Other News
From time to time, non-U3A news or events happening in and around Berwick upon Tweed that you may find of interest will be posted here.
Berwick Literary Festival 15th - 18th October 2020
Because of the current situation, this year's festival is FREE and ONLINE.
We are pleased to say that Berwick upon Tweed U3A is associating with the session given by Ann Thwaite. Ann is a distinguished biographer who won the Whitbread Biography Prize for her biography of A A Milne.
This year she will be in conversation with Dr Stephen Platten about her biography of Frances Hodgson Burnett, the author of The Secret Garden. It is sure to be an interesting session on 15th October at 5pm.
Full details of this and all the other Litfest sessions can be found at http://www.berwickliteraryfestival.com
There is a varied programme of talks and registration is now open.
Berwick Open Gardens 2020
The Friends of Castle Parks' annual Berwick Open Gardens event has been cancelled this year (Covid-19 again.....) but they've come up trumps with the ingenious idea of a virtual tour. Please see their poster, under Links on this page, for details.
Sheffield University Research Project seeks participants"
Dr Georgina Floridou (Music and Wellbeing Research Unit, The University of Sheffield) writes as follows:
"Are you more than 60 years old, healthy, and own an Android phone or tablet? Do you want to contribute to science and win a £5 Amazon voucher? You are cordially invited to take part in an ethically approved research study of the University of Sheffield, which is funded by the British Academy, about music that appears in the mind unintentionally and repeatedly. We are very much interested in your experiences either they are frequent or not so frequent - even if you don't have that kind of experiences, you can still participate.
You will be asked to download an application on your phone/tablet and complete a short questionnaire (each one takes about a minute to complete) in response to 8 push notifications per day for 4 days. You can participate from anywhere in the world.
If you are interested in taking part contact us at musichemispheres@gmail.com to arrange the details. All your responses will be kept confidential and anonymous. You contribution is invaluable and your help is much appreciated as your responses will help us understand how everyday thoughts unfold across the adult lifespan. You will be notified about the results of the study as soon as our findings become publicly available".
Later Trains for Berwick Petition Georgina Hill (local Councillor) has set up an online petition for those who wish to support her campaign for later trains to Berwick upon Tweed. Berwick U3A members wishing to sign it can do so via the link on this page.
Volunteers needed for Berwick Parks Kate Dixon, who looks after the Parks on behalf of the NCC, is always looking for new volunteers. At the moment volunteer day is Tuesday 10 - 3, but you don't have to stay all the time. There is also wildlife watching Thursday 1 - 2.30, and there are occasional volunteer events like varnishing the sculptures in Coronation Park. For more information please contact Hilary O'Shea via the button on the Contact page of this website.
Norwegian? Two U3A members are seeking native-Norwegian speaker(s) for conversational practice meetings over tea/coffee in or near Berwick. If you can help, or know of someone who can, please email the Webmaster via the button on the Contact page of this website.
A Healthier Life An unsolicited message has been sent to many U3As from a GP in Australia who’s self-published a book on how to live a healthier life. It’s entitled “Take a Simple Drive to a Healthier Life” and a free download of it is available from Apple’s 'Books' app (for imac, ipad or iphone) and from Amazon (for Kindle).
Please note this paragraph is provided for information and is not an endorsement of the book.
Walking Football for Parkinsons
Vivienne Rogerson from Parkinsons UK gave a talk at the February Open Meeting. Vivienne mentioned that she was keen to get Walking Football sessions up and running in Berwick and that she would be inviting U3A members to join in the sessions.
The first session was held on Tuesday 19th June 2018 at The Swan Centre. Further sessions will be held on the 1st and 3rd Tuesdays of each month, 11-12noon, £3.00 per session. Katy Taylor, will be leading the sessions on behalf of Parkinsons UK.
Coast Care in Northumberland Coast AONB
If you'd like to help with Coast Care's beach cleans and litter surveys, details of the locations, dates and times of upcoming local ones are on our Events page. More information is on their website (to which there is a link on the right-hand side of this page).
Other activities include shore watch animal surveys, red squirrel conservation and photography.
Morris Dancing
Anyone from the U3A interested? If so just contact any of the following : Charlie:01890 818073 - Judith: 01289 388501 - Andrea: 01668 219673
Apparently its a good way of keeping fit. They say it was founded in 1992, and based in Allanton. They pride themselves on their unique dance repertoire. Dances are inspired by the local area, and so is some of the music used, thus forming a new Scottish Border Tradition of Morris Dance.
New members, whether dancers or musicians, are ALWAYS most welcome. Age and experience doesn't matter - everybody had to start at some time!
Practice season is September to the end of April, on Tuesday evenings at 7.30pm - 9.15pm, in Allanton Village Hall, followed by a drink in the pub. The side dances out at various pubs/venues around the Borders/N. Northumberland from May Day (at dawn) until the end of August.
BEA - Berwick Educational Association
The Association runs courses and day schools covering a variety of subjects, from the poetry of the First World War, to local history, geology and archaeology. The courses are classroom based and some involve local field trips.
The courses are open to everyone and most are aimed at the complete beginner. A link to their website is on the right.
Freegle
See the link at the top of the page to the new Freegle in Berwick website - set up by one of our members as a forum for giving away unwanted usable items rather than disposing of them at the tip. You can also search the site to see if someone is giving away something you could use. Items must be free, legal, and usable by anyone.
Walking for Health#
This is not a U3A group. Meet at The Maltings Arts Centre steps at 1.30pm every Wednesday. Walks around the town and surrounding areas range from about three quarters of an hour to an hour and a half. Just turn up.