the Knit and Natter Group from Christ Church.

The flowers will decorate the staircases at the Harris Museum & Gallery in Preston where they will be part of ‘The Unfurlings’, an events programme to support those living with dementia, their carers and families.  Events have just begun and continue until the end of May.  Everyone is welcome to attend and they are all in the afternoons.

Gina is the dementia adviser for West Lancashire and was quite overwhelmed at the numbers of hand-made flowers presented to her.  We didn’t count them but there were probably around 250.

The Open Forum, held on 23^rd January, 2020, was interesting and several points and questions were put forward by members.  Alan Starkie., our Chairman, opened the Forum reminding members that the U3A is all about its members.  Also that the National office have now opted not to use the word ‘university’ but simply call ourselves U3A.  National U3A Day is on 3^rd June, 2020 and U3As are encouraged to celebrate this day.

The change from four issues to three of the Magazine was well received and it was noted that our magazine continues to be much appreciated. Suggestions were made as to how to recoup the cost of postage.  Moving forward, newer members tend to visit the website and read enews.

It was put forward that the Management Committee and Trustees should be combined for more efficient working and members were encouraged to come forward to join Committees.

It was generally agreed that new members should be made welcome at Horizons and everyone was urged to assist in this. A ‘Meeter and Greeter’ was suggested.

Discussion about car parking took place and efforts are being made to co-ordinate activities with Christchurch School, The Ministry Centre and Christ Church.

This is only a brief outline of the Forum – a more detailed account will appear in the next issue of the Aughton & Ormskirk U3A Magazine.

Megan Tomlinson (Aughton & Ormskirk U3A Secretary)

Check out the Digital Photography Group Page (and the Group Posts that follow it) for details of the first meeting this year and exhibitions of the excellent photos taken in past years.

NHS Innovation Agency

North West Coast Patient Safety Collaborative

on Medication Safety

On behalf of our U3A I attended a meeting of the above group on 22^nd January. They are conducting a project aimed at increasing medication safety, looking at four areas in particular:

1. The safe prescribing of medicines in primary care.
2. Transfer of care between primary and secondary care to ensure effective and timely communication of any medication changes when a patient is discharged from hospital.
3. Poly pharmacy (prescribing of large numbers of medication items to one patient, which increases the risk of drug interactions and can lead to failure to take medicines correctly).
4. Medicines administration in care homes.

If anyone has any suggestions of how medication safety could be improved from a patient’s perspective, please contact me – Julia Bate, Tel: 01744 883086 – and I will mention them at the next meeting which will probably be in 2 or 3 months’ time.

Julia’s email address can be found in Bob Carlton’s January enews.

English Medieval Cathedrals of the South and South-east

Commencing Tuesday 28 January, for this fourth series of Church History we move to medieval cathedrals in the south-eastern extremity of England, interspersed with two visits to more-local medieval sites.

The 1st talk is on Canterbury Cathedral – part of a UNESCO World Heritage Site and mother church of the Anglican Communion, seat of the Archbishop of Canterbury.

The Speakers are Peter Goodrich, Peter Hatfield and Peter Gateley. For further details, please refer to the Church History Group Page.