Message from our Chair

This month on Wednesday 13th April at 2.00 pm it is our AGM. This will be the first half of the meeting and after the break we welcome our guest speaker, Bryan Gladstone, with an interesting and somewhat intriguing talk called ‘My mum was a GI Bride’.

The AGM or annual meeting is a requirement of our constitution and is a means for the committee to share information with the membership, review the annual accounts and when required to vote on any proposals or for membership of the committee.

This year six of the twelve members of the committee, who from 2016 have each served the maximum time of six years allowed in our constitution, are stepping down.

On your behalf I would like to extend our thanks to:
Christine Berrill: Treasurer Siobhan Lee: Groups Coordinator
Dianne White: Speaker Seeker Philip Attenborough: Equipment Manager
Barrie Saunders (who was also Chair from 2018 to 2020) David Rose: Chair

This is quite a high turnover but it is balanced by the continuity of the remaining six committee members. Change can sometimes be threatening but I believe it is something that should be embraced rather than feared. Only with change will u3as be able to lay the foundations for future long-term success.

We are fortunate to have members who have come forward and volunteered to join the 2022 to 2024 committee. They are all willing and prepared to take on various roles and responsibilities. Please come along and cast your vote.

This year also marks the retirement of Geoff Cree as the scrutiniser of the annual accounts and we thank him for the many years he has done this. We are also fortunate that John Twells has volunteered to take over this role from Geoff.

One volunteer, who has served well beyond six years, as his position is outside the committee, is our Newsletter Coordinator, Steve Lawrence. We wish to thank Steve for his support and professionalism in transforming the individual contributions into our quality newsletter, all within a tight timescale, each month.

Thanks are also extended to Graham Daft from the Methodist Church for his long service printing the newsletter paper copies which are primarily for non email members.

Best Wishes to you all and we hope to see many of you at the AGM this month.

David Rose, Chair

April Scams

TV Licence scam
I have been contacted by two of our members who have recently experienced a current scam around TV Licences. Fraudsters are sending out fake TV Licence refund emails that lead to convincing looking websites in a bid to steal a would be victim bank account details. They claim that TV Licensing have been trying to get hold of recipients regarding an overpayment refund or that due to invalid account details a credit was not possible. The refund links lead to cloned TV Licensing websites that are designed to harvest bank account and credit card details.

TV Licensing’s tips for spotting a scam email:

• Check the email contains your name – TV licensing will always include your name in any emails they send you.

• Check the email subject line – anything along the lines of “Action required”, “Security Alert”, “System Upgrade”, “There is a secure message waiting for you”, and so on, should be treated as suspect.

• Check the email address – does the email address look like one that TV Licensing use? For example donotreply@tvlicensing.co.uk. Look closely as often the address may be similar.

• Check for a change in style – often the scammers will take the real emails and amend them. Look out for changes in the wording used, especially if it seems too casual or familiar.

• Check for spelling and grammar – are there any spelling mistakes, missing full stops or other grammatical errors?

• Never provide details by email – TV licensing will never ask you to reply to an email and provide bank details or personal information.

To report a fraud and receive a police crime reference number call Action Fraud on 0300 123 2040

A phone call scam
The other member reported scam is a phone call attempt to get your bank details because:
‘You have overpaid on your electrical appliance breakdown protection policy’. It goes on ‘Please let us have your bank details in order that we can refund £100.00’. Put the phone down and block the caller.

David Rose

Trip to see ‘Kynren’ – 5-7th August 2022

Following on from the previous announcement in last month’s newsletter, we have received a good response, however we do have a few places left for anyone who would like to go.

This weekend trip will be leaving Hucknall on Friday 5 August, 2022, staying at the Jury’s Inn Hotel, Newcastle within easy distance of top city attractions.

The package includes coach travel, 2 nights dinner, bed and breakfast plus ‘De-Luxe’ tickets for the Saturday 6 August evening performance of the spectacular.

The price is £269.00 per person sharing either a double or twin bedded room, single supplement will be £70.00. A deposit of £50.00 per person will be required to secure the booking – cheques made payable to ‘Skill’s Holidays’.

If you are interested, please register your interest at the April monthly meeting with Rose Ridley or by email at frederick.ridley@ntlworld.com stating which type of room you require.

Hucknall’s Heroes – Book Launch and History Day

HUCKNALL HERITAGE SOCIETY
Are proud to present a

BOOK LAUNCH & HISTORY DAY

Saturday, 9th April, 2022 from 11 am to 3 pm
at East Side Methodist Church, Bestwood Road, Hucknall.

Free Admission. Refreshments available

NEW BOOK – HUCKNALL’S HEROES.
When the Great War began in 1914 the town of Hucknall, Nottinghamshire, had a population of around 16,000. During the following five years, over 3,000 Hucknall men enlisted into the armed forces to fight for King and country. Over 400 of them never came back. Of those that did return, many suffered for the rest of their lives.

After two years of research, Andy McKinnon has found over 2,600 of those men. This book tells their story.