For Facebook users, see the group  https://www.facebook.com/groups/U3AKeepingInTouch/
Lots of U3A members from all over the country, very friendly and fairly busy  group
COVID-19    Coronavirus
 
​The latest information from our Secretary is now on the COVID-19 page

Please look after yourselves. 
News from Joan Webb 
She has had a right old few months working out how  to get food and making sure Tony is ok.  Then she went and broke her pelvis and had to be hospitalised and now she is home again.   90 plus and Tony’s carer. !
 She says this is a message to thank so many of you who have wished us well and made life somewhat easier for us during these past months,  especially since my accident giving me fractured  pelvis.  A special thank you for the help and true friendship of the writing group. 
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​All the following are cancelled till further notice
 DAY TRIPS  ​     
HOLIDAYS
THEATRE GROUP
WALKING GROUP
​WELCOME AND INFORMATION
We  welcome  new members,  and we also answer many questions, keep a list of tradespeople and help generally.  Our main purpose is to “meet and greet” keeping a special eye out for newcomers.  We give them guidance and advice on Groups, introduce them to Group Leaders, make sure they have a cuppa and introduce them to others at the tables.  The success of this depends on the members making them welcome.
Also please inform us when people are sick, bereaved or any special occasion enabling us to send a card if appropriate.
I also circulate around the rooms making sure nobody is sitting alone.  Our main aim being to support, friendship and companionship at our U3A.
N.B.  If you are a member and you feel you would like to join our Group you would be very welcome.  Please contact me either at the coffee morning or telephone 792618.
 Rachael Rowse
Welcome & Information organiser   -    info<a>burnhamu3a.com
The Community Centre
The Community Centre, which is such an asset to the U3A, is having financial problems.  The roof needs repairing, and one of the outer walls needs work on it too.
For this reason, the Centre's Committee has decided to put up the rent we pay for the use of the Centre.  It will be increased by 5% from this April.
This will mean a small increase in the money we collect for Groups to use rooms, and also in the price we charge for drinks at the Thursday Coffee Mornings.   The actual amount will be determined by the Committee and will not happen until sometime after it and we  manage to open again.

Some members are under the impression the U3A owns the Community Centre.  This is not so, it belongs to Burnham via the Council.  It is an amenity for everyone, but the U3A would have a much more difficult time if it wasn't there.
​​It now has its own website  :   http://boscommunitycentre.btck.co.uk/​

