Save Our Sanity
This page is for ideas for learning and enjoyment. If you have ideas and contributions that you think will be useful to others please contact a member of the Committee so it can be added to this page.
Mississippi River Flyway Cam
The good, the bad, and the OMG! Loch Arkaig Osprey family nest season highlights 2020'
LIVING HISTORY IN UNPRECEDENTED TIMES – an opportunity to be involved. u3a members are being asked to help craft a shared learning project where they create living history of this extraordinary time.
Keep checking the website and national newsletter for details - https://u3a.org.uk/learning/diary-project-2020
Shute Festival programme
Butterfly Conversation - Send us your butterfly sightings
Dorset Wildlife Trust Barn Owl Live Webcam
Dorset Digital Helpline
Anyone can call the Dorset Digital Hotline with an IT question on 01305 221000 (select option 2) weekdays (excluding Bank Holidays) from 10am to 12noon
Loch Arkaig Osprey Webcam
Incubating three eggs
Arundel Castle Gardens 2020
Beautiful!
National History Museum
'Virtual Museum: 12 ways to explore from home'
Canadian Museum for Human Rights
'Explore the Museum from home'
Museum of Broken Relationships
A 'crowd sourced collection features everyday items donated by members of the public. People are invited to offload...any symbolic items relating to failed relationships as a cathartic means to dust off the past and move on'
COVID SOCIAL STUDY - University College London (UCL)
A study about your psychological and social experiences during this period of the coronavirus pandemic (Covid-19).
This study aims to identify how the news about coronavirus is affecting people, whether people are having to isolate, and their experiences of isolating. 'The findings will be used to help develop ways to support people psychologically and socially during this outbreak'
NATIONAL CREATIVE ARTS COMPETITION
For over 70s stuck at home because of Coronavirus. Deadline is 29 May 2020
International Dawn Chorus Day Sunday 3 May 2020
Virtual tours of Keukenhof gardens, Holland
Virtual Chelsea Flower Show 18-23 May 2020
Virtual Tours of the British Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art
Skyscanner
'Explore the Seven Wonders of the World (virtually!)'
Skyscanner
'How to see the great outdoors from home'
'National Trust Collections'
British Trust for Ornithology's Garden Birdwatch scheme
Bumblebee Conservation Trust
Sightings of bumblebees can be recorded on the iRecord page of this website
The Cosmic Shambles Network
'Curiously Entertaining. Podcasts, documentaries, digital content and live events for people with curious minds.'
Internet Archive
'A non-profit library of millions of free books, movies, software, music, websites, and more'
RSCDS Dance Scottish
For those interested in Scottish dancing here is the first Royal Scottish Country Dance Society Zoom Class. There will more classes on Wednesdays and the recordings should be available on Fridays.
Andrew Lloyd Webber to stream his musicals online for free
National Theatre performances FREE
Every Thursday on YouTube there’s a National Theatre performance
Similarly see MET opera website for free opera streams
Future Learn
Free on-line courses from top universities - these run for four weeks free of charge. A wide range of subjects from languages to specific courses on Shakespeare’s world and creative writing. Particularly recommended is a course on the British Empire using original archive material.
Zooniverse
Get involved in research projects ranging from mapping historic skies to identifying botanical specimens. Training is given and projects include the Arts, biology, climate, history, language, literature and nature. A recent project used volunteers to check astronomical photographs for anomalies and identified a previously unknown feature.
Rainfall Rescue project
University of Reading is inviting people to help digitise rainfall statistics as Citizen Scientists.
Details can be found on Zooniverse or go to University of Reading rainfall rescue.
Kew gardens - transcribing herbarium specimen labels in Digivol
You don't have to be a volunteer at Kew to do this. Find details on volunteer.ala.org.au
Four digital collection teams are busy loading many of the plant specimen images into virtual expeditions, where you can turn the written label on the specimen sheet into a digital and searchable format. By looking at one of the digital specimen images and copying the information on the label into the online form, you will be helping to make the specimens available online.
