Whilst we are all staying at home and keeping safe we have created a WTU3A@Home webpage. Hopefully this will go a little way towards not only providing information, but will give you some entertainment as well.
If our members have any amusing funnies, ideas or useful information to add to this page, please email webmaster@wtu3a.org.uk
AYLESBURY VALE U3A
Our friends in the Aylesbury Vale U3A have created a really great webpage – very aptly called Confined to Quarters.
Some WTU3A members attend the AVU3A Rock’n’Roll parties so may be interested to know that a number of new presentations are now on-line. Click here to enjoy!
There is lots more to entertain you from, singalongs, quizzes, music, videos, information, jokes, song parodies (some advisory as the lyrics are a little colourful!), Click the button below – you’ll have plenty to keep you occupied.
u3a Member Link Programme
The u3a is initiating a movement-wide Member Link programme.
The programme draws together ideas, innovations and experiences used by u3as in 2020 to face the pandemic, and rebuild the u3a community in 2021.
Things have been challenging for many of us during the past year so the u3a have produced this useful Member Link leaflet containing many clickable links to advice, tips and resources to keep us connected and learning.
You can also find all the resources in this leaflet on the u3a website.
UKToursOnline.com offer a variety of talks for cost of £10 (+booking fee) per household. There are brand new talks / tours of the River Thames, the Cotswolds and WW1 War Memorials, amongst others. If you sign up for their newsletter, they will provide details of their regular free talk offered to U3A members. You can also go to their our YouTube channel and you can see previous free group chats, take a tour of Parliament Square and see some of the treasures of the British Museum.
Free online creative classes
If you are looking for something fun and creative to do to help dispel the boredom of those dull winter days, we’ve got just the thing for you!
Arts organisation Kaleidoscope will be kicking off the new year in style with a brand new programme of online creative classes and workshops exclusively for older people. The classes are presented by Imagine Arts and will be hosted on Greysnet.com. The full details can be found here.
Rehab4Addiction – Mental Health during the Covid-19 pandemic
LOCAL NEWS
Queens Park Arts Centre have many on-lines courses taking place via Zoom. For courses and costs click here.
KEEP CONNECTED – It’s good to talk!
Video calling has taken on special significance in 2020, but which service is right for you to stay in touch with your friends and family? Here is a run down of the technology available, courtesy of a recent article in the Third Age Matter magazine. Click here for details.
The U3A have also complied useful ‘How-To’ advice guides.
Online events with U3A – The U3A are now offering online events. These events will be held on Zoom and can be booked into on the Events Page.
Keep your money safe
There are many incidents of fraudsters trying to defraud us, but especially now during the coronavirus lockdown. So here are a few tips that can encourage you to keep your money safe so you can reduce the risk of becoming a victim and encourage family and friends to be aware too.
Report suspicious Phishing emails! You now report Phishing emails to the Suspicious Email Reporting Service (SERS) at report@phishing.gov.uk.
The ICO (Information Commissioner’s Office) has very helpful information on its website, including an article related to phishing posted on 31st March 2020 entitled ‘Stay One Step Ahead of the Scammers’.
For your information there are further details about scams, fraud and cyber crime on our Useful Info page on our website.
The NEC – Virtual events
With lockdown No. 2 meaning more time at home this month, why not attend an exciting event from the comfort of your sofa? Some of your favourite NEC shows have gone virtual this year. See the amazing content that’s on offer at The NEC.
NATIONAL TRUST
A behind-the scenes video tour of Coughton Court, Warwickshire.
Take a look here.
Other behind-the-scenes tours are at Bodnant Garden, Conwy, Hidcote in Gloucestershire and Anglesey Abbey, Cambridgeshire.
Although the house is currently closed, you can still glimpse inside the home of the Throckmorton family as the National Trust delve into their connections to the failed Gunpowder Plot of 1605. Unearth stories of uprising, take a closer look at a 16th-century protest document and discover a priest hole that’s not what it seems.
Enjoy highlights of the art collections and gardens with our online trails, films and virtual room tours.
Furniture on Film – May usually marks Open Furniture Month in the House, so this is a unique opportunity to look inside some of its remarkable pieces of furniture.
Explore the gardens – Discover the story of the gardens as well as special highlights.
THEATRE/SHOWS/MUSIC
THE SHOWS MUST GO ON
If you’re a fan of musicals and shows, you definitely won’t want to miss The Shows Must Go On. Now taking a break, a new season of shows will return again every weekend from mid-August.
