Category: Announcements

As we approach almost a year of varying levels of lockdown it prompted me to think about how that time has passed by. In some ways my perception is that it has passed quite quickly contrary to the often used expression ‘time flies when we are having fun’.

If so, then it may be because it seems faster compared to when we are bored and thus paying a lot of attention to the passage of time (remember ‘clockwatching at work’?). It is possible that our change of lifestyle to conform to the restrictions mean that to some extent we found ‘fun’ in some of the new things we have done? I’ve certainly enjoyed discovering some interesting local walks, cycle routes and increased reading time.

One theory contends that time speeds up as we get older if we consider the proportionality of time perception related to age. The older you get, the smaller one year is, as a percentage of your total life. So the years go by faster and faster. For young children Christmas and birthdays seem to take ages to come round again, not so for us older folk.

What has been missing is the mingling and social interaction with families, friends and in our u3a.Time will tell but optimistically once we get through the next few months things we have missed will start to return into everyday life.

Our February monthly meeting is a talk about ‘Poisons for Medicines’. I have seen it, found it very interesting and I do recommend it to you. There are more details later on this website.

David Rose

Scam News February 2021

There have been reported incidents of doorstep callers often referred to as ‘Nottingham Knockers’.

These individuals will offer household goods for sale, at inflated prices, but often this sale is a ruse for checking out a person’s home. They may claim to be on a rehabilitation scheme trying to find work and may have a false trading permit or some other kind of official-looking identification.

However, they are not part of any legitimate rehabilitation scheme. There is a Government-backed ‘Community Payback’ scheme for offenders who have been sentenced to carry out community work, but this does not involve door-to-door sales.

Please be vigilant when answering your door and do not feel compelled to enter into any conversation with them, if you do not wish to. If you have elderly friends, relatives or neighbours, it’s important to keep a lookout for them too and report any suspicious activity to police.

If you are concerned and wish to report any instances of this behaviour call 101. As always, if it is an emergency please call 999.

David Rose

Recycling Spectacles

Many of you have donated your unwanted old specs to a charity via member Terry Moult. Terry informs me that unfortunately the charity can no longer pass them on. However Specsavers and other opticians do accept unwanted pairs, broken or otherwise, so please recycle this way.

Driving Licence
Christine Vincent would like to share her recent experience and advises us to check our licence expiry dates (otherwise time in Wormwood Scrubs beckons….). She writes:

Just a thought! Whilst rummaging through my persnal effects I realised my driving licence had expired…….2 years ago. This was a shock to me and I was ashamed! However several of my friends have also had the same experience, including those who are really on the ball. I think the problem is that we have no reminder that we need to send off for another one. As no reminders go out to folk around our age do you think a mention in the Hucknall u3a newsletter would be in order?

And here is a useful link: Information can be found here:
https://www.theaa.com/driving-advice/driving-licence-renewal

David Rose

New Year Greetings!
Looking back to 2020, as in most of the world, the COVID-19 pandemic dominated events in the UK during this year.
As early as the 31st January COVID-19 was in the UK: The first two cases of infection with severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2, then known as 2019-nCoV) in the United Kingdom were confirmed.

In February Storm Dennis initiates record number of flood warnings and February records the highest monthly rainfall in the UK since records began in 1862. The old adage ‘It never rains but it pours’ seems to sum up the rest of the year.

In March, as the number of British cases start to rapidly rise the government holds COBRA meetings to discuss its preparations and response to the Covid outbreak. March was our last live monthly u3a meeting and so we moved through various levels of lockdown and travel restrictions to where we are now.

On 23rd December a new highly infectious strain is confirmed to be present in London and the East of England leading to Tier 4 restrictions. However the good news is that we should celebrate the science that has led to the production of Covid vaccines in record time. The widespread community transmission which has been partly curtailed by the various levels of lockdown restrictions should start to be lower as more people receive the vaccine. Herd immunity will require a majority of the population to be vaccinated which requires a high level of public trust not misinformation (there is plenty of that on social media).

The first vaccine was introduced by British physician, Edward Jenner, who in 1796 used the cowpox virus (vaccinia) to confer protection against smallpox, a related virus, in humans. Since then vaccines have saved millions of lives.

Optimistically we could see restrictions lifted as soon as a significant proportion of the population, especially the elderly and high risk people have received the vaccination. We may then be able to resume our meetings and activities once more.

The good news today was the approval of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine which can be stored in a normal fridge which makes it much easier to distribute. Conversely we also heard that we have been promoted to Tier4. Hopefully this will be a period of short term pain for a long term gain.

Finally thank you all for:
– your patience and understanding throughout this most unusual of times
-for taking part in Zoom meetings and events
-and outside groups of 6 events
-keeping in touch with each other by phone, text and WhatsApp mini groups
-all contributors to the newsletter

And thanks to:
-Group Leaders
-members of the committee and social sub committee
-Lynda Jackson for designing the Christmas card and the cycle group for delivering
-Geoff Daft from the Methodist Church for continuing to print the newsletter
-Barrie Saunders and Mark Jackson for distributing the newsletter with me
-Steve Lawrence for continuing to produce a quality newsletter for all of us

Happy New Year

David Rose Chairman