NEWS & EVENTS

Regular meetings are held at the Spa in Bridlington. Members and non- members are invited to join us at our once a month meetings, where we have a speaker, raffle and refreshments available. They are held on Monday mornings at 10:00am for 10.30am. Entry is one pound.

 Dates for this year are:

2025

April 29th

May 20th

June 23rd

July 14th

PREVIOUS SPEAKERS/EVENTS

March 2025

Kate Wagg, the waste and Recycling Officer for ERYC gave us lots of information on Monday not only about our waste, but about Climate Change and the effects of Global Warming. By recycling our waste, we can save energy by not having to make items from scratch; reduce global warming; reduce air pollution and reduce the need for landfill which is a large cause of greenhouse gas. ERYC does not send any waste to landfill. What waste isn’t recycled is burnt to produce electricity, with the residue being used to make road surfaces and aggregates. Kate explained how the items that go to our recycling plants are sorted – almost entirely by machine with very little being done by hand. The waste in our brown bin is turned to compost in only 10-14 weeks and is used in farming or sold to garden centres. At the end of her talk – after many interesting questions from the floor, Kate gave away a very useful ’wheel’ which told you what to put in which bin, or what to take to your local tip.

February 2025

It was great to see so many of our members brave a frosty February morning to come along and listen to Rick Welton talk about Toads, Moths and Puffins, the sculptures of East Riding. The first project was in 2010, the 25^th anniversary of Philip Larkin’s death and was part of Larkin25, taking his poem Toads and Toads revisited for inspiration. The sculptures raised over £60,000 for charity. In 2016 as part of the Amy Johnson Festival, A Moth for Amy marked the 75^th anniversary of her tragic death. 59 moths appeared all over Hull and East Riding and the sale by auction raised £85,000. The final trail, Puffins Galore in 2022 was commissioned to increase tourism along the East Yorkshire coast after covid. Two of them are prominently displayed outside the Spa. In May 2023 £93,550 was raised for local charities. Coming in 2025 – A Mischief of Rats!

December 2024 – Christmas Concert!

What a fantastic concert we had last month! We were thoroughly entertained by our dancers
and musicians – so good to see so many smiling faces. The mince pies went down well, as did the
fabulous selection of raffle prizes. A particular mention must be made of our flower arranging
group who made the tables look so beautifully festive. Thank you so much to all of our
performers, our volunteers and committee members for all their hard work. A fabulous end to
the year.

November 2024

We saw a very healthy turnout for our AGM at the Spa last Monday. After all formal proceedings had been completed awards were given to the finalists of the annual photographic competition. After a short break we had a talk from our local Neighbourhood Watch who enthusiastically and thoroughly dispelled the myth of ‘curtain twitchers’, bringing the organisation well and truly into the 21st Century. Very much a case of building communities and encouraging people to work together.

June 2024

Last Monday at the Spa saw a hugely successful June Showcase for Bridlington U3A. Over 30 groups were represented from Allotments to Art, Silver Dream Bikers to Science and Technology and Flower Arranging to French. The event was opened by the Mayor Rick Arrand accompanied by his wife Kim, who, along with many visitors during the morning, were entertained by Ukulele players, Tap Dancing and Show Dancers. Chair Diane Arthur said “It was wonderful to welcome so many people to our event and have the opportunity to share with them some of the many activities we have to offer. We had lots of new members joining on the day, and there was a real buzz. Just fantastic!”

May 2024

What a great turn out for this month’s speaker – Sarah Tomkinson, the Yorkshire Chocolatier! Her talk, All Things Chocolate, took us through the history of chocolate – from its early roots with the Mayan people who prepared a beverage from cocoa beans, using it both as a ceremonial drink and as currency, calling it the food of the Gods (some of us would agree with that sentiment today!) and the Aztecs. It initially reached Europe in 1517 but didn’t reach England until 1650 when it became a very expensive favourite of Charles III. Milk was added in 1687 and the first solid bar of chocolate was made by J.S. Fry and son in 1847. In 1849 Cadbury held their chocolate exhibition and the rest, as they say, is history! Sarah became a chocolatier very gradually, starting with a chocolate making course in 2011 after which she made chocolates for her sister’s wedding. These were such a success she began making them for friends and family, then started to sell them at a farmers market. From working in her kitchen Sarah now has a self contained workshop in Cleckheaton and sells her chocolates on-line as well as at farmers markets in the area. If you would like to find out more please check out her website www.yorkshirechocolatier.com

April 2024

Due to a last minute cancellation we had a change of speaker at this month’s meeting. A huge thank you to Keith Kaye for stepping in at the last minute and delivering a truly wonderful insight into the history of the Opera Houses of Scarborough, Harrogate and York. Taking the Grand Tours of the aristocracy as his guide Keith gave us lots of fascinating glimpses into the past, along with a recently recalled childhood memory of his own of seeing the iconic Laurel and Hardy in Leeds during their last tour of the UK.

March 2024