Witney

Coronavirus (COVID-19)

HISTORICAL ARCHIVE: THIS PAGE PROVIDED LINKS TO:

• Sources of advice on Coronavirus

• Information on Useful Sites to maintain interest when isolated at home.

• See also the Learn, Laugh, Live Newsletter and Virus Special Newsletters (see Links Section to right of page) from our Chairman

You can continue to contact any member of the committee via the links on the Contact page of this website.

If any u3a member has been directly affected by Coronavirus please contact the Chair immediately. Thank you

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Restarting u3a Activities

• A summary of Guidelines on Re-starting u3a Activities for Witney u3a Group Leaders can be found by clicking on the link. A simple Risk Assessment form can be found here: Risk Assessment/Checklist

• For more detailed guidance see the u3a Central Office page Covid-19 Advice on u3a Activities - see also FAQs on Restarting Activities, the General Risk Assessment/Checklist and the Personal Risk Assessment Checklist forms

• Groups interested in conducting meetings partly in person and partly by video link (e.g. Zoom) may be interested in the Hybrid Meetings Video produced by the u3a

• The Latest Government Advice is summarised at Coronavirus - What You Need to Do (www.gov.uk/coronavirus)

• Members are encouraged to communicate with other members who they know may be feeling isolated due to the current lockdown - Thank You. If you are FEELING ISOLATED OR LONELY the following organisations can help: AgeUK Tel 0800 169 6565, or Silverline Tel 0800 470 8090

• The u3a Trust team have provided a series of How to Guides to help you stay connected from email to WhyPay? and Zoom - Facebook to Whatsapp. You can find them on the national website here: How-To-Guidance. Our TECHNICAL SUPPORT PAGE provides guidance on using Zoom and other on-line packages, including information on how to join Zoom meetings by phone.

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Sources of Advice and Information on Coronavirus

• Covid-19 Advice on u3a Activities
• Government Coronavirus Response
• NHS Coronavirus Advice
• 111 online coronavirus service
• NHS Stay at Home Advice (Self Isolation and Treating Symptoms)
• Covid Cases in W. Oxfordshire
• Coronavirus in My Area

To get an NHS 'Covid passport' go to the NHS Covid Pass page on the NHS website or the NHS app on your mobile device.

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Useful Sites to Keep in Touch, Maintain Interest and Avoid Boredom

Whilst we are spending more time at home, and our normal General Meetings and Interest Group meetings and Activies are suspended, the Witney u3a Committee are keen to maintain interest and learning opportunities for those at home. We are therefore providing the following list of websites that can be useful in this respect.

If you have suggestions for further sites that could be useful or have other ideas on how members can maintain interest and interact with each other during the outbreak, please contact any member of the Committee using the Contacts page of this website

See the Virus Special Newsletter 8, July 2nd from our Chairman for yet more links to external websites to keep you amused and entertained and a further selection of humorous items - Learn, Laugh and Live

Sign up for your regular personal copyof the National U3A Newsletter here.

A list of some of the companies and organistions that can provide home delivery and support services can be found at the foot of this page

Keeping in Touch:

• WhatsApp ----- https://www.whatsapp.com fast, simple, messaging and calling for free, available on phones all over the world. See How to Make a Call on WhatsApp (https://www.wikihow.tech/Make-a-Call-on-WhatsApp)

• Whypay (https://whypay.net) free conference call software which allows three or more people speaking on the phone together at the same time. Good for people who don’t have internet access or aren’t confident using it

• Skype (https://www.skype.com/en/) Online system for audio & video calls, to individuals & for group calls. Useful for setting up Interest Group meetings? The Zoom Video and Audio Conferencing facility is also very popular

• Soar Valley u3a has produced - thanks to member Paul Fileman - an excellent Concise Guide to Virtual Meetings to help U3As develop virtual meetings and ways of keeping in touch.

• How to Guides The u3a Trust team have provided a series of How to Guides to help you stay connected from email to WhyPay? and Zoom - Facebook to Whatsapp. You can find them on the national website here: How-To-Guidance. They provide additional resources here: u3a Tech help.

