TO ALL MEMBERS OF THE RAVENSHEAD U3A RAVENSHEAD U3A Friday 27 March KEEPING IN TOUCH: TO MEMBERS, FROM MEMBERS, BY MEMBERS ***** LOCAL FOOD DELIVERIES Mark and Mel at the Ravenshead precinct have agreed to help us with food purchases and deliveries: Bradburys (Butcher and Deli) (Mark) 01623 793780. Orders over £20 will be delivered free in Ravenshead. Strawberry Fayre (Greengrocer and Florist) (Mel) 01623 491006. Orders over £20 will be delivered free in Ravenshead, Blidworth, , Linby and Papplewick. Alternatively, phone through your order and collect shopping in the car park at the back of the shop – your shopping and the credit card machine will be brought to your car where you can pay cash or by card. This service is free. Farm Shop - Craig supplies fresh meat and limited veg (he has a veg box for £9.99). His Farm Shop is on Main Road (between Larch Farm and the Little John). Craig is willing to deliver at no charge up to a radius of 2 miles. Please ring his mobile number 07950 653610 (Landline 01623 793624) ***** PET SUPPLIES Lyn Parkinson (one of our members) has emailed to say her husband runs the family owned Pet Stores and has decided to offer a delivery service for those who are struggling to get out to the shops. They live in Ravenshead and so can extend this service to Ravenshead residents. There won’t be any delivery charge but they ask for a minimum spend of £20. If anyone is interested then please give them a ring on 01623 622370 or send a message through facebook (@mansfieldpetstores) ***** Although the U3A itself is a secular organisation we feel it is important at this time to recognise the various contributions of all our community groups to the needs of our members be they physical, emotional or spiritual. Message from Revd Kate Byrom For those who would like to join in Christian worship this Sunday, there are a number of options. I hope that you find one that suits you. • Each Sunday at 8am BBC Radio will broadcast a 30-minute service led by different Christian denominations (Frequency 95.1 MHz, 95.5 MHz, 103.8 MHz, DAB [NOW Nottingham] Freeview channel 720) • BBC Radio 4 broadcasts a service each Sunday at 8.10am • At 9.30am Revd Kate Byrom will livestream on facebook a short Service of Morning Prayer. To view this, search for us at 'Chapel of St Mary Newstead Abbey & St. Peter's Ravenshead' and ‘like’ the page to get notifications. You need to have a facebook account to access this. Do get in touch if you’d like any help getting set up. • At 11.15am Revd Claire will livestream on facebook a Thought for the Day. • Premier Christian Radio broadcasts Bible studies at intervals throughout the day. At noon and at 2.30pm they have “worship hours” which include worship songs, prayer and Bible readings. You can find them on DAB2 or on Freeview TV Channel 725 • At 1.15pm BBC1 TV will screen Songs of Praise. Revd Claire and I continue to pray for all our Ravenshead streets by name and also for individuals known to us – if you would like to be added to our prayer list (in strictest confidence), or any of your loved ones, please do let me know, by contacting me at [email protected]. Keep well and may you know the peace of God that passes understanding in these challenging times. Revd Kate ***** Roman Catholic Services are live streamed 24/7 from the Catholic National Shrine and Basilica of Our Lady Walsingham https://www.walsingham.org.uk/2020/03/21/walsingham-launches-24-7-live-video-streaming-and- new-website/ For homepage and times of services see here https://www.walsingham.org.uk/home/ Masses from St Barnabas’ Cathedral in Nottingham are live streamed here: http://www.stbarnabascathedral.org.uk/01_Community/livestream.html ***** Message from the Ravenshead Surgery: We are working long hours to maximise care and minimise risk for all our patients and staff. The biggest thing I could ask is that everybody follows the Government /NHS instructions. All AMG patients understand that we will address their clinical concerns but need to have patience when they telephone the surgery. We have staff on the at-risk list and therefore are adjusting working practices to maintain delivery. It is so important that patients do not attend an AMG premise simply to usurp the phone lines – that increases risk significantly to all, including themselves. (The likelihood is that they will be turned away and not allowed to enter.) Patients will be asked to attend a particular AMG site by the triaging GP/Clinician if a face to face is needed – that will not be negotiable as we are trying to control the risk of Covid-19. If Covid-19 is suspected and you are asked to attend Blidworth to see a GP, there will be strict instructions provided by the GP around entry into the dedicated isolation room which must be followed to the letter. We are looking at options around meds, repeat prescriptions and injections