Vitality Nov 20
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Nov 2020 Vitality! Official newsletter of the Syston and District U3A CHARITY No 1180152 FROM OUR CHAIRMAN Last month we were planning a cautious return to group meetings. We were exploring ‘covid secure’ premises and designing user friendly risk assessment checklists, however, our elected leaders moved the goalposts again. Not to be deterred we decided to do a survey of our group organisers to see which groups were managing to keep running and were pleased to find that 10 of our groups are still functioning by secure meetings or electronic methods. In addition, some were keeping in touch with their group members by email or phone calls just to maintain contact. Again, I would like to extend my thanks and that of the committee to all our group organisers for hanging in there and trying to keep the groups together. We have now produced new Risk Assessment forms and a Guidance Document that can be found on our ‘Grp Organise’ page of the website for anyone who is thinking of starting their group, and of course our group coordinators will be willing to provide advice as necessary. Our AGM with a difference was held in October, that difference being, no one was there! Well at least we didn’t get any heckling. You will recall from the EGM held earlier this year that we changed the constitution resulting in some committee members coming to the end of their job tenure and I wish to extend my thanks to Gillie, our Refreshments Organizer, Jackie our Assistant Treasurer, and Pat, our Speaker Finder, for their work and dedication to the committee over the past 4 years. We’re especially grateful for their contribution in helping to establish the u3a as a successful and thriving organisation. Refreshments and Assistant Treasurer positions remain vacant, and Cynthia Baker will be our new Speaker Finder. We have been cancelling speakers for our monthly meetings one at a time for several months now in the hope that we would return to a degree of normality, but we now realise that’s not going to happen. Accordingly, we have decided to try another approach. Our first ‘ZOOM’ General Meeting will be held in December. It does mean for those of you who wish to take part, you will have to download the app to your laptop or other device and we realise some of us will be unable to participate, but at present, it may be the only way forward. We will be providing more details shortly and do hope many of you can join us in this new approach. Stay safe Michael See the next page for an update on the situation with face to face group meetings. Essentially, they cannot go ahead for the time being. ~ 1 ~ WE WANT TO LET YOU KNOW GROUPS REOPENING As most of you will be aware Charnwood went into Tier 2 of Covid restrictions, but that has been overtaken by announcements on Saturday evening. COVID LOCKDOWN FOR 4 WEEKS FROM THURSDAY UNTIL 2ND DECEMBER NO GROUPS CAN MEET REVISED COMMITTEE AGM RESULTS Michael Assistant Groups Co- Chair Janet Downes Wherton Ordinator Vice-Chair Clive Iliffe Speaker Finder Cynthia Baker Secretary Brian King Public Relations/Newsletter Julie Johnson Christine Webmaster John Winter Treasurer Ringrose Meet & Greet Leader Dottie Clarke Membership Secretary Margaret King Access & Equalities Lead Susan Alexander Groups Co-Ordinator Sheila Driver Committee Member Norma Grimes ~ 2 ~ Below I have reproduced a circular from Leicestershire Police about online scams – Online Shopping Fraud During ‘Lockdown’, Online Shopping fraud has increased and it is really important people know what to look out for and how to protect themselves from this type of crime especially in the run up to Christmas. How does online shopping fraud happen? Online shopping fraud happens when you discover a problem with something you’re buying or selling in an online auction or marketplace, such as eBay, Gumtree or Etsy. Online auctions and marketplaces have become a very popular way of trading online, but fraudsters are using them to take advantage of your trust to sell poor-quality or non-existent items. You may find that something you’ve bought online arrives late or never at all. In some cases, the products you’ve paid for are less valuable than shown in the advert, different from the original description, or you weren’t told crucial information about the product or terms of the sale. What can be done if you are a victim? If you paid via bank transfer, debit card or PayPal this guide from consumer rights organisation Which? explains how you might be able to get your money back after you have been scammed. www.which.co.uk/consumer-rights/advice/how-to-get-your-money-back-after-a-scam How to shop online safely • Before you enter your payment details into a webpage, ensure that it’s using a secure connection. Look for a small padlock symbol in the address bar (usually next to the web address). The web address of the payment page should begin with https. The ‘S’ stands for secure. Avoid carrying out any financial transactions over unsecure connections, such as public wi-fi. • Remember, when you’re making a payment online, you’ll be asked for the 3-digit security (CVV) number on the back of your card; but you should never be asked for your card’s PIN or any internet banking passwords. • If you’re buying something online that costs between £100 to £30,000, credit cards offer increased consumer protection over debit cards. • If you’re unfamiliar with a site you want to buy something from, do some research first and look for ratings and reviews from customers that have previously used the site. Always be cautious about offers that seem too good to be true, or if a site or seller requests payment via a bank or money transfer service. • Always ensure that you install software and app updates as soon as they’re available for your device. Install anti-virus software on your devices and remember to keep it updated. Some forms of malware can intercept and steal the payment details you enter into online shopping or banking sites. How to shop safely on online market places • Check the item description carefully and ask the seller questions if you’re unsure of something. • Know the terms and conditions of the auction website, including its dispute resolution policy. • Pay on the auction site every time and don’t click on links the seller sends to you. Never pay by money/bank transfer – use a recognised service such as PayPal which protects your money until you’ve resolved any problems with the seller. Be suspicious if: • The buyer or seller has a bad feedback history or has only recently set up a new account to avoid a poor reputation. ~ 3 ~ • You get a private message or email offering to buy below the current bid or reserve price or to sell a similar item after an auction has ended. • You find an expensive item for sale at an incredibly low starting bid. If an offer sounds too good to be true, then it probably is. If you have been the victim of a fraud please report it to Action Fraud www.actionfraud.police.uk or call 0300 123 2040 You might also be interested in a Met Police booklet “The Little Book of Big Scams” that goes into the subject in more detail, it can be found here GROUP NEWS Here is a rundown of which groups are active in some way. Where they are using email and/or zoom you can always contact the group organiser with a view to joining in. BRITISH HISTORY Has been circulating items by email; but is dipping PHOTO/DIGITAL IMAGING a toe in the water of zoom this month. Email, but considering zoom going forward. WHODONEIT BOOK GROUP GARDENING Operating online. Newsletter circulation. QUIZ GROUP BEADING Email circulation. What’s app being used. CURRENT AFFAIRS POETRY READING Email circulation. Was due to meet at the Community Centre for the first time this month. FAMILY HISTORY Zoom sessions BRIDGE Considering going online over winter. GENTLE YOGA Sessions at the Community Centre – max. of 6 WALKING GROUP Considering meeting in a socially distanced way. SINGING Zoom sessions. UKULELE Using What’s App, but informal group not strictly BOOK GROUP under U3A umbrella Email circulation. ~ 4 ~ Some groups have been unable to meet due to the fact that they share equipment, those involving trips and outings obviously cannot function, others have various reasons for not using zoom or other apps. But many such groups are keeping in touch by phone and email. If you want to contact any group organiser you can do so via the groups page on our website here The next pages have the usual news of what some of our groups have been doing (or not). WILDLIFE PHOTOGRAPHY GROUP I led a workshop for a small group who wanted to be able to learn more about the controls of their cameras, to be able to get off automatic and to take control. I am pleased to say that this was well received and group decided that they wished to continue to meet monthly. This we did but with variable attendance. Eventually we decided to wind up the group as it was proving impossible to find mutually convenient days and times that could give us a worthwhile time together. They were all heavily committed to other activities, many of them U3A activities, which meant that in reality, they had little available time.