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EALING U3A PHOTOGRAPHIC COMPETITIONS

The Categories for the 2025 Competition are shown below and you can now send in your entries, using the 2025 Photo Application Form, which also contains details on how to submit your completed form and photos, along with the competition rules and the prizes.

The closing date for entries is the 30th September 2025, so there is still time to take some photographs! The winners will be announced at our meeting on Thursday 23rd October.

1. TECHNOLOGY
2. SEASONS
3. HOLIDAYS
4. GROWING
5. JEWELS

Winning photos and details of the prize winners from previous year's can be found on the Photographic Competitions page.

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SUGGESTIONS for IMPROVEMENTS to EALING U3A

The Ealing U3A Committee is always interested in hearing from our Members with any suggested improvements to the way our U3A is run, or new activities we could consider. If you have any such suggestions, please send them to Jenny Sturt (Committee member responsible for Communications and Planning, click on the link to send a message). Alternatively, speak to any member of the Committee (see details on the Contacts page).

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CHANGE of LANDLINE PHONES to DIGITAL

Most of the Landlines (your Home phone) in people's homes are provided through the BT PSTN (Public Switched Telephone Network) system and BT are in the process of changing these lines to be a Digital line. That means that rather than your phone plugging directly into a phone socket in your home, it will instead need to be connected via your Router/Hub (the device that provides your Broadband).

BT held a Drop-in session in Ealing recently for BT customers and Sue Peach has put together some notes to explain the process which you can read by clicking on Moving to BT Digital phones

Some further points:

• A similar process will be happening for anyone who has a Home phone (normally an 0208 phone number), whoever your phone service provider is (eg. Sky, TalkTalk), as all these lines are carried over the BT PSTN system. Some providers (eg. Plusnet) are not planning on providing a Landline phone service following this switchover and are suggesting that people instead change to using a mobile phone. If you are with one of these companies (other than BT), your phone service provider should be in touch with you to explain what their plans are for the switchover.
• If you get your Home phone through VIRGIN MEDIA (often an 0203 phone number but you may have retained your 0208 number when you changed to Virgin), you are on a separate network to the BT one. However, Virgin Media are undertaking a similar changeover to Digital Landlines and you should have already received some information from them about their switchover.
• Some of the newer fibre based networks available (eg. Community Fibre) also offer a Landline service. In this case, this will be a digital service (not via the BT PSTN system) where your phone will connect to the fibre network via the router/hub provided.
• Some Landlines in the Ealing area have already been upgraded to Digital, in which case you will already have been through this process.

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EALING u3a FACEBOOK GROUP

Ealing u3a has a presence on Facebook where we have set up a Private Group (Ealing U3A Social Group) for our Members to be able to share thoughts, ideas, photos; ask questions; ask for recommendations and many other things. The Group is intended to be a friendly, positive, supportive and helpful group, non-prejudiced and respectful to all who participate.

If you are interested in joining this Facebook Group (you must first sign up with Facebook) search for Ealing U3A Social Group. This will take you to the Group's page, where you need to click the 'Join Group' button to apply. When the Group Admin (Judith Crowe Forward) approves your membership, you will get a Notification from Facebook and you'll be able to fully access the Ealing U3A Social Group page.

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SCAMS

Sally Schofield and Mark Mullally from NatWest Bank gave a talk to us in February 2021 on Keeping Safe from Frauds and Scams. Following this they provided us with details of various services and websites which are very helpful if you think you have been subject to a fraud or scam.

One important point they stressed is - if you think you’ve been scammed, contact your bank/credit card company in the first instance (there is always a phone number on the back of your card, if you do need to contact them). Talk to someone – you are not alone and shouldn’t feel embarrassed.

If you receive a suspicious phone call and want to phone your bank or credit card company to check, make the call from another phone, if you can. If you dial from the same phone, it is very likely that the caller will not have hung up and you will still be speaking to the scammer. If you do make a call, use the phone number on the back of your credit or debit card, not the number the caller gives you. Best to hang up on the caller.

SCAMS and FRAUD

Friends Against Scams website – headed by the National Trading Standards Scams team, 'Friends Against Scams' is an initiative which aims to protect and prevent people from becoming victims of scams by empowering people to take a stand against scams.

Action Fraud is the UK's national reporting centre for fraud and cyber crime where you should report fraud if you have been scammed, defrauded or experienced cyber crime. Report the scam to Action Fraud online or by phone on 0300 123 2040.

Look for the ‘Little Book of Big Scams (version 5)’ online – written by the Police Service in conjunction with other expert organisations, see Personal fraud and how to prevent it to download this.

Think Jessica is a charity that has been set up by Marilyn Baldwin OBE after her mother, Jessica, was targeted and scammed out of her life savings. They exist to help raise the awareness of Scam Mail and it's effects on vulnerable people, empowering you with advice to beat the scammers.

Government channels for reporting of Scam texts and emails:

• Texts - forward to 7726
• Emails – forward these to the ' Phishing ' mailbox. These emails can also be sent to the organisation they are purporting to be from; check individual organisations websites for the email address to use.

National Consumer Helpline - operated by Citizens Advice, phone no. 0808 2231133 / 03454 04 05 06. From this webpage is a link to Trading Standards for reporting Consumer Disputes and Scams.

There are also two helpful 1-page guides against Scammers available - these are How to spot a Doorstep Scammer and Dealing with Telephone Scams; click on the links to access these.

BEING SAFE ONLINE

Get Safe On Line is an excellent source of free, unbiased security advice. It is the UK's leading source of factual and easy-to-understand information on online safety categorised for easy use.

Have I Been Pwned? is a website that allows Internet users to check whether their personal data has been compromised by data breaches. The service collects and analyzes hundreds of database dumps and pastes containing information about billions of leaked accounts, and allows users to search for their own information by entering their username or email address

How Secure is my Password is a tool to help you develop strong passwords. On this website you can test the strength of your passwords, ensure each password you use is secure, and check how long it takes a computer to guess your password.

National Cyber Security Centre is the UK’s independent authority on cyber security and is helping to make the UK the safest place to live and work online.

LATEST SCAMS

One of the latest Scams is text messages (mainly) that purport to come from the NHS inviting you for your vaccination. The BBC Technology website has an example of this. It looks authentic but later asks for bank details. Remember that any Covid-19 tests and vaccinations are FREE.

THEFTS

We have also been alerted to thefts at cash machines. Thieves may try to distract you or stand close to you to read your PIN number. They may tap you on the shoulder and steal your card as you instinctively turn around. Do remember not to leave your card before turning away. Better still, when withdrawing cash use indoor cash machines inside bank premises wherever possible.

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