| Status: | Active, open to new members |
| Leader: | |
| When: | Monthly on Wednesday afternoons 2:00 pm-4:00 pm |
| Venue: | SPJC - St. Philip & St. James Church |
| 2025/26 meetings | |||||
| Sep 10 | Oct 8 | Nov 12 | Dec 10 | Jan 14 | Feb 11 |
| Mar 11 | Apr 8 | May 13 | Jun 10 | Jul | Aug |
What is this group all about?
Fleet U3A Health and Wellbeing Group was established in 2015 with the aim of raising health awareness in older people. Membership has over the years has grown considerably and we now have over 200 members. The Group meets monthly with a typical audience of around 100. At our meetings – held on a Wednesday afternoon from 2-4pm at St Philips and St James Church, Kings Road, Fleet, GU51 3AR - we have a guest speaker talking on some aspect of health issues in later life, how to recognize them and where possible to take action to minimize them. Our speakers generally talk for about 40 mins + 20 mins questions usually with a PowerPoint presentation. Topics we have covered over the last year have included “Integration of Fleet Medical Centre and Branksome Road practices” from Dr Nina Duaramy, “Happiness and hope in challenging times” from an NHS CBT therapist, “Frimley Park Hospital Rebuild” from the Project Director.
At about 3pm we always have a break for tea/ coffee and biscuits followed by an informal general discussion on issues that affect us as we age. Our meeting room has good audiovisual facilities with dual projectors, lap-top and lapel and stick microphones etc. There is ample free parking available in the Church car park or on the adjacent Westover Road.
In addition to our regular meetings, we have a Facebook page on which we post various topical health issues.
For more information about this Group please contact either
Richard Franklin, Group Leader: Richard.Franklin2@outlook.com
Or Stuart Williams, Secretary: stuart.williams27556@ntlworld.com
The group also has a facebook page created to keep group members up to date with upcoming presentations and interesting snippets from our group meetings. Click on the picture to open up the facebook page.
For our last meeting before the summer recess, we had our first Webinar live from Manchester. A sensitive subject of bladder and bowel issues attracted one hundred and twenty four members for a presentation from Karen Irwin, a specialist nurse from the charity Bladder and Bowel UK. Bladder and bowel problems in adults are surprisingly common affecting both males and females of all ages. Karen highlighted common problems such as the frequent and/or urgent need to pass urine, bladder and bowel incontinence, and difficulties emptying the bladder or bowel. These issues can have a major impact on an individual’s quality of life and often people are reluctant to discuss their symptoms with anyone as they find it difficult to admit they have a problem. Karen outlined the services available including treatment and management options. She stressed that much can be done to treat, manage and improve symptoms and there are specialist NHS services available. She also mentioned the availability of “just can’t wait cards” that enable sufferers to access toilets in cafés, restaurants and other commercial premises. The following website gives further information - disabledliving.co.uk We were very fortunate to have the technical expertise of Alan Jones and Graham Hix on hand who ensured that this webinar event went off successfully, and we would like to thank them most sincerely for all their help.