As always, the show will appear at 7pm on The Shows Must Go On YouTube channel. The musical will be available to watch for 48 hours from 7pm on Friday on The Shows Must Go On YouTube channel.
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CIRQUE DU SOLIEL – Let’s stay connect CirqueConnect
A new CirqueConnect ”Best of” special featuring some of the best aerial acts from Cirque du Soleil! Sit back, relax and fly away with the aerialists from ”O”, Amaluna, LUZIA and more! Click the link to view this and many other Cirque du Soliel ‘Specials’
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ENGLISH NATIONAL BALLET
Click the link to view on the English National Ballet YouTube Channel.
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ONLINE – LONDON SYMPHONY ORCHESTRA
For those of you who enjoy classical music, the London Symphony Orchestra will be streaming concerts twice a week during the current Covid-19 pandemic restrictions. Visit their website www.lso.co.uk select ‘What’s on’ then select ‘Always Playing: Our Online Season’ to see what’s available.
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COMPOSER IN ISOLATION
Join Andrew Lloyd Webber on his website to see what he’s been up to insolation. Click here to see more.
Crooner Sessions
Gary Barlow has found a brilliant way to keep fans entertained while more of us stay at home and events get cancelled. The Take That star has began his own ‘Crooner Sessions‘ series on You Tube, where he performs a live duet over video call.
VIDEO CLIPS
There have been various amusing (and clever) video clips going viral over the past few weeks. Here are a couple more (in case you haven’t seen them)…
Something to keep the brain cells ticking over!
New! -TRAVEL QUIZ 3
Click here for the questions
(answers here)
TRAVEL QUIZ 2
Click here for the questions
(answers at the end)
TRAVEL QUIZ 1
Click here for the questions
(answers at the end)
PUB QUIZ
Rounds 1 – 6 including Sport, Music, Science and Movies/TV.
Click here for the questions
(the answers follow at the end)
FREE ONLINE EXERCISES FOR ACTIVE OLDER ADULTS
If you enjoy keeping active through exercise, why not try out the following:
www.ymca360.com have a wide range of videos available for all ages, including active older adults!
To see these videos, open the website, then select ‘browse videos’ , scroll down and open ‘Active Older Adults’. You will find they have something for all abilities and a choice of exercises, be it sitting yoga or something more active.
You could also try out Joe Wicks 10 Minute Full Body Seniors Workout, which is available on www.youtube.com.
For the more energetic of us, Olympic gymnast Max Whitlock has filmed five exercises for us to try out in our homes during the coronavirus outbreak.
Click on the link here and try not to do yourselves any damage!!
Tom Way
A popular speaker who has been to the WTU3A twice to talk about his wildlife photography has created a short video for us all to enjoy.
Next slide please…..
This topical poem by Pat Aylett (Aston Hearing Services) is a tribute to Professor Chris Whitty, Dr Jonathan Van Tam and Sir Patrick Vallance – names we would have not necessarily recognised this time last year but who have now become part of our daily conversation in 2021.
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Here’s a little ditty
In honour of Chris Whitty,
And his colleague Dr Jonathan Van Tam
Who keep us up to date
On the UK’s worrying state
With a graph, some data or a diagram.
(Next slide please…)
They are now familiar faces
On TV and other places
Flanking Boris as he gives the next update
On the figures nationwide
And those who’ve sadly died
While we wait with increased dread to hear our fate.
(Next slide please…)
On the science they rely
While the likes of you and I
Who haven’t got such scientific brains
Need simple ways to hear
What they try to make quite clear
With metaphors like football or like trains.
(Next slide please…)
And then there’s Patrick Vallance
Who tries to strike a balance
‘Twixt science and the struggling NHS
We must obey the rules
And not behave like fools
That’s the message he is really trying to stress.
(Last slide please…)
The tunnel’s very long
But we hope before too long
We’ll all be let out to enjoy the light
When we’ve all received our jabs
Thanks to all those in the labs
We have worked so hard to help us win the fight.
(… and there will be no more slides….)
Pat Aylett (courtesy of Aston Hearing Services)
February 2021
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An amusing poem entitled:
There is nothing the matter with me
A new one from Pam Ayres
Pam Ayres is absolutely essential to British humour, reminding us all to be tickled by the small joys and ridiculousness of everyday life.
PoetryGeneration
Peter D Hehir – poem – The World is Closed
If you have further ideas or information to add to this page, please email webmaster@wtu3a.org.uk