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THE BIG THREE ZERO! Again, the publicity brings many enquiries. Members decide that NWR should build on its original aims, update its image and investigate a regional structure. The national office moves to Norwich.

Photo by Andrew Hurley

MAUREEN NICOL RETIRES as trustee and is given Honorary Life Membership. The magazine, renamed ‘The Register’ is now mailed directly to members.

Photo by Miryam León on Unsplash AN OBE FOR ‘services to women in founding NWR in 1960’ is awarded to Maureen Nicol in the Queen’s Birthday honours. 231 groups take part in the first National Telephone Treasure Trail, organised by Abbots Langley group.

1990 1991 1993 1995 1997

AS INSUFFICIENT THE NWR ARCHIVE VOLUNTEERS come is professionally forward to maintain catalogued and can the National now be viewed on Group, a ballot of request at the Women’s members decides Library, at the London on the creation of School of Economics. two new paid staff In memory of Mary – a membership Stott, who died in 2002 coordinator and aged 95, the annual a marketing NWR Woman of the coordinator. The Year Mary Stott Award National Group is is instituted. dissolved.

1999 2000 2003

NWR’S NEW IMAGE is launched, and the strategic plan is published. This includes the introduction of Area Organisers to improve communication between members and the National Group, and the creation of Regional Organisers within the National Group. Regional Organisers are to work with Area Organisers to increase members’ awareness of the national organisation, encourage new groups, and help existing ones to form closer links with other groups in the area and take full advantage of their membership. Mary Stott retires as trustee and is made the first Honorary Life Member. NWR GOES DIGITAL. Member and former National Group Treasurer Jackie Harber creates NWR’s first website. GROUPS AROUND THE COUNTRY celebrate NWR’s ruby anniversary. An article in the Guardian commemorates our origins. There are nearly 1,200 enquiries and increasing interest in NWR. The first full colour magazine is published, and the first colour version of the Annual Report.

News and views

FROM THE BEGINNING, members wanted to exchange news and ideas with other members. Some areas produced local news sheets, then in July 1960 Maureen Nicol sent out the first

national newsletter, run off on a borrowed duplicator, giving

news of group activities, spread of membership, profiles of members, and booklists. At first these appeared every few months, but eventually a regular pattern of spring and autumn newsletters was established.

The first professionally printed newsletter appeared in 1965, its format changing as the register developed.

Building Bridges and Crossing Boundaries - Bristol 2014

Inspiring talk on forced marriage

Jasvinder Sanghera CBE received a standing ovation after her passionate speech on the subject of forced marriage and honour-based abuse.

...and Bristol fashion

Shockingly and sadly it is often the family women who are the main problem, but Jasvinder emphasised that, in order to initiate the demise of the tradition, it is also essential that religious leaders say firmly that there is not, in fact, any written part of their religion that legitimises forced marriage.

An advocate for the rights of those experiencing forced marriage and honour based abuse, she is the founder of Karma At the time of her own challenges, there was no law that could Nirvana (peace and enlightentment), a campaign born out of be enforced against this practice as the government had said her own experiences, and shared her strong feelings on this it did not want to oppose any community traditions. Jasvinder most horrifying of ‘customs’ with a rapt audience. has been a leading light in the campaign to criminalise forced marriage and was able to announce that, since this year, it is What the heck am I doing here? What the heck am I doing here? Born in the UK of Indian Sikh parents, she fought against her family’s tradition whereby girls are taken out of school at the age of 15 and married to men they had never met. Her older now a specific criminal offence in England and Wales – a fact that warranted a huge round of applause. Silver Action – Suzanne Lacy – Tate Modern I was on the sixth floor of the Tate Modern, surrounded by a fantastic view of sister was one such victim. At 14, she herself was shown a photo London and ten minutes into a preparatory workshop a week before ‘Silver Action’. of man she was going to marry, but emphatically refused. Her Amid twenty-five other participants and two facilitators, all around 60, sporting varying shades of grey hair, assertive, excited and exuding ‘woman power’ I felt a mother padlocked her in her room but she managed to escape and was found by police who actually (and unusually) believed her when she said she was being forced into marriage by her little uneasy. I had read the circular from about ‘Grey Hair Action’. I took in the words own parents. The outcome was that her parents disowned her ‘grey hair, an art work, inclusion and social relevance, the Tate Modern, because her obstinate action affected their perceived ‘family conversations, participation’ and ‘400 women’. I skimmed the word ‘activist’ but honour’. Her first book Shame resulted in threats to her life. noted ‘Housewives Register’. So I had only myself to blam e i f I felt uncomfortable. In 1993, Jasvinder set up a helpline for teenage girls, as The exercises at tables of five were focused on activism. There was a time line on accusing their family is very difficult. It gets 850 calls a month. the wall from 1945 to present day. We were invited to post notes of what we had In Bradford, for example, 65 per cent of female children

