Whitchurch WI is a friendly and welcoming group. Monthly meetings and special interest groups; outings; competitions. Ararat Church Hall, 2nd Monday each month, 2pm.
An outing has been planned:
Royal Mint, Llantrisant
Thursday 20th March, in the afternoon.
Guided tour £10 plus cost of coach approximately £15.
Please pay a non-refundable deposit to secure a place.
Balance to be paid at the February meeting.
IT Training
The next session will be Thursday 6th February
2 pm in Room 1 at Ararat
Topic: Accessing Public Services on-line
Please note there is a £5 charge to cover room hire.
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January meeting:
13th January in Ararat Church Hall, Whitchurch Common, 2 pm.
Main speaker – Rosemary Chaloner: ‘My Life as a Butlins Redcoat’
It is time to think of which resolution you would like to vote for in 2025. Please follow the link for details.
We were sorry to hear the sad news that Margaret Wheeler has died. I'm sure all members who knew her join us in sending our sincere condolences to her family.
Outings:
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Happy New Year! |
A few photos from the Christmas Fair on November 30th at Ararat Church, where we raised £100 for our charity: Wales Air Ambulance.
The speaker for December was Peter Davis – a poet. He informed us that
his love of poetry was inspired by a past Reverend of Ararat Church,
Reverend George Evans, because he used to quote from 'The Hound of Heaven' by
Francis Thompson.
The format for his talk was to quote several poets on a particular topic and then round up with a piece of his own poetry on that topic. Some subjects were whimsical, some amusing, some touching, and some serious and thought provoking. His poetry was most approachable and enjoyable.
The rest of the meeting was dedicated to socialising and eating the wonderful food that everyone had brought to share. The Christmas spirit was rounded off by finishing with a rendition of 'The Twelve Days of Christmas' with each table allocated one of the numbers to sing and mime to. Everyone was in good voice and had a jolly time.
We started with everybody visiting the Ararat website.
We then had a general introduction to working on-line, with explanations and hints on e.g. icons, cookies, tabs, bookmarks, using audio input and output, etc.
We practiced using QR codes on our devices.
The main part of the time was spent on learning about and downloading a wide range of Apps = quick access to favourite websites, available from Appstore (i-phones) or google play (android). Apps can be deleted by ‘press & hold’ the icon which will bring up an option to delete.
Examples of useful Apps:
Ask Silver – a government approved system which you can join and it will use WhatsApp to notify you of the latest scams.
Screenshot – capturing what is on the screen to enable it to be sent onwards. On android this is done by holding Off and Vol down simultaneously – the shot is saved in Gallery.
Shopping on-line – download Apps from chosen stores.
U-Switch – government-approved site for comparing and choosing utility providers.
BBC Sounds – a free App for podcasts (audio documentaries), music, live radio, on-demand programmes and audio-books.
TV 0nline – some free e.g. BBC, ITV, and some subscription e.g. Netflix and Prime.
YouTube – free – vast range of instructional videos.
Seeing AI – aim the screen at text – it will narrate what it sees.
Health – NHS Wales online can include booking appointments, requesting repeat prescriptions, looking at your health ecord (varies with each GP centre).
Torch – built in to most phones. For android, swipe down from top of screen to find torch icon. For i-phone ask Siri or use control centre.
Another fascinating session – many thanks to Lucy and to the BT volunteers.
December meeting:
9th December in Ararat Church Hall, Whitchurch Common, 2 pm.
Main speaker – Peter Davis: ‘Everyday Life – That’s Poetry For You.’
The December meeting is the Christmastime gathering and always an enjoyable event, with buffet food to share, a host of seasonal clothing on display, and this year table decorations to vote for.
Outings:
🎅🎄 Merry Christmas to One and All 🎄🎅
and a Happy New Year!
IT training session, 31 October 2024 with Lucy Walsh of AbilityNet
Stay Safe On-line
After a quick overview of useful aspects of devices, Lucy told us about a range of on-line scams and gave pointers for dealing with them, e.g.
Anything official will be addressed to you by name, so check
Don’t click on any links
Family impersonation scams – ask them a question that only your family members could answer
Don’t allow remote access
On suspected fake websites look for the s on https in the address line and the padlock sign
Beware fake rewards and prizes, also
Fake endorsements by well-known people or celebrities e.g. by Martin Lewis
Download and use a parking app as it is very easy for scammers to stick a false QR code onto the front of a parking meter
Specific types of scams mentioned included romance scams, pet scams and energy scams.
People fall for scams for two main reasons:
Fear of losing out (re special offers)
Fear of problems / retribution if you don’t do what they suggest.
In summary, if someone has approached you and you find yourself with your phone / device in one hand and your credit card in the other hand, put one down and think again!
