NEWSLETTERNEWSLETTER

SPECIAL

2019 AGM

EDITION

Glenfield U3A Registered Charity Number 1166154

That was the year that was! A brief record of some of the year’s activities involving members of our U3A

Monthly meetings My role is very rewarding and brings me into contact with all you wonderful members. Being there at the start of people’s journey into the U3A and providing information and help is great.

During the last year (November 2017 to October 2018) 54 new members joined us. This brought the total of members for that year to 402.

“Welcomers” were on hand at the Renewals event, which was a great success, with 200 members renewing on the day.

The hall was buzzing with everyone enjoying tea, cake and a good old chin wag. Perhaps you would like to be part of the team sharing your experiences of the U3A with newcomers, helping them on their journey? I’d love to hear from you. Angela Barbour, Membership Secretary

Membership

Recording details and taking subscriptions at Membership renewal time

Clay pot made by members

Members relaxing together at renewal time

Painting exhibition at renewal time

Our monthly meetings are normally on the fourth Thursday of the month. It must be noted that this is often, but not always, the last Thursday of the month! Our usual venue is St Peter’s Church Centre, Glenfield, and the time is 2.00-4.00pm. Members are requested to note that doors open at 1.45 (to enable volunteers to put out chairs safely),

and that membership badges must be worn! Meeting subjects are very varied and interesting; there is usually something for everyone’s taste. For our 2017-18 programme we had Tissington Hall; Great Ormond St. Hospital; Poetry; Solo walk across Africa; Woodland/National Trusts; 6,000 years of clay; Cook’s Tours; Dairy Farmer’s wife; Islamic way of life; Fool’s Gold; and Christmas customs. Not all meetings were visiting speakers - we must not forget the “in-house” ones; member’s hobbies at the AGM, and the Extravaganza at Christmas! All were due to the efforts of Judith Harriman, our

Speakers’ Secretary. Thank you Judith!

Clay pot making

Tales from a farmer’s wife

Chairman Michael Barbour in festive mode

Music and folk tales from Fool’s Gold

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see what others get up to within our U3A, allowing us to celebrate all we do. We had a very well-attended annual

meeting for all group coordinators last August, and it provided us with a chance to say thank you to all our coordinators for their hard work in running their group(s). We also now have a number of policies in place to ensure all our members are safe and well supported I am looking forward to 2019 and another very successful year of group activities. Andrea Knight, Groups Secretary

Groups galore! 2018 was another very busy year, with a wide variety of new groups being set up and becoming established. Currently there are 57 groups to choose from for our membership of nearly 400. The wide range of group activities continues to amaze me! Some groups have ceased for a variety of reasons, but others have taken

their place - and the ceased ones may be restarted in the future. Some groups are so popular that we now have several under that banner: Currently "Ethnic Eating" has three

groups, whilst "Walking" continues to be our most popular activity, with 10 (Stuart Galloway continues to support existing and new Walking Groups). It is always good for groups to send photographs and information about their activities which we can publish on the website, in our newsletter, or on the notice boards displayed at our monthly meetings. This means that all members can

Photography Group

Walking Group 3 at Sence Valley

Art Appreciation Group at New Walk

Gardening Group, Stoke Albany House

Ethnic Eating Group 3

Group Coordinators at the annual combined meeting

Challenging Walks Group on Kinder Scout

Mixed-media Painting Group

Walking Through Time Group

Ukulele Group

Active Adventurers Group

Mah Jong Group

Flower Arranging Group

Technology Group

Lazy Days Group

Glenfield U3A Page 3

Events Visits

Adventure with Active Adventurers’ Group

Experiencing Segways

“Volunteer” tasters at Majestic Wines

The year started with a fun Casino Night at Birstall Golf Club, where we played Blackjack and Roulette assisted by professional croupiers. One lucky member won a fabulous £200 holiday voucher by accruing the most gambling chips at the end of the evening. The

rest of us wondered how we managed to do so badly; some even lost all their starting chips. Our popular Xmas Extravaganza had members giving a varied programme,

included Aladdin by the Drama Group; a spot by the newly formed but accomplished Ukulele Group ; then the Committee led the members in an unforgettable 12 Days of Christmas. We entered two teams in both the March and October Inter-U3A Quizzes (organised by Syston & District and NW Leicestershire respectively), and in February we danced the night away at our popular 60s Night Evening.