I got it started, and that was the main thing, really

From Maureen Nicol’s anniversary interview.

You can listen to the whole of Maureen’s anniversary interview with Natalie Punter at https://youtu.be/EIeNfG9M_xo

2010

2020, NWR’s Diamond Anniversary!

Diamond Day lunches take place as planned on 26 February (page 4), then the year loses its sparkle with lockdown in March. NWR and its members learn new ways to support each other (page 8). We find ourselves back on the Guardian Women’s page, and National Organiser Natalie Punter and Trustee Jo Thomson are interviewed by Jenni Murray on Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour. Listen at http://tiny.cc/n3kpk

2012 2014 2019

HALF A CENTURY! Members gather for a variety of golden events countrywide and two ‘Golden Gatherings’, one in York and the other in Reading.

THIS YEAR sees the introduction of the Big Read, and we venture into social media with our first Facebook page, and several discussion groups. BOTH THE WEBSITE and the magazine get a new look.

The magazine moves away from a newsletter format and is renamed “NWR

Magazine”.

NWR MAKES A COMMITMENT to become and remain carbon neutral, and to improve our accessibility as an organisation.

Photo by John O’Nolan on Unsplash

Successive editors widened its scope to include informative or controversial articles by members and regular policy articles, confirming it as the accepted forum for discussion of the organisation’s affairs. Advertising – strictly controlled – was first accepted in 1986.

In 1993 the magazine was given the title The Register, and mailed directly to members. Apart from the cover, it was

still black and white only, but in 2000 it became a full colour publication. Eventually, in 2014, it moved away from the newsletter model and adopted the magazine format that we have today, aiming to provide publicity for NWR as well as a space for both the organisation and members to air their views

