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Congratulations to Medway u3a member Danny (on the right) who climbed Snowdon to celebrate his 72nd birthday. Read more on our Sources blog.
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Dear <<First Name>>,
It was great to have the opportunity to meet u3as in the West Midlands this month and to find out what they are all doing post Covid. Filled with great volunteers leading interest groups and committees, the importance of volunteering was high on everyone's agenda.
The u3a lives and breathes volunteering, and we all rely on people to come forward and take those places that help others do everything the u3a has to offer.
Summer time is often a time when we take stock of what we might want to do in the future. At times it can feel a bit daunting to put your name forward to volunteer - but if you have any time to spare, there are u3as who need you.
Looking further to the future - u3a Festival 24 is featured in this newsletter celebrating the u3a and the many interest groups in our midst. You can email festival@u3a.org.uk to find out more and how you can get involved.
The newsletter is packed with stories of what you are all doing over this summer. I hope it is great for all of you.
With very best wishes
Sam Mauger
CEO of the Third Age Trust
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In this issue...
u3a Festival 24
u3a on the One Show
u3a member's art showcased at the Saatchi Gallery
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Alfresco in Autumn
We are excited to announce our nationally coordinated event taking place in u3a week - Alfresco in Autumn on Friday 22 September. This event builds on the success of last year's Picnic in the Park where over 50 u3as came together in their local area.
Alfresco in Autumn could be playing football in a field, playing games in the garden or eating lunch on the lawn - anything that takes the learning and fun of your u3a outside.
You can get any promotional material or merchandise you need from the u3a brand centre. Information and resources to help plan your u3a week event can be found on the u3a website.
Whether you are planning to take part in Alfresco in Autumn or have other plans for u3a week, please let us know by emailing u3aweek@u3a.org.uk
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u3a Festival
We are delighted to announce the first ever UK-wide u3a festival is taking place 17-19 July 2024 at the University of York. The event will be an opportunity to bring members together to share the joy of u3a membership.
Trustee Margaret Fiddes is involved with organising the event and says, "The countdown to Festival 24 has begun and I am ridiculously excited. People are already coming up with ideas. We are planning to have a mixed and full programme together with activities, outings, music, speakers, sports and have-a-go sessions."
Read more on the u3a website and watch the first video in our new vlog series detailing the planning of the festival on our YouTube channel.
If you are interested in taking part in the festival or have any questions, please email festival@u3a.org.uk
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We are looking for sponsors and supporters for the u3a Festival, please send any suggestions and/or contact details to festival@u3a.org.uk
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![A woman [Angela Rippon] wearing a blue cricket bib is standing on a cricket pitch and holding a cricket bat behind her. She is in motion and she is smiling. Behind her, you can see other plays wearing orange bibs.](https://mcusercontent.com/656ad5962b370cc9e2731d1ed/images/9a9c2b78-cbdd-f029-7024-201255af69a5.jpg)
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Angela Rippon playing walking cricket with Barnsley and Wakefield u3as
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u3a on The One Show
A host of stars joined Barnsley u3a member Mac when he appeared on BBC’s The One Show to promote walking cricket. The episode featured a match between Barnsley u3a and Wakefield u3a's 'Wakefield Warriors' in front of broadcaster Angela Rippon and legendary umpire Dickie Bird OBE. Watch the full episode, which aired on 18 July, on BBC iPlayer.
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Sidmouth u3a's mural of their town, created with local Girlguiding groups, featured in BBC's 'My Hometown' gallery this month. Read more on the mural in your June copy of Third Age Matters.
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Every newsletter, we share news from your u3as. Whatever you're doing, we want to know about it - get in touch.
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Stone & District u3a photographer awarded by the RHS
Irene, a member of Stone & District u3a's Photography Group, was recently shortlisted in the RHS Photography and Botanical Art Competition and had her work displayed at the Saatchi Gallery.
She and her husband Jim attended the preview of the exhibition, where Irene heard that she had been awarded an RHS Gold medal and the award for best portfolio for her beautiful photographs. Congratulations Irene.
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Country and Western celebration for Epsom & Ewell u3a
Epsom and Ewell u3a’s Singing for Pleasure group have recently celebrated their tenth birthday. The group started out with eight members and has now grown to almost fifty.
They celebrated by combining forces with the ukulele group for a Country and Western session. Great fun was had by all - and line dancing even broke out during their rendition of 'Achey, breaky heart.'
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Learning Across the Movement
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What does learning within u3a mean to you?
The u3a learning team are conducting a series of focus groups to help develop the national learning offering to best meet members' needs.
