Lockdown Quiz
The latest quiz from Julie Clarke (number 38) has been loaded to the website as well as the answers to number 37. Go to the quiz page where you’ll also find this weeks music quiz (number 36) and the answers to music quiz number 35. Our quiz page lists all the quizzes that have been set previously.
An update on Covid-19
Well at least we are out of the second national (English) lockdown. Although being in Tier 2 is restrictive, it’s much better than being in Tier 3 like many of our neighbouring areas, and there is still a lot we are allowed to do.
Your Committee (or, to be accurate, the Trustees as they are now called according to current Charity Law) has been following the national regulations closely. Additional guidance has come from the Third Age Trust, and regular discussion in our local cluster of u3as has also been really helpful in clarifying exactly what the regulations mean. Covid is an agenda item at each of our monthly meetings. Paula Reilly-Cooper (groups co-ordinator) and Don Rickards (venues co-ordinator) do a great job in keeping tabs on what’s happening with groups and venues locally.
We decided some time ago that the principle we should follow is to try to restart groups when national regulations allow this. We know that many members are desperate to have face to face contact again, and some people find that social isolation has already had a negative effect on their mental and emotional health.
For this reason, now that we are out of lockdown and back in Tier 2, several groups have restarted. Outdoor groups include Golf, Walking Football, Walking Cricket, Fitness Exercise with football drills & skills, and Long Walks. The regulations also allow some indoor groups to restart, so you can now return to classes for Zumba, Keep Fit, Circus Skills and Contemporary Dance or sign up at https://u3a.simplemembership.co.uk/Sandbach/groups. That’s assuming that we stay in tier 2 during January. The response of members where groups have already restarted has been incredibly positive and helps to reassure us that we are making the right decision.
And to reassure you, before any group can restart there are at least three Risk Assessments that have to be carried out.
• The venue has to do a detailed Risk Assessment to make sure that it is Covid-secure. If it isn’t Covid-secure then we aren’t allowed to use that venue.
• The Group Leader has to do a detailed Risk Assessment that takes into account the nature of the premises and the nature of the activity. Some of the groups that have restarted have made major adjustments to the nature of the activities so that any risk is minimised.
• Individual members of the group also carry out their own Risk Assessment. Each person needs to make a personal judgement about whether it is appropriate for them to rejoin a group in the light of their personal and family circumstances.
Last week the first vaccinations against Covid took place in the UK. The age profile of our u3a means that many members will be high on the priority list for getting the vaccine. Even so, it will be a minimum of several months before restrictions are eased and we can expect to have ordinary social interaction again. It will therefore be several months before we can resume any large group activity (such as Members’ Meetings or the Showcase) and it is quite likely that our next AGM will be a virtual AGM again. In the meantime there are lots of groups having meetings by Zoom, and loads of things on the Third Age Trust website to get involved in if you choose. Many thanks to the Group Leaders who are keeping their groups going virtually until face to face meetings are possible again.
And a really important message is to get vaccinated as soon as you are contacted by the NHS. Vaccinations are already being rolled out locally. It’s invitation only, mostly based on age, with the over-80’s being contacted first. Don’t waste your time looking at any of the anti-vax scare stories on social media. They have about the same level of credibility as Trump’s claim that the recent American election was fixed. One of the best sites for getting accurate information about aspects of Covid is the NHS website, https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/.
Similarly Cheshire East has a very recent update on the latest Covid information at https://healthwatchcheshireeast.org.uk/coronavirus/covid-19-vaccinations/
This includes a really useful leaflet available about vaccination at https://healthwatchcheshireeast.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2020/12/PHE_11843_Covid-19_Guide_for_Adults_DL_leaflet_12pp_19_WEB.pdf
Stay safe over Christmas and the New Year.
Stuart Naylor
News from our Groups
GOOD NEWS!
Image by kjpargeter – www.freepik.com
Yes, Contemporary Dance will be restarting (if Government regulations stay the same) on Monday 11th January. It’s a very friendly and fun group and we have space to welcome some new members. The sessions consist of a warm up to music with a good beat, some free movement and time spent on learning a choreographed piece. It’s great exercise for both mind and body and you don’t need any dance experience, just a reasonable sense of rhythm, an appreciation of various musical genres – and the desire to ‘have a go’.