NWR TechNology

2020 VISION anniversary achievement aspiration NWR WOMEN Connect TALK Learn DISCOVER GROW support SHARE JOY WALK CELEBRATE DANCE BEFRIEND DISCUSS RESEARCH OFFICIAL MAGAZINE OF THE NATIONAL WOMEN’S REGISTER AUTUMN 2019 back to the sixties Plymouth conference news eggheads adventure Planet plastic poetry the big read members’ corner and exchange information. FEATURES Freyja Thomson of the National Marine Aquarium told Plymouth conference delegates how they might help the health of our oceans. We are an ocean planet, with over 71% of the surface being covered in water. Our ocean is all connected, supporting a variety of life and ecosystems, but over 80% of it is unexplored, unmapped and unobserved. However, plastic pollution is fast becoming a huge issue, with an estimate that there will be more plastic than fish in the ocean by 2050. The first known plastic dates back to the 1850s, when a substance called Parkesine was invented in Birmingham by Alexander Parkes. It isn’t commonly used today, being difficult to produce, but was regarded as a revolutionary, lightweight Bakelite in 1907, and the first use of the word plastic, giving way to the plastics we know today. It is the fact that plastic is a cheap, lightweight but sturdy material that is both a benefit and a curse. Plastic pollution in the ocean is an ever-visible problem, with plastic sighted on the most remote beaches in places like the Chagos islands, to the deepest depths of the Mariana Trench, where a plastic bag was spotted at 11km depth. As well as being unattractive, it is also causing disruption to the lives of millions of marine organisms all over the world, from primary producer groups such as plankton, to majestic whales, turtles and sharks. Over 80% of all marine pollution is derived from land-based sources, with eight million tonnes of plastic entering the ocean every year. All the plastic that has ever been made is still on the planet today. Plastic breaks down in the ocean into smaller fragments known as microplastics, through natural oceanic processes such as erosion from storms, and through sunlight. Microplastics can then be eaten in the lower parts of food webs by plankton, accumulating in commercial fish species commonly eaten across the world, from cod to tuna, in high quantities, where the effects on humans are yet to be established. Microplastics are also eaten by marine organisms, and can build up in the stomach and lead to reduced appetites and the animal starving, as it cannot metabolise the plastic. Since the release of Blue Planet II in 2017, there has been a 53% drop in use of single-use plastics, mostly due to the reduction in use of plastic bags, particularly in the UK. A wave of films, television shows, opinion pieces and news articles in recent years have profoundly highlighted the issue of ocean plastic, in a way that has inspired the general public to change Time to turn the plastic tide Photo by Jasmin Sessler on Unsplash Write to us We would love to hear your views on these and the other environmental issues that are engulfing us. Are individual efforts like Val’s enough (see Planet Plastic, page 15), or should we take to the barricades with Extinction Rebellion? Are you ready to give up your car, give up meat, give up flying, or perhaps you already have? Write to our new Letters Page at office@nwr.org.uk. Photo by Piotr Łaskawski on Unsplash Hedgehogs are among a number of endangered species in the UK, warmer winters and loss of habitat being among the causes. MUSIC AND SOCIETY y the time she and her friends got to Woodstock, says Joni Mitchell’s classic song of that name, ‘We were half a million strong’ — but I wasn’t one of them. Still, the glamour of the epochal outdoor music festival was alluring, decades before glamping was invented. By the time I was able to leave London to see the American continent, (a very big treat from my parents for being the first in my family to graduate from university), I managed to skive off from domesticity at my big sister’s place in Canada. Somehow, I did get myself to the next music festival, which happened at Watkins Glen in 1973. It was magical, though I mainly remember losing everyone I knew and trudging back in the mud amidst a caravan of departing cars, despairing of ever getting home. Happily, I was picked up by an angelic stranger who whisked me off to stay with her family on gorgeous Lake Champlain. So potential disaster was averted. It was a musical adventure, alright, and I was saved by spontaneous sisterhood. It was a premonition of how, just three years later, the women of punk would transform my life and help me find a sort of freedom — a journey whose roots and branches I trace in my new book, Revenge of the She-Punks: A Feminist Music History from Poly Styrene to Pussy Riot. My whole Watkins Glen experience, from the ramshackle camp site to the comparative luxury of a sprawling waterfront suburban home, was far removed from my childhood on the intersection of two main roads in North West London. But it still did not give me the jolt of female music-making I had thought was my right when I would gather with my two big sisters around the piano at home on Sunday nights, as my musician father led us through Beatles songs, conducting us with his violin bow. Then it had seemed like music was achievable, my birthright. But our few musical sheroes usually seemed to combust and self-destruct, like Janis Joplin, doomed by her yearning for the approbation of unappreciative boys