West Wolds U3A

Click here to see the latest Newsletter from the Spanish Group Convenor, now that the Spanish Holiday market has reopened, why not come along and join them at their next meeting to get ready for your next break.

A presentation on Age UK Lindsey by Liz Brooks(Project Manager) and Lin Wood(Volunteer Coordinator) was reviewed by Nadia Dawson

Liz started her presentation by giving us some background information on the charity which is independent but a brand partner of the national Age UK charity. Age UK Lindsey shares the Age UK aim which is to promote and improve the well-being of older people but, what sets them apart is that all the money raised in the Lindsey area ( which is twice the size of Greater London and includes East Lindsey, West Lindsey and North Lincolnshire) is spent locally.

Age UK Lindsey has been supporting local older people by delivering a wide range of services both in people’s homes and in the community for thirty years. Its HQ (and shop) is in Horncastle however, there are 8 other shops situated within its area which, in addition to selling a huge variety of goods are also access points as the staff have the knowledge to be able to signpost people requiring additional help, guidance and information.

The need to offer a variety of services for older people and their carers was nationally recognised by Age UK so it has established a number of strings to its bow which include offering information and advice, befriending, keeping people connected, working in partnership with other organisations, developing seasonal projects, running their charity shops and establishing opportunities for volunteers; these people are the beating heart of the charity as they support and deliver its services, man its shops and undertake its projects.

Because of its size and changing demographic, the Age UK Lindsey area comes with numerous challenges; the biggest one being that currently, 28% of the ‘local’ population is over 65 and this is expected to rise significantly by 2028 so, with the added burden of financial constraints, government policies and changes in health and social care, there is an even greater need for the older population to have their well-being supported to ensure they can continue to be independent and have a voice in their own community.

Age UK Lindsey are financially supported by donations from the public, income from charity shops, legacies and charitable grants as well as fundraising events throughout the year and, they use this money to provide free, independent, consistent, relevant and effective advice to the older people in East Lindsey, West Lindsey and North Lincolnshire.

The June newsletter is here...

You can access the newsletter from this post or from the email the majority of our members will receive by the 10th June 2022

If you haven’t told us your email address or if it has changed… to avoid missing out send your updated email details to membership@westwoldsu3a.org.

If you would like to make comment on this newsletter or submit an article for the next issue then please send details to newsletter@westwoldsu3a.org by Friday 1st July 2022.

We would really like to hear from you now that u3a events are beginning to take off again

The online July meeting on 26 July has been designated as the Anniversary meeting and is now available for booking on the national website.

This is a science-based learning event with 3 presentations of 45 minutes followed by questions after each, with a break for refreshments and for lunch. The meeting will start at 10:30 (doors open at 10:15) and will end with a short Summary and Thanks session at 3 o’clock.

Booking

To book a place on this Free event, please go to Events on the u3a national website and click the registration option for the u3a Science Network anniversary meeting on 26 July or directly here: Eventbrite

Programme

The meeting will conclude with a Plenary session, addressing general questions posted in the Chat and announcing details of the October meeting.

Click here to see the latest Newsletter from the Spanish Group Convenor, now that the Spanish Holiday market has reopened, why not come along and join them at their next meeting to get ready for your next break.

Martyn Fuller from Veolia who spoke to us at the last meeting has commented that to clear up any confusion, their company is not responsible for bin collection in West Lindsey.

After a brief outline of his career progression, Martyn gave us some background information on Veolia which has French roots and a very broad company portfolio of waste collection services around the world. In the UK, most people associate Veolia with the emptying of their bins however, they are actually very actively involved with activities in the three main service and utility areas traditionally managed by public authorities ie water, waste management and energy services.

Some examples of little-known actualities about Veolia’s diverse range of services in the UK include the fact that the clean, green and sustainable energy created from their management of the un-recyclable waste collected in Sheffield actually provides heat to over 125 of the city’s buildings including the university, leisure facilities, hospitals and households. Their control of the waste management system at Lincoln Hospital ensures the provision of all its lighting, heating and hot water and, the plastic tarpaulin that covered the grass at last year’s FA cup final was made from rubbish recycled by Veolia.

