Swanley & District U3A Charity No T1155593 Newsletter No 97 Learn Laugh and Live February 2021 Hallo Everyone In this Issue ........... I hope you are all well and some of you have had Covid Symptom Free Checks 3 ‘THE JAB!’ Online Talk On 5th Feb 3 It has certainly been a difficult 10 months — a period in Group News 4 our lives that we certainly won’t forget in a hurry. I News from the Groups Pt1 4 - 14 keep thinking that at my age, I can’t afford to waste all Quiz 15 -16 this time! It is difficult to keep positive but all I can do Newsletter Info / Contacts 17 is pass on some points to think about. I read some of Membership Cards Notice 17 these somewhere and they may help you—or be of no Groups Timetable 18 use. I pass them on non-the-less. It’s normal to worry. Nine out of ten worries never turn out to be real problems. Don’t worry about something you can do nothing about and which may never happen. It’s a waste of mental energy. I confess I am a worrier. A friend who practises Buddhism, advised me some time ago to stop ‘projecting.’ I have found that advice really useful and try to put unnecessary worry to one side, in a ‘box’ in my mind. Cultivate optimism. Concentrate on the things you CAN do, rather than those you can’t. Focus on what you do well and try to steer from the negative. Optimists live longer and have better immune systems! Sometimes a moan does YOU good but does it do your listener any good? Keep the moaning to a minimum and try to leave them with a smile. As the vaccine gives us some protection and the longer days emerging, the worst of the winter will be over and we can look to better days ahead. At least Trump will be gone. Or will he?! I hope you managed to hear the Toastmaster talk on 8th January and it provided some enjoyment for you with your mid-morning coffee. I look forward to another talk this month. I hear on the grapevine that some of you don’t realise these talks are happening. It is a pity that you are missing these notices, so please read the newsletter—it takes quite a bit of effort to compile and it is for you to enjoy. You can still look at it online if you don’t want to print it. Penny Collins and her Creative Writing group have produced a lovely anthology of stories and poems written during these past 10 months and it is a delight to read. Entitled ‘The Pen Pusher,’ it is full of very clever and amusing contributions. A limited amount were printed, initially for family and friends, but I am hoping that once we get together again, more will be printed and you can all enjoy the talent in our u3a. Talking about talent, it is evident from our newsletter that there is a considerable amount of it in our ‘club’ and I always look forward each month to reading it. I hope you do too. Seeing all this talent might be a stimulus, perhaps, to see that by volunteering to help run our u3a, may actually be a satisfying way of using your hidden skills to keep our organization strong and Link to South East Region Newsletter No: 97 February 2021 thriving. We tentatively hope that by this May/June, when we may meet for the AGM, there will be many who feel they can contribute by being on the committee. I know that there is a huge amount of untapped skill and new ideas which could greatly enhance our organization, so I am hoping that some members do come forward this year! The stress comes because we feel we have no control of events at the moment. Pushing yourself out of your comfort zone gives a sense of control of your life, which can be a really positive step. Convinced some? I do hope so! Keep safe. Sandra Treloar Swanley and District U3A Committee Members 2021 Sandra Treloar David Collins Carol Willingham John Baker Chairman Vice-Chairman Business Secretary Group Co-Ordinator Tony Scale Linda Herlihy Gill Baker Penny Collins Membership Secretary Membership Secretary Minutes Secretary Social Secretary Sheila Botterill Gill Axford Clive Rayner Speaker Organizer Treasurer Assistant Treasurer Committee Vacancy 2 Newsletter No: 97 February 2021 Symptom free checks in Swanley One of our members, Ruth Wilkinson, brought this to my attention. Kent CC are arranging symptom-free checks for those who are not isolating or shielding. It is free and you can get some day appointments at the Youth Club in St Mary’s Rd. Ruth has been and says it seems well organized. You do the swabbing yourself and get the result within 2 hours. Obviously if you test positive you must self- isolate. If you are interested, go to the KCC website and search ‘symptom-free testing.’ Or click on link: KCC symptom-free testing The idea is to see as many people as possible who may be carrying the virus but are asymptomatic Sandra Treloar Online Talk On 5th February: - Sheila Botterill, Speaker Organiser ADVANCE NOTICE OF ON LINE TALKS Please note the following dates when there will be more on-line talks: Friday, 5th March at 10 am Friday, 9th April at 10 am More details will be published in the March Newsletter. MIRTHY ON-LINE TALK – 10 AM ON 5 FEBRUARY 2021 FROM THE CUTTING ROOM FLOOR by Jim Whelan Jim Whelan showcases some of the most iconic programmes in the history of TV. The problem is that in many cases his performance was cut, hence the title. However, many of the pieces have been recovered and are shown here for the first time ever. Some of the clips shown in the talk are from Home Fires, The Royle Family, Brookside, and Coronation Street. To register for the on-line talk please click on https://mirthy.co.uk/u3a-swanley/. Once you have registered you will receive a confirmation email with a unique link in it to access the talk. A reminder email will be sent 24 hours and 15 minutes before the talk is due to start. If, after registering you do not receive the confirmation email, please check your junk, or spam folders or email [email protected] Sheila Botterill, Speaker Organiser [email protected] FREE ONLINE TALKS Members can take advantage of the free online talks that are available every Thursday via Mirthy. To register just click on the link https://mirthy.co.uk/talks - there will be a live Q&A with the speaker at the end and a live chat facility for attendees to interact with each other. 3 Sheila Botterill Newsletter No: 97 February 2021 Group News I am sure we all welcome the good news that the COVID vaccination programme has begun. The prospect of U3A activities recommencing now seems a bit closer. I certainly hope so! In the meantime, it is pleasing to learn that so many of our study/interest groups have continued to operate. I applaud your commitment and ingenuity. I would like to thank those members who responded after my recent articles about music and LP covers. Perhaps we can develop this theme when normal U3A life returns. John Baker News from the Groups Pt1 Birdwatching ( Mini-6 Groups ) We are still in Tier 4 as we enter February 2021 and there are no planned outings until the pandemic regulations allow us all to meet up again in safety. Hopefully the vaccine program will have advanced sufficiently to allow some slight relaxation by the end of the month. Meanwhile you may wish to review the Birdwatching Group Outings of 2020 on the website. As usual, future expeditions are open to all U3A members. Please inform me by phone or text on 0750 6723878 or by email at: [email protected] as soon as possible if you will join us later in the year. Many Thanks Tony Scale 4 Newsletter No: 97 February 2021 Modern History Group During 2020 we have kept up our meetings by Zoom and Jackie Griffiths our enthusiastic leader, who spurs us all on, has introduced some interesting topics during this time. We have looked at Trade Unions, the Cuban Crisis, the Windrush generation and the Vietnam War. We aren’t a morbid group; far from it, but we thought it might be interesting to look at the parallels of the Spanish ‘Flu’ in 1917/1918 with Covid 19. Jackie directed us to relevant research, and it was evident that many similarities emerged. It was again, thought to develop from human contact with animals and how it spread easily and quickly with the movement of troops on overcrowded ships, from America where it originated, to Europe. It also came in waves, the subsequent mutations more virulent than the first outbreak. Although I deviated [somewhat!] from Modern History, I was interested in the Eyam story as my sister lives 6 miles from there and we have twice visited their excellent museum. Even at that time, some people had knowledge to use measures to combat the disease, and these are still being used today. The Eyam Plague In 1665-1666, the Bubonic Plague killed 100,000 people in London. It was the last major epidemic of plague to occur in England. The village of Eyam, [pronounced ‘Eem’] is in the heart of the Peak District, 6 miles from Bakewell and was established before Roman times.