Our latest Members' Meeting was Bharat Patel - My life as a Journalist
Bharat Patel was one of the first Asian reporters on British radio and TV. His family left India for Zambia and then migrated to England. By the age of eight, he had lived on three continents and arrived in Leicester armed with just a few words of English . A teacher told him that Indians always speak with their teeth clenched, whereas the English speak with their mouths open and enunciate. This advice helped him to get a job at the BBC at a time when accents of any sort - Indian or Brummie or Geordie - were frowned upon.
Bharat has worked for BBC Radio Leicester, Radio 4, ITV and BBC TV. He has covered major events which have made headlines around the world, including the Kegworth air crash, the death of Princess Diana, the capture of Colin Pitchfork using DNA fingerprinting for the first time, the Gujarat earthquake and the disappearance of Madeleine McCann. But it's not all been about tragedy. He has also interviewed a parrot who allegedly spoke five languages, the world’s oldest donkey and met Brian the Budgie, who escaped from Ilkeston to Corfu but was found by his astonished owners while they were eating a souvlaki under a tree on holiday in Corfu Town.
But there's one story he has never covered and that is his own. His family left a comfortable lifestyle in both India and Zambia after a soothsayer told his parents his future lay in England. They exchanged a comfortable lifestyle in a warm climate for a tiny terraced house with an outside toilet and a leaking roof in a rundown suburb. Their arrival was followed by a series of bizarre and comic incidents, which were often odder than anything Bharat encountered as a reporter. These are the subject of a highly entertaining book - Indian Takeaway, which has been turned into an audiobook on BBC Sounds. All proceeds from the book go to the Hope Against Cancer charity, which has already found several cures for cancers through the research funds.
Scam of the Month - Postcode Lottery scam
You may have read or seen on the news recently that fraud and scams, aided by AI are becoming more sophisticated and harder to spot. A total of 4.1 million cases of fraud in which money was stolen was reported last year.
Reports claim scammers are contacting people via phone calls and fake social media accounts to promote scam versions of the Lottery. You can only win the People’s Postcode Lottery if you sign up, after which you're entered into prize
draws every month. The official website is www.postcodelottery.co.uk Do not follow any links to sites with a different URL.
If you think you may have been scammed:
You can report scam accounts on social media by selecting the three dots in the top right corner and pressing 'Report.'
Scam calls can be reported by texting the word ‘call’ followed by the phone number to 7726 on an iPhone. If you have an Android phone, text the word ‘call’ to 7726. You’ll then receive a message asking you for the scam number.
Scam emails can be reported by forwarding them to report@phishing.gov.uk and Royal Mail provides a form that you can use to report scam letters.
If you suspect a scam or are worried you can also contact: Actionfraud.police.uk
u3a RADIO PODCAST
The u3a now has a radio podcast. Set up in 2020 and created by a team of u3a members with radio experience, our u3a radio podcast comes out on the 17th of each month and features interviews with members, interest group leaders, Trustees, national volunteers and Subject Advisers.
Topics include Bletchley Park. Seasonal wildlife and Secret Family. Jane Austen and Executive Aviation are still available along with the entire series of 50 podcasts to date on our YouTube Channel.
Your u3a committee
Find out about Wellingborough & District u3a committee here. Your 2026 Committee.
Come along to a committee meeting and discover what we do to keep our club running. Maybe you can help or have ideas to offer.
Our committee meetings are held in Salem Hall (URC Church) on the last Wednesday of the month at 1pm.
Members' Meetings
A reminder that our meetings our now held at the United Reformed Church starting at 2 p.m. Please remember to bring your *new* plastic membership cards with you. This is a permanent card, so please look after it!
More information about the ongoing works at the church can be found in the Latest In Touch newsletter.
Until this work is complete our kitchen facilities are rather compromised.
Therefore, will people wanting a cup of tea please bring along their own cups
Jigsaw swap
There is now a Jigsaw Swap table at the monthly meetings. Just bring along your unwanted jigsaws (with all the pieces please) and get a fresh new one to have a go with! Jayne Osborn is running this.
Mah-Jong
A Mah-Jong group has re-started and meets every 2nd Wednesday of the month in the community room of Tesco in Turnells Mill Lane.
New members are most welcome as well as those who have never played before.
You will be given plenty of instruction to recognise the various "Tiles" as well as how to play.
Singing for Fun
We are looking for new members to join our singing group.
We meet at the Great Doddington Memorial Hall on the 2nd and 4th Monday of the month in the afternoon.
There are no auditions and words and/or music will be provided.
You really don't need to have any previous experience and the songs range from the silly, pop, musicals and nothing too serious. We are not the choir!
Please come along to have a bit of fun, make new friends and enjoy yourself. Kathy Randall.
More details about the group can be found via the Groups page. Follow the link on there to Singing for Fun.
Digital Projector
The digital projector is currently kept by the Social Secretary, Pat Heed.
If any group leaders would like to borrow the projector please contact Pat here: Social Secretary
Remember to check the Groups pages and the Events page for the latest information.
Covid 19
Although we are now being asked to 'live with Covid' it has not disappeared, so if you plan to join in a group meeting please think about whether you are putting yourself at risk and how you can take care of yourself.
Group Leaders have been consulted, and a guidance document has been drawn up: u3acovidpolicy-interestgroups211021.pdf. This is also available on the 'Documents' page.
Please also
a) Consider your own general health and look at the NHS website for additional information.
b) Consider the health of anyone you live with.
c) Think about the activity you will be taking part in and talk to your Group leader. You can then make a decision about whether to take part at this time.
d) We request that you do not attend if you or anyone in your household has COVID-19.
Check back on this website for updates on the situation.
Stay well and remember that good ventilation is important when meeting others indoors.
