Founded 1980
Chair:        
Secretary: 
Treasurer: 

Graham Smith
Jan Thompson
Graham Mumby-Croft


 Issue No. 81 Autumn 2019

Paul Laxton
THE RPGA NEWSLETTER GOES ONLINE
Our newest committee member and Website editor, Roger Outram, has been busy, beavering away to bring the RPGA into the digital age and join the 21st century. Don't Worry, the Newsletter will still arrive on your doormat in April and October in its traditional print form. We know just how much you value the traditional methods of communication.

So what is new? Well Roger has created an RPGA website which you can access by googling www.rpga.org.uk. On opening the front page, you then pick a category, such as committee, and when you click on that you will be asked for a password, which is perennis. All members will be able to access the website. You do not have to give your E mail address to the committee in order to access the website, although if you request the password through the website there will be a slight delay while the webmaster confirms your identity, if you are not known to him. If you do not own a computer, you can access the website at your local library.

So why have a website? Well as an organisation for retired people we are vulnerable to the depredations of the grim reaper. We need to attract new members from serving Governors as they approach retirement. Granting current PGA members access to the website containing information about membership, its benefits including how to access advice and assistance, along with application forms, is essential if we are to survive and prosper. The website will also contain information about the committee, dates of committee meetings and the AGM, and minutes of those meetings. There will also be information about links with other organisations, in particular the Civil Service Pensioners Alliance. (CSPA) There will also be a growing digital archive of items that have appeared in the newsletter, very handy if your partner has thrown out your collection of newsletters when clearing up or downsizing, and you want to look up a piece about social care or computer jargon that you remember reading.

Unless you tell us otherwise we shall presume that contributions can be published on line and this includes archive material that goes back to 2012. Apart from the obvious exceptions of the committee, and Bob Duncan and Roger Outram who receive your letters, any contact details will be redacted to protect your privacy. 
Please look up the website. You will be impressed.

PAUL LAXTON, Newsletter Editor