such as B12. So, help us to help you is the key message. It is important that we all follow the social distancing and restrictions implemented by the Government on 23.3.20. Therefore, we have reduced the number of chairs in our waiting rooms to meet the two-metre rule. You may also find at busy times we secure the front door so that social distancing can be achieved. Patients can wait in the car park or their cars. We are spacing the appointments so that we do not have significant numbers waiting at any one time. Please be assured if you have a face to face appointment you will be seen as close to that time as is possible. If there is no need to enter the surgery, then please don’t enter. Paper prescription requests should be posted into the external box at the entrance. So that patients can understand what challenges we face, two people walked into the Ravenshead Surgery on Wednesday, used the patient toilet and were then seen to walk off down the road having no appointment or business with the surgery. That resulted in us having to deep clean the toilets during a busy period. Thanks and stay safe. Rick Gooch Practice Manager ***** VIRTUAL GROUP A group page has been created on our website for all RU3A members, particularly during this time of isolation although we hope it may be of use later too. Please visit some of the excellent website. https://u3asites.org.uk/ravenshead/page/104699 If you know of any website which would interest members please send an email to Maria. ***** ZOOM Some groups are going to try using Zoom – a platform which will enable our groups to work together in a video conference call. One of our members, John Butler, a proficient user, will manage the system and if any groups are interested please contact John on xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx You do not need to install Zoom on any device. Message from John: Over the past few years I have been involved in facilitating online training and meetings using Zoom webinar software. A webinar is effectively an online seminar that allows a group of people to ‘meet’ and share ideas from their own homes. They create a “community spirit” without physically meeting in person. So why am I sharing this...? We want you to be able to continue to Learn, Laugh & Live in the current circumstances. Many of us older folk regard our regular U3A meetings as part of a vital social life, as well as furthering enjoyment of our interests. However, right now the traditional ways of sharing ideas, passions, interests and expertise by means of “face to face” meetings have had to cease. In this time of isolation, normal verbal interaction with your friends is vital to keep up our spirits and mental health. One way to achieve this is by using webinars (online seminars). I have offered to share my professional Zoom webinar account and considerable experience so that up to 100 members can ‘meet’ online. It allows us all to continue to share both our interests and our social contact within our respective groups. We can talk to each other, and see each other if we have a screen, phone camera or webcam. By using screen sharing, the webinar host (me) will be able to allow any participant to share their computer screens too. Do you have a touch-tone phone? That’s all you need to take part in the Zoom Webinars that I will be hosting for the U3A in the near future. I will initially be offering an online demonstration to group leaders to familiarise themselves with the procedures, and then with my support they will cascade it to their groups once they have confidence in its use. John Butler ***** We have received requests to set up a support network so that lonely/isolated members (especially those without internet) can make telephone contact with a colleague member. If members would like to help others, and are willing to have their name and telephone number printed in the next KIT edition so that they can be contacted for a telephone chat please phone Margaret Craddock on 01623 467704, Sue Owen on 01623 409743 or email Maria. ***** Refunds for cancelled trips If your recent trip was cancelled and you are due a refund please call Sue Owen on 01623 409743 with your bank details and she will make a bank transfer to your account. Once the transfer has been made we will delete your bank details from our records. We are not able to issue cheques at this time because two signatures are required and RU3A signatories are all self-isolating. ***** This issue of KIT is a bulletin only. We hope to produce our next full KIT bulletin in the week before Easter – we are aiming for Wednesday 8 April. Please send in material by Wednesday 7 April for the Easter edition to Maria’s email address at the end of this bulletin. In the meantime, stay safe, strong and positive.

EDITORIAL TEAM Maria Gabrielczyk Judith Moore Terry Moore Margaret Craddock Sue Owen