Update from the President

 Dear member,

I hope that you are fit and well and adapting well to the “new normal” of social distancing, severely restricted social life, and endless repeats on the TV!
It seems like ages since we had our last meeting, so I just thought that I would write to update you with the latest information on the upcoming session.
Firstly, on a positive note, we seem to be OK for speakers, covering a wide range of interesting subjects, from “Paisley’s Scientific Legacy,” to “The 400th Anniversary of the Mayflower” as well as the possibility of a themed visit to Paisley Museums “Secret Collection” on the High Street - virus rules permitting!
However, we are currently unable to confirm a venue for our regular talks, as the University remains closed for the foreseeable future - at least until October. This means that we are not able to fix a starting date for our next session and it is therefore likely that this will be delayed.
I know that this is frustrating for us all, but unfortunately it is necessary and the requirements for social distancing, cleaning etc. preclude the use of alternative venues as well.
It has been suggested that we could resume talks online, but this would obviously depend on the willingness of you, our membership, to participate. Do you feel that this is a good idea?
 I would be obliged if you could share your views on this proposal with us. 
Committee meetings also present a problem which might be solved by using this approach.
Anyway, I am sure that we can get through this, so take care, and I look forward to seeing you all again when we can safely open the new session.”

Iain Skene

President

John Byrne and Paisley Museum

Our next meeting is on Thursday 12 March at 7.30 in Room D133 in UWS, Paisley. Visitors are welcome, with a suggested donation of £3.00.

Aileen Strachan from Paisley Museum will talk about the reimagined Paisley Museum.

Hear about the ways John Byrne will feature in the redeveloped Paisley Museum.  We’ll share our ideas for researching and interpreting John Byrne’s work, and introduce our overall approach to making new displays as part of Paisley Museum Re-Imagined.  The project is transforming Paisley Museum into a world-class attraction housing the town's outstanding collections and bringing to the life the stories of its people, pattern, and heritage.

Please note that the AGM will be held at 7.

Paisley at the Pictures 1950

On Thursday 27 February 2020 at 7.30 pm in Room D133, UWS, Paisley, Brian Hannan will talk on the above subject. Brian describes himself as '.. an odd combination - a movie buff, a food lover (I own a cookery school) and I've been writing fiction since I was fourteen.' his talk will be based on his book of the same name.

The talk is open to visitors with a suggested donation of £3.00.

Protecting the world's 125 M contact lens users

Our next meeting  will take place on Thursday 13 February 2020 at 7.30 pm in Room D133, UWS, Paisley.

The talk will be delivered by Fiona Henriquez, Professor of Parasitology, School of Health and Life Sciences, University of the West of Scotland.

Fiona has kindly provided a short precis of her talk:

Acanthamoeba keratitis is an emerging opportunistic infection caused by the normally free-living protist, Acanthamoeba. Contact lens wear is a major risk factor and their cases and cleaning solutions are vunerable to Acanthamoeba contamination, as this protist is found in every environment, including tap water, swimming pools and air conditioning units. Public and professional awareness is still limited and at UWS we are not only working to understand Acanthamoeba and develop new treatments and prevention measures, but also to engage with the large multinational eye-care industry, Optician practitioners and Ophthalmologists to reduce the risk of the development of microbial keratitis and in particular, Acanthamoeba infections. Interestingly, we are witnessing an emergence of other amoeba pathogens, in particular an infection that is affecting our aquaculture industry, called Amoebic Gill Disease (AGD), caused by Paramoeba. At UWS we are translating our knowledge of Acanthamoeba to Paramoeba in the effort to support the aquaculture industry to prevent heavy economic losses due to this infection. 

There is also further information available here


Guests are welcome with  suggested donation of £3.00.

Meeting 23 January 2020

Our next meeting  will take place on Thursday 23 January 2020 at 7.30 pm in Room D133, UWS, Paisley.

The talk will be delivered by Karen Herbison. Karen runs H-Arts who describe themselves as A true hub of drama & creativity. Playwright, Actor, Director and Facilitator Karen specialises in enabling and encouraging creativity & expression.

As well as writing and performing , Karen also carries out educational work.

Her Facebookpage is here H-Arts Facebook
If you wish to join for the remainder of the session, the cost will be half the standard price of £15.00, i.e £7.50.

Guests are welcome with  suggested donation of £3.00.

May Donoghue, Brexit and Consumer Protection

Our first meeting of 2020 will take place on Thursday 9 January 2020 at 7.30 pm in Room D133, UWS, Paisley.

The talk will be delivered by Michael P. Clancy, OBE, Director Law Reform, The Law Society of Scotland on the above subject.


If you wish to join for the remainder of the session, the cost wil be half the standard price of £15.00, i.e £7.50.

Guests are welcome with  suggested donation of £3.00.