off the stage as well as on. The glorious Fairport Convention folk singer Sandy Denny proved to be another tragic figure, fraught with insecurities despite her brilliance, and dying in 1978 at just 31. Aryan goddess-lookalike genius Joni Mitchell often turned for songwriting fodder to rock star boyfriends who seemed to cement her place in the Establishment as much as her skills. It seemed there was no way for a girl to get ahead in a musical milieu other than via well-connected boyfriends, like Marianne Faithfull and her romance with Mick Jagger. And he cemented girly paranoia with infectious but disturbing songs like (Look at that) Stupid Girl, that caused me some angst while bopping to it on my parent’s gramophone. We had our 1960s songbirds, Dusty, Sandie and Cilla, but there weren’t many compared to the number of lads. Although the super-talented Dusty would eventually gain some measure of control over her career, the other groovy dolly-birds seemed to be, in the words of Shaw’s 1967 Eurovision Song Contest winner, (Like a) Puppet on a String, controlled solely by men. (In fact, her Vivien Goldman (right) interviews Siouxsie Sioux (left) of Siouxsie and the Banshees. Photo: Ray Stephenson. Writer and musician Vivien Goldman takes us on a personal journey from the mud of her first festival to the freedom of the UK punk movement My musician father led us through Beatles songs, conducting us with his violin bow NWR Life alent, financial success, fame and adoration offer no protection from the subjective three of the most idolized marilyn monroe and Princess Diana, were famously lonely yet there is nothing inherently problematic about it’s about not feeling connected. Although the two terms sound similar, loneliness and social isolation can be very different in appearance. it is possible, for instance, to be miserably in fiction from flaubert to Jackie Collins. An individual surrounded by lots of people can still feel lonely – hence the expression ‘to feel lonely in a crowd,’ whilst others prefer to be alone and foster isolation. | nWR Trustee oneliness and the importance of staying connected you do lose someone, you get inundated with advice. ‘“get out more. get rid of all the photos. Cry more. Cry less. talk about it. Don’t talk about it.” the truth is that we all deal with that loss in our own way. there are no rules.’ the relationship between social interaction and wellbeing has been widely discussed across disciplines in social science. whilst the genes we inherit affect how well we age, our chosen lifestyle has a greater impact on our health and well-being. however, research indicates that being sociable (meeting others, conversation, discussion and activities) can make a significant contribution to individual health and well-being, and even stave off dementia! Protective factors that may reduce the likelihood of mental health and well-being issues include good interpersonal relationships and a supportive social network. whilst advances in technology and the evolution of the internet may appear to bring people closer together, the number of people feeling lonely appears to be on the increase. Certainly technology offers a greater opportunity than ever before to find out where the writers, knitters or artists are congregating, so that you can join with those who share your interests. A common bond is a great stepping stone towards friendship! nWR: at a particularly traumatic time in your life, how did you find the strength to take the concept of The silver line forward? ER: A way to cope is by embracing a cause that you believe in. I did a year of research and the Royal Voluntary Service was also extremely helpful, before eventually doing The Silver Line pilot. Volunteering is a way to gain a sense of achievement. Working with a team and confronting challenges all help to diminish the pain of loss. nWR: did the success of Childline give you a blueprint for launching The silver line? ER: The CEO and team were amazing in helping to develop The Silver Line very close to my original vision. It has regular friendship callers but also includes letters by tuning in to Radio 4 whilst having a hot bath – I sometimes fall asleep! I have friends I ring for a chat, and if I have insomnia I can always ring my sister who is in Australia, so of course I am not keeping her awake. nWR: you travelled extensively with your late husband. What do you now look for in a holiday? ER: I have tried a paradise beach holiday and I didn’t like it on my own. I would now only holiday with a close friend or family for company. nWR: What future challenges have you set yourself? ER: I would like to explore South America – there is so much to see. I also have an ambition to host a TV Panel Game. nWR: do you ever see yourself withdrawing from public life? Dame Esther Rantzen gets candid about loneliness I Esther spoke candidly to NWR trustee Jeanette House about her personal approach to life in this exclusive interview. to offer friendship and support to vulnerable older people. Esther was determined to break through the stigma of loneliness and isolation, and through sign-posted services, tackle the problems of abuse and neglect. In the first year of operation The Silver Line Helpline received 275,000 calls; 53% of callers saying they had literally no-one else to speak to. They now receive almost 1,000 calls daily from lonely and isolated older people. Over 1,200 volunteer Silver Line Friends make regular weekly friendship calls. n 2011, presenter and