Welcome back after the Easter break!
This is a very long Update. Please do find the time to read all of it.
From the U3A Office: Lanyards and Membership Passes
All members must wear their lanyards and membership pass at all times when at U3A. The U3A has the right to ask anyone to leave who does not display this.
If you forget your membership access pass and lanyard, WAC arts are keeping a record of members to whom they are giving a daily pass. If you forget more than twice then you will get a friendly reminder from U3A office and on the 3rd time you will need to come to the office to pay £5 for a day pass or if you need a replacement membership pass, this will cost £10. Also it is a requirement to wear your pass and lanyard at all times while in the building.
Exercise Mats,
We are trying to clear the storage room at the back of Room 2.21 of unwanted items. Some time ago we put up notices asking people to make sure their personal exercise mats were clearly named. We have now checked the 93 mats that were stored on the left-hand shelves. Only 11 were identifiable as belonging to current members – although some had been rolled up with the name inside and others had been placed inside an unnamed bag;14 belonged to people who are no longer members; 17 had only first names or initials so we could not verify whether or not they belonged to current members; 51 were unnamed.
If you have a mat which is not clearly named please mark it with your full name and U3A registration number – and if you keep your mat in a bag, that should be named too. We have marker pens in the office which we can lend you.
All the unnamed mats have been moved to the right-hand side of the room. Should anyone wish to claim one of them please name it clearly on the outside, and move it to the left-hand side. Unnamed mats may be removed in due course.
Changeover between Classes
We have allowed a 10-minute break between classes. This is not intended as an extension! For example, if a class is timetabled to end at 11.30 that is when it should end and members should be leaving the room.
This allows time for someone from the following class (which is down to start at 11.40) to come in and set up a Powerpoint or hybrid transmission if necessary. Members of the next class may also start to drift in quietly as those of the previous class are leaving.
Office Helpers
Please think of joining our friendly team in the office. We work in four hour shifts and we desperately need people who have some computer skills, and a sense of humour! It is difficult to maintain efficiency without a full team and we are in need of two more efficient helpers. Your U3A needs you.
Monday Morning Talk
The summer term Monday Talks programme opens with a James Gilmour special about Botticelli. James, a U3A member who regaled us with his Caravaggio lecture last term, is back with fascinating facts about the artist and his art – as ever, lusciously illustrated.
From Gilli Vafidis
New Monday Talks Organiser. We are looking for a keen member (or members) to run the Monday Talks programme from Autumn 2024. No previous experience is necessary – we’ll guide you through all that you need to know
The timetables for the week
The full timetable, the Town Hall room timetable and the Zoom timetable are available in the Office and on our website.
STOP PRESS!
We have just heard that Franca Cerudi is not well enough to take any of her Italian classes this week. She has one class in the Town Hall on Monday in room 1.33 at 15.10 and three on Zoom. They will need to manage as best as they can without her. Franca – we wish you well and hope you will get better soon.
SPECIAL NOTICES ABOUT CLASSES
Agustina Toscano starts a new class for Spanish Beginners, using the book Passos 1, Tuesdays 14.00 in Room 1.30.
Irene Kyffin is back with A History of Theatre Thursdays at 14.00 in room 1.33 and on Zoom (just click the link in the timetable).
Maxine Jason: Art Practical A: Collage and Mixed Media The first meeting of the term (on April 29th) will be offsite.
Elisabeth Fantino: Spanish Conversation Because of a change of plan Elisabeth will, after all, be coming to her Spanish conversation class on 3rd May. She will not be at the class (but the class can carry on without her) on 10th, 17th, and 24th May; she is returning on 31st May.
Pamela Bernbaum: Wednesdays at 10.30 in Room 1.26 An introduction to calculus will replace Basic Maths.
Yvonne Dove: Art Appreciation C moves to Room 1.33 on Thursdays at 11.40. The course starts on 16th May.
David Wolfe: Tuesdays Room 1.22 at 12.50. The Birth of Modern Astronomywill replaceGiants of Physics.
Caroline Hough: Registration for the summer term Mah Jong class on Mondays at 11.15 in Rooms 1.33 and 1.30 will be on 29th April. There will be 18 places for those who are already learning
Maureen Guirdham: Write Your Life Story. We are experimenting with holding the class in Room 1.30 on Fridays at 2.30pm.
