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Upchurch's active retirement association is 10 years old today 👏🏼 😀
UpARA has remained popular during its first decade thanks to its hard-working and dedicated committee members and organisers, both past and present.
Its association members enjoy a wide variety of regular activities, trips away, parties, meetings and guest speakers every month.
The physical and mental health benefits, together with the social side of what UpARA provides are immeasurable, and it has brought enjoyment to 100's throughout the last 10 years.
Congratulations, and happy birthday, UpARA🍾 🎉 🙌🏼 🥳
Here's to the next 10 years 🥂🍻
Below is an extract from the February 2024 members newsletter, telling the story of how the association began...
“10 years ago, on the 14th of February 2014, a village meeting was held to discuss the formation of an active retirement association in Upchurch.
Jan Lacy had got the idea from someone she had met from St. Mary’s Island ARA (SaintARA), and she thought that an ARA would help the Village Hall, which was struggling at the time.
No sooner said than done, Jan had contacted KentARA, and a meeting was set, with advertising and flyers around the village and a notice in the Gabriel calling for those interested to attend.
From this meeting, a working party was formed, with the remit to report back on the 14th of March on the feasibility of an Upchurch ARA. The working party met and did indeed come up with a plan that was put to attendees on the 14th of March.
This inaugural meeting was chaired by Peter Nicholls, chair of KentARA, where the plan was formally put to the meeting and accepted unanimously.
We would be called UpARA (various other abbreviations had been discussed), and we would meet on the second Friday of each month at Upchurch Village Hall.
Entry would be free, with complimentary tea/coffee/biscuits and a donation box. Subscriptions would be £15, membership and a membership limit of 150.
77 members signed up that day, and UpARA was formed!
Our first speaker on the 11th of April was to be comedian and Radio Kent presenter Paul James, with a talk entitled ‘Right Time, Right Place’.
A working party was made up of Jan Lacy, John McWilliam, Sandy Tutt, Bryn Howells, Peter McGibbon, David Powell, Brenda Groves, John Tutt, Malcolm Groves, Keith Harrell, Sylvia Roberts, John Mustoo and Joan Mustoo, those in bold together with Valerie Powell forming the first UpARA committee with David as Chair, Sandy as Honorary Secretary and John McWilliam as Honorary Treasurer.”
Upchurch Matters
Hopefully, see you all soon - your UpARA Committee.
Hopefully, see you all soon - your UpARA Committee.
Hopefully, see you all soon - your UpARA Committee.
London Walks... return this month. We will be re-attempting the walk we had to cancel last year due to the train strikes - Paddington Basin to Kings Cross along the Regents Canal, taking in the Paddington Fan Bridge, Little Venice, under London Zoo’s Aviary, Camden Lock, Coal Drops Yard & Granary Square. We will stop for lunch at Camden Market. We’ll be travelling up via the Elizabeth Line and returning on the high speed from St Pancras. To register your interest and receive further details, please email: uparaupchurch@gmail.com or text: 07802 250773.
Tony Harris... returns as our speaker this month. Always entertaining, and very popular, this month his topic is ‘D-Day’.
Watch this space... Evening Petanque will return very soon during the lighter evenings, perhaps with a drink in the bar afterwards.
Dates for your Diaries:
• 13th October - Quiz Night
• 15th December - Christmas Party
• 31st December - New Year's Eve Party
The thoughts of Chairman John
Hi everyone,
It was with great pleasure that I was able to present the results of our fundraising efforts at our last meeting. It was a good turnout on what was a very busy day, taking in our monthly meeting, AGM, and 9th Birthday Party.
John Wishart presenting a cheque for £3,000 to Elspeth towards the St Mary’s Church Bell Tower Restoration Fund. Together with funds raised for the Ukraine DEC appeal, Turkey/Syrian Earthquake Appeal and Malawi Floods Appeal, this totals over £5,000 that UpARA members have raised this year for charitable causes.
Unfortunately, I never made the party, but I’m told Nick Bosworth did not disappoint, entertaining over 80 of you pretty much non-stop for over 3 hours.
In fact, May was a busy month all round with our Potters break taking place the week before - once again, many thanks to Brenda & Malcolm for organising such a lovely break.
We are intending to re-establish the evening Petanque this month but haven’t got a date yet. Once decided, we will update you all via email.
John W
Payments
Payments... At the next meeting, Brenda and Malcolm will be taking any money due for the lunch at the Golf Course on 28th June. They will also be taking the balance due for the Northern Ireland trip in September. Please contact Brenda if you wish to pay by bank transfer or need any other information.
