Basingstoke & Deane Over 55S Forum
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Basingstoke & Deane Over 55s Forum NEWSLETTER – NOVEMBER 2018 Welcome to your final Newsletter of 2018; it's hard to believe that another year has almost gone! Unfortunately, our Newsletter editor, Marian, is unwell so Gerald and I have had to step into the breach. I did think the letter might be shorter than usual but I am pleased to say that we have come up with lots of information which we hope you will find useful. I hope you will all enjoy reading the Newsletter and that you will benefit from some of the information. Just a reminder that this is YOUR Newsletter and we do welcome any articles, poems, items of interest or even pictures that you think are interesting or amusing. We hope that you all enjoy our varied activities and find the Open Forum meetings informative and enjoyable. If there is a particular subject or issue you would like to be addressed, please let us know. We represent all the older people in the community, whether they are members or not, so please let us know if there is a particular issue you would like us to raise with the relevant authority. We still welcome visitors to our meetings but have to ask them to wait to be seated until after the members who are attending are settled. For health and safety reasons, we have to comply with the capacity number for the Carnival Hall. As you know, we had to place a limit on the number of members and, for the reasons explained, we will have to continue this limit in 2019. By the end of January there will be vacancies as we will know how many members have not renewed their membership. Just a reminder that, with Christmas rapidly approaching, the town is very busy so make sure you have your bags secured and go inside your bank to use the cash machines, it is much safer. Once again, we are appealing for members to join the committee. None of us are getting any younger and having additional support in our activities such as Minute taking and "under studying" other roles will help keep the Forum going in future years. If you would like to know more about what is involved, please speak to Graham or Gerald, we will be only too happy to explain what we do. MEMBERSHIP Don't forget that, if you have not already done so, you should renew your membership subscription by the end of January or your name will be deleted so that those on the waiting list may be offered a place. Also, if your membership has expired, it will not be entered into our monthly free prize draws. As the Forum's finances are still on a very sound footing we have not only been able to keep the subscription at £6 for a further year but have again reduced the fee to £5 for those members who renew before the end of December 2018. We are also happy to confirm that we will again offer a FREE coach trip in 2019 to all those members who had paid for 3 or more trips in 2018. For those members, who pay by cheque, it would be appreciated if you ensure it is only for membership and any payment for a trip or trips is made on a separate cheque. This does help with our accounts and makes life easier for our auditor. ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING 2018 Once again, the AGM will take place at the February meeting so that our accounts will be up to date and the annual audit completed by our independent auditor. Copies of the Annual 1 Reports and Accounts will be sent to all members and will be formally presented to members at the meeting. FLU JAB REMNDER Marian did mention in our last Newsletter about booking your appointment for the flu jab and this is just a reminder for those of you who have not yet had it done. OCTOBER OPEN FORUM A summary of the October Open Forum meeting is attached at the back of this Newsletter. WELFARE & DONATIONS We have sent "Get Well" cards to Mary New - Douglas Wilson - Brian Stroud - Pat Neal - Marian Wilson - Rosa Barker - Wendy Green - Jean Davis - Jane Bechelet and Megan Lewis. Sympathy cards have been sent to the families of Jan Stones (several members of the Forum attended Jan Stones' cremation) - Ted Blackall and Sid Penney. Members have come back to Gerald to say that this is a wonderful idea and much appreciated by all those receiving cards. LINE DANCING You will recall the Forum's Line Dancing sessions had to be cancelled due to lack of support. Well, Gerald is pleased to report that the instructor who took our sessions has now started her own sessions at the Carnival Hall on Wednesdays, from 2pm to 3pm, at a cost £5.00 per session. If you are interested, please contact Sue Hughes on 01256 331046. CARNIVAL CHORUS The Carnival Chorus has started back for their weekly sessions and, since the start of November, they started on the Christmas Carols, as they have a number of bookings leading up to Christmas, including: • 21st November "Westside Community Centre" • 24th November "Cafe Dome", Brighton Hill • 2nd December "Rowan Lodge" Newnham • 4th December "Headway" Rooksdown • 9th December "Milestones" Leisure Park • 11th December "Basingfield" Old Basing • 12th December Open Forum Meeting • 14th December "Memory Club" Viables and • 18th December "Tesco" Chineham (to be confirmed) MOVEMENT & STRETCH Movement & Stretch sessions are still held every Thursday from 11am to Midday, at the Carnival Hall. These sessions are very well attended, with up to 21 members and non members taking part. These are gentle exercises, suitable for all over 55s, so if you are interested, why not come along and give it a try. Cost to Members £2.50 and £3.50 to Non Members, which is really great value. EVENTS FOR 2018/9 By the time you read this Newsletter, we will have attended the Cockney Christmas Special trips on the 26th November and 3rd December. At the time of going to print, there were 87 on the 26th and 153 on the 3rd. A full report on these trips will be given in your January 2019 Newsletter. Other trips arranged to date are: 8th to 10th March 2019 - a Cabaret Weekend in the Queen's Hotel, Eastbourne; the cost includes return coach travel a free drink with 2 evening meals, entertainment and Sunday Lunch, all for £99.00! Unfortunately, there are no single rooms available. 2 12th & 13th April - A trip to Norwich, visiting Sandringham on the way up, then staying overnight at the Holiday Inn, Norwich. On 13th April, a chance to look round Norwich and then, in the afternoon, a trip on the Southern Comfort Paddleboat on the Broads, cost £119.00. 17th to 20th May - a 4 day break to YORK, staying at the Best Western Burn Hall Hotel. On the 18th, a trip to Scarborough, then on to Whitby, where we board a steam train to Pickering, then back to our hotel. On the 19th, a guided tour of York, then leisure time for you to look round the many attractions in York. Cost £279.00. Other trips to be arranged are: Rosebourne Garden Centre with afternoon tea, Tea Pot Island (they have over 8.000 Teapots with over 2000 for sale) and Leeds Castle. Malvern Flower Show, Stratford River Festival, Kew Gardens, and Brighton. Since the last Open Forum meeting, it has been announced that tickets were going on sale for the "Dolly Parton 9 to 5 Musical". Gerald purchased tickets for the 19th June 2019 , and has tried to contact as many members as possible to advertise this Musical. If you are interested in going to the musical, please let Gerald know and he will try and get more tickets for another date. The price is £67.50 which includes all coach travel, show ticket and a 2 course Carvery Lunch at the Strand Palace Hotel. Gerald spoke to Richard Trueman (Truemans Coaches) recently who stated that he is purchasing 3 new coaches in early 2019 to replace the 2 old green and 1 blue coaches. They are the same model as the green and blue coaches but bring his fleet up to date. HAMPSHIRE HOSPITALS FOUNDATION TRUST Gerald attended a Council of Governor meeting at Andover on the 13th November 2018 and the subject was raised about the general public being members of the HHFT. If you are not a member, I strongly recommend you do enrol. By being a member you have the ownership of your hospital and you can have your say. The more members we get, the stronger we can all be. There is also a newsletter sent to you several times throughout the year, keeping you informed of what is going on etc . It is FREE. If you wish to join, ask Gerald for an application form, which he will gladly get or send to you He will also have forms with him at our December Open Forum meeting. OTHER ITEMS OF INTEREST PROPOSAL TO RELOCATE THE POST OFFICE IN BASINGSTOKE The Post Office has recently issued a proposal to move the Post Office in London Street to a new location in the W H Smith's premises in the Malls. There will be a newly built dedicated open plan Post Office area located to the rear of the W H Smith store on the ground floor. There are two entrances into the proposed premises which are level, one with automatic doors.