Newsletter March 2023

1 of 4 Website: www.flintshire-u3a.co.uk Phone: 07546 094927 Volume 18 Issue 2 March 2023 Flintshire u3a Newsletter Crafts Group The crafts group meets on the 4th Tuesday of the month in Buckley. We are a very friendly group who have a go at a different craft every month, led by a member of the group. The group has some excellent crafters and others who like me enjoy having a go and meeting up with everyone. Just before Christmas we made decoupage cards and future sessions include weaving a small wall hanging, making flower buttons, paper flowers, acetate painting and a bag. New members are always welcome. Contact me through the website or email [email protected] or ring 07713461617. Elspeth Parry January Open Meeting Subject: Dee Estuary and River Date: 18th January 2023 Speaker: Jim Holmes, Photographer Venue: St David's Church Hall, Mold Jim presented a talk and slideshow about the River Dee to the members on a snow laden morning in Mold. Jim described the route the river took from its source on the eastern slope of Dduallt (Black Hill) in the mountains of Snowdonia through to Lake Bala, Llangollen, Farndon, Chester and on to its estuary, a journey of seventy miles. He mentioned some of the regular testing and inspection processes that go on to maintain the water quality as well as social activities such as fly fishing for salmon and trout, white water rafting and the annual Chester Raft Race held for charity. Hilary thanked Jim for entertaining us. I have added a photo showing what a wintery day we experienced and yet there was still a very good turn out. The January Newsletter was available for distribution not only for members attending that morning but also for Group Leaders to collect and pass on at their meetings. A special thanks to Archeology Group for making teas and coffees and Music Live for entertaining us at the start of proceedings. Remember attendance and refreshments are free at all Open Meetings. Martin Hampstead 1

Chair’s Report 2 of 4 What a great success the New Year lunch was. Great food and great company. Well done and thanks to the team who did it all. I hope this sets the tone for the rest of the year. The committee tries to make sure you all know what is planned so you can book your place. However, we hear that some of you are still finding it a problem getting onto the website. Get in touch with me 01352 780324 or [email protected] and I will make sure you get help from one of us to get you started. Don’t be shy about it, we all had to learn what to do. We are looking for group co-ordinators so we can increase the number of groups and ensure that no one is on a waiting list. Please come forward and you will get loads of help and support. Get a friend to share the role with you! Contact [email protected] The u3a strap line is Learn, Laugh, Live so let us continue to do so through meeting friends both old and new for a laugh and a chat and learning more about the world we live in through talks, walks and by developing new skills. Hilary Reminders Membership Cards. Your membership card shows a barcode, it is your membership number. This is to help the larger groups get you into the venue quicker, for fire safety control and to tally attendance numbers with collected subs. The barcode scanner will be in use at Open Meetings and the AGM. Emails. Do read Fu3a emails to ensure you get all the up-to-date information about activities and events within your u3a. Please check your Spam/Junk box for missing emails. Website. Use the Groups' button to see all our groups and contact [email protected] if you wish to join a new one. Email [email protected] to receive assistance in using our website. Group Admin. If you signed up to attend a specific interest group but have not attended for 6 months, your name will be removed, making a space for someone who is able to attend. If you change your mind about attending an interest group, please contact the group co-ordinator and let them know. It helps with the admin and, again, frees up a place for another member. New Year Lunch On Tuesday 24th January, 84 members of Fu3a got together at New Brighton Community Centre to enjoy a New Year Lunch. The catering on this occasion was done in house and various people pulled together to make the event a success. The room was laid out in u3a colours of blue and yellow and looked very inviting for people as they came in. Those present enjoyed a cold buffet with a wide selection of food on offer followed by a choice of desserts. The atmosphere on the day was wonderful with the busy noise of friends chatting and catching up with each other. Members joining such an occasion for the first time were made to feel very welcome. We certainly lived up to being a fun-loving friendly organisation. Lynne Ingman - Vice Chair 2

