Signpost 4 (11 May)

Good afternoon,

Welcome to newest issue of SIGNPOST, the weekly curated list of activities from the St. Monica Trust. Each week we look across the internet to find activities, websites and other opportunities that can get you interested, keep you connected or just make you smile.

During this week in history, Louis Armstrong recorded the Christian hymn and jazz standard “When the Saints go marching in” in 1938, Winston Churchill made his first speech as Prime Minister in 1940 and in 1997, the IBM Computer “The Deep Blue” defeated Garry Kasparov in a six-game chess match.

REFLECT

• The Archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, has launched a free national phone line called “Daily Hope” as a simple new way to bring worship and prayer into people’s homes while church buildings are closed because of the coronavirus. You can call Daily Hope free on 0800 804 8044 and it is available 24 hours a day.

CONNECT

• What is the Internet? The internet is considered such an important part of life by so many people that sometimes it is assumed that everyone knows what it actually is. This article provides a great introduction to what the internet is and how it works.

LEARN

• In May 1973, the US Senate began televised hearings on the Watergate scandal. You can listen to an audio documentary (also known as a podcast) about the Watergate scandal here. Scroll down to the section called ‘Episodes’ and start with Episode 1 “Martha”.

• While the SS Great Britain might be closed during the pandemic, you can still learn more about it through some fantastic videos from the Museum staff here.

DO

• Are you missing a partner for chess? This website lets you play chess online. If you click on 'level 2' next to the word 'computer' you can decide how difficult you want your opponent to be and can choose whether to play as black or white.

INFORM

• You can view online articles (also known as blogs) from Tim Bowles, the Mayor of the West of England here and from Marvin Rees, Mayor of Bristol here

FUN

• 80 years ago this week, The British Secretary of State for War Anthony Eden announced the creation of the Local Defence Volunteers (LDV) who later became known as the "The Home Guard". You can watch 2 episodes of the classic comedy series “Dads Army” here.