Bird watching
Chris Packham launches online birdwatching community - Self-Isolating Bird Club
I'm a puzzle Create a jigsaw and then make it
The good, the bad, and the OMG! Loch Arkaig Osprey family nest season highlights 2020'
LIVING HISTORY IN UNPRECEDENTED TIMES – an opportunity to be involved. u3a members are being asked to help craft a shared learning project where they create living history of this extraordinary time.
Keep checking the website and national newsletter for details - https://u3a.org.uk/learning/diary-project-2020
Shute Festival programme
Butterfly Conversation - Send us your butterfly sightings
Dorset Wildlife Trust Barn Owl Live Webcam
Dorset Digital Helpline
Anyone can call the Dorset Digital Hotline with an IT question on 01305 221000 (select option 2) weekdays (excluding Bank Holidays) from 10am to 12noon
Loch Arkaig Osprey Webcam
Incubating three eggs
Arundel Castle Gardens 2020
Beautiful!
National History Museum
'Virtual Museum: 12 ways to explore from home'
Canadian Museum for Human Rights
'Explore the Museum from home'
Museum of Broken Relationships
A 'crowd sourced collection features everyday items donated by members of the public. People are invited to offload...any symbolic items relating to failed relationships as a cathartic means to dust off the past and move on'
COVID SOCIAL STUDY - University College London (UCL)
A study about your psychological and social experiences during this period of the coronavirus pandemic (Covid-19).
This study aims to identify how the news about coronavirus is affecting people, whether people are having to isolate, and their experiences of isolating. 'The findings will be used to help develop ways to support people psychologically and socially during this outbreak'
NATIONAL CREATIVE ARTS COMPETITION
For over 70s stuck at home because of Coronavirus. Deadline is 29 May 2020
International Dawn Chorus Day Sunday 3 May 2020
Virtual tours of Keukenhof gardens, Holland
Virtual Chelsea Flower Show 18-23 May 2020
Virtual Tours of the British Museum
Metropolitan Museum of Art
Skyscanner
'Explore the Seven Wonders of the World (virtually!)'
Skyscanner
'How to see the great outdoors from home'
'National Trust Collections'
British Trust for Ornithology's Garden Birdwatch scheme
Bumblebee Conservation Trust
Sightings of bumblebees can be recorded on the iRecord page of this website
The Cosmic Shambles Network
'Curiously Entertaining. Podcasts, documentaries, digital content and live events for people with curious minds.'
Internet Archive
'A non-profit library of millions of free books, movies, software, music, websites, and more'
RSCDS Dance Scottish
For those interested in Scottish dancing here is the first Royal Scottish Country Dance Society Zoom Class. There will more classes on Wednesdays and the recordings should be available on Fridays.
Andrew Lloyd Webber to stream his musicals online for free
National Theatre performances FREE
Every Thursday on YouTube there’s a National Theatre performance
Similarly see MET opera website for free opera streams
Future Learn
Free on-line courses from top universities - these run for four weeks free of charge. A wide range of subjects from languages to specific courses on Shakespeare’s world and creative writing. Particularly recommended is a course on the British Empire using original archive material.
Zooniverse
Get involved in research projects ranging from mapping historic skies to identifying botanical specimens. Training is given and projects include the Arts, biology, climate, history, language, literature and nature. A recent project used volunteers to check astronomical photographs for anomalies and identified a previously unknown feature.
Rainfall Rescue project
University of Reading is inviting people to help digitise rainfall statistics as Citizen Scientists.
Details can be found on Zooniverse or go to University of Reading rainfall rescue.
Kew gardens - transcribing herbarium specimen labels in Digivol
You don't have to be a volunteer at Kew to do this. Find details on volunteer.ala.org.au
Four digital collection teams are busy loading many of the plant specimen images into virtual expeditions, where you can turn the written label on the specimen sheet into a digital and searchable format. By looking at one of the digital specimen images and copying the information on the label into the online form, you will be helping to make the specimens available online.
Bird watching
Chris Packham launches online birdwatching community - Self-Isolating Bird Club
I'm a puzzle Create a jigsaw and then make it