Picking apples in Diana King’s garden
The Summer Programme and the ongoing timetable
The Summer programme and the ongoing timetable are running side by side. The Summer programme is updated every week and the timetable remains largely unchanged – but keep an eye on it! A summary of them both appears on our website www.u3alondon.org.uk
Recordings are made of all the talks in our Summer programme – if you miss one of them and want to catch up, you can contact the coordinator or Gilli to get the link.
From Naomi
Monday 20 September is suddenly not that far away. As I’ve informed you already, only members who have been double vaccinated will be allowed into the building to protect vulnerable people. No exceptions will be made. Please show proof of this on your first visit to the building. If you fail to do this, you will not be allowed to progress any further but will be asked to leave.
The next step is for all our vaccinated members to be issued with our distinctive lanyard and an updated access card, which must be worn in the building. The card must be updated as it does not work on all the access points now. Also it needs to have your photograph placed on it. You can have a new photo taken when you come in or ask for the one taken of you in the past to be used.
The wearing of the lanyard and access card is a government regulation for educational establishments, so please bring your present access card with you to have it updated. If you forget to bring it, you will not be allowed in. However, if you have lost it, you will need to buy a new one, which costs £5. Please bring the correct amount of money with you as we will be unlikely to have change when dealing with this at reception. Also, knowing your membership number will speed up the process.
We will not allow anyone into the classrooms until they have the lanyard, so please make sure you come early if you don’t want to miss the start of your class. However, if you want to avoid the queues you can come in during the week before we open i.e. the week starting Monday 13 September. We will be in reception between 10.00 and 3.30 each day, except Friday, when we finish at 12.30. I’ve been told that it can take a little time to fix your photo to the access card, as it is a fiddly job. If you wish to pop into reception before 13 September just to have your photo put on the card, you may do so.
All members should wear face masks in the public parts of the Town Hall. We would also encourage you to do so in our classrooms, but this is not compulsory. I’m sorry to appear to make the first moments of your return so regimented but it is being done to reduce the risk as much as possible of any of you catching coronavirus.
Looking forward to meeting many of you again very soon.
Naomi
From Amalia
The Handbook and a timetable for our return to the Town Hall are ready and have recently been sent to you. You will, I am sure, be pleased to recognise many of your old favourites. We intend to post all this information to members who are not on email, and to send it out to our lapsed members in the hope and expectation that they will want to rejoin our U3A. You will also find it on our website very soon,
You will see that the Handbook is not in its usual booklet form, but on A4 format and printed copies will be available in the Office, together with copies of the timetable and a list of Zoom classes. It would help us greatly if you were to print your own copies but be prepared, as always, for changes as they are always arriving!
In the Handbook, we have listed classes that are available either a) in the Town Hall, with the coordinator present (as in the pre-Covid days) or b) with the coordinator at home and conducting the class on Zoom. Very soon, we hope that you will be able to join some classes in category a) from your own home and also to access those classes in category b) from a room in the Town Hall. I have allocated rooms for that purpose as you can see from the Handbook.
We are still experimenting with methods of linking our Town Hall classes with ways of having a Zoom alternative.
To be blunt, we expect a certain amount of chaos in the early days of our return and we ask for your patience and forbearance. We have survived one of the most difficult periods that I can remember, so let’s all work together to make a success of our return to our home. It will take time to settle down – but we will get there.
From Gerta
Gerta has decided that next week her 70th quiz will be her last one. I’m sure you will agree that she has been fantastic in inventing all these questions and researching the answers. The quizzes have provided us with much needed distractions and a welcome occupation during this difficult time. Gerta, a big “thank you” from all of us.
To make you smile
Five surgeons are discussing what type of person makes the best patient to operate on.
The first surgeon says, “I like to see accountants on my operating table because when you open them up, everything inside is numbered.”
The second responds, “Yes, but you should try electricians! Everything inside them is colour-coded.”
The third surgeon says, “No, I really think librarians are the best! Everything inside them is in alphabetical order.”
The fourth surgeon adds “You know, I like construction workers…They’re always understanding when you have a few parts left over.”
But the fifth surgeon shut them all up when he observed: “You’re all wrong. Politicians are the easiest to operate on. There’s no guts, no heart, no brains, and no spine… What is more, the head and the arse are interchangeable.”
Best Wishes from the Team
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Naomi
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Gilli
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Herbie
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Amalia
