READING RETIREMENT CENTRE (registered charity No. 281830)
FIRTREE
(Friends in retirement taking relaxation, exercise and education)
http://www.firtree-reading.com
April 2020 Firtree Newsletter Issue 492
First the good news. Nobody in Firtree, as far as I know, has contracted the corona virus. Because we want it to stay that way we have reluctantly cancelled our meetings as from Friday 20th March and will not be meeting again until Monday 20th April (Bridge and Committee). This includes the outing to Salisbury which has now been postponed until early September. We have not cancelled the May holiday but it may yet have to be rescheduled.
The government is issuing directions daily, but the important thing is to keep calm, wash your hands, keep your contacts to a minimum – I think that self-isolation can pose far more risk to mental health than adopting a sensible and cautionary approach to contact. I am sure that many gardens will look far better than usual this year, as that is not off limits.
The virus is here. It is not going away. At some time or another we will have to face it but the longer we can avoid it we give our medical services a better chance of dealing with it. Remember that 98% (roughly) are fully recovered and those at greatest risk are those who are already very ill.
Congratulations to Bob Hopkins who is 100 on the 20th March. Sadly, his tea party had to be postponed! Firtree has sent him a card with as many signatures as we could get. Happy birthday Bob, your friends at Firtree miss you but have not forgotten you.
Make sure you keep in touch with the world, isolating does not mean isolation but if you do feel ill with cough, temperature, breathlessness, ring 111. If you need help, they will come to you, don’t go out then.
Keep in touch, the next newsletter will be out in three weeks with an update on our activities.
If you want to know more about Firtree, contact Colin Ferguson (colindf@btinternet.com) or Liz Prior on 0118 942 2958
Firtree 