Information on Recent Talks
Details of our previous talks this year can be found on the 2026 Talks page; details of our 2026 Summer talks can be found on the Meetings page.
Recordings of most of our Thursday talks are available and information on how to access them is shown in our regular Newsletters. If you cannot find this information, you can always email the Webmaster who can let you have the details.
Hoax message in WhatsApp
As many of our Groups use WhatsApp to communicate with their members, we want to make you aware of a Hoax message that appears to be circulating in WhatsApp groups - see below for full details.
EALING U3A PHOTOGRAPHIC COMPETITIONS
The Categories for the 2026 Photographic Competition have been announced and are:
- LIGHT AND DARK
- MYSTERY
- FASHION
- CIRCLES
- DOORS, GATES, OPENINGS
Entries for the 2026 competition must be taken between the 1st October 2025 and the 30th September 2026 (the closing date for entries).
To enter photographs into the Photographic Competition 2026, use the Application Form
The 2025 Competition results and winners were announced in October 2025. The winning photos and details of the prize winners from 2025 and previous years can be found on the Photographic Competitions page.
WHATSAPP HOAX MESSAGE
We want to make you aware of a Hoax message that appears to be circulating in WhatsApp groups, the message that is sent says:
Starting Saturday, AI is available on WhatsApp and has access to all chats. All group chat admins can/should enable the “Enhanced Privacy” option. Otherwise, artificial intelligence can open group messages, see phone numbers, and even retrieve personal information from your phone, including private chats.
How to prevent this, Admin of the group should:
- Open the group chat
- Tap the chat name at the top
- Scroll down and enable the “Advanced Chat Privacy” option.
Do this as soon as possible and share this with other groups you’re part of.
The highlighted text is typical of a hoax: Starting Saturday – which Saturday? Do this as soon as possible – hoax messages always try to panic people into doing things. Share this with other groups – the chain-letter syndrome which we used to see on email – aimed at flooding the internet with rubbish. You might also notice the poor grammar in the message, eg. the line starting 'How to prevent this ...'.
Facts
If you do follow the steps above, you will see that All chats are private by default. This is true whether this setting is on or not.
If this setting is on, People in this chat:
- Can’t save media to their device gallery automatically
- Can’t ask Meta AI questions, or create images or summaries in this chat
- Can’t export the chat.
COMMITTEE for 2026/27
The details of our Annual General Meeting (AGM) held in March are shown on the About Us page, where the details of the new Committee for 2026/27 can also be found. Documents relevant to the AGM can be accessed from that page.
INFORMATION ON PAST TALKS
During the talk on 2nd July, given by Ralph Brookfield, about his 'Uncle Bill' (William Golding, the well-know author), Ralph mentioned a book called 'The Children of Lovers' which is a memoir of William Golding written by his daughter, Judy Golding. If any members are interested in this book, please click on the highlighted link above for more information.
The talk on 4th June was called Economic Growth, Wellbeing and Lies and was given by our distinguished member Dr Parviz Dabir-Ali. His presentation included a number of links to websites containing more detailed information on the topics he was covering - to enable members to access these links here is a copy of the presentation in PDF format. The pages containing the links are 7, 10, 13, 19, 22 and 29.
Our talk on 28th May was from Andrea Bugari, of Ealing Hedgehog Friends and she has provided some further information following her talk. There is a leaflet for gardeners with information on how to make your garden more hedgehog-friendly and a poster on what to do if you find a hedgehog, particularly during the day.
During her talk, Andrea mentioned the recent David Attenborough program 'Wild London' which had a major part about hedgehogs, partly filmed in the garden of one of the EHF trained volunteers, with hedgehogs from Pumpkin's Wildlife hospital (our vet there was supervising the filming). If you want to watch the programme, click on the link above, or you can find it on the BBC iPlayer on your TV. It's an hour-long programme but if you just want to watch the section on hedgehogs, this is from about 20 mins to 25 mins,
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, Secretary, (click on the link to send a message). Alternatively, speak to any member of the Committee (see details on the Contacts page).
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.
SCAMS
Below are 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 to remember 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 or you can use the 159 service which aims to provide a safe route to get in touch with your bank (to see more about this service, see this information from Martin Lewis). Talk to someone – you are not alone and shouldn’t feel embarrassed.
Note that 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
How to Avoid Scams – Age UK have a number of very useful Factsheets including an Avoiding Scam booklet (40 pages of very helpful advice).
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.