Whitley Bay

News from our U3A .

Chairman's News
Last week we had a visit from Alex Mason of the North East Ambulance NHS Foundation Trust who
gave 25 of our members a two-hour session on CPR (Cardio Pulmonary Resuscitation) and use of
defibrillators. Alex’s obvious passion for saving lives was infectious and she soon had us practising CPR
on manikins and asking lots of questions about the subject. We all came away feeling much more
confident about handling a life saving situation and very likely will ask her to return to give further
sessions. All participants made a £5 donation which covered the hire of the room from Linskill and
enabled us to donate £50 to the trust.
Whilst the number of public access defibrillators in this area, as in all areas, has increased significantly
over the last 10 years Alex was concerned that most people do not know how to use them which is
very worrying noting that there are 30,000 cases of cardiac arrest outside hospitals or medical centres
each year.
Alex brought up an important feature of mobile phones which is very important in emergencies. These
phones, which now all have a locking feature, can be operated without opening the lock to access
emergency services and emergency contact numbers you have entered into your phone under the
designation “ICE” or “in case of emergencies’. It’s a straightforward process to set up but varies on
different phone types. If you take your phone to a phone shop someone there would be pleased to
show you how to do this. Alternatively, there are u3a members here who would be very pleased help
you.
Looking at membership, the very good news is that this continues to increase and currently stands at
372. Over the last month we have welcomed fourteen new members to Whitley Bay u3a. We wish all our new
members an enjoyable and stimulating time with our u3a.
Finally, our activity groups continue to increase: short walks group is now running and two new groups
are starting this month: Topic Group and Book Group 2.
Ian Bedwell, Chair
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Poetry Please The u3a National Poetry Competition is back for another year, and this year the theme is 'What if... The competition opens on Wednesday 8th November and will close at midday on Friday 26th January, so there's plenty of time to enter. To read the rules and submit your poem, please visit u3a.org.uk/learning/poetry-competition
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New members needed for the following groups

  • Quiz group need more members At St Andrew's Church Monkseaton.
  • Tai Chi 4. We are looking for two new members to join our Friday Tai Chi class. It is held in St Mary's church hall at 2pm. If you fancy a taster, just come along. £5.00
  • CANASTA. We need more members for this group which has restarted after COVID close down. The group now meet at Whitley Bay Library, still on Friday afternoon at 2.00 pm. The library operates within COVID regulations. A warm welcome awaits you.
  • Bridge Group Contact Ron and Trish. Every Wednesday at 1.30-4.00, except U3A meeting days, in the Kittiwake Pub, Claremont Road Whitley Lodge. There is ample parking and refreshments are available. I look forward to seeing present members again and would welcome new Br

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Facebook Group
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Our Facebook page is growing strongly and now has 118 members. It is a closed group and members are those members of our u3a or even other u3a's and friends of us.
We are looking to increase our numbers and look forward to seeing you join.
Also, anyone wishing to become an admin. member is welcome to help run the group. It doesn't take much time and we can help you if you are not sure of what to do.

Social Media
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Since lockdown we have been keen to increase membership of our u3a and add new groups, to give our members more choice. Many people join through personal recommendation, but there are also other means of finding out about our groups.

One modern method for connecting people is social media and we are currently connected on Facebook with 117 members. Also, the committee has a group on WhatsApp, however, our knowledge and skills with this need to increase.

We know that there are many of our members using social media and some are very knowledgeable about using this tool. We are hoping that one of these members would be prepared to pass on that knowledge to others.

Therefore, we are looking for a u3a member to be our Social Media Expert, to increase our participation and control in this media.
Please give your name to any committee member to start the ball rolling.

If you would like to begin a new group, you can give the details to the Group Co-ordinators on the Group page and request members to contact them.#

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(The version on this page is a bite size edition)

Reminder
Entries for the next newsletter should be sent to Ann at wbu3anews@gmail.com by midday on the 2nd Friday of the month. Group leaders can send in entries at any time during the month, as long as they arrive before the deadline.
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