September was skittles month and members enjoyed a competitive evening at Newbold Verdon Sports and Social Club (where the food is legendary!). Smartsy (in Ratby) ran glassmaking workshops

for us in May and September and members made decorations for home and friends. In-house events included ‘Let’s Get Together’ in May and ‘Renewals Afternoon’ in October, with craft stalls from our talented members. Groups were also able to showcase their activities and recruit new members. As always at these in-house events, we are supported by our hard-working Catering Team. Thank you to every-one who organised events, and to our members for supporting them. Jo Kitchen, Events Secretary

One feature of our U3A is the opportunities to visit places and experience activities not embraced by groups. These are usually “one-offs” with a wide variety of interests. Included during the year were a guide to Beaumanor Hall; a wine-tasting; and a ghost walk in Leicester.

A rest at Beaumanor Hall

Glassmaking workshop

The Ghost Walk

Casino night

Skittles night

Our catering team

Zip-wire experience

Quad-bike riding

White-water rafting

A stall at the “Let’s Get Together” meeting

Walking Group Christmas lunch

Ethnic Eating 2

Food

The spread at the skittles event

Food is always a welcome feature, at events or Groups functions.

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Presentations Our website plays an increasing role in our life, and it has been revamped to improve the user experience. The need to make the site understandable to all influenced a number of the design decisions, though we are restricted by the limited capabilities of the ‘SiteBuilder’ software. A number of alternative website solutions as used by other U3As were investigated, but these had to be discounted as unsuitable for various reasons. Some changes to our processes were made due to the European General Data Protection Regulations. The two out-of-date U3A laptop machines needed replacing; the committee agreed on an HP Pavilion 15 32-bit one, set up with Windows 10 Home and MS Office 2016 with all security fixes applied. This will be kept up-to-date by myself, and is available for use by all groups. The earlier laptops have been decommissioned and their hard disk drives destroyed. The nationally endorsed ‘Beacon’ U3A Business Management software system is being investigated by a sub-committee, comprising the Treasurer, the Groups and Membership Secretaries, and me. No time limit has been set for its deliberations, but it is hoping to make a recommendation to the committee soon whether to endorse or reject a move to the system. Finally, I have also been tasked with responsibility for the Leicestershire and Rutland U3A website, which is in the process of being updated. Rob Harriman, Webmaster

Communication

Our theatre outings are increasing in popularity since they have been made available to all members of the U3A. We have seen Sherlock Holmes – The Final Curtain, Cats, Calendar Girls, Henry V, Les Miserables, Sunday at the Musicals ending the year with White Christmas the Musical. We have also developed a very enthusiastic sub-group that love ballet, and have seen Alice’s Adventures’ in Wonderland, Nutcracker, Winter’s Tale, Cinderella and Matthew Bourne’s Swan Lake (with the female corps de

ballet being replaced with a menacing male ensemble). Most of these have been at live viewings at the Vue Cinema, which makes excellent viewing because of the detail that would not be seen in a theatre. Plus, there is also narrative by enthusiastic followers such

as Darcy Bussell to explain the choreography and other behind-the-scenes details. The Madame Butterfly Opera at De Montfort Hall was very much enjoyed and we trialled a live performance at the Vue Cinema in September of La Boheme on Sidney Harbour which was loved by all who attended. We have a busy year planned ahead of us and hope that that it will be as successful as the last. Jan Parris

Margaret Humphreys receiving one of the planters we made at the May meeting.

Prizes for the Flower Arranging Group from the Glenfield Gardeners’ Show.

A number of our Members were recipients of awards or prizes on a variety of occasions throughout the year.

Theatre outings

Jan taking theatre bookings

The new Pavilion laptop

Contacts Chairman Michael Barbour (0116 319 1426) Vice Chairman Bernie Kimberlin (0153 024 3022) Treasurer Stuart Galloway (07758 557 426) Business Sec. Helen Robinson (0153 023 1662) Membership Sec. Angela Barbour (0116 319 1426) Groups Sec. Andrea Knight (0116 236 2246) Walking Groups Sec. Stuart Galloway (07758 557 426) Speakers Sec. Judith Harriman (07918 666 378) Events Sec. Jo Kitchen (07775 160 060) Newsletter+Publicity Dennis Walker (0116 239 4983) Website Manager Rob Harriman Member Jan Parris (0116 229 1950) Member Andy Langran (01530 244649) For preference, please make contact through the website using the Contacts tab. Website: www.u3asites.org.uk/glenfield Email: glenfieldu3a@gmail.com