Friday 4 June 2021

Spreading The Word.

 As I mentioned in my last post, it was the first national u3a day this week, in normal times we would have planned various activities to spread the word about our u3a and to encourage people to come and join us. Unfortunately because of the pandemic not much has been going on at all in our u3a and getting together to organise any kind of activity has proved impossible. 

As I also said in my last post we were hoping that the display for our train station would be up and ready but because of the bank holiday weekend  people had other plans and not much has got done.  I have manged to finish my portion of the net but there is still a way to go with the rest.  It will happen, just not as soon as we had hoped. 

The station is just a very small one consisting of two platforms so whatever we manage to display it will have some kind of impact.

With that in mind and with u3a day approaching I came up with an idea which was advantageous to me and would also raise peoples awareness of our organisation. 

As you all know I am totally hooked on painting rocks and love leaving them around town to spread a bit of cheer, what better way to spread the word about our u3a. This way the message will reach a more diverse group of people rather than a poster or a leaflet, posters are rarely read and leaflets usually end up in the bin. 

I have written our website address on the back and invited people to join us I'm hoping that whoever finds the rocks may pass on the information to a relevant family member, it could be a case of look what I have found Grandma, Grandma admires the stone turns it over see's the address and investigates.  I have painted stones that will appeal to all age groups so it may even be Grandma who picks one up who knows.


These are just a few of what I prepared, I added some of my decoupaged ones too,  it took three walks at different times of the day as they are quite heavy as you can imagine,  I did leave one on each platform at the station yesterday, but have saved a few for when we erect the display and I will add to them, it's a good excuse to paint more stones. 

I had fun leaving them around town in various locations, doing it without being seen can be tricky but I think I managed it. 


We have had a very disappointing bank holiday weekend, while the rest of Britain basked in warm sunshine we had sea fret to contend with from the North sea which made it quite cold but although it was still dull when I set off to deposit my stones luckily the temperatures had risen a little and it was quite warm.



Taking in the views as I passed by..






You can see how dull the weather is, this was the beach when I went for my walk last Saturday



It felt quite eerie, there were quite a few people searching for sea glass, the weather never stops them, they are there come rain or shine.


Can you remember how upset I was last year when they felled all those trees in the dene.....



 the ugly scars have disappeared under a mass of wild flowers and spring foliage. there is no sign of building work going on so I am still at a loss as to why the trees were felled in the first place.



Sea fret creeping in..


I am watching to see what develops, hopefully it will remain a wildflower meadow but I remain sceptical. 

Have a great week.




13 comments:

  1. I must admit this is the first I’ve heard of u3a day. You certainly did a lot of rocks. I’ve just about used up all my rocks, just waiting fir when we can get out to various places to leave then,

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  2. I love your pebbles Linda, and what a great way to publicise you U3A. I hope you have some takers. The wildflower meadow looks lovely, despite having lost all those trees xx

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  3. I'd be sceptical too, they can't seem to leave any space undeveloped these days unfortunately. What a wonderful batch of pebbles, and such a unique way to advertise your u3a, I hope you get some new members through your efforts.

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  4. Lovely rocks and pictures !
    Have a shinny weekend !
    Anna

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  5. It was such a shame when those trees were felled but it's lovely to see the wildflowers taking over.
    The information on the pebbles is a great idea. I hope it piques someone's interest. X

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  6. Hopefully they will create a park area, still taking down those trees is so sad. I love all your rocks my friend, stay safe.

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  7. The wildflower meadow is beautiful but oh those beautiful trees that were! Love all your pretty rocks gathered together. Such a clever idea to leave them here and there around the place so that when pick them up and see the details on the back it might pique their interest. You have such pretty scenery for all your walks.

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  8. It seems that more and more wildflower meadows are springing up! It's such a lovely idea.

    The painted rocks and information on them is a good idea, they all look so nice.

    Have a good week.

    All the best Jan

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  9. I had to look up u3a, and found in the USA we, evidently, have a similar thing that goes by a different name. I didn't know. Interesting.

    Your painted rocks are so pretty. I have to admit, though... if I saw one on a walk, or on the ground where I was, say, waiting for a train, it would not dawn on me (before reading your posts about painting rocks and leaving them where people might pick them up) to pick one up and carry it off. I can't tell you though how much I wish I could stumble upon one now.

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  10. I love your painted rocks you are scattering around and I enjoyed looking at your photos. I hope you have a nice week Linda.

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  11. You are brilliant, Linda! What a clever idea. Everything is so much more difficult this year with all the restrictions.
    Amalia
    xo

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  12. Beautiful meadow Linda. Definitely natures way of covering up so much ugliness. I'll echo what Mere has commented here and cross my fingers too that it does become a park area! I love your painted rocks and I can't think of anything better (other than crochet :-) ) to raise people's awareness of the U3a day and organisation. The painted rocks must have been really popular! I bet they disappered quickly too. Keep well Amanda x

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  13. The painted stones are a brilliant idea to spread the word. I do a litter pick in our local park and we often find stones the kids have painted and left for others, it's such a lovely thing. My dad really enjoyed u3a so I know what a great organisation it is.

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Thank you for your visit, I will always answer any questions but due to time constraints I'm not always able to reply to your comments, please keep them coming I read and appreciate each and every one. xx