At Home with Covid19
Keep in touch, Keep Busy, Have Fun
Being in self isolation doesn't mean you can't keep in touch. As members of the U3A you are probably used to being out and about participating in group events and the current restrictions will be leaving gaps in your day that might need filling. It would be good if we could share our ideas on this page. Tell us what your group are doing to keep in touch. Have you found anything to amuse you on the internet that we can share. Email your ideas via the pigeon (If you have an attachment to send let us know and we will give you an alternative email to use)
Hay Festival
The Hay Festival Digital is taking place online until 31 May with interactive events from more than 100 award-winning writers, global policy makers, historians, pioneers and innovators. You need to register with your email and your name for the events you wish to attend, some will have Q&A sessions at the end that you can join in. Full programme available at Hay Festival
Cheltenham Science Festival @ Home
The programme for this years Cheltenham Science Festival has been announced to run from 2nd to 7th June on-line, of course. You can see the extensive timetable at the Cheltenham Science Festival link and watch them on the Cheltenham Festivals YouTube channel. Some events are by Zoom and have limited places so visit early to reserve your place.
Travellers Tales
John Boon of the Travellers Tales group has been busy putting together three short videos documenting his Bird Watching Trip to Chile. Excellent viewing for bird watching enthusiasts, travellers and nature lovers alike. You can view them on the Travellers Tales group page and maybe they will inspire you to join the group and share your experiences. John hopes to add more videos very soon.
😊'I told my suitcases there is no holiday this year. Now I’m dealing with emotional baggage'
Sing For Health
Paula Evans, who conducts our U3A Choir, has already invited U3A Choir members to join her online for Sing For Health sessions on Mondays at 10 am. It has been suggested that other members may wish to join in too. The zoom meeting ID and password were sent to all members in the Chairman's email on 6th May. The meeting ID and password will remain the same, so it may be worth keeping a note of them.
'I was grounded 80% of my childhood, I've trained for this'😁
Run Group online with Zoom and Face time with Family
Zoom is free software that allows you to hold face to face meetings online with multiple participants. How to do this can be found here Run Group online with Zoom including the links for downloading the software.
'I hope the weather is good tomorrow for my trip to Puerto Backyardia. I’m getting tired of Los Livingroomia'.😎
Keukenhof Tulip Park
Tiptoe through the tulips with these virtual tours of the Keukenhof Tulip Park in Holland which will be posting new videos each week. Be sure to catch up on some of the earlier tours which started on March 21st.
Livecams
Explore nature from honey bees to giant pandas, from nesting humming birds to osprey, from coral reefs to the African plains via Livecams set up all around the world and streaming live. You can also catch the Northern Lights or visit the NASA space Station.
Churches On-line
For those of you missing your Church services, there are many which have live web cams. You may want to find one using these timetables:
Church of England Services; Catholic Church Services
The Shows Must Go On
After enjoying one of Andrew Lloyd Webber's full-length musical's once a week for the first 7 weeks The Shows Must Go On youtube channel have announced that the series will continue to stream more shows for us to watch for free. They will be available for 48 hours starting 7:00pm each Friday evening so you can tune in whenever you like over the weekend.
Free Painting Demonstrations
Thank you to the member who suggested the Norfolk Painting School which is offering free demonstrations on Wednesday’s at 1.00 pm. Visit the Norfolk Painting School Facebook for live demonstrations on Wednesday's or to view their last demonstration.
🤣'I need to practice social distancing ... from the refrigerator'.
National Theatre At Home
From Thursday 2nd April The National Theatre will be showing one of their productions streamed free for a week on YouTube, a new one each week. Why not arrange to watch it the same time as friends, dress for the occasion (at home), and discuss it later with your friends on-line.
Culture in Quarantine
Watch out for the BBC broadcasting six productions from The Royal Shakespeare Company between now and September to provide us with some Culture in Quarantine. All six are now on iPlayer and will be broadcast on BBC 4 - dates to be announced:
- Macbeth (2018), directed by Polly Findlay with Christopher Eccleston and Niamh Cusack
- Hamlet (2016), directed by Simon Godwin with Paapa Essiedu
- Romeo and Juliet(2018), directed by our Deputy Artistic Director Erica Whyman
- Much Ado About Nothing (2014), directed by Christopher Luscombe
- Othello (2015), directed by Iqbal Khan with Hugh Quarshie and Lucian Msamati
- The Merchant of Venice (2015), directed by Polly Findlay
The Royal Shakespeare Company have also made a number of their shows available on Marquee TV which is offering a 30 day free trial.