 
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A warning from our Treasurer Les. He says:
"I have just received a scam e-mail aimed at the over 75s. It informs the recipient that their direct debit in respect of their (previously free) television licence has failed. It then has a very convenient link to reset the debit which goes I know not where.
"The free licence has been extended by the licencing authority to the end of July and they confirm on their website that there is no need for a current free licence holder to do anything at the moment as they will write to everybody concerned in good time. Whilst there are a couple of giveaways it will probably be all to easy for a number of our, sorry my, age group to happily send their bank details to whoever is organising this.
Les"
And another scam message has surfaced this week, titled "Quick Action" and purporting to be from Chairman Harriet. It asks the recipient to do her a favour by getting a £200 Playstation Gift Card for her nephew. I doubt if anyone will have fallen for something so out of character, and we think it has only gone to committee members, using email addresses harvested from our website, but if you have received one we would be interested to know.
Chris Owen reminds us that this kind of attempted fraud should be reported to: report@phishing.gov.uk    This goes to the National Cyber Security Centre at GCHQ
If you are in touch with any of our members who don't get emails, perhaps you would pass on these warnings to them; particularly Les's.
IAnd one more.
 Jenny Golding wrote to tell about a local Loft Insulation Scam; This is a local guy who calls at your door, or phones you offering loft insulation.  The Police are aware of him.   Main point is that she is subscribed to a Community Alert line provided by Avon and Somerset Police, which is useful because amongst other things it features the wannabe swindlers who are active in your  local area (Burnham North in Jenny’s case). You can subscribe to receive Community Alerts yourself on this page 
RUNNING BURNHAM U3A
​We have a Committee, which has 3 important officers, the Secretary, the Chairman and the Treasurer.  The rules of the TAT have limits as to how many years one person can hold an office without a break.  There is good reason for this, it stops an individual from taking over and it encourages other members to get involved in running the U3A. 
Now I have agreed to be Chairman for one year.  I have enough to do with producing the magazine, running the website and also my Groups to agree to do it any longer than that.  
Gary is asking for someone, maybe new to U3A, to ‘understudy’ what the Secretary does for when he has to stand down.  We do have a nearly full committee, but most of those have been doing it on and off for a long time.
What this boils down to is, we really would welcome new ideas. We know we have new younger members, many of you must have had some experience of Committees during your working life, and your expertise (however small) would be valued.
If at any time we have no-one to be an Officer, the whole U3A would have to close.  Whichever bit you joined for will no longer exist.
You would be very welcome to attend committee meetings as an observer, just to see what goes on. 
We have over 600 members, of whom at least half should be reasonably young and fit!  So where are you ?   
GROUPS LATEST​​
Please contact your Group Leader to find out if your Group is running or has been cancelled
GROUPS Online
Creative Writing
Kim says that they are now having their monthly meetings via Zoom and also making regular phone calls to their members without email. In her inimitable way she reports on “…the tale of the first ever ZOOM MEETING for creative writing. With myself in as host, a new Smugphone, -er sorry Smartphone, I wasn’t too confident. First attempt I hadn’t realised the invitation email hadn’t sent; poor Jane, Brenda and Kathy were waiting to join in. We had to abandon to the following day. All a bit of a blur now, but it was 3rd time lucky. Apologies to Brenda for having to drop out due to timing. In the end, I was able to admit the 2 ladies and we were all on screen and interacting, as excited as a 3 year old on a birthday! We read stories, poems and talked and laughed. I was having an alcoholic beverage (medicinal, just one) I was pleased when ZOOM popped up a message to say we had no time limit and if we scheduled another call, the same applied. I will be better prepared! I had time to read a poem from Annette too. Once you see what to do, I highly recommend this way of socialising!”

Philosophy Group
​The Burnham U3A philosophy group has rearranged its meetings in response
to present restrictions. They are shorter than hitherto and now held
fortnightly, rather than monthly, by zoom.
Roger Miller.

Online Meetings
​A number of Groups have carried on meeting online all through the pandemic, and Zoom has proved to be very popular as I have mentioned before. Some people (including some Leaders) have been reluctant to install new software on their computers/tablets/smartphones though, sometimes because of security worries. Zoom has responded with new versions with compulsory encryption, and now (from 19th July) compulsory passwording. Zoom is useful if as Leader (AKA “Host”) you need to share information from your computer (e.g. a video, a photo, or a document), but if you don’t need that, this month’s edition of Which? says that good ole Skype is actually a better product in terms of video and sound quality for up to 50 participants. Skype came top in the Which? tests, and since it has been around for donkey’s years, many people will already have it installed on their devices, with no need to do anything else except possibly update it. Read the Which? review here.
Ukelele- , I would confirm to you that the Ukulele Group is buoyant (I was going to say thriving but with the lockdown that would be exaggerating).
 However we hold 2 hour Zoom sessions on Monday and Friday mornings when the majority of our members get together to maintain a regular contact, enjoy a chat and put the world to rights, and fight the vagaries of the Internet to play some music (but not necessarily together).
 With the current restrictions on indoor meetings, limited number gatherings etc, we cannot visualise a situation when we might get together in person to play, so we expect to be meeting on Zoom until 2021.
Terry Smith

Table Francaise   (FR conversation) restarting late Aug/early Sept subject to weather (meeting outdoors at Dunstan House)
Robert Bridges
Daytrips- a message from Carole Ransome
“A message to all our  family members, old friends, new friends, and acquaintances.
“Ray and I just want to say that we miss you all, and we are looking forward to seeing or hearing from you when Ray is no longer shielding. We trust that you are all well, and coping with the difficulties that Covid-19 has caused us all.
Please keep safe and well until we can meet up again. 
​Kindest regards Ray & Carole.”
Astronomy Group
We are not meeting till the Community Centre is available again, but here is some news for July
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cNf6vb4gwEM&feature=youtu.be
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You will be given all the support you need to start a group so why not give it a go?..........after all the success of our U3A is in the strength of the groups.
Please register your interest by signing the flyer in the Community Centre
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