Brenda will also be asking if any members are interested in a short break to Potters 5 Lakes at the end of April next year. If you are interested, but will not be at the June meeting, please let Brenda know by email at: uparatrips@gmail.com
Pick up Times for Inn on the Lake Wednesday 7th June
• Lower Halstow (The Green) 10:50am
• Upchurch (opposite the Church) 11:00am
• Otterham Quay (up from 3 Sisters) 11:05am
• Rainham (The Cricketers) 11:10am
• Rainham (opposite Pump Lane) 11:15am
Please look... at the calendar for all the activities we currently undertake, and if you haven’t tried them, why not give it a go? Some of our numbers have been dwindling of late, and we need a new input of enthusiasm to boost this. The sad facts of all that we do, is that they can only continue with the participation of enough people. If you’re not sure, just email us and ask.
June Calendar
Village Walk at 10:00am on Friday 2nd June
Short Tennis at 10:00am on Monday 5th, 12th, 19th and 26th June
Kurling at 2:00pm on Monday 5th June
Coffee Morning and Art at 9:30am on Tuesday 6th June
Table Tennis at 2:00pm on Tuesday 6th June
*Line Dancing at 10:15am on Wednesday 14th and 28th June
Franki Vali at The Inn on the Lake on Wednesday 7th June
Monthly Meeting at 2:00pm on Friday 9th June
Tony Harris, D-Day
10 Pin Bowling - Hollywood Bowl at 10:00am on Tuesday 13th June
Petanque at 2:00pm on Tuesday 20th June
Please note the new summer times
Village Walk at 10:00am on Friday 16th June
Coffee Morning and Art at 9:30am on Tuesday 27th June
Table Tennis at 2:00pm on Tuesday 27th June
Lunch Club at Upchurch River Valley Golf Course on Wednesday 28th June
London Walk, Regents Canal - Paddington to Kings Cross on Friday 30th June
*Note - No Line Dancing on the 7th and 21st June
Hopefully, see you all soon - your UpARA Committee.
UpARA Chairman John Wishart presented fundraiser Elspeth Baecke with a cheque for £3,000 towards their chosen charity, St Mary's Church - Bell Tower Restoration Fund, at their monthly meeting on Friday the 19th of May 2023.
The association's fundraising events have raised £5,000 this year for worthy causes, including the DEC Turkey-Syria Earthquake and Ukraine Humanitarian Appeals, all thanks to its generous members.
Congratulations to UpARA members and the committee for another super year of fundraising!
Members had their Birthday Party in Upchurch Village Hall to look forward to after their guest speaker and AGM.
Congratulations and Happy Birthday, UpARA 🎉
Upchurch Matters
Hello UpARA members,
Birthday Party... come and Join us for our Birthday Party on the evening of Friday the 19th of May, from 7:00pm. There are still a few places available and it is now open to bring non-member guests/friends.
It is BYO food and drink, and you are sure to have a great time with entertainment from the very talented Nick Boswell.
Don't delay and reserve your places in the usual way, by email to: uparaupchurch@gmail.com, or by text to: 07802 250773.
Tickets are just £5.
Thanks... for turning your phones to ‘silent’ during our last Friday meeting. It was so much nicer to listen to David Bowdler and his excellent musical repertoire without interruption - let’s keep it up!
A slight change... please note our May meeting is on the 3rd Friday of this month, followed by the AGM.
UpARA t-shirts, in various sizes, are just £15! They will all be out and on display to purchase on May the 19th.
The thoughts of Chairman John
We have reached that time of the year once again and we are putting together our thoughts from over the last year of our holidays, and all our activities and getting reports for the AGM.
The next massive event is the coronation of King Charles; several of us are of a certain age to remember his mother’s coronation and all the pomp that went along with the event. I can remember some of the people in our close without a television joined us to watch the event, the first to have been televised.
The next afternoon we all gathered in our village hall for the pageant put on by us school children, our prize was our own coronation mugs.
The hall was decked out as a street party and a great time was had by all.
As the end of our year has been reached, we have raised in excess of £5,000 for charity; some of which went to Ukraine DEC, The Turkey Earthquake Aappeal, the Poppy Appeal and Smile Malawi. Next month we will be handing over money that we have raised for the Bell Tower Charity.
Enjoy the coronation celebrations, looking forward to seeing some of you at the Potters week.
John W
Payments
At the next meeting, Brenda and Malcolm will be taking any money due for the lunch at the Golf Course on the 31st of May.
For any queries on trip and holiday availability, email: uparatrips@gmail.com, (we now have a separate ‘trips’ email address, although any emails to the main address will still get through if trip related).
Pick-up times for Potters holiday Monday 8th May
• Upchurch (opposite the Church) 10:00am
• Otterham Quay (up from 3 Sisters) 10:10am
• Rainham (The Cricketers) 10:20am
• Rainham (opposite Pump Lane) 10:30am
Northern Ireland trip
Activities
Please look at the calendar for all the activities we currently undertake, and if you haven’t tried them, why not give it a go?