Nigel Hathway: London Visits We have some vacancies for a special visit to The British Airways Heritage Collection on Tuesday 21st May. Price for the visit is £2. As usual places will be allocated on a ‘first come, first served’ basis. You will need to be at Terminal 5, to catch the shuttle bus to BA HQ, by 12.50. The British Airways Heritage Collection preserves the records of British Airways and all the predecessor companies like BEA, BOAC, Imperial Airways etc. The collection contains well over 130 uniforms from the 1930s onwards, documents, aircraft models, pictures etc. We will start our visit with a talk from Jim Davies, the BA Archivist, on the history of ‘BA/predecessors from 1919’, and then we will be free to wander round the collection before getting the shuttle bus back to Terminal 5 (it could easily be 5.30pm before we get back to central London).
Classes Starting In Second Week Of Term (or Later)
Please check carefully for details of the start dates of your favourite classes. Here is a list of those we know about which are NOT happening in the first week of term:
MONDAY: Pilates with Dalia
TUESDAY: Making America with Deirdre
WEDNESDAY: Advanced Bridge with Tony, Qi Gong with Josephine, Famous people and their illnesses with Alan, Proust with Maggie, both Japanese classes with Kaoru
THURSDAY: Art Appreciation with Yvonne, Absolute Beginner Spanish with Steve, Spanish Beginner Plus with Peggy
FRIDAY: Beginner Bridge with Tony, Music from the 50s-70s with Des and Geoff
Classes discontintinued for the summer term
Colette Levy: Spanish Beginners (Tuesday 14.00).
Stephen McGhee: Classical Music Appreciation takes a summer break, to return in the autumn.
MORE NOTICES ABOUT CLASSES IN THE SUMMER TERM
From Ken Baldry: European History
Wed May 1st 11.40 – 12.40 (Room 2.21)
Next term the first talk is Talk 135. The Seven Years War Part 1 with 114 slides
The following is Talk 136. The Seven Years War Part 2 with 113 slides
The full programme to the Summer Break 2025 is on http://www.art-science.com/history-talks.html
From Stephen Barry: London Miscellany
On Wednesday May 1, I’ll give the first of two talks on Mill Hill. They will cover historic Mill Hill Village as well as the newer areas of Mill Hill East and Mill Hill Broadway. Room 1.29 at 2.00 pm.
From Rachel Tyndall: Walks on Wednesdays
(previously Walking by Water) These will start up again on Wednesday 8th May. All the walks will be within London and be about 6 miles long. These walks – rather than strolls – will start at 2pm this term and details will be included in the weekly updates.
From Wally Howard
(Wally has returned to his original schedule).
Film Classes for week commencing Monday April 29th. All held in Room 1.22 at 14.00.
Monday April 29th at 2 pm 1993 Academy award winner Best Actor Al Pacino in
SCENT OF A WOMAN Al Pacino won his first Best Actor Oscar for his endearing portrayal of an overbearing blind retired Lieutenant Colonel who hires a young guardian to assist him. It is a heart wrenching and heartwarming tale of opposites attract when they embark on a weekend trip that will change the lives of both of them forever.
Wednesday May 1st at 2pm A new masterpiece from South Korea by Celine Song
PAST LIVES: ‘A Love Story For All Time’, ‘An Unforgettable Masterpiece’, ‘A Stunning Pitch Perfect Romance’. Thursday May 2nd at 2pm ’One Of The Year’s Best’ ABOUT SCHMIDT Superb and hilarious winner of 2 Golden Globe Awards. Jack Nicholson gives one of his finest comic performances.
Notice from U3A National
From Stephen Barry: National advertising campaign with Boom Radio
The Third Age Trust, the umbrella organisation for u3a, has begun a national publicity campaign for the u3a movement to boost membership. Its first radio advertising campaign began on Boom Radio on April 1. The station was chosen as its reaches 627,000 adult listeners every week, most of whom are over 55. The focus of the campaign is the positive impact that u3a can have on people’s lives. The three-month Boom Radio campaign will consist of three repeated adverts featuring u3a members, and a longer interview with the Third Age Trust’s CEO, Sam Mauger.
The Boom Radio campaign is just one of the ways the Third Age Trust is working
towards its target of achieving a national membership of 500,000 by 2028.
Adverts will also appear in TimesOnline and the Mail on Sunday during April and on Facebook over the next three months.
To make you smile
‘I haven’t failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.’ Thomas Edison Time flies like the wind; fruit flies like bananas.
Good wishes from
