News and Reports

Film Appreciation has a new programme for the summer and early autumn months in its new afternoon slot at the Scout & Guide HQ. Come and join us for a relaxing afternoon.

Computer Advice is available over the summer holidays this year on Thursday Mornings at the weekly Horizons Coffee Meetings.  Computer Helpers are usually to be found at the Digital Photography / Computer Desk in the Aughton Hall or in the Computer Room off the Ormskirk Hall or just around and about.  If you can’t find a Helper, ask at the Greetings Desk.  You can also be put in contact with a Computer Helper by emailing elearning@aughton-ormskirk-u3a.co.uk or webteam@aughton-ormskirk-u3a.co.uk .

One reason for the current suspension of the Monday (and former) Tuesday Computer Advice Group sessions is that there have been very few clients to make use of these facilities for some time now. If not utilised they may disappear or be adapted in some way to suit changes in members’ needs.

To celebrate the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee, the Social Subcommittee organised a

Summer Dance on Saturday 25 June. 

This turned out to be a most enjoyable and jolly ‘do’.  The dance floor was never empty while the excellent band – the Rollercoasters – rocked out a series of old favourites from the 50s through to the 80s. The eatables – finger food on this occasion – was very suitable, tasty and plentiful. And it was a great opportunity to reunite with u3a friends and meet some new folk. So, all-in-all, this was a very successful event, with many, many thanks due to all those Social Team members involved in making it so.

(Don’t miss out on future opportunities arranged by the u3a! Take a few minutes to check out some other events that are coming soon, as advertised via the sidebar of this Front Page and elsewhere on the website.)

Computer Advice session will be suspended for the summer months i.e. June –August. Computer Advice will still be available, during this period, at Horizon sessions, or by e-mailing elearning@aughton-ormskirk-u3a.co.uk. The reason for this suspension is that there have been very few clients to make use of these facilities. If you don’t use them they may disappear altogether. For further information contact the e-mail address given above.

Our present Choir Group musical director, Paul Dickie has successfully led us for the past 18 months and in spite of the challenges of covid we organised and performed the u3a advent service under his direction. However, to secure continuity for the future we would like to bring in someone else with the necessary musical knowledge and creative skills to assist Paul, help take the choir forward and build on our success.

We are a very friendly, sociable group with 30 members and like to sing a wide range of music including; Musical Theatre, Folk, Sacred and Popular. We enjoy the challenge of three part singing as well as a good unison sing-a-long at most of our sessions.

We give one formal concert a year in the summer and organise the annual U3A Advent service. We are also regularly invited to sing at several local nursing homes.

We meet every Wednesday morning at Aughton Village Hall from 10 am until 12. (Broadly following school holidays). We have a well organised team who take care of admin, finances and hall bookings.

If you are interested in finding out more then please contact choir leader Ann Henders 07847 364330.

Please note there is no remuneration for this role.

Southport u3a are creating a Show Garden at this year’s Southport Flower Show (18 -21 August).  It  will be built and managed by their Gardening Group to celebrate the u3a’s 40^th Anniversary. It is the aim to include many aspects of the diverse nature of the u3a as features in the design.

Alongside the Show Garden will be a u3a Stand enabling the promotion of the u3a in general and to talk to existing and prospective members.  Southport u3a’s  “Performing Groups” will also be playing on the Music Stand at times throughout the Show.

In recognition of this support for the Flower Show, ALL u3a members will be able to book tickets for the show at a specially discounted rate of £18, compared to the gate price of £27 using the promotional code, ‘u3a’ when buying tickets on the website  Southport Flower Show.

Speaker Meetings usually take place on the second Thursday of the month at the  Scout & Guide HQ, starting at 11 am and lasting just over an hour. Last orders for tea and coffee 10.45 am. All the usual Horizons facilities (apart from the book stall) will be available until then.

There is no meeting in June due to the Annual General Meeting being held on the 13th.

Jeff Vernon

Our final Speaker Meeting of the season will take place on Thursday 11th July, when retired solicitor and. u3a member Jeff Vernon will speak on the subject of Consumer Rights.

We are all consumers; we all buy goods and services both in shops and online.  Normally all goes well and we are happy with what we have bought but, occasionally, things go wrong.  Goods can fail to arrive or can break down very soon after, services may not be carried out satisfactorily.  This talk aims to explain the main rights that consumers have when buying goods and services from traders, what remedies are available to them and how best to exercise those remedies.

After first pursuing a career in financial services, Jeff decided to change course and qualified as a solicitor.  Jeff worked for a number of large, international firms and finished his career as a partner with DLA Piper UK LLP.  His practice area was principally consumer credit law and he led a small team which dealt with all such work arising from all the firms’ offices within the UK.  Examples of the work he undertook included drafting the personal contract purchase agreement for Tesla when they commenced selling in this country and advising the UK government when it became necessary for the Student Loans Company to be authorised be the Financial Conduct Authority.

Because he practiced consumer credit law all work with any “consumer” element tended to land on Jeff’s desk.  Frequently, this involved advising on issues arising under the Consumer Rights Act, which is the main subject of his talk.

Please note there are no meetings in August or September.

17th October          Brian Topping        Tales of a Customs Officer

14th November.    Graham Stirrup     The Victorians

Southport University Extension Society (SUES)

We are planning a new, collaborative venture with SUES, whereby members of our respective organisations will be able to take advantage of each other’s talks and other events. Click here for more information. If you are interested in attending any of the events listed, please contact Pam Ball in the first instance on 07974 749362.

See Pam’s Past Speaker Meetings for info on previous events.