Monthly newsletter - June 2024

In this monthly newsletter:

  • Announcements
  • Notes for your diary
  • The May meeting
  • Hayling u3a 18th birthday party
  • The June meeting
  • Visits
  • News from the groups
  • u3a Trust events
  • A short story

Announcements

Helping others

We will collect tins and dried foodstuffs for both "Hayling Holiday Lunches" and "Community Pantry" food banks. The collection will be at each Hayling u3a monthly meeting (put food donations on the stage). In addition, a collection bucket will be available at the meeting if you prefer to give a cash donation. Please ensure that any food products you donate are within the sell-by date.

Volunteers Required

We are always looking for volunteers to help run our various activities. Currently we need additional tea monitors for making the tea/coffee at the monthly meetings. We run a rota so that you would only have to cover once or twice a year.

Notes for your diary

Boom Radio and u3a

Boom Radio is running a three month long nationwide u3a membership campaign starting on the 1st April. Hayling Island member John Cushion has contributed a short vignette which will broadcast on numerous intervals throughout the promotion. This will help highlight the advantages of u3a membership following the success of the recently formed Hayling u3a Island Shanty group.

Boom Radio is a national radio station in the UK specifically designed for the ‘Baby Boomer’ generation. The station has a target of listeners aged 55 and over which make up 90% of its audience. According to recent figures it has an impressive audience loyalty with listeners spending an average of 8 hours a week tuning in. The station offers a diverse selection of music spanning different decades playing tunes from the ‘50s, ‘60s and ‘70s presented by well-known voices like David Hamilton. For more details of Boom Radio tap/click here. Boom Radio can be played on a DAB radio, on smart speakers like Alexa or Google, on your phone or tablet by downloading the app or on Freeview TV channel 277.

The May meeting

The weird, the wild & the wonderful part 7. We've heard parts 1 to 6 of his talks. In Part 7 Andrew gave us the final story of his adventures and experiences while travelling around the world in 1991.

Andrew is a retired history teacher and an around-the-world backpacker, a Blue Badge guide for central Southern England and aspires to be a local Historian. He keeps chickens, bees and daughters.

Hayling u3a 18th birthday party

Hayling u3a held its 18th birthday party on the 16th May 2024. Established in May 2006, the organisation has gone from strength to strength with membership now at over 600.

The tea party was held for members following the monthly talk. Vera Smith, one of our founder members, was invited back to cut the birthday cake assisted by Hayling u3a chair Julie Taylor.

Sandwiches, cupcakes, teas and coffees were available for all and real ‘party atmosphere’ developed, characteristic of the Hayling group.

June meeting

The next meeting will be at 2:00 pm on Thursday 20th June 2024 and will be Who said that? by Madeleine Salvetti. Madeleine will tell us about the origins behind our sayings used in everyday language. Tap or click here for details.

Visits

We arrange occasional visits to places on behalf of all Hayling Island u3a members. The next trip, on 21 August 2024, is to the three Solent Forts. More detail will be added in future Newsletters. You do not have to join the Visits 'group' to go on one of our trips.

At the time of writing there are fewer than 10 tickets left Tap/click here for the latest information and to book your place.

News from the groups

Visits

We are planning another visit soon after the Gosport Forts visit, which will be to a garden and will be scheduled for late September or early October. Prime candidates are Hillier's at Romsey or Wakehust near Ardingly. Stop by the visits desk at the 20th June meeting and vote for your preference!

Richard North

Chess

I am due to form a Chess Group which I aim to start in the Autumn - after the Summer holiday period. At the moment I have been contacted by one member who is interested in being involved. This will then enable me to establish a Chess group if there is sufficient interest. Tap or click here for more details.

Norman Payne

u3a Trust events

u3a online events

The u3a Trust conducts a national learning programme month by month. For details of the June 2024 events tap or click here for details.

u3a Friends and Friends Extra

u3a Friends is a new initiative to bring together stories and interests from across the u3a movement. Tap or click here for more details. Friends Extra is a new benefits website exclusively for u3a Friends. Tap or click here for more details of Friends Extra.

Southeast u3a forum summer schools

Tap or click here for details.

A short story

How to get a garden boy

The Housekeeper looked down at the scruffy piece of humanity standing before her. She was a very upright woman, with her dark hair drawn back into a severe bun, and her dark grey bombazine dress with its long tight sleeves and fitted bodice, she presented a scary image of efficiency.

The scruffy piece of humanity, in stark contrast, was small and skinny, with a blotchy skin covered by a ragged shirt and trousers. His hair was in badly need of cutting and a good wash. He raised a pair of large brown eyes, and his lower lip started to tremble before he held it still with his teeth, biting his lip. He stared up, defiantly.

“Well?” The housekeeper spat the word out. “I’m waiting”

“Please Miss, I was ‘ungry, an’ it was just sittin’ there. I thought it was goin’ to be thrown away.”

There was a pause while the housekeeper looked hard at this boy in front of her. This boy who had the nerve to sneak through the gate and steal a bun from the tray left on the windowsill to cool! This ragged boy with huge brown eyes. “You thought it was going to be thrown away? You are a liar boy, a liar and a thief. I should hand you straight over to the Magistrate. However, by chance, I need a boy to help old Joe with his work in the garden. You can pay for the bun by working with Joe, you will find him in that shed. With that statement she pointed to a shed down the path, then turned to go back into the house. The boys voice stopped her.

“Do you mean I can work ‘ere? Really work, regular like?” The voice held a note of hope like a lifeline to a drowning man.

“For the time being, yes. Now go and find Joe and tell him I have sent you. Now!”

“Um”, There was a hesitation here. The boy knew he was pushing his luck, but he had to ask. “Um, will I get paid then?”

“Not until you have paid for the food you stole.”

“I see, thank you Miss” The boy raised his huge brown eyes again and the housekeeper had difficulty in keeping her composure as the boy ran down the garden to the shed.

On arrival at the shed. “Miss sent me to ‘elp you in the garden” he breathlessly told Joe.

“Has she now. Why would that be then?” Joe looked at this scrap of tatters in front of him. “You wouldn’t by any chance have been caught stealing a bun from the windowsill would you?”

“It was only a little one” Replied the boy. The old man laughed. “She always gets them” He chuckled. “Scraggy urchins to work for nothing for a week cos they’ve pinched a bun. Then she fires them. Works every time.”

“She said I would get paid after” The boy stated. “Nay lad, you’ll get fired after” Old Joe said, “You’ve been had. Come on”

© Fiona Bartlett 2020

Feedback

Any comments would be welcome. Please send any feedback to editor@haylingu3a.org.

Robert Bull