journalist Dame esther Rantzen wrote an article speaking openly about the loneliness she had experienced since the death of her husband, documentary maker Desmond Wilcox. Criticised by some for openly admitting her loneliness, esther was overwhelmed by the huge response from people who shared her experience. In what she terms her second ‘light bulb, life changing moment’ (the first being ChildLine in 1986), she came up with the idea of creating a confidential helpline First on the list is To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. Like NWR, this Pulitzer prize winning classic celebrates its 60th anniversary in 2020. It was once judged to be the book every adult should read before they die. Exploring issues of race and class in 1930s deep south America, through the dramatic court case of a black man charged with the rape of a white girl, this classic tale of prejudice and injustice is as relevant today as it was when it was first published. 70 collieries employing tens of thousands of men toiling to produce the black diamonds which created the family fortune as well as divisions and resentment of the class divide. This is the extraordinary story of how the fabric of English society shifted beyond recognition in fifty turbulent years in the twentieth century. From black diamonds to real diamonds, Blood Diamonds by Greg The 2020 theme country is Finland so what better to choose than a Finnish author? Palm Beach, Finland by Antti Tuomainen is a dark thriller with an intriguing premise. A highly addictive read, it is surprisingly funny, especially as it is about a man who has just discovered he is dying! This Nordic noir future classic has often been compared with the Coen brothers’ classic Fargo. Set in 1962, The Man in the High Castle by Philip K Dick, explores an alternate history in which the Nazis won the Second World War. The Nazis now occupy Europe, the Soviet Union, Africa and the East Coast of the USA while Japan occupies Asia and Oceania and the West Coast of the USA. Another 1960s classic, The big read 2020 Diamonds, sci-fi, alternate history, Nordic noir and sixties classics that explore themes of race, class and feminism. Chosen by individual members from around the country, they are all in the mix for 2020. ARTS NWR NeWs lasgow conference At the NWR National Conference 2015 in Glasgow we had the privilege of listening to three thought-provoking speakers on the topic of Diverse Connections. Members and staff tell us more about the talks. Diverse connections were made at the Talk by: exploring diversity and reconciling our differences Kathryn Buckman | NWR Business Manager airi Nasr had no idea of the challenges she would be faced with when she moved to Beirut with her Lebanese husband and their three children just after the end of the 16-year civil war. She found the people resilient, hopeful and very welcoming, but coming to terms with the cultural differences was a different matter. Picking her way through a minefield of strange customs, bewildering misunderstandings and painful mistakes was a long and difficult process during which she often shed tears of frustration. Living with her husband’s parents, she soon learned that maintaining family dignity is paramount and that lives are governed by age-old traditions. It is a patriarchal society in which women have little freedom and it was interesting to see her husband slip back into the role expected of him as a male. Significantly, it was through connecting with other women that Mairi really came to accept, respect and become part of the chaotic, sometimes unruly, Middle Eastern way of life; she discovered a sublime beauty in many of the customs and traditions. Back in England, Mairi’s experiences have made her more respectful of other cultures and she is intent on promoting greater familiarity and understanding in order to avoid the development of anger, fear and hate. If our attempts to do this are met by some resistance, she encourages perseverance to encourage mutual appreciation of each other’s cultures. M significantly, it was through connecting with other women that mairi really came to accept, respect and become part of the chaotic, sometimes unruly, m iddle Eastern way of life... Talk by: Mairi Nasr Read mairi’s interview on the website in the blog section www.bit.ly/ m airi- n asr-interview nwR nE ws 13 NWR Life www.nwr.org.uk NWR Magazine Spring 2016 12 NWR ARTS NWR Magazine Spring 2016 www.nwr.org.uk devised. This surface would need to behave in a manner similar to Rothko’s painting and so would need to be made up of similar materials. Delving into the layers The treatment team initially considered producing a mock-up that would ideally look, as well as behave like the painting. However, it was quickly established that Rothko’s idiomatic practice and technical prowess could not be mimicked. In addition, historically accurate, original materials could not be sourced. Instead, it was decided to make a test sample that ‘represented’ the knowledge available of the materials and techniques of Untitled (Black on Maroon) . However, the exact layering of these materials, the comparative thickness of the graffiti ink and the degree to which it had penetrated the paint layers needed to be established. One of the ways in which we can learn about how an artist has made a painting is to carry out cross-section extraction and examination. It was early one morning in the studio and Bronwyn and I were looking at the graffiti on the painting using a stereobinocular