Category: Announcements

Once more we are approaching the end of an eventful year with some optimism for the situation gradually changing in 2022. Between September and December we are very pleased to report that most of our groups were up and running again.

For their continued support throughout this challenging year I would like to thank members, committee members, social committee members, group leaders, their assistants, Steve Lawrence for producing the newsletter and Graham Daft for printing it. The fact that our u3a has ended 2021 in such good shape is entirely due to you all and we cannot express our gratitude enough.

On a cheerful note it was lovely to see ours and all the other Christmas Trees and Christmas Wreaths displayed in the church in December.

The Christmas Lunch was enjoyed by 105 members who were well spaced out in the Portland Room at the John Godber Centre. It was good to hear live music thanks to Paul Haigh and his string quartet and the diners were also entertained by a raffle and Terry’s (new) book of jokes.

The Christmas film was also enjoyed by 61 members and at both events generous donations were collected towards the defibrillator fund. The amount raised so far in total for the defibrillator is £630,

Member Linda Baker took on a personal challenge of a sponsored walk to raise money towards the fund and raised an amazing £105. Much appreciated and very well done Linda.

With all the increasing infections around at the moment, we hope that you are keeping safe and well. At the time of writing we may need to revisit the current infection rate situation and possible further guidance as we move into the January. The committee are meeting via Zoom on the 5th January and will keep you informed on any decisions and developments.
On behalf of the committee, we would like to wish you and yours a very Happy, Healthy and peaceful New Year.

David Rose Chairman

This month we will look at two of the strangest scams of 2021
It’s been a turbulent year in the pandemic, with the recent rise of the Omicron variant turning the tide of earlier optimism into one of concern about our Christmas and New Year festive plans. Even as we were enjoying the relative freedoms of summer – with some people even jetting off on holiday – fraudsters didn’t take a single day off.

But for every sophisticated scheme spun by scammers, there are the more preposterous attempts which are capable of raising a smile – even in these worrying times. Read on to see some of the strangest enticements, from caves stuffed with ‘gold and crystals’ to random windfalls from Hollywood actors.

1. How about this for an optimistic Spam email
This is a creative variation of the classic ‘Nigerian Prince’ scam which promises fabulous riches, if only you stump up a small fee to ‘release’ your windfall. It’s the ‘let me know if you are interested’ that really makes it.

2. The 007 impostor

Can someone please forward this to Daniel Craig. I thought he should see , someone is running a scam with his name

It looks like Daniel Craig has found his post-Bond calling as the unlikely star of this ludicrous scam attempt. As with the Iraqi cave of gold above, this is likely another ‘advance fee’ fraud, which aims to con you out of an upfront payment and probably your personal details too. In this case, the fraudsters are employing the common trick of using a celebrity’s reputation to seem more credible – though arguably it has the opposite effect here.

Let’s keep vigilant in 2022 and remember: Never share your personal details with anyone if you can’t confirm they are who they say they are.

David Rose

Hello everyone I hope that you are keeping well and have taken the opportunity to have the booster Covid-19 vaccine. I think summer is now well and truly behind us, but there is always the compensation of the current wonderful autumnal colours. Let’s hope that this winter isn’t going to be too extreme.

We now have the prospect of Christmas looming on the horizon. People used to write in to newspapers to report when they had first heard the sound of a cuckoo in the spring. I wish to report my first hearing of festive muzak wafting around a shop as I ambled round Wilko’s on Sunday 14th November. ‘Merry Christmas Everybody’ by Slade and Noddy Holder’s ‘its Christmaaaaas’ line will be (frequently) coming your way soon…

We have previously said that there wouldn’t be a General Meeting in December; however we have decided to have a Christmas themed film show on Wednesday 8th December starting at our usual time of 1.30pm. There will also be a book sale before and after the film.

The Committee – all u3as, as independent charities, must have a Committee of Trustees who manage the charity and who are legally responsible for the safe and efficient running of the body. Most people are eligible to be on the Committee, and there are no particular qualifications needed – just a willingness to help run the u3a.

We already have some welcome volunteers coming forward but your u3a still needs you! If you wish to join the committee from April 2022 please contact me, Vice Chair Melvyn, or any of the committee members.

David Rose,
Chairman

Scams – Password awareness
Whether it’s your Facebook, Amazon, or Netflix account, the explosion in popularity of online apps and services means more and more of us have to remember an increasingly long list of passwords.

Unfortunately, some of us cope with this challenge by resorting to practices that leave our data, devices and money at risk – by using the same password across multiple accounts, or by creating simple passwords that could easily be guessed by hackers.

Bad password practice is more prevalent than you might think – the UK’s National Cyber Security Centre carried out analysis of passwords leaked in data breaches and found that more than 23 million users worldwide used 123456 as a password. You can read more about it here:
https://www.ncsc.gov.uk/news/most-hacked-passwords-revealed-as-uk-cyber-survey-exposes-gaps-in-online-security

Here are three top tips that will make your life easier and your online accounts more secure:
1: Creating memorable passwords
A good way to create strong, memorable passwords is by using 3 random words. But remember; don’t use words that can be guessed (like your pet’s name). You can include numbers and symbols if you need to. For example- “RedPantsTree4!”

2: Saving passwords in your browser
Saving your password in your browser means letting your web browser (such as Chrome, Safari or Microsoft Edge) remember your password for you.
This can help:
• make sure you do not lose or forget your passwords
• protect you against some cyber crime, such as fake websites. It is safer than using weak passwords, or using the same password in more than one place.

3: Email account passwords
If a hacker gets into your email account, they could:
• reset your other online account passwords
• access personal information you have saved about yourself or your business. Your email password should be strong and different to all your other passwords. This will make it harder to crack or guess.

David Rose

The Science Group have had the idea and made our entry into the Hucknall Christmas Tree Festival and Competition this year. The venue is St Mary’s church.

It runs from now 1st December 2021 until 12 noon on Saturday, 4th December.

I wish to thank them for their donations ,suggestions and a special thanks to the very creative members of the group who set it up today.

There are lots of interesting trees to see and if you like ours please register a vote for it.
We are on the right hand side as you enter the church in between Specsavers, Lapwings and the John Godber Centre entries.

It starts tonight at 5pm to coincide with the Christmas market ,entertainment in the market place and the lights.