We will be asking; what does learning within u3a mean to you? What activities do you enjoy most and what would you like to see more of? Do you feel comfortable taking the lead or do you prefer to learn from others?
If you would like to get involved in a focus group, please contact learning@u3a.org.uk.
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Your Stories
Thank you for everyone who got in touch with us to share their feedback on Aileen's Game, the word challenge created by East Suffolk u3a member Ian. This is what Amanda had to say.
I love Aileen's Game because it reminds me of one called 'Squares' that we used to play as a family.
My father nearly always won, with Mum occasionally beating him, to her delight. A trick we learnt was to let Dad take a look at our self scored completed grid, as he would nearly always find another word which would gain us an extra point.
I now enjoy a quiet ten minutes now and again playing Aileen's game, time out and time wisely spent!
Amanda, Swansea u3a
Play Aileen's Game on the u3a website.
Do you love Aileen's Game? Please tell us what you love about it by emailing communications@u3a.org.uk
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Advice and Volunteering News
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Calling all u3a members
We run a series of online workshops that are open to all u3a members to attend. They are run in collaboration between the Trust and u3a Trust Trainers to help u3a members learn more about the u3a and help run their u3a in whichever way they are involved.
Previous workshop attendees have said: “These workshops are so worthwhile. It is always helpful to hear ideas and views from members of different u3as” and “I thought the presentation was very informative and it was interesting to see that others were having similar issues to myself. A great opportunity to network and refresh.”
To find about more, visit the workshops page on the u3a website.
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Could you share your skills by becoming a Beacon volunteer?
There are now 555 u3as live on Beacon with many more in the pipeline. So much so, that the Beacon Team is looking for more volunteers to work with individual u3as to support them as they learn about Beacon.
You need to have at least one year of experience of using Beacon in one of the major roles such as a site administrator, groups coordinator or Treasurer. If you are enthusiastic about Beacon and its many advantages and are happy to promote it, then please contact Beacon Team Administrator marian.luck@beacon.u3a.org.uk or Beacon Journey Lead john.hopkins@beacon.u3a.org.uk
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Liz Thackray at a table tennis tournament hosted by Bearsted u3a
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Liz Thackray, Chair of the Third Age Trust
While most of us are planning and taking holidays, I’ve been enjoying visiting u3as in South East and South West England.
I have met lots of u3a members in interest groups, coffee mornings, monthly meetings and network meetings.
What comes through loud and clear everywhere I go is the enthusiasm and energy of our members – whether they're playing table tennis or ukeleles, writing short stories or talking about local history, chatting over coffee or over supper.
Highlights have included giving certificates to two u3as celebrating their silver jubilees, meeting possibly the youngest u3a member in the country – 27 year old treasurer of his u3a – meeting members of the two u3as whose invitations seeded these trips.
I am looking forward to visiting u3as in other parts of the UK later this year and next year.
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Stay up to date with u3a on social media
This month on our social channels, we've shared pictures of wine tasting in Romsey, belly dancing in Long Eaton and much more.
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Follow us on social media by clicking the icons below.
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Growing to help the community
Ards and Peninsula u3a's allotment group have been helping their local community by donating their produce to foodbanks.
Callington u3a, Wells u3a, Clitheroe u3a and Woking Area u3a all recently celebrated big milestones in style - with get togethers, cakes, and musical performances. Find all this and much more on our Sources blog.
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Could you share your experiences of feeling welcomed in a u3a?
The Equality, Inclusion and Diversity Committee is currently developing a workshop to be delivered nationally and regionally to help u3as to be welcoming and inclusive of everyone.
What has your u3a done to support everyone to feel like they belong, regardless of background, ability and race? We’d love to hear your stories – please email us at edi@u3a.org.uk
Melanie from the Equality and Diversity Committee has shared her experience of u3a with a hearing dog - read this on our Sources blog.
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Check your hearing
National Charity RNID has asked us to share their hearing test, to ensure that people with hearing loss get the support they need. The test will help you find out how your hearing is and give you advice about to do next. It takes less time than making a cup of tea and all you need is a laptop or phone, headphones and a quiet spot to sit in.
Take the test on the RNID website.
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u3a is developing the movement's voice to make a social impact. Read about ongoing projects on our Impact page.
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This Age Thing wants to hear from you
Founded by Design Age Institute at the Royal College of Art, This Age Thing is a digital platform with a mission to share diverse accounts of later life - including fitness, health, love, lifestyle and everything in between.
If this sounds like something you would like to be involved in, you can share your story of ageing well on the This Age Thing website.
