NEWS for ...
Petersfield u3a members

Welcome to our latest e-newsletter, giving a quick summary of what’s happening within Petersfield u3a. To find out more, simply click on the blue links to be taken straight to our website.

Petersfield u3a members at a ‘Q&A’ session with Duncan MacCallum at the Petersfield Physic Garden visit on 20 April this year (See below for details of Duncan’s talk on 16 September)

Dates for your Diary

2.00 pm – Tuesday 15 September
Health Matters –The Building Blocks of Health – how (HDRC) Portsmouth is working to help people live longer and happier lives
Sharon Court is a Research Facilitation Lead with the Health Determinants Research Collaboration (HDRC) in Portsmouth. There are 30 HDRCs across the country, each working in slightly different ways to improve the lives of people in their area.
HDRCs support local government by emphasising the use of evidence from research findings, not only when making decisions but also to then understand the impact that these decisions have on health and health inequalities. If evidence is not available, they will carry out the necessary research to provide it.
Sharon will be talking about why health inequalities can have such an impact and ways that you could get involved.

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2.30 pm – Wednesday 16 September
Arts and Heritage – Petersfield Physic Garden
A keen naturalist and conservationist, Duncan MacCallum is a volunteer Ranger for the Royal Parks and the newly elected chairman of the Friends of Petersfield Physic Garden. In this talk, he will tell us about the history of the Garden. Based on a traditional 17th-century herb garden design, the Physic Garden was planted during the 1980s on a ‘Burgage Plot’ which had been awarded to the town centuries earlier.

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2.00 pm – Tuesday 22 September
Science and Technology – Medicine Transformed – At a Price
Modern research has resulted in dramatic changes in the development and use of medical treatments. Dr Peter Ball completed his PhD in molecular biology in the 70s and is still passionate about the progress being made in cell and gene therapy. His talk focuses on recent developments in these areas and the challenges posed by cost and ethics when advancing from the experimental to the mass-production stage.

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For those who attended the Falls Prevention talk on 21 July, Peggy Pye writes:
Thank you to all those who attended the recent Health Matters meeting on ‘Falls Prevention’. We had a record number of attendees for what was an excellent and informative talk, but as a result we didn't have enough exercise sheets for all those who would have liked one. We also realise that not everyone had the opportunity to sign up for the ‘Physio-logical’ newsletter. If you attended the meeting and are interested in either the exercise sheet or the newsletter – or both – then please click on the link to contact Peggy Pye

People of Petersfield u3a

Sandy Stephens – Membership Secretary

Sandy joined Petersfield u3a in 2022 and has been a Committee member since 2023. In her working life, she taught physics and ran the science department in a secondary school. These days, she enjoys participating in three u3a groups: ‘Cryptic Crosswords’, ‘Play Reading’ and the ‘Book Circle 3’ group, as well as visiting interesting places, gardening and reading. As a Committee member, Sandy “enjoys meeting new people and working as part of a team”.

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Patrick Rudden – Treasurer

Patrick joined the Petersfield u3a in 2026, i.e. just this year and, having already taken over as Treasurer, he is looking to convene a monthly ‘Investment Discussion Group’, so watch this space! At the moment, he is enjoying the ‘Current Affairs 3’ group. Previously, following several years in radio, he had a 30-year career in investment management. Meanwhile, as our treasurer, Patrick enjoys “staying useful and relevant and meeting new people.”  

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For those members who remember Eric Skipper, former Petersfield u3a Treasurer and founder of what evolved into the 'Cycling for Fun' group, there is a tribute to him on the website.

Have Your Say

‘Connect’ always welcomes news and feedback from Petersfield u3a members via The Editor

To ensure the e-newsletter is easy and enjoyable to read and that the style is consistent, the copy is likely to be edited.

The next issue of ‘Connect’ will be emailed to you on Friday, 21 August, with a copy deadline for all contributions of Monday, 17 August.