3 of 4 Social History Programme March - May 2023 Date/Location A Group - 9:45 am B Group - 11:30 am Monday 6th March Speaker: Derek Arnold Speaker: Tom Jones Airbus Social Club Subject : Mutiny On The Bounty Subject : Gems Of Chester Cathedral Monday 3rd April Speaker: Tom Jones Speaker: Derek Arnold Ewloe Social Club Subject : Gems Of Chester Cathedral Subject : Mutiny On The Bounty Tuesday 2nd May Speaker: David Hearn Speaker: Peter Evans Airbus Social Club Subject : Do You Remember The 1960’s Subject : The River Alyn Please note: May talks are on a Tuesday due to Monday being a Bank Holiday. Two issues regarding our Airbus Sports & Social Club, Broughton, venue :- Safety - Until further notice, as a safety measure, both A & B groups are to be considered full. Parking - A reminder to members who park on the right hand side to kindly use the pedestrian crossing. It is planned to run a series of day coach trips over the spring and summer to places of social and historic interest. The following dates are booked with the coach company (Darren's) with venues and prices to be confirmed :- Dates Venues Due to the fact that they will be fully subscribed we To Be Confirmed will have to restrict it to fully paid up Fu3a members Friday 24th March Worcester only. Sadly, no TASTER passengers can be Monday 22nd May Kendal & Bowness entertained. This fact falls in line with national u3a Thursday 29th June Buxton & Bakewell Risk Assessment and Insurance Regulations. Also a Thursday 31st Aug Caernarfon & Anglesey rota may have to be applied as the fairest way of Tuesday 26th Sept RAF Cosford tackling the issue and I hope everyone understands the situation. More information regarding prices / departure times etc. will be given nearer the time via the website, newsletter and at future meetings. Brian Bennett - Social History Group Coordinator Vacancy For Fu3a Speaker Coordinator We are looking for an assistant to help in organising the speakers for the open meetings for the rest of the year. All speakers have been booked for 2023 but the post of assistant would be with a view to take over and book speakers for 2024 open meetings. I have been in post since 2016 during which time we have had a very varied choice of talks and also pottery demonstrations, musical items and during covid, on-line presentations from as far away as Kent. It has been a very rewarding time and I have met lots of very interesting people. If you are interested and prepared to step forward, please contact me via a committee member. Peter Hartnell Dates For Your Diary 1st April: Final date for submission of articles to the May edition of the newsletter. 18th April: New members coffee morning. New Brighton Hall, 10-12. Any member who has joined in the last 6-9 months is very welcome to attend. Come and meet the committee, find out more about our interest groups, special events and about the wider u3a movement. 23rd May: Open Meeting, The Armoury, Flint 10-12. Speaker Barry Williams, topic My Life As An Acrobat. Quiz Night Group We meet at 7.15pm on the third Friday of the month in the Grosvenor Hall, Mold. Teams take turns to set the questions, so the subjects are an eclectic mix. New members are welcome and you do not have to bring a team to participate, individual members are invited to join a team with a shortfall. Our aim is to enjoy a fun evening, the prizes are a bonus. Eileen Jones 3

4 of 4 Groups Liaison Shadow Hi, I am Celia Drew, and I have recently volunteered to work with Sue Wilcox, Groups Liaison, as her ‘shadow’. I have been a member of Flintshire u3a for several years, mostly as a regular member of the Social History Group. More recently I have joined the Family History Group and the Archaeology Group. You may notice that I am very interested in history! A native of Essex and East London, I moved to Hawarden in 1986. With three young children I was soon involved in all sorts of community groups and committees. However, having been a nurse and midwife in London, I soon returned to work – as a Practice Nurse in Hawarden for 10 years, during which I was the Secretary of the Welsh Practice Nurses Association. From 2001 I was a Regional Osteoporosis Specialist Nurse for a national charity for five years, and Falls Prevention Coordinator for Betsi Cadwaladr Health Board for 11 years. I retired in 2017, exactly 50 years after starting my training. I then started a local support group for Arthritis Care, volunteered as Heritage Officer for the Quay Watermen’s Association, and started to give local history talks to various groups. In 2021 I found another challenge and became the Secretary of the Flintshire Historical Society. A common thread in all my professional and volunteer roles has been effective communication and good record keeping. Many of these roles have involved acquiring knowledge in health and safety issues, and passing on this skill to others, particularly training care home staff in falls prevention. I hope to be able to support Sue in helping u3a groups to develop their own robust health and safety documents according to their specific activities. Celia Donkey Stand Flash-point Scrabbling For Words Around the shallow flash they proudly stand, towering over the lapwing and gull, with perfect reflections, each in command - but mirror-stillness so falsely can lull. There, suddenly, the noise of flapping wings - a heron decides to change its place, to upset the stable order of things and capture a more advantageous space. Resisting, the other defends its patch, with beating wings of the two in mid air and each one asserting its rights to catch from water made precious by the sun’s glare. The prize, in heron’s beak writhing away, There was only one seven letter word to describe the first a silver eel, intent on escape-dash; meeting of Fu3a's new Scrabble Group… TRIUMPH. It would its captor, eager to secure its prey, have been only a 14-point score among some high scoring wades to dry mud at the edge of the flash. games on the afternoon of Monday 23rdJanuary at the Grosvenor Hall in Mold where one game ended with a 72-point Repeatedly, the bird tries to devour triple word winner-ZEDS. Twenty five members turned up for the neck-long fresh fish dinner it found, the inaugural meeting to be welcomed by Brian Stacey who so the prey uses its wriggle-power signed everyone in. Group co-ordinator Marie Edwards was to break free, then be re-caught on hard ground. delighted with the turnout. She said: “Everyone had such a good time with plenty of smiles and laughter. The feedback Then pushing right away to gain control has been very positive.” Fu3a Scrabble Group meets every fourth Monday of the month at The Grosvenor Hall in Mold along the edge of the reed-covered strand, from 2.30-4.30pm. Jo Shone the heron swallows the silver eel whole - all in a flash at the old Donkey Stand.* (c) David Parry 2022 *Parkgate, Wirral. Editorial Team: Martin Hampstead and Jo Shone. Submit articles for inclusion in the newsletter to [email protected] The newsletter can be viewed on the Fu3a web site and copies will be available at the March open meeting. 1st April is the final date for submission of articles to the May edition. 4