The Annual U3A Carol concert was held yesterday in the Sanctuary. The concert was well attended with a near capacity audience, who were entertained by the local community choir Singing our Socks Off (SoSo) led by musical director Su Grainger. With a mix of Christmas carols and songs, interspersed with readings and poems, the event provided a cheerful finale for the U3A year, topped off with refreshments once again delivered by the group of ladies who keep us hydrated at meetings throughout the year. Admission proceeds and a retiring “bucket” collection, will be donated to Woodlands Hospice.

The annual Carol Concert will take place on Tuesday 13th December, 10:30 to 11:30 in the Sanctuary. This year the concert will feature a choir, Singing our Socks Off, (also known as SoSo, but this is far from the truth!) Several U3A members are part of this choir so come along and see them in action!

Tickets are priced £1:00 available from the membership desk, and includes refreshments after the concert.

All proceeds will be donated to Woodlands Hospice.

Yesterdays  speaker meeting featured the wit and imagination of Richie Baker, aka Richie the Ranger, who entertained us with his mysterious talk of Ghosts, Murders and Mysteries. Using his vast knowledge of the Liverpool Parks, where he was Ranger for over 40 years, he told us of the ghostly sights and apparitions related to three of them. Ably assisted by two willing U3A volunteers, he recounted the tales of three hapless ladies said to haunt the areas following their tragic deaths.

Regrettably this was the last in the series of speaker meetings which will be held, due to continued low attendance numbers, as the cost of room hire and speaker fees is outstripping the entrance monies and I am mindful of use of U3A financial resources. I would like to thank members who have attended the meetings, and hope you agree that we “went out on a high”.

George Sephton, “the voice of Anfield” entertained us this morning at the monthly speaker meeting. For the last 46 years he has been the stadium announcer at Liverpool FC, making him the longest serving stadium announcer in the world! He described his many brushes with UEFA officials, spoke about the times he was forcibly removed from European Stadia when he was supposed to be commenting, being mistaken for a ticket tout in Paris, his encounters with militia from various countries including being ejected from several places at gunpoint, and the time he was presented with an Italian interpreter…..from Wigan! All in all it was a very entertaining talk and irrespective of whether you were a red or a blue ,his talk was very well received .

On Tuesday, 4th October at 11am in the sanctuary at Maghull Baptist Church
George Sephton, the stadium announcer at Liverpool Football Club for 45 years, will be our visiting speaker. George will entertain us with his tales and with inside information from his long time with LFC.
He has a reputation as being a very entertaining speaker.
Whether you are ‘a red’ or ‘a blue’, please come along on Tuesday 4th to enjoy George’s entertaining and informative talk.
As usual the admission charge is only £1 (to cover the cost of hiring the church for the meeting).

Holidays for several  of the group members meant a somewhat depleted Pedal Pushers ride today. However taking advantage of the sunny weather we travelled from Sandhills station, to the Palm House in Sefton Park, by way of Liverpool waterfront, Otterspool promenade and Festival Gardens. It was lovely to see so many people enjoying the splendour of both the park areas and it was truly a great day to be out and about on 2 wheels. By the time we caught the train back from Brunswick station we had covered about 14 miles in a little over 2.5 hrs. Good training for the joint cycle ride with the other groups in September.