U3A in London Update – 27 September 2021

This information was published on: September 27, 2021

Monday Morning Talk

This week, our very own Tony Dayan will be talking about Herbal Medicine.  Tony modestly describes himself as a retired medic, and a Garden Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians.

N.B. We will no longer be reminding you every week about each talk.  The details are on our website and a full printed list is available in the Office. 

Our Monday morning talks will continue, for the foreseeable future, with the speaker at home on Zoom.  Members can tune in at home as they have been doing for the last 18 months or access the talk from our new video conferencing facilities in the Town Hall.  This will be possible from Room 2.21 and when this room is full, Rooms 1.29 and 1.22 can be used. (N.B. A few Zoom classes, where indicated in the timetable, can also be accessed by members in the Town Hall in the same way).

The full timetable including links to the Zoom Classes

You can see it if you click, timetable, programme for 2022 -2021.  Preparing this timetable has been a big undertaking.  If you spot any mistakes in it, let us know and we will put them right.

From Naomi

What a week.  Full of joy but lots of chaos and confusion.  You came back in full force, and we were delighted to see so many of you.  The downside of it was that we had forgotten how to do so many “simple” tasks, so it took us longer and then we had to cope with the volume.  The vast majority, as always, were so tolerant and understanding, and we have survived the initial onslaught.

Our biggest disappointment of the week was the failure of our plans for a hybrid timetable to come to fruition.  The dozens of hours that Gilli, Amalia and others have spent to try to achieve this goal, as yet, has not resulted in much to shout about.  As upset as you must be, the magnitude of their distress and frustration is even greater.  All of us want to add to the quality of your lives, so those involved are carrying an unjustified burden of not doing so in this respect.  However, we are resilient and when we have settled down to what is achievable now, we will then attempt to reformulate our plans.

It was wonderful to hear corridors full of chatter and see the café full to bursting.  The selection of cakes was mouth-watering.  Life is back in the building.  It is said that “Rome was not built in a day”, well neither was our U3A, but it won’t take us much longer to be back on our feet.

Let’s rebuild together.
Naomi

From Amalia – back at the Town Hall

The last week has been a mixture of delight for some and despair for others.

As we feared, there has been some chaos and we sincerely apologise to those of you who have suffered as a result.  Some of the problems have been due to our plans to install a hybrid Zoom system.  Probably we were too optimistic and ambitious.

Until we are able to sort out these problems, and after careful thought, we have come to some decisions, which are as follows:

  1. We have asked all coordinators whether they would prefer to take their class, for the time being, ONLY in the Town Hall as they did in the pre-Covid days, or ONLY on Zoom as in the last 18 months.  This means that there would be no “Zooming Out” from practically any of the rooms in the Town Hall.  As a result, a list of Zoom classes is attached.
  2. We have also attached a new Handbook which incorporates these changes. There is also a new short summary timetable which, to avoid confusion, does not include the Zoom classes.

Here are this week’s changes from the original version of the Handbook and summary timetable:

  1. Mathematics in civilisation with Philip Maher will return on Thursdays at 11.40 in Room 1.33. Note: This class starts late, on 7 October. 
  2. Sharing Some Stories with Moragh Ghee is now fortnightly at 10.30 in Room 1.30; on Thursday Sept 30, Oct 14, 28; Nov 11, 25; Dec 9. Jan 20; Feb 3, 17; Mar 3, 17, 31. May 12, 26; June 9, 23; July 7.
  3. Greek: Modern Conversation on Wed 12.50 – 13.50 (usually in Room 1.28). Rita Wolfisz is away and returns to the Town Hall on 3 November. Until then, the class will be conducted only on Zoom.  
  4. Medical Humanities with Michael Baum has been postponed until 19 October in Room 2.21 and will continue on Tuesdays, fortnightly at 12.50.
  5. Esther Shouby’s Hebrew Literature on Wednesdays at 14.00 is cancelled until further notice.

And the old changes from previous Updates:

  1. Alan Morton’s Energy and Climate Change on Tuesday at 11.40, is now in Room 1.29 and Marvin Tomkinson’s Italian Conversation is in Room 1.33.
  2. Valerie Wilson Trower is changing her Design History class to Tuesdays at 15.10 in Room 2.21, starting on 5 October.
  3. Elana Gal-Edd’s computer classes on Tuesday at 11.40 and on Thursday at 10.30 are now both on Zoom. She would be happy to give one to one iPad/iPhone tuition over the internet to up to six people, at times to be arranged. Those interested should email her at egaledd@hotmail.com
  4. Hebrew classes on Tuesdays with Jeff Freeman will begin on Tuesday 26 October and on Wednesdays with Debbie Freeman on 27
  5. There is an extra French Zoom class. Pauline Malpas and Liz Goodfellow are offering Intermediate French at 12.50 on Mondays.
  6. Write your Memoirs on Fridays is starting a week late, on 1 October.
  7. Another extra French Zoom class – Post Beginners on Wednesdays at 11.00 with Judith Steinberg. 
  8. Carole Ingram’s Yoga classes on Thursdays in Room 2.21 have been postponed – possibly until next term.

I hope all this is clear and that you will forgive any mistakes that I  have made!

From Wally Howard

Dear Film Fans,

I am afraid that the resumption of my films has been delayed as we are awaiting the restoration of equipment at the Town Hall following the long Covid break.  Hopefully this will not take too long.

In the meantime, I have attached links to two folders: the first is to the Miscarriages of Justice talks which includes two cases which have never been circulated before:  The Triangle Fire and The Case of Timothy Evans.  All the videos should be in order in my collection and here is the link to the collection: 
vimeo.com/user/112061987/folder/5551759

I have also put all the videos of recommended films into a folder so that they can all be accessed easily. Here is the link: 
vimeo.com/user/112061987/folder/5551893

I am very much looking forward to seeing you in person again soon and, until then, keep safe and well.

Regards, Wally

Wine Tasting

From Martin Raybould. We have now organised wine tastings for October 7th, November 11th and December 2nd at 6.30 pm in room 2.21 as previously. There will be NO zooming.

From Shirley Lake

I would like to thank the many members who contributed used stamps of the Little Voice  children’s charity in Ethiopia. Please keep them coming.

To make you smile

I wondered lonely as a cloud, when all at once my name was called
To enter Waitrose hallowed hall two metres from the madding crowd
This was the pensioners’ special hour – I’d gone to get a bag of flour.
But I forgot when through the door, what I had gone to Waitrose for.
The Waitrose staff are extra kind – I told them it had slipped my mind.
They asked what else I had forgot (they clearly thought I’d lost the plot).
I phoned my wife again to ask, to tell me of this special task:
“I need some flour to bake a cake with all that cream you made me take”
“Ah yes I do recall” I lie. (I dared not ask what flower to buy)
But then I saw them next the tills – a bunch of golden daffodils!

 

Best Wishes from the Team