microscope. I hadn’t had any morning coffee, so with a steady hand and a scalpel, I punctured the damaged surface and a tiny sample, including all the layers of the paint, was extracted. When we examined it under the microscope we were able to ascertain invaluable information about how the ink had affected the painting and also about this painting’s unique layer structure. This in turn enabled the team to proceed with making a reliable test sample painting. Of course our representative samples, made in 2014, were going to behave very differently to a 55-year-old painting. So we subjected them to a combination of light in our special accelerated ageing chambers, ageing them the equivalent of 50 years in museum display conditions. These samples were then tagged with the graffiti ink that the vandal had used and were ready for testing. Putting the solvents to the test Testing solvent systems and application methods on these samples proved invaluable in establishing an effective approach for removing the graffiti ink and recovering the painting surface. The knowledge gained from this stage ensured that minimal and more precise testing could be carried out on the damaged painting. The team was also fortunate in having access to an historic primed canvas, prepared by either Rothko or one of his assistants, donated to the Rothko Project by the Rothko family. Whilst this substrate yielded different results to the representative sample, in part due to the priming comprising pigmented animal glue, it allowed us to further assess the behaviour of the wet graffiti ink and its removal from this very absorbent surface. n 7 October 2012, artist Mark Rothko’s Untitled (Black on Maroon) , from 1958, was vandalised whilst on display at Tate Modern. The bottom right corner of the painting was tagged with black ink. Tate’s nine Seagram murals have iconic status within the collection and although only one of them was targeted, their interrelatedness caused the effect of the damage to be particularly devastating. In the days following the incident, discussions focused on the most likely method for reversing the damage. As a conservator specialising in the conservation of modern and contemporary paintings at Tate, I had been part of a team that surface cleaned the murals back in 2000. As I was already familiar with the technique and materials of the paintings, I was asked to be the project conservator. Although the circumstances that led to this opportunity were hugely regrettable, I considered the reversing of this vandalism to be the most important challenge of my career to date. Other members of the treatment team included Bronwyn Ormsby, one of Tate’s Conservation Scientists and Patricia Smithen, Head of Conservation for Programme (to Sept 2015). Also, a committee was set up to oversee the project which included members of Rothko’s family, conservators, conservation scientists, art historians and Tate curators. In the days that followed the incident, the treatment team received offers of support from colleagues in other UK and international museums but also from industry such as the Dow Chemical Company. The search for the right solvent Little was known about the graffiti ink, its properties and, most importantly, its reversibility. We had received a photograph of the bottle of ink which the vandal had been carrying when he was arrested. It was called ‘Molotow’ ink and research into its characteristics ensued, enabling the selection of a refined list of potential solvent systems that might be used to remove the ink. However, testing and application of these systems couldn’t be carried out on the delicate painting and so a testing surface would have to be Recovering a Rothko Rachel Barker Paintings Conservator at Tate all images on pages 12—14 (except fig1): Rothko painting © Kate Rothko prizel and christopher Rothko / D ac S 2016; photography © Tate 2016 image: Jaap Boon © Tate The restoration of Untitled (Black on Maroon) Fig 1. Cross-section x500 UV from graffiticovered black ‘figure’ paint of Black on Maroon 1958 with annotated layer sequence nwR a RTS nwR a RTS after many months of exhaustive research, testing countless solvent systems on a variety of test substrates, we had our eureka moment! ‘a picture lives by companionship, expanding and quickening in the eyes of the sensitive observer. it dies by the same token. it is therefore a risky act to send it out into the world. how often it must be impaired by the eyes of the unfeeling and the cruelty of the impotent who would extend their infliction universally.’ – Mark Rothko, The Tiger’s Eye , 1947 Lower right corner before treatment: October 2012 Lower right corner after treatment: May 2014 Exploring ways to deliver solvents Testing graffiti removal solvents O 11 NWR Magazine Spring 2016 www.nwr.org.uk www.nwr.org.uk NWR Magazine Spring 2016 The digital classroom is where it’s at, so fire up that brain with lifelong learning Tips on submitting photos for the homepage The homepage is our ‘shop window’ and we need your brilliant photos of days out, talks, meetings etc… We refresh these on a monthly basis so send your exciting photos to the office. Here’s what we’re looking for: Show your group’s personality! We want photos with verve and colour. Consider that non-members will see this too (does your photo grab attention? Is it enticing enough to make people want to join us?). The things to keep in mind are that the photos you submit must be in a landscape (horizontal) format. If you look at the homepage (go on, go have a peek now, we’ll wait for you) you will see that the height of the photo is proportionally quite a bit smaller than the width, so for example it will not be possible to see a rainbow high up in the sky AND show a group way down on the ground. We can crop your photos for you of course, but we don’t want to have to crop out very interesting parts that give context to your image. And finally, don’t forget to supply us with a fun caption so that anyone coming to the site – members and non-members alike – will know what they are looking at. Remember to bring along your camera (or smartphone) when you’re meeting up and have fun snapping away! They say that learning a new skill or subject is excellent brain food. Go forth in gluttony! 