Things To Do At Home
This site will direct you to a wide range of Things To Do At Home for FREE but beware of the advertising. With things like languages, knitting, cooking, origami, keep fit and virtual Formula 1. The virtual tour section will take you all around the world from the Louvre to the Taj Mahal or the Sistine Chapel.
Virtual Formula 1
If you are missing the real thing check out Virtual Formula 1 from Esport. You can catch up on the earlier races:
- Bahrain F1 virtual Grand prix from 22nd March
- Vietnam F1 virtual Grand prix from 5th April
- Shanghai F1 virtual Grand prix from 19th April
- Brazilian F1 virtual Grand prix from 3rd May
- Spanish F1 virtual Grand prix from 10th May
- Next circuit may be Monaco for virtual Grand prix on 24th May.
😊'All sporting events cancelled but live boxing can be seen at Tesco, Morrisons, Aldi and Lidl'
'Day 2 without sport, found a lady sitting on my couch. Apparently she's my wife. She seems nice'🤣
Pause Sky Sports Subscription
If you subscribe to Sky Sports you can pause your subscription payments.
- Your Sports subscription payment will be paused until the action resumes
- All 11 Sky Sports channels plus your recordings will remain available
- As soon as the action returns, they will reinstate your Sports subscription. You don’t need to do anything.
You can also pause them if you are a Virgin Media customer (but not BT at the moment, let us know if that changes).
😊I’m so excited . . . it’s time to take out the garbage. What to wear, what to wear?
Join the Great British Home Chorus with Gareth Malone
Read the article about Gareth Malone and register for the Great British Home Chorus. Then join him for his live broadcasts on line at 5.30 each evening.
'I don’t think anyone expected that when we changed the clocks we’d go from Standard Time to Twilight Zone'🤣
Metropolitan Opera for Opera Lovers
The Metropolitan Opera are streaming a different opera each day. Go to Metropolitan Opera and press 'Watch now'
More Music and Shows on streaming platforms
The National Student Opera Society have produced a listing of streaming platforms for Operas and some musical shows.
😒'Day 1: I have stocked up enough non-perishable food to last for months'
😌'Day 1 and 45 minutes: I am in the supermarket because I want a twix'
ChatterPack
Describe themselves as a list of free, online, boredom-busting resources. ChatterPack lists items under headings of virtual tours, on line learning, geography, music, arts, literature, skills. There really is something for everyone!
Audio books
Audible are offering Audio books free to stream on your desktop, laptop, phone or tablet. The books are graded for kids to teens and classics where you will find things like learning a language or a Shakespearean play. Thank you to the member who sent in this suggestion.
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'Day 5 of isolation: I've put a different bottle of beer in each room of the house and I'm pretending I'm on a pub crawl'
'Day 9 of isolation: I struck up a conversion with a spider. Seems a nice chap. He's a web designer! ...and the cat asked me if I'd like the radio left on while she went out!'
'The wife and I watched three movies back to back last night. Fortunately I was the one facing the TV'🤗
The Virtual U3A - vU3A
This might be a good time to try out the Virtual U3A. The activity groups from History, through art, books and lots more are all on line and they have a 'coffee shop' where you can just go online for a chat. It could be well worth the £12 annual subscription. Virtual U3A
'Tesco, good, busy later. Sainsburys, moderate to good. Asda, heavy crowds by evening. Waitrose and co-op, rough at first, easing later. That is the end of the Shopping Forecast'😎
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😌'How long is Social distancing supposed to last? My husband keeps trying to get in the house'
U3A Coronavirus Advice
The U3A has started a page on the national website to help and advise us all. The aim is to introduce as many ideas as possible encouraging members to stay active and connected. You can get involved with the 'Living History in Unprecedented Times' shared learning project by keeping a diary of personal thoughts, ideas and reflections.
'My partner purchased a world map.... gave me a dart and said "throw this and wherever it lands I'm taking you for a holiday when this pandemic is over". Turns out we're spending two weeks behind the fridge.'😎
Exercise
Don't forget to keep active with these beginners videos. Do you have a favorite to share?
10 minute Home Workout for Seniors
15 minute Morning Yoga for Beginners
15-minute Beginner Workout
15 minute Cardio Workout