Having made members aware of the wide-ranging variety of services Veolia are involved in, Martyn then referred to everybody’s current bug bear which is why some residents in West Lindsey are not getting their blue bins emptied.

The recently enacted Environment Act 2021 states that recycling streams should be collected separately so, in order to achieve the national targets for recycling, we are being asked to increase the quantity of material that can be recycled by putting the “Right Thing in the Right Bin”; this will ensure that more items are successfully recycled back into products that can be reused. In WL, the ‘old’ method for collecting recycling (all in the blue bin) meant that the vast majority of any paper and card was often contaminated and prone to becoming damp, wet and stained. By collecting it separately in the purple lidded bin, it will now be kept clean and dry so it can be recycled, baled and sold. The current price for a ton of recycled paper and card is between £80 and £90 so it is to our benefit that we put the “Right Thing in the Right Bin” because, once collected, it is sent directly to a dedicated paper mill in Kings Lynn and Lincolnshire County Council receive an income from it.

For obvious reasons then, Veolia cannot empty bins that contain the wrong materials so, if you place paper and card into your blue bin it will not be emptied because it becomes contaminated. Paper and card will now only be accepted in the purple-lidded bin and your blue bin will be tagged and not emptied until you have removed the items not suitable for recycling.

Veolia will be working with us to make sure that we get it right because this is all about us doing the right thing to help protect the environment for the future. The money that Lincolnshire recoup from these financial efficiencies will be ploughed back into waste services for everyone in Lincolnshire so eventually we will all benefit and, by using a specialist paper company, we can reduce the number of miles paper and cardboard travels before being fully recycled, and our carbon footprint. By reducing the contamination in the rest of the recycling, this process also becomes more efficient both economically and environmentally and, the separate collections with the new service means there is no increase to our carbon footprint, as the same number of lorries are collecting recycling so there is no increased mileage.

When it is all properly explained, it all makes perfect sense however, as Martyn pointed out, although Veolia are trying to make the system uniform, the different councils are causing unnecessary chaos because they do not have a common policy for bin colours. Why is it that one area has green bins for compost whereas another has brown? This doesn’t make any sense at all and needs to be addressed as soon as possible; in the meantime, Veolia will continue to endeavour to get more material recycled if you put plastic bottles, tubs and cartons, glass bottles and jars and metal cans and tins in your blue bin and all dry paper and card in the purple lidded one.

The May newsletter is here…

You can access the newsletter from this post or from the email the majority of our members will receive by the 18th May 2022

If you haven’t told us your email address or if it has changed… to avoid missing out send your updated email details to membership@westwoldsu3a.org.

If you would like to make comment on this newsletter or submit an article for the next issue then please send details to newsletter@westwoldsu3a.org by Friday 27th May 2022.

We would really like to hear from you now that u3a events are beginning to take off again

We would like to show you what the stamps that are donated and collected by Eunice Hughes are used for by the Leprosy Mission and what it did for a small child in another country. keep donating any stamps to Eunice who passes them on to the charity.

To see the letter form the Leprosy Mission click here

Here are the photos of the month for our April themes of Spring ( Mary Orphanoudakis), Lens Flare ( Steve McCarthy) and Best Photo ( Angela Wilson). For further photos taken by our group go to our challenge page https://westwoldsu3a.org/wp-admin/post.php?post=8458&action=edit

Do you read the Third Age Matters magazine?

Those eagle eyes among you will be well aware that times are getting tougher, and of course our u3a is no exception.  Your committee have spent some considerable time thinking how we might save money rather than put up the fees, and one of our largest expenses is the cost of our National magazine which is £3.35 per annum per household to cover the postage on five issues.  This is called Third Age Matters (TAM). 

We are aware that these are not widely read by our members, though there are some who enjoy receiving and reading them.  Other local u3a’s charge their members extra to receive TAM.  We don’t want to go down that road at this time but instead we have decided to ask you to let me know if you want to continue to receive this.  Therefore will you please let me know by the end of July if you want to continue to receive the magazine.  If I don’t hear from you, I will assume you do not want TAM.

Jane Guy, Membership Secretary

Click here to see the May 2022 Newsletter for the Spanish Group