• A National u3a Facebook page entiltled 'u3a - Keeping in Touch' has been created to help u3a members to stay in contact with each other and also a place to share ideas u3as are using to maintain learning and interests and to keep in touch. To join this group go to u3a - Keeping in Touch (https://www.facebook.com/groups/2833125070105668/). You will need to have or create a Facebook account to join.

• In this period of enforced isolation, we thought it was time to resurrect our Witney U3A Group Facebook page which has been dormant for some time. This page is only open to Witney u3a members and is a good way to communicate with fellow members. You can use it to share ideas and keep each other's spirits up! We are still finding our way around Facebook so please bear with us if there are a few bloopers! You will need a Facebook account to access this page.

• We also have a public Facebook page at Witney u3a Public Facebook page

Learning (Courses and Talks):

• NEW Camden Adult Learning, in conjunction with The British Museum, are offering a set of free history webinars this Spring term. For further details visit Camden Adult Learning

• Wednesday evening Institute of Astronomy Talks. See the Institute of Astronomy Cambridge facebook page for further details of talks.

• Go to the Astronomy for Beginners website to see details of a group you can join to learn about this subject

• See the National u3a Events pages for new events and courses to keep you occupied

• The Exmouth u3a Astronomy Group and Minehead & District Prog Rock Group welcome participation from members of other u3as

• Zoom tutorials are regularly held by the u3a National Office, see u3a On-line Tutorials for more informatin

----- *Open University (https://www.open.edu/openlearn/free-courses/full-catalogue) Open University short courses on a range of subjects including science, the arts, history, languages etc..

• Futurelearn (https://www.futurelearn.com) similar to Open University but from a range of Universities nationally & internationally. Free.

• Duolingo (https://www.duolingo.com) fun language learning site for all ages.

• Free on-line courses from Southampton Univ. (https://www.southampton.ac.uk/courses/free-online-learning.page)

• Free on-line courses from York University (https://www.york.ac.uk/study/moocs/ )

• TED Short Talks (https://www.ted.com/talks) - non-profit organisation offering short talks on a range of subjects from science to business to global issues.

Entertainment:

• Boom Radio; Radio for Baby Boomers

• The Virtual Trips website offers tours of places all round the world conducted by experienced local guides.

-----*National Theatre Live streaming: a range of plays are available to stream via their YouTube Channel during their closure

• The Shows Must Go On offers video extracts from Hit Musicals.

• Youtube (https://www.youtube.com) great for exercise videos to keep you moving. Just search for yoga, tai chi, seniors’ exercise or whatever you fancy.

• BBC Sounds https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds BBC Sounds to listen again to any BBC radio programme, podcast, audiobooks etc. Free.

• See the Oxford Playhouse site for information on their on-line and other activities

National u3a Initiatives:

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• The Birdtrack Project is a free and convenient way of storing your bird records online. BirdTrack lets you keep up to date with what others are seeing, view the latest trends, and contribute your data to BTO science.

• U3A-Eye Photographic Project: The U3A are launching a new on-line Photographic Project U3A Eye to celebrate our budding U3A photographers and encourage them to submit pictures of their surroundings during this unprecedented time. Follow the link for furter details.

• Virtual u3a (https://vu3a.org) Virtual u3a, lots of “virtual” interest groups, activities & discussions.

• The National u3a have launched 3 new u3a Discussion Forums covering 'Learning', 'Our u3a Community' and 'Beacon' (discussions around using the u3a Management System). Follow the preceeding link for more details.

• See the u3a National Newsletter Archive for access to past National Newsletters which contain additional suggestions on How to Keep Learning. Sign up for your regular copy here: u3a National Newsletter Application

The Virus Special Newsletters (see links top right) provide a vast array of further links with useful and interesting ideas

Local Support:

The following local Companies/Shops advertise as offering delivery services for their products: (Witney U3A hope you find this list useful but are not able to take any responsibility for any service listed).

If you are unable to leave your home because of the Coronavirus epidemic, The Witney Land Army (07784 305521, hq@witneylandarmy.org) are a volunteer group that can help with:

• Arranging deliveries
• Picking up Shopping and Medication
• A Friendly Phone Call
• Posting Mail
• Signposting You to More support
• Topping up Gas or Electricity Key

Video conference and learning images courtesy pikisuperstar:
Designed by pikisuperstar / Freepik