May 2021 Newsletter Spring in Norsey Woods by Diane Wallace Dear Members As you read through this newsletter you will see that I have re-introduced all of the Headings for the Groups that we ran before Lockdown in the hope that they may run again soon. They are in alphabetical order. Some of these may need a change of leadership now; and hopefully we can start some new groups too. Don’t be put off if you haven’t organized a group before – help is at hand. First of all, it’s good if you work with another interested person, also you can get help from the group coordinators or an established group leader. Leaders are not teachers; they organize meetings and venues with suggestions from the group. Don’t forget the ‘LEARN and LAUGH’ from the u3a caption too. Two groups that need offers to lead them are: Mixed Craft and Spanish. Line Dancing 1 which used to be on Wednesday has had to change to Tuesdays at 2.30pm every week. Stanford-le-Hope & District u3a –May 2021 Newsletter Page 1 Birdwatchers: please be aware that Dave has had a catastrophe (a cup of tea) with his laptop and no longer has access to the birdwatching list of members. Please could you get in touch with him by phone or email if you are interested in continuing with this group. Our AGM is being held by Zoom this year and it is very important that all of us use our votes for all the motions and elections at this AGM. The paperwork is in the AGM packs and it would be really helpful to us all if you would use your voting form to vote in the way you see fit. Thank you. Please note that the Rambling Group are moving their walk to the 4th rather than the 3rd Thursday of the month. A big thank you to all those people who have helped by sending articles and photos during the last year – I couldn’t have done it without you! Yours Chris Henderson (Newsletter Editor) Message from our Chairman - Our u3a is re-opening. In spite of those cold winds of April, May did arrive at last with the promise of warmer days and lighter evenings. Our next date to get excited about is May 17th when more of the lockdown restrictions are lifted. A good number of people are unsurprisingly unsure and hesitant to resume where they left off as though nothing had happened, so take your time. Our groups are hopefully following u3a and Government Guidelines (which are identical), regarding the restarting of their various activities. If you’re not sure about restarting or about re-joining your group please, just ask us. Well for all of us, and some more so than others, so much has happened. Especially the loss of our ability to choose who to meet and how to meet. Our u3a is slowly awakening and it is apparent that a great number of our members have chosen not to renew, and without any feedback, it is not certain what caused them to make that decision. The u3a Trust Stanford-le-Hope & District u3a –May 2021 Newsletter Page 2 suggested that memberships would be down by 20% and our reduction certainly bears that out. But 346 members are with us still and that demonstrates that our u3a is still an important part of our social wellbeing. We are beginning to open up and we need more members to make our u3a a more vibrant organisation that’s worth belonging to. Let’s look forward to getting back to our groups and enjoying the involvement with friends whose company we enjoy. Colin Munro Chairman. APRIL VIRTUAL GENERAL MEETING. At our last Virtual General Meeting in April, we were entertained by Diane Howells with her presentation entitled ‘Darwin to Melbourne’. It was a 55 minute Pictorial View of her trip across Australia (in a campervan) with her Husband in 2009. From the Crocodiles in the waters of the Kakadu National Parks to the ancient Cave Drawings, to Alice Springs and Ayres Rock; just a few of the places we visited on our pictorial trip. On behalf of the Committee and Members, I would thank Diane for her time and all the effort she put into it. Bernie Smith Speakers Secretary VIRTUAL GENERAL MAY MEETING Our next virtual General Meeting on Zoom will be held on Thursday 13th May at 2pm. The meeting will be opened by our Chairman and will be followed by Graham Hodgson (our Treasurer) with a Pictorial Presentation entitled ‘National Trust North of the Thames’ The presentation will last approx.. 30 minutes. Stanford-le-Hope & District u3a –May 2021 Newsletter Page 3 Interest Groups Amblers Tessa Duggan 01375 670212 Jenny Radford 01375 676338 Just over a year ago, the Amblers went on their February amble to Mucking. The weather that morning was a surprise! Strong gusts of bitterly cold wind, rain, hail and even snow all at the same time. There was no time to cancel the amble as the freakish weather unleashed itself just as we were about to meet at the Visitor Centre in Mucking. We were sure no one would turn up in these conditions, but were astonished as fifteen amblers emerged from their cars into the whirling snow and wind. As they approached, they shouted, "We're not going to walk today, we've just come for coffee!" and promptly disappeared into the café. Three of us attempted to do at least a bit of an amble, but were quickly pushed back by the awful weather. We splashed our way along the waterlogged path back into the warmth and welcome of the café, which was full of chatter and laughter. That was our last amble before the lockdown started and all the country parks closed. A year later and we're still unable to start up our ambles again just yet. Hopefully our amblers have still been able to get out and about during the past year, even if it's just exploring local roads and footpaths. Now the country parks are open again and Spring is here with its better weather, we can go further afield and keep in shape for when the ambles start up again soon. Birdwatching Dave Snow 07490 069740 Please get in touch with your details as we no longer have a list! If you are interested give me a call. Stanford-le-Hope & District u3a –May 2021 Newsletter Page 4 Book Group Ann Bailey Dawn Lloyd-Warne 01375 461885 Hooray, the library is open, albeit with a new system to negotiate online, but it’s great to be able to browse round the shelves. We enjoyed a Zoom meeting in April, but only one or two members enjoyed the book, The Essex Serpent. As always, other topics of conversation arose, one being whether we would book a holiday this year? But, back to books. We're going to try a new Hercule Poirot one, written by Sophie Hannah. She was asked by the Christie family to write one, and has now published three. We'll try The Monogrammed Murders and let you know what we think. May Quiz 1.Who wrote The Darling Buds of May? 2.What is the May Birthstone? 3.What is the May moon called? 4.What is the flower for May? 5.Who did Brian May marry? 6.Which tennis Open normally starts in the first week of May? 7.How long is the lifespan of the adult female mayfly? 8.Which Duke was born May 1st, 1769 9.Who wrote Ode Composed on a May Morning? 10.When is VE Day? Stanford-le-Hope & District u3a –May 2021 Newsletter Page 5 Wednesday Boules/Pétanque Dave Jardine 01375679410 At long last we can start to play boules again at the Springhouse on Wednesday 19th May 10.30 start. The Springhouse will be full open so the toilets will be open. Members will be able to go in for lunch. We will play 6 per team leaving space between each team and when we have coffee, please make sure again that we have space between everyone to keep us all safe. Look forward to seeing you then!! Wednesday afternoon players check with Paul Brice – 07788452852 Friday Boules/Pétanque Colin Munro 07770 85431 Carol Munro British Sign Language Group Jenny Radford 01375 676338 Canasta Pauline Kerridge 01375 462232 Charity Craft Jean Jardine 01375 679410 07551 952211 We can still not meet at the moment but some of the group have still been busy knitting hats and mitten, many thanks. I have been knitting some items for Christmas sale - how sad is that at the beginning of the spring! Cribbage John Green 01375 676441 Stanford-le-Hope & District u3a –May 2021 Newsletter Page 6 Drawing and More Margaret Schofield DON’T FORGET TO CONTACT OUR WELFARE AND DISABILITIES OFFICER if you know of any member that is very ill or in hospital; or has passed away. Magda Norris 07484658131 When you contact Magda, she will require the name of the member and whether they are hospital bound or at home. If in hospital please let us have which hospital and ward name if possible, also their illness or incapacity if known. Their address we can obtain from our data base. It should be noted that no committee member will visit any member at home or in hospital without an invitation However, we would like to be kept updated as to our member’s progress. If you know of anyone who has passed away, let us know so that we can express our commiserations and support to their partner or family.