Category: Announcements

A topic I try avoid in the monthly message is Covid. However I think this month we have reached a turning point. The Covid case rate was at its highest in the city and county on January 4, according to the Nottingham and Nottinghamshire Local Resilience Forum on January 24th. Nottingham peaked at 1,770 per 100,000 on January 4. Cases in Gedling reached 2,250 on the same day and 2,228 across Ashfield. Figures have significantly dropped across the county since, with 873 cases being recorded per 100,000 in the seven days leading up to January 18. But health officials have still urged for caution.

This data indicates that the infection rate for Covid is now on the decline and for most people the risk to health after infection by the Omicron variant appears substantially lower than the risk from Delta. This is most likely due to a combination of immunity from prior vaccination and immunity from natural infection. However its increased transmissibility means more people can get it but less likely to get seriously ill. As the infection rate was rising through December and into early January it was wise of Interest Groups who meet indoors, where the transmission risk is higher, to postpone or Zoom their usual meetings. Masks and distancing were added to the monthly meeting to help minimise risk.

Hopefully we can now look forward to most group meetings resuming again. However at this stage it remains at the discretion of the group leader and group members. The risk outdoors or in large well aired spaces is much reduced and the cycling group have taken advantage of that.
You can read on this website about their inaugural crossing of the Bennerley Viaduct which has been restored and opened to walkers and cyclists.

At the December meeting the History Group welcomed a presentation from ‘Friends of Bennerley’ who were instrumental in saving this iconic structure for all to enjoy. It is worth a visit and a walk or cycle across if you can manage it.

David Rose Chairman

A new delivery scam impersonating the Post Office is one of the most convincing clone websites.

Here’s what you need to watch out for. A recent survey found that three in five of us have been targeted by scam delivery texts, typically using Royal Mail, DPD and Hermes branding.

This time, the scammers are targeting the Post Office. There are variations of fake texts claiming that a parcel delivery has failed, asking recipients to click the link to ‘book a new date’ or ‘reschedule a delivery’ via two sites that have nothing to do with the Post Office.

Clicking the links takes you to extremely convincing Post Office clones, shown below. The websites were only set up early in January, and all other information has been ‘redacted for privacy’ – always treat new sites that hide information with suspicion. The first step of the scam is to invite you to enter your postcode before asking for your full name, delivery address, email address, date of birth and mobile number. This information is fed directly to scammers who could use it to commit identity fraud.

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