The Summer programme
Gilli’s timetable with all our ongoing classes, together with the Summer talks all take place at 10.30. Her timetable also contains the link to all the talks in the Summer programme or use: Meeting ID: 848 1256 9290 password: 353889. Gilli is recording the talks and if you would like to listen to any you have missed, email the Office.
These are talks in the Summer programme this week:
Mon 31st Aug
Bank Holiday: No Talk
Tues 1st Sep
Shafeeq Siddiqui: Big Data and A1 tsunami headed our way
Wed 2nd Sep
Amalia Michaels: All at sea: The story of how we learned to measure longitude
Thurs 3rd Sep
Maisie Meyer: Silas Hardoon: Shanghai Millionaire
Fri 4th Sep
Shafeeq Siddiqui: Imran Khan; Leadership changing Pakistan
From Naomi
Our AGM will be held on Monday 7 September at 2.00 on Zoom. I hope that many of you are able to “attend” then and learn about what’s happening now and our plans for the future. Even if you are not a regular attendee, this gives you an important chance to hear what is happening and to ask questions while remaining in the comfort of your home. Simply join with ID: 898 7522 0312 and the Password: 510140.
This is the last opportunity for members to entrust their proxy vote to me. I’m asking those of you who have not done so and are unlikely to “attend” our AGM, to please empower me to use your proxy vote so that we ensure the legality of the meeting. You can sign and return the actual form or you can just send an email ti the Office giving me permission to vote on your behalf. The closing date for me to receive your proxy is Wednesday 2 September.
I would like to remind anyone who has given me their proxy that I will be using it at the AGM. If, therefore, you find that you can attend, please do not vote on the resolutions as this would constitute double counting.
The Website
I want to express my deep appreciation to both Marie-Ange King and Herbie Goldberg for the dedicated way they have worked on our new website. It has taken months of continuous effort, working with the designer, to achieve what I know will develop into a very attractive and user-friendly tool for us.
It will gradually be brought up to date.
The Autumn Timetable
You may be wondering what is going to happen on September 21st and thereafter when our Summer Programme has ended and the new term is supposed to begin. Wonder no longer! Now that it is apparent that, sadly, we will not be back in the Town Hall by then, we have been working on a remote version of our timetable which will be starting on the first day of term. It has taken a lot of work behind the scenes to contact all coordinators, train some of them to use Zoom and discuss their plans but you will be delighted to hear that the process is almost complete.This timetable will be posted on the website and sent to members with the Update very soon. We will add links and go live from the beginning of term 21st September.
While we are not restricted to rooms, we have scheduled classes to suit our participants. As soon as the COVID rules change and we are back in the Old Town Hall, the times may need to revert back to fit the space available.
From Ken Baldry
(Good news about the European History Group).
The first good news is that Avis and I are still alive – we had multiple celebrations last week for her 85th birthday to keep to the social distancing rules.
But it has been a pity that our History classes were not suitable for Zoom with the high audio-visual content that they used. The second good news is that I have been working on them and now have three years’ supply, with an extra catch-up class to start next term, whenever that is, to remind you where we got to in this transcontinental saga.
Cheers, Ken.
From Shirley Lake
I’m still involved in processing any collections or albums of used postage stamps, which are turned into money to support the Little Voice schools and their orphanage in Addis Ababa.
If you are clearing out your house and find any long abandoned collections, please keep them and bring them to U3A when we are allowed to meet in the Town Hall again. If you have large amounts or heavy books Shirley would be happy to come and collect them.
From Irene Fine
Thank you so much for the newsletters and especially thank Gerta for the quizzes Also I always love the last section which is to make us laugh.
From Diana King
I don’t think it is possible to say ‘thank you’ enough to the team responsible for all the zoom lectures and classes. They are a true life saver to so many of our members and the team all deserve an MBE at least!
Please keep up this wonderful work, Diana King.
From Tessa Cohn
TV licences for over 70s. Please alert members to the very convincing SCAM by email demanding bank details! I received it yesterday.