Some of our numbers have been dwindling of late, and we need a new input of enthusiasm to boost this. The sad fact of all that we do, is that they can only continue with the participation of enough people. If you’re not sure, just email us and ask!
May Calendar
Mondays May 1st, 8th, 15th, 22nd, 29th at 10:00am - Short Tennis
Monday, May 1st, at 2:00pm - Kurling
Tuesday, May 2nd at 9:30am - Coffee Morning and Art
Tuesday, May 2nd at 2:00pm - Table Tennis
* Wednesdays May 3rd, 17th, 24th, 31st at 10:15am - Line Dancing
Friday, May 5th at 1:00pm - Village Walk
Monday May 8th - Friday May 12th - Potters
Tuesday, May 9th at 10:00am - 10 Pin Bowling at Hollywood Bowl
Tuesday, May 16th at 2:00pm - Petanque
Please note the new summer times
Friday, May 19th at 10:00am - Village Walk,
** Friday, May 19th at 2:00pm - Monthly Meeting
Wilf Lower, ‘Behind the Scenes of TV’s Golden Years’
AGM to follow 3:30pm - 4:00pm
Friday, May 19th at 7:00pm - Party Night with entertainment by Nick Boswell
Tuesday, May 23rd at 9:30am - Coffee Morning and Art
Tuesday, May 23rd at 2:00pm - Table Tennis
Wednesday, May 31st - Lunch Club at River Valley Golf Club
* There is no Line Dancing on May the 10th
** Please note our Monthly Meeting is on the 3rd Friday of this month
Hopefully, see you all soon - your UpARA Committee.
Hello UpARA members,
Birthday Party... come and join us for our Birthday Party on the evening of Friday the 19th of May, from 7:00pm.
It is BYO food and drink, and you are sure to have a great time with entertainment from the very talented Nick Boswell.
Don't delay and reserve your places in the usual way, by Email to: uparaupchurch@gmail.com, or by text to: 07802 250773.
Tickets are just £5.
Please... turn your phones to ‘silent’ during our Friday meetings. At the last couple of meetings, it has become something akin to a ‘mobile symphonic orchestra’ at times. Whilst not intentional, it is very distracting to our speakers and audience alike. We will try and remind everyone at the start of the meeting (if we remember)!
Membership cards are available for collection from the hall.
Now you’ve renewed, why not purchase one of our last remaining UpARA T-Shirts, only about 10 remaining, in various sizes, and for just £15!
Note that Kurling times have reverted to 2:00pm for the period of BST.
The thoughts of Chairman John
Hi everyone,
As usual, when we change the clocks to summertime, the weather proves to us winter hasn't passed, proving many old sayings still ring true "Don't shed a clout until May is out" still rings very true even in this Hi-Tec age!
At UpARA we still continue regardless; we had just recovered from our week in Bournemouth, only to then enjoy an entertaining evening ‘facing the music’, along with everyone's favourite- Bonnie Langford showing us all we are only as old as we feel, (I personally will pass on doing the splits though!) once again, we all had a terrific evening at the wonderful Royal Albert Hall.
Later in the month, all enjoyed another one of our "Winter Warmer Friday Afternoons" the guest speaker from Kent Road Safety managed to remind us how much we had forgotten about the Highway Code, but in all fairness when some of us passed our driving tests, motorways were only just being planned! By the way, how many of you have found the hidden message in the freebie pen?
Enjoy the forthcoming month, it's so good to see so many of our new members joining in all of our activities, welcome.
John W
Payments
At the next meeting, Brenda and Malcolm will be taking any money due for the lunch at the golf course on the 26th of April.
There are still places for the Frankie Valli Tribute & Lunch at the Inn on the Lake on the 7th of June, and potential places for Llandudno in November, (subject to hotel availability). Waiting lists are in place for everything else, contact Brenda or Malcom if you are interested.
Any queries on availability above, (also open to non-members), please Email: uparaupchurch@gmail.com
Pick-up times for the Marlowe on 11th April
The performance starts at 7:30pm.
• Upchurch (opposite the Church) 16:15
• Otterham Quay (near Canterbury Lane) 16:20
• Rainham (The Cricketers) 16:25
• Rainham (opposite Pump Lane) 16:30
Thank you
Thank you for your generosity with the impromptu collections at the Social Afternoon & Lunch Club. £182.79 was raised for the Malawi cyclone appeal.
A date for your diary
Watch this space as, for the first time, we have booked the village hall, together with some great entertainment on NYE to see us into 2024 and our 10th anniversary year.
