April
2021
The Newsletter of the U3A in Oliva
Issue 60
From our President
We’ve certainly had our fair share of April showers recently, haven’t we? On a brighter side, I’m hearing of more people receiving the vaccine which should see us being able to enjoy our lives with more freedom very soon. In fact, I was pleased to see restrictions being lifted when visiting restaurants. Six people to a table? Wow! It will be a very welcome step forward for the hospitality business.
Your Committee and myself have had our usual Zoom meeting – you can see the Minutes of what was discussed on the U3A Oliva webpage. Some Committee members are stepping down from their roles this year and I would like to thank them and the remaining members for their support, encouragement and good humour throughout their service with the U3A Oliva and especially during this past year.
The AGM is in May and I would really urge you to attend – it will be a Zoom meeting and help can be given should you not be familiar with this method of communication. We need a quorum of 50 members so please show a face!
A few of you responded to my invitation in the February Newsletter to have a virtual meet up via Zoom in March. I thought it would be a good idea to host another, so, if you would like to join me again, please reply by email and I will let you have the information you will need to access the Zoom chat. If you would like to participate but do not know how to go about accessing Zoom, then please let me know and I will try to help. The date I have in mind for the Zoom chat is Wednesday 28th April at 10.30 am.
I read recently that the U3A has been likened to a Youth Club for older people. So, let’s hope we can begin to enjoy all enjoy the social and educative aspects of our ‘Youth Club’ in the not too distant future.
Best wishes from myself and your Committee: Anja, Kelvin, Nancy, Diana, Steven, Anthony, Francois, Julie, Kathleen, Denise, Gail and John
Barry
23 March 2021
Valuable information website for older and vulnerable British people living in Spain expands into the Costa Blanca and Murcia
The Support in Spain website (www.supportinspain.info), run in collaboration with the British Embassy, aims to help with the welfare challenges of the foreign-resident population and is being launched over the next two weeks at a series of virtual events for voluntary groups and social workers in and around the Costa Blanca, south of Valencia and Murcia.
The site contains useful information on how to get extra support and help on a wide range of topics, such as healthcare, disability services and benefits, as well as providing a directory of local support organisations.
The service was designed in collaboration with the University of Birmingham and the British Embassy Madrid, and has had over 90,000 visitors since it first launched.
British Consul Sarah-Jane Morris said: “There is some incredible work carried out by so many volunteers across the Costa Blanca and Murcia to support foreign residents who are in need. This website will be a valuable tool to support voluntary groups in their work and for residents as well.
“It is always useful to plan ahead for the future. Many of us see our or our friends’ personal circumstances change and this website is a really good way to check up on the help that’s available.”
The virtual launch events are taking place on Tuesday 23 March with partners in Costa Blanca North /south of Valencia, Monday 29 March in Costa Blanca South and Tuesday 30 March in Murcia. The events will be hosted by the British Consulate in Alicante and Neil Hesketh of the Support in Spain project.
Neil Hesketh said: “The site is in Spanish, as well as English, so that social workers, medical staff and Spanish-speaking friends can, for the first time, access information on English-speaking support available.”
For the past 5+ years, Betty Dean and Paddy Colcombe have been the leaders of our Line Dancing Group.
They took over from Eddie and Carol, who started the group, and have worked tirelessly to keep it going over the years. Apart from the U3A classes, they have also raised a lot of money for the children’s home in Gandia through organising Line Dance social events.
They have decided that it’s time to hand over the reins to someone else so that they can enjoy their dancing without the responsibility of organising everything.
We would like to thank them both for all of the hard work they have put in over the years and hope that they carry on dancing for many years to come.
A new Group Leader will be taking over when the classes are able to restart.
SPEAKEASY
Just a thought! I would like to know whether any of you would be interested in a Speakeasy group which would meet for lunch about once a fortnight and speak only in Spanish?
Let me know by email barrypurvis2@gmail.com, and I will try to start the group mid-May, subject to demand. My own Spanish is bite-sized, so don’t be afraid of coming along. It would be a way of building our confidence up in the language of the country we live in, whilst enjoying a menu del dia and a glass of wine which always, so I’m led to believe, improves fluency.