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Learning more about: Folk Dance (Barn, English and Scottish) with Subject Adviser, Ian
How did you get started with folk dance?
I started folk dance at School aged 15. The teacher who led the groups often let me take the lead of 20+ school children to carry on with her marking. It was a great introduction.
How can u3a members learn more about folk dance?
It is very easy to find folk dancing YouTube videos and instructions. I am looking forward to talking to other members and helping them on any stage of their folk dancing journey.
What three things can u3a members gain from getting involved?
Just do it, it can be fulfilling experience. Folk dancing offers a lot of enjoyment, laughter and friendship. Don't take it to heart if things go wrong: just have fun!
Find out more and contact Ian on the Folk Dance Subject Advice page.
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Here is a snapshot of some of the interesting events for members that are coming soon. You can book onto all of these events on the online events page.
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Science Network Event
Wednesday 9 August, 10.15am
Join our Science Network meeting to hear talks on Quasars, CRISPR Genone Editing and how handwashing can save lives.
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Expedition Cruising: The Story of Aleutian Islands
Thursday 10 August, 2pm
Neil of Upholland & District u3a shares his experience of visiting the Aleutian Islands.
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The Story of Lela Black 1918-2008
Thursday 24 August, 2pm
In this event with Generation2Generation, hear the extraordinary story of Lela Black, a Greek Jewish woman, who went into hiding when the Germans occupied Athens and later survived Auschwitz.
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New Facebook group on the future of the movement
We have set up a new Facebook group, ‘u3a Fit for the Future.’ This is a forum for u3a members, in particular committee members, to have conversations about the governance, finance and strategy of the u3a movement and our vision for the future.
We look forward to interesting and fruitful discussions - we will respond as quickly as we can. Join the group.
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Updated schedule for Conversations With the Trust events
Due to unforeseen circumstances, the Conversations with the CEO event has been moved from from September to November. See below for the updated schedule. Booking links will be shared closer to the time.
Tuesday 24 October, 2pm - Internal Services and Member Services
Wednesday 8 November, 10.30am - CEO
Wednesday 15 November - Policy & Communications
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This section puts a spotlight on the staff who work at u3a office and what we're doing.
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Meet Audrey
Hi, I'm Audrey, the Finance Officer at u3a office. My role is to ensure that the finances within the Third Age Trust are running smoothly.
I work closely with the Head of Internal Services, existing Finance Officer and budget holders to ensure financial records are maintained and correctly coded.
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At the moment, I am supporting our new fundraising activities. This will include providing financial information as needed and reporting on how this is going.
Another key part of my role is providing support to the u3a group’s grant payments, ensuring payments are made in response to approved applications.
Recently, I have been managing the Annual Return and licences payment processes, and working with the Support Officer to ensure groups receive their requests for payments in a timely manner.
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u3a Offers and Services is the section of the newsletter offering discounts to u3a members and friends.
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Save 8% on Costa Gift Cards* with u3a Click and Save
Looking to cool down with a Costa fruit cooler? Maybe you’re looking to save on your daily or weekly coffee treat? u3a members can save with the world’s favourite coffee shop brand. This gift card can be used to make purchases in Costa Coffee shops. Please click here for store locations, but please note that cards are not redeemable at concessions at service stations or book shops.
Find out more on the u3a Click and Save website.
*Terms and conditions apply. See website for details. Offers subject to change without notice. The exclusive discounts offered by our partner, Gift Card Savings, and cannot be applied to existing cards that have been purchased elsewhere. Personal credit cards cannot be used to purchase this product. u3a Click and Save is managed and run for u3a by Parliament Hill Limited.
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Tomy, Bicester u3a and u3a Interest Groups Online
It started five years ago when my wife found a leaflet about Bicester u3a. I love classical music and joined the Exploring Classical Music group.
I liked this group and the environment: For ninety minutes we listened to classical music and nothing disturbed us. The group operated in the best tradition of u3a: we were taking terms in presenting and hosting the biweekly sessions. Then the pandemic struck and we could not meet in person.
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About that time I discovered u3a Interest Groups Online (then called Trust u3a).We decided to go “national”: today we are again a vibrant group that continues to meet every fortnight and enjoys exploring classical music.
Recently, I have been helping with the Interest Groups Online website as a volunteer. That has to do with my professional background. By training, I am an experimental physicist. I always used computers to analyze my results. Today I can’t do experiments but I can do software. I am still learning. That’s my personal benefit.
Read more from Tomy on our Sources blog.
Find out more about Interest Groups Online on the u3a website.
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This is an easy way to share the newsletter. Click this link and copy and paste the URL to share on other platforms, including Beacon.
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