April Calendar
Mondays April 3rd, 17th, 24th at 10:00am - Short Tennis**No Tennis on April 10th
Monday, April 3rd at 2:00pm - Kurling
Tuesday, April 4th at 9:30am - Coffee Morning and Art
Tuesday, April 4th at 2:00pm - Table Tennis
Wednesdays April 5th, 12th, 19th, 26th at 10:15am - Line Dancing
Tuesday, April 11th - ‘Buddy’ at the Marlowe
Friday, April 14th at 2:00pm - Monthly Meeting
David Bowdler, ‘Instrumentals of the 50’sand 60’s’
Friday, April 21st at 10:00am - Village Walk
Tuesday, April 18th at 2:00pm - Petanque*
*Please note the new summer times
Tuesday, April 25th at 9:30am - Coffee Morning and Art
Tuesday, April 25th at 2:00pm - Table Tennis
Wednesday, April 26th - Lunch Club at Upchurch River Valley Golf Club
Please note no Tennis on Easter Monday, no walk on Good Friday, and no Ten Pin Bowling this month due to the school holidays.
Hopefully, see you all soon - your UpARA Committee.
Hello UpARA members,
Social Afternoon... Our next social afternoon is on the 24th of March, from 1:00pm, and costs £3.
During the afternoon we have a ‘mature drivers’ safety’ presentation from the road safety group at KCC. We all know that we are the best drivers, but it doesn’t hurt to be reminded of the basics every now and then, does it?
There will also be some fun interactive quiz-type activities and another chance to listen to a few of our ‘sounds of our times’. If anyone has a tune with a reminiscence to go with it, let us know.
Membership renewals... are now overdue. There will be a one-month grace period for payments. If anyone is not intending to renew for the next year, please let us know so we can offer your place to others.
Membership cards... will be available for collection from the hall from the Friday meeting onwards. Now you’ve renewed, why not purchase one of our last remaining UpARA T-shirts, only about ten remaining, in various sizes, and for just £15!
The thoughts of Chairman John
Hi everyone,
Are we all getting the hang of 2023 and the unseasonal weather? Those of us who have just returned from our first holiday (in most cases), enjoyed a 5-day break at Bournemouth including "all Inclusive evening drinks”. With Today's cost of living, a welcome holiday bonus enjoyed by all!
As usual, the Hotel had arranged the evening entertainment every night. One of our number became an overnight celebrity with all in the hotel with her enthusiasm for singing and dancing but as they say, ‘what happens on tour stays on tour’!
Considering it was the third week in February, the trips (organised by Malcolm & Brenda, together with Captain Bob and Debbi from Jewels Coaches), managed to conjure up three full days on the Jurassic Coast and The New Forest, a fantastic endeavour, Thanks to them from all of us on the trip.
Back to the more mundane and after all the excitement, we are back to our normal activities. Why not come and try your hand at Kurling, it's much easier than you imagine - give it a try on the first Monday of the month. I’ll be ‘plugging’ more activities throughout the year and trying to encourage as many as possible to take advantage of all the benefits of being a member of UpARA.
John W
Payments
Payments at the next meeting, Brenda and Malcolm will be taking any money due for the lunch at The Crown on 22nd March.
There are still places for the Frankie Valli tribute & lunch at the Inn on the Lake on 7th June, and potential places for Llandudno in November, (subject to hotel availability). Waiting lists are in place for everything else, contact Brenda or Malcom if you are interested.
Pick-up times for Royal Albert Hall on 8th March:-
• Upchurch (opposite the church) 14:30
• Otterham Quay Lane (near Canterbury Lane) 14:35
• Rainham (The Cricketers) 14:40
• Rainham (opposite Pump Lane) 14:45
Please remember
There is now a £1 entrance fee at our Friday meetings, to help cover our costs.
Email addresses
Are you receiving our Emails? If not, please see Bryn.
Date for your diary
Watch this space as, for the first time, we have booked the hall, together with some great entertainment on NYE to see us into 2024 and our 10th anniversary year.
March Calendar
Wednesdays March 1st, 8th, 15th, 22nd at 10:15am - Line Dancing
Friday, March 3rd at 10:00am - Village Walk
Mondays March 6th, 13th, 20th, 27th at 10:00am - Short Tennis
Monday, March 6th at 2:00pm - Kurling
Tuesday, March 7th at 9:30am - Coffee Morning and Art
Tuesday, March 7th at 2:00pm - Table Tennis
Wednesday, March 8th - Let’s Face the Music at The Royal Albert Hall
Friday, March 10th at 2:00pm - Monthly Meeting
Toni Mount, ‘They dared to be Doctors’
Tuesday, March 14th at 10:00am - Ten Pin Bowling
Friday, March 17th at 10:00am - Village Walk
Tuesday, March 21st at 1:00pm - Petanque
Wednesday, March 22nd at 12:30pm - Lunch Club at The Crown
Friday, 24th March at 1:00pm - Winter Warmer Social Afternoon
Including mature driver safety presentation
Tuesday, March 28th at 9:30am - Coffee Morning and Art
Tuesday, March 28th at 2:00pm - Table Tennis
Hopefully, see you all soon - your UpARA Committee.
