Plymouth University of the Third Age

On Monday 10th June we had a fascinating General Meeting at the Crowne Plaza when 2 excellent speakers from the Devon and Cornwall police described the dangers of using the internet and how we can minimise these.

After the event the speakers emailed:

Just a big thank you for inviting us to speak to your group today.  We appreciate there was a lot of information to put across to the audience and even so, we weren’t even beginning to scratch the surface.  It was great to see so many people in attendance, all I hope will take some tips away help prevent becoming victims of cybercrime in the future.

Here are some useful links for you to share with your U3A for further advice and guidance:

Take Five to Stop Fraud – general advice on financial fraud:
https://takefive-stopfraud.org.uk/

Get Safe Online (personal and business advice)
https://www.getsafeonline.org/

The Metropolitan Police’s ‘Little Book of Cyber Scams’  – we are in the process of producing a similar D&C document: https://www.met.police.uk/SysSiteAssets/media/downloads/central/advice/fraud/met/little-book-of-cyber-scams-2.0.pdf

Have I been Pwned – check to see if your email account has been compromised in a data breach:
https://haveibeenpwned.com/

General advice and guidance from the National Cyber Security Centre:
https://www.ncsc.gov.uk/section/advice-guidance/all-topics

Online renewal for 2019/2020 is now available (as of 3rd April 2019)

Log in to the Members’ Portal.  Payment can be made either via a Pay Pal account or you can select the option to make your payment by credit or debit card.

If you need instructions as to how to use the Members Portal see Members Portal Guide.

Maintaining the lifeblood our U3A: our Groups

The Group Coordination role is one of the most important in any U3A. This has traditionally been undertaken by only one person in Plymouth U3A, but it is an onerous responsibility.

Following the Group Leaders’ meeting at the late January meeting, and the many useful ideas put forward by Group Leaders, it is proposed that the Group Coordination role should be simplified by dividing it up into subject areas, with a coordinator for the groups in each subject area, and that these subject coordinators would work as a team and elect one of them to take the committee Group Leader Coordinator role.

For example, we might have a subject area called “Arts” which could include History, Literature, Poetry, Shared Learning, Philology, Art, Art Appreciation,

Another subject area could be “Science and Technology”, perhaps addressing Maths, Digital Photography and any computer based activities like From Script o Screen, Science and Technology or Mathematics.

A big subject area could be “Health and Wellbeing” which could include groups in the physical and mental health-related fields such as walking, dancing, games, wine appreciation, cooking and crafts groups etc..

“Languages” is a further area which would probably include all the foreign language groups.

When the team gets together, it would sort out for itself its own way of categorising groups and handling the group coordination function and, especially, the best way of supporting people wanting to set up new groups. Very importantly, the team would also provide the main communications channel between the committee and the groups and would therefore be an effective way of keeping the committee focused on the general views, needs and preferences of the membership.

Please consider  how you could be a part of this stimulating movement. 

Please contact any of Richard Keoghoe, Marilyn Lean or Janet Vosper on the committee if you’d like to discuss this. Thank you.  groups@plymouthu3a.org.uk news@plymouthu3a.org.uk uniliaison@plymouthu3a.org.uk

Marina Litvinenko In conversation with John Dobson

In 2006, Alexander Litvinenko died from a mysterious poison in London. Marina tells her story about her husband with passion to Plymouth U3A.

From the January meeting, Crowne Plaza have changed the parking arrangements on the day of the monthly meeting, following the installation of an automatic system where tokens are no longer used.

It will now be possible to park for free for three hours providing that the vehicle is registered at the hotel reception upon arrival. If the vehicle is parked for more than the three hours then a fee of £5 will be charged.

If you do not register your vehicle, or leave the car park after staying longer than 3 hours without paying the £5 fee, then a penalty notice of £100 will be issued.