Message From the Chair

Several months later than planned, I now find myself writing my final “Message from the Chair”.It has been a totally unprecedented year for all of us and one which will certainly go down in the History books!!

I would like to reflect on the past two years, prior to the Covid-19 situation arising and extend my very sincere thanks to the very many people who have not just given me personal support but have contributed so much to Hucknall and District U3A.

My first thank you goes to all those who have served on the Executive Committee. Much of their work goes unseen on occasions but their hard work and great togetherness is at the heart of the U3A. It has been a pleasure to work alongside such a great team. The Social Committee likewise have worked so hard to provide a rich variety of activities for members.

One member who does go “unseen” much of the time is Steve Lawrence, our Newsletter Editor. Steve works very hard each month to produce an excellent Newsletter, which I know from comments made to me has been particularly appreciated during the recent months, since it has been our one way of reaching all members.

Interest Group Leaders are also at the heart of the U3A and again I cannot thank you enough for your efforts.

Also thanks go to all members who attend our various Interest Groups, Social events and monthly meetings.

Going forward, every U3A is going to face previously unknown challenges in the foreseeable future. These will obviously centre around how the Covid -19 situation evolves, Social Distancing issues, availability of venues, limits on numbers allowed to meet together, finance and probably most significantly the confidence of Members to return to activities. However, I am certain that working together we can hopefully restore our U3A to a strong organisation once more.

Barrie Saunders
Chairman

Pub Lunch & Quiz

Thanks again to David Rose who keeps us supplied with a good quiz on line each month.
The answers to last month’s Crossword puzzle are given below.

And the puzzle for this month is identify 20 Romantic Movies from the pictures below:

And, Finally …..

A Recipe – The British – Poem by Benjamin Zephaniah

Take some Picts, Celts and Silures
And let them settle,
Then overrun them with Roman conquerors.
Remove the Romans after approximately 400 years
Add lots of Norman French to some
Angles, Saxons, Jutes and Vikings, then stir vigorously.
Mix some hot Chileans, cool Jamaicans, Dominicans,
Trinidadians and Bajans with some Ethiopians, Chinese,
Vietnamese and Sudanese.
Then take a blend of Somalians, Sri Lankans, Nigerians
And Pakistanis,
Combine with some Guyanese
And turn up the heat.
Sprinkle some fresh Indians, Malaysians, Bosnians,
Iraqis and Bangladeshis, together with some
Afghans, Spanish, Turkish, Kurdish, Japanese
And Palestinians
Then add to the melting pot.
Leave the ingredients to simmer.
As they mix and blend allow their languages to flourish
Binding them together with English.
Allow time to be cool.
Add some unity, understanding, and respect for the future,
Serve with justice
And enjoy.

Note: All the ingredients are equally important. Treating one ingredient better than another will leave a bitter unpleasant taste.
Warning: An unequal spread of justice will damage the people and cause pain. Give justice and equality to all.

Lunch Group

At long last I had my fish & chips brought to me by my son but, do you know, I was ill afterwards, due, I think, to not having had any deep-fried food for nearly five months!

Unfortunately I am beginning to think there won’t be any Lunch Group activities for the rest of the year. I will let you know later about a Christmas lunch but obviously we have to be guided by government recommendations along with National U3A guidelines from the point of view of insurance etc.

Weekenders’ Group

No Weekender group activities again this month of course but we had truncated, Coffee Club, self-distancing, get togethers at 2.00 pm on Friday, 24th July with four or five of us meeting in four different members’ gardens, bringing our own fold up chairs and drinks. This was changed from Saturday, 25th because of the weather forecast. We have all kept in touch with one another and I have sent out a Weekenders July Newsletter to those on email, with a request for copies to be run off and posted through the doors of those not on email; thanks to the walkers amongst us who delivered the newsletter.