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September Monthly Meeting: The Royal Voluntary Service
Eleanor Parker gave a most interesting and enlightening insight into the work carried out by the Royal Voluntary Service. It is difficult to move away from wishing to refer to the Service as the WRVS, perhaps because that was how it was known until 2013 when it was decided, because of the number of male volunteers, it should simply be known as the Royal Voluntary Service.
Founded in 1938 by Lady Stella Reading, and then known as the Women’s Voluntary Services for Air Raid Precautions, it is now the largest volunteering organisation in British history. The Queen granted the organisation Royal status in 1966 in recognition of the work undertaken by the Service. There was a time when each Hospital had a WRVS tea bar sadly now replaced by Costa!
Eleanor spoke in the main on the subject of befriending. The Service has become a leading organisation in the field of social care, and has around 20,000 volunteers who give of their time to help make communities stronger particularly providing support for older people to remain active.
A very interesting and thought provoking talk
Penny Thomas 5th September2019
PHOTOS TO FOLLOW!
For the information of U3A Committee Members & Group Leaders:
National Workshop in Carmarthen
21st October 2019
The popular workshop ‘Interest Groups Matter’ is coming to Carmarthen on the 21st October 2019. Interest groups are the lifeblood of the U3A. How do you keep them vibrant and accessible and encourage people to lead? This workshop will help to provide an opportunity to discuss some of the challenges and how to respond. It will also provide opportunities for networking and learning from each other’s experiences.
The workshop is free to attend. Come along group leaders (or those interested in becoming a group leader) and group coordinators as well as committee members. Lunch and refreshments will be provided. Click on the “Book Now” link below for further information and booking details.
For general advice and information about interest groups and the group leaders handbook visit the Trust website: https://www.u3a.org.uk/advice
BOOK NOW MY CLICKING HERE
June Monthly Meeting: Withybush hospital to Saudi Arabia
Barry Vaughan was brought up on a farm near Clarbeston Road and attended Haverfordwest Grammar School so he is a familiar figure with many of our members.
Barry was employed as general manager at Withybush Hospital and when this job folded he found work in a very large, modern, high-tech hospital in the Royal Commission hospital Jubail, Saudi Arabia. There are two directorates of the Royal Commission, Jubail is on the east coast near Kuwait and Bahrain and Yanbu, is on the west coast near Jeddah and the Holy City of Mecca.
There are very distinct rules which foreigners have to follow when living in Saudi Arabia. Because he was in overall charge of the hospital he was the person who had to mediate with the authorities when a member of his staff knowingly or more often or not unknowingly broke one of these rules. Some of the problems that he encountered had the audience in fits of laughter but the way he dealt with the problems was imaginative and could have had serious consequences if he hadn’t been so diplomatic.
He was in post during the first Gulf War and he vividly described the terror when the oil tanks at Kuwait were set alight, apparently the smoke was so dense that day was turned to night and the once prestine white hospital was turned black.
A big thank you is in order because Barry came to talk to us at very short notice, nevertheless, he gave us a fascinating insight into living and working in a country with such a different culture.
Jan Manning
New Shared Learning Project launched looking at the Castles of Wales
My name is Ruth Smith. I am the leader of the craft group (Crafty Crafters) of Newcastle Emlyn U3A. For those of you who attended the All Wales Conference on 8th May, or have followed the Wales Coastline and Borders Celebration on Facebook, I coordinated the making of the Mwnt wall hanging which involved several of our members doing some part, whether knitting, patchwork, needle felting, fabric painting, embroidery, ribbon embroidery and embellishments, to complete it and, once all the component parts had been made, I stitched it all together and quilted it.
I hope by now that you have heard of the new Shared Learning Project, called Castles, that Chris Winner, our Welsh Trustee, introduced at the conference. The idea, that came from the group sat at our table, was to involve as many U3As from all over Wales as possible in making a “Castles Quilt” and I have agreed to take the idea further, to find out if there is any interest and coordinate the project. I’m now asking all Welsh U3As if they have a craft/sewing/quilting/art group or an individual person who would like to participate by creating a “picture” of a castle in their area which can then be joined with others to create a quilt, or perhaps we should call it a wall hanging as it would be intended to be hung up, not placed on a bed. 
Suggested layout
I will limit the size of the picture to fit into a 10″ square. This will allow as many squares as possible to fit into a quilt size that I am happy to handle. (78” x 78”). I think less than 10″ would be too restrictive to produce something worthwhile. I’ve created an illustration of my idea using Excel and have attached a copy to give you an impression of what I would like to achieve. The pictures I’ve inserted are taken from Google just to illustrate the idea, not intended as suggestions of which castles should be included. I’ve tried to choose pictures showing different types of castles, parts of castles and also some old drawings/paintings which could be copied (please ensure there are no copyright issues) in order to show that it would be good to have a variety. Any medium can be used as long as it can be done on fabric or attached to fabric (but not so heavy that it distorts the fabric), e.g. patchwork, applique, knitting, crochet, embroidery, stumpwork, needleweaving, lace, painting (please use fabric paints), printing, felting, machine embroidery, ribbon embroidery, cross stitch. If cross stitch is used, this could be done on 14 count aida fabric and used instead of the calico. The greater the variety, the more interest is created.
I’ve chosen calico for the background of the squares because it’s neutral and it will be possible to paint or print on it as well if that’s what someone wants to do. I picked blue and yellow for the sashing and border as representative of U3A colours, it is a U3A project after all. I would also embroider the names of the castle underneath each in English and Welsh (if different).
10″ squares will allow for 36 castles to be represented which would be wonderful to achieve. If I have offers of more, the ones included in the quilt would be picked by a blind draw. The remaining squares could be finished as separate squares and made into cushions or put into a folder to be displayed at the same time. It would also be good to have a couple of paragraphs about each castle to accompany the quilt. I will ask for the squares to be returned to me by the end of October.
At the end of the Castles Self Learning Project, there will be the question of what to do with the wall hanging as it would be unfair for it to be kept by just one person/U3A. Suggestions so far are raffling it for charity (we would have to check if it is possible for U3As to hold this type of raffle), donate it to CADW as some Welsh castles are in their care, or possibly donating it to St Fagan’s who have items representing the activities of people in Wales.
I propose purchasing all the fabric myself and posting the squares to those taking part. I have worked out an approximate cost for the quilt of £160. This will depend on where the fabric is purchased from and how many U3As take part. I would need to ask if those U3A’s completing squares would be able to contribute towards the cost. If there are 36 U3As, the cost would be only £4 – £5 each. I will be able to confirm the amount when I know how many participants there are.
If your U3A, or someone in your U3A, is interested in taking part, please contact me directly at neu3atreasurer@outlook.com and I will be happy to discuss it further.