10 NWR Magazine spring 2016 www.nwr.org.uk nwR TechnoL ogy lbert Einstein said this long ago and of course, he had a point. Learning something new not only fires up the brain’s synapses, staving off diseases like Alzheimer’s, but also enhances the quality of our lives and wellbeing. Not to mention the heightened conversational abilities you acquire, which can be a magnificent confidence booster whilst at NWR gatherings. The best part is that, today, we can learn nearly anything for free online. Two of our members share their experiences of learning in the ‘digital classroom’, plus, some picks from the editor. YouTube Liz Valette | NWR Southsea I believe that a day without learning something new is a day wasted. I don’t mean being studious and academic, but doing something that stimulates the mind. That’s why I love YouTube. Although it is probably better known for giggling babies, funny animals and death-defying stunts, you can also use YouTube to acquire new skills. When I want to learn how to do something, YouTube is my first port of call. Just recently, after wandering into the local knitting shop to buy some sewing thread, I fell in love with self-striping sock yarn. In all my 72 years I’ve never knitted a pair of socks, let alone anything requiring more than two needles. The challenge was on. I got hold of instructions from the website of a life-long knitter but I’m not very good at assimilating written instructions so this wasn’t working for me – it simply didn’t suit my style of learning. Enter YouTube. I was spoilt for choice, so many lovely ladies offering knitting tutorials totally free. The video format is, in my opinion, much more conducive to learning than endless lists of instructions. It’s the closest thing to learning from a teacher in a classroom, yet better because you can do it in the comfort of your home and replay the bits you struggle with. YouTube is not just for crafts, through YouTube I learned how to put extra memory in a laptop with clear step-by-step instructions – nothing left to chance. If the fancy took me I could fit a new tap washer, plan a ‘Square Foot Garden’ plot, learn Iron Age thatching techniques and the list goes on. Desktop/laptop Mobile Tablet www.youtube.com Khan Academy According to the Khan Academy, if you only have to know one thing, it’s that you can learn anything. How empowering a statement. And it seems to be true. The opportunity to grow those dendrites is at everyone’s fingertips – literally! This platform gives you practise exercises, instructional videos, dashboard analytics and teacher tools and – as with most other digital classrooms – you can study at your own pace. The learning experience is adapted to you, helping you to see your progress and goals and it creates personalized recommendations about what to learn next and motivates you to master the skills you seek. A little bit of art history anyone? Or perhaps science, in the spirit of our theme of relativity? Whatever tickles your fancy, you’re quite likely to find it here. Desktop/laptop Mobile Tablet Offline www.khanacademy.org Duolingo Duolingo is a quick and easy way to learn a new language, making this daunting task fun and effective. Quick to get started with a clean and inviting interface, you just create your profile then choose your path: beginners start at ‘basics 1’, advanced learners take a short test. And off you go. This platform teaches you in various ways: through pictures, by selecting words from a menu, by typing out translations… It’s like having a fun and interesting teacher who keeps things fresh. And when you reach your daily goal, you are rewarded with the sounding of a victory horn. You can then review your lessons and save your progress. C’est si facile! Desktop/laptop Mobile Tablet www.duolingo.com Future l earn Jenny Dudley | NWR Harborne Central The courses are offered by international universities and cultural institutions, each lasting a few weeks with a suggested time commitment of a few hours a week. You can choose the time and place to go online and work at your own pace. The courses are interactive with learners posting comments and questions at each stage of the course. You may be working alone but you never feel that you are disconnected from your fellow students and tutors. There are quizzes to check your progress but no exams, perfect when learning for pleasure. You’ll find courses from History to Science, Health to Creative Arts and more. One word of warning, it may be addictive. Just when I think I will take a break, another course catches my eye and I am off again on another adventure. Desktop/laptop Mobile Tablet www.futurelearn.com Editor’s picks ‘Once you stop learning you start dying’ A NWR Magazine 1960–2020 13