We meet every Monday at 2pm at the Health and Fitness Studio behind the Rugby Club on Bradwall Road. You don’t have to wear a pink leotard (unless you really want to!) just comfy clothes to move in and soft shoes. A few layers might be advisable as the room is very well ventilated (open doors and windows) in line with it being Covid Secure.
If you would like any more information you can give me a call on 01270 762340.
Tricia Naylor Budd, Group Leader.
Local News
‘My Street’ NW Region Collaborative Project
Take a local photo, be it of a street, a landmark or local feature, or make a local picture by other means such as sketching or painting, and accompany it with a short piece of text.We aim to feature your pictures and writings on our u3a NW website, on the ‘welcome’ page, and on new pages further inside.
What are the aims of this project?
● to foster both local and regional involvement, pride and awareness, in other words, a sense of place to present to the outside world
● From the NW Region website’s viewpoint, we would like to achieve a ‘winter’ and a ‘spring / summer’ photo collage for our website welcome page as well as having featured work hosted on the website. If there is a large enough response, we may extend the project beyond the proposed finish date (below) to include summer/autumn 2021
What’s involved?
Take a representative photo of your local area, and pen the story behind the photo. You can take your first photo during winter 2020 / 2021, and take a second photo (of the same view, or of a different view) when the weather warms up in 2021. If you took photos for the U3A national High Street Project in 2020, you are welcome to use those. Members can work together and submissions can be by a formal u3a group or by individuals acting on their own initiative (must be a u3a member though!)
Writing can be in any form – a narrative account, Calligraphy, a poem, the history behind a scene or building or a fictional or fictionalised account. How extensive the piece of writing is entirely up to you, but if you want us to feature it on the NW website we may edit down longer texts.
All individual photos must be a maximum of 10mpx in size. If you are unsure about how to gauge the pixel size of a photo, you can ask around in your own U3a or email u3aslp@gmail.com
We will ask for your permission in advance to use your photo(s) on the website and in limited u3a publicity. Ownership and copyright of the image remains yours. The same applies to your written account – we will ask for permission to use your writing in appropriate ways but it remains your intellectual property.
Only pictures accompanied by a piece of writing will count. Writing can be submitted electronically or by post
Criteria to guide you:
● Make sure you avoid identifiable faces of people who did not consent to be in your picture
● Also avoid identifiable car number plate
● Be careful about standing on public property if you are pointing a camera, unless you have private landowner permission to take photos on their property. Perhaps wear a lanyard if you have one!
● Keep Covid safe and physically safe at all times.
Send your photo and text to nwregionu3a@gmail.com
State your name and/ or the names of those in the group, your U3A and a title for your image eg ‘Winter Market, Bacup.’If you need to send in contributions by post, contact the NW Chair Mo Eccles via the NW Region website: https://u3asites.org.uk/north-west/home
Final closing date for submissions 14th May 2021
Take care out there
Cheshire Police are asking shoppers to be extra vigilant when you are in or around shops in the run up to Christmas. A total of six women, all over 60, have had their purses stolen over the past week. The thefts occurred in Macclesfield, Nantwich, Sandbach, Crewe and Northwich.
For the full details, and advice on protecting your belongings, visit http://orlo.uk/lmMkJ
Toy Collection
The 4 Sandbach Co-op stores are to each have a collection trolley for toys (new unwrapped only) to be donated to the Salvation Army Appeal
I’m making a few Santa appearances , with Pam as my Elf helper, to support cash collections for this project so more toys can be purchased ( first one on Monday morning at the Saxon Cross Petrol Station store)
Many of the 1,000+ local U3A members, especially those without younger children in their immediate family , may be interested to support this project
Arnie Laing
And finally …
Why isn’t a Fireman called a Water-man?
How come Lipstick doesn’t do what it says?
If money doesn’t grow on trees, how come Banks have Branches?
If a Vegetarian eats vegetables, what does a Humanitarian eat?
How do you get off a non-stop Flight?
Why are goods sent by ship called CARGO and those sent by truck SHIPMENT?
Why do we put cups in the dishwasher and the dishes in the Cupboard?
Why is it called ‘Rush Hour’ when traffic moves at its slowest then?
How come Noses run and Feet smell?
Why do they call it a TV ‘set’ when there is only one?
What are you vacating when you go on a vacation?
Did you know that if you replace “W” with “T” in “What, Where and When”, you get the answer to each of them.
With thanks to our lovely members for their continuing contributions.