Newsletter Carlton, Gedling and District Issue 108 May 2021 Chairman’s Message Covid rules are gradually easing and from 17 May we should be able to meet in groups of up to 30 outdoors, socially distancing of course, so that gives us the opportunity to get together where possible, and for the walking and cycling groups to be together rather than split up as we have had to do previously. That is if everyone feels comfortable in doing that. I personally am looking forward to be able to sit in a pub, have a hand pulled pint of real ale and a good old chat to people I haven’t seen now for over a year. I have had my second vaccination now like a lot of you I presume, and I feel safer because of it, but until everybody who can be is vaccinated then we still have to abide by the rules. I was contacted by the Richard Herrod Centre the other day to let me know that they will not be opening this year at least, as they will continue as a vaccination centre as long as necessary, but then will have to have a deep clean and have maintenance work carried out. I contacted everyone on email regarding acceptance of a revised constitution, so can I urge you please to log on to the next special General Meeting as we need a quorum to vote on this. We will be having a speaker as usual, so please see separate article. I will be sending the link nearer the time. I emailed you all about scammers, but for those not on email you may get phone calls about Your National Health number being suspended or texts which supposedly come from the Post Office or DHL or another delivery company, please do not give out any personal details to these people as all they want to do is access your bank account and take your money. If you fallen victim to these types of calls then contact the police ‘Action Fraud’ by dialling 101. Take care Richard National u3a Day - Weds 2nd June Many thanks to those volunteers who dodged the showers and helped tidy the Sensory Garden on Carlton Hill in preparation for our display there on u3a Day. We hope you’ll be dropping in on the day. We could still do with some volunteers during the day to meet our visitors (including the mayor). If you can, please contact Lesley Mosley Email: [email protected] Phone: 0775 1354 654 or 0778 742 7200 http://u3asites.org.uk/carlton-gedling/home Page 1 Notices YOUR MEMBERSHIP – May Update You will know, following emails and newsletters, that our annual membership expires on 31st May and renewal is now available; thanks to the many of you who have already re- subscribed. For this year only, the fee for current members is an amazing £5 for Full Membership (£3 for Associate Membership) in grateful appreciation of your loyalty during this difficult time. The subscription for new applications and lapsed members (ie those who did not renew last year) is, as before, a very reasonable £10 (£6.50 Associates). Please renew online by following the instructions on the membership page of our website. Payment is via our Paypal account; you need no personal Paypal account and there is no additional cost. You can renew together if you share an address on our database, but please pay separately if you are both tax payers and wish to donate Gift Aid; do please check that your Gift Aid status is correct. If online payment is impossible, please forward a cheque to me, made payable to Carlton & Gedling U3A. Confirmation of renewal is by email if available, but I will otherwise text an acknowledgement to your mobile number. Please let me know if there are any changes to your personal details (including Gift Aid status) in order that I can keep the database up-to-date. Any problems, feel free to contact me via the website, text (or phone if necessary). Your patience would be appreciated, however, due to the volume of renewals to process at this time and some new personal responsibilities which allow me less free time. Best wishes to all; we look forward to getting back to our lovely meetings as soon as possible. In the meantime, enjoy ‘Zooming’ with fellow group members, if you can! Susan Morley Membership Secretary 42 Redland Grove, Carlton, Nottingham NG4 3EU Tel: 07960 461942 SINGING FOR PLEASURE When restrictions ease we have decided that we will only meet one Wednesday and one Friday each month, until that time we will try to arrange some Zoom Meetings. The 1st Wednesday at NETHERFIELD BAPTIST CHURCH HALL and the 3rd FRIDAY at ST.GEORGES CENTRE, NETHERFIELD AS USUAL - JUST FOR FUN – TIMES - 10am till 11.30am Kind regards from Gwen and Allan. The Newsletter is published by The Carlton, Gedling & District U3A. (Reg. Charity No. 1157211) Views expressed are not necessarily those of the U3A or Editor Page 2 General Zoom Meeting 10:30 Thursday 20th May Including “Secret Wartime Britain” a talk by Colin Philpot During the Second World War, thousands of sites across Britain were requisitioned to support the war effort. Additionally, countless others were built from scratch regardless of cost. Often the purpose of these locations was concealed, even from those living close by. Colin has compiled a fascinating collection of examples of hidden places all over the country, many of which still exist today, albeit often now used for different purposes. They include underground factories, storage sites and headquarters; spy and communication centres; interrogation and POW camps; dummy sites; research facilities for chemical and atomic weapons; treasure stores in stately homes and even royal retreats in the event of invasion. Colin's talk reveals where these sites where and examines how successfully they were kept secret. April General Meeting Our April Zoom General Meeting was well attended and our guest speaker was Steve Dimmer. He introduced his subject , Agatha Christie, by pointing out that her books are the third most read books in the English language (after the Bible and Shakespeare), her works have been translated into 123 languages and she has sold over 4½ Billion copies! He then went on to give a detailed account of her colourful life, her books, her characters and the many actors that have successfully played them on stage,screen and television. A very interesting and entertaining talk Please send contributions for next month’s issue by Sunday 6th June to [email protected] Articles for the website should be sent to Graeme Bunting Page 3 Notices Litter – it seems to be a growing problem. Litter Either walking down your street and seeing a discarded container or driving along a motorway with plastic bags caught on the branches of trees, litter seems to be a problem that blights many public spaces. Individually many people have been aware of this for a long time, but recently it has been brought to the national conscience by pictures of parks and beaches left with vast amounts of litter after the crowds have gone. Why is litter such a problem? Partly of course it is because there is simply more of it being manufactured. Take- away outlets present their food in a large amount of packaging, which has to be disposed of somewhere. Also, it’s a question of attitudes: when you’ve finished that take-away coffee do you put the container in the bin or just drop it in the street? While a lot of people wouldn’t dream of dropping it, obviously there are others who think this is perfectly acceptable. One partial solution would be to empty over-flowing bins and clean the streets more often. Because of financial constrains on councils though, this is not at present likely to happen. Another approach could be to attempt to heighten public awareness by introducing a slogan such as the ‘Keep Britain Tidy’ campaign of the past, which tried to instil the idea into the public consciousness. This would need a government initiative, and there doesn’t seem to be any plan for this. From talking to various groups of people recently, it is apparent that there is a lot of individual concern over rubbish on our streets. It seems though there are local groups and individuals, trying to be proactive in doing something about it. This made me wonder, are there members of the U3A who would be interested in forming a group/groups to work together in rubbish clearing. My idea would be to meet in a group at a specific place, and try to clear up a small area. Which area this was could be decided upon collectively and by mutual agreement on place and date. I have contacted the council and they will provide volunteers with bags, although I’m not sure about the grabbers. It may not be a glamorous activity, but we’d probably feel better about our environment! If you are interested you can email me at [email protected] Christine Russell Did you know it's now possible to recycle empty blister packs from medications and Bosch Tassimo coffee pods (Tpods). Both are via Recycling News TerraCycle who have hubs around the country with partner businesses. This is from their site:- TerraCycle have set up systems for recycling lots of previously 'hard to dispose of’ items. It’s worth having a look at their site to see the full range of items. They have partnered with Tassimo and L'OR to create a free recycling programme for Tassimo T DISCs, outer packaging, L'OR capsules, Kenco Eco Refill packs and coffee jar lids.