From Richard Cohen
Dear Gilli
I hope you are well and have managed to have a bit of a break during the summer. I’ve been in sunny Scotland where I was blessed with sparkling fine weather throughout my stay.
We are putting together our programme for next term and under the ongoing circumstances we think it best to continue with the virtual format which was very popular last term with good attendance at all three of the sessions we ran.
The dates are as follows:-
Tuesday 22 September 13:30 to 16:00 Historic Pubs of Fleet Street (Richard Cohen and Christine Wilkins Molloy).
Tuesday 11 October 13:30 to 16:00 Hatton Garden (Richard Cohen, Christine Wilkins Molloy and Chris Foster).
Tuesday 10 November 13:30 to 16:00 Communities and their places of Worship. (Charlie Forman, Christine Wilkins Molloy and Richard Cohen}.
Tuesday 1 December 13.30 to 16:00 Legal London (Jane Samsworth, Richard Cohen and Christine Wilkins Molloy).
The named individuals will all need to be able to screenshare etc. I think it’s a good idea to open the session 30 minutes early so that people can tune in early as some are not confident as Zoomers.
I will write to the whole group next week with these dates and then usually about 2 weeks before the event we send them more information and details on how to access the Zoom call etc.
I look forward to hearing from you.
With best wishes to all at the U3A. I hope the Pilates is going well.
From Steve Stephens
More art work from the Wednesday art group over lock down.
From Linda Shannon
TUESDAY 1st September 2020 @ 7.00pm Janet Suzman on “Shakespeare as a protest playwright”. The event lasts approximately 60 mins with a Q&A session .Tickets are £5.00 and can be booked through Try Booking.
Over two lectures, (second lecture date TBA) Janet will take us through two specific passages in her formidable career. This first one describes her experience of directing Othello — a banned play in apartheid South Africa, which has many resonances for the Black Lives Matter movement right now.
The Othello talk is aimed at understanding the apartheid status quo in SA at the time we broke the Equity boycott with this rather controversial production, which hit global headlines due to the time and place. It’s important to remind and inform people what sort of world we were in. And even more importantly, in the light of BLM, that John Kani was the very first black African to play Othello. There had been many fine African-American actors from Ira Aldrich in 1833 onwards, but their mother tongue was English; Kani’s mother tongue is Xhosa.”
In the second lecture, she will talk about her take on directing Antony & Cleopatra (many years after her own Cleo at Stratford) with Sex and the City’s liberated Kim Cattrall, which will ring bells for those interested in Shakespeare’s inherently super-aware feminism. Who did Shakespeare have in mind with this part, unique among all the parts he wrote for women?
To make you smile
From Dennis Evans
(Poet, Writer, Teacher & Engineering Designer, retired)
Recently, I was remembering when my friend Bill and I were working as Engineering Designers; and Members of The Designers Club which produced one-off designs for disabled men, women and children.
The designs included toys, teapots, walking aids, typewriters, kitchens…
Below, is a short poem about Bill.
Bill was born at the *Elephant.
I’m from Kings Cross.
Now eminent,
**Bill has kept his roots.
He takes me to his ‘local’
where he still plays piano.
“’ello Bill, give us a tune’”,
the locals shoutas we open the door.
Pints of beer appear on the piano.
Cocooned in goodwill,
The pub is alive with jazz.
*The Elephant & Castle
**William Bond, C. Eng Hon Consultant Medical Engineer, Queen Mary’s Hospital for children Carshalton.
London Region of U3As
Have your say! We are looking for your ideas to help us develop the new U3A Online Learning Hub. This is going to be an online collection of all of the resources and tools you may need to support learning across your interest groups and U3A.
This short questionnaire will give us valuable information about what’s important to you, and what we need to consider in the design and implementation of this Online Learning Hub. None of the questions are compulsory and your response is anonymous. This should take you less than 10 minutes.
Best regards and keep well,
Hilary Jones
(Vice Chairman)
And another repeat:
Zoom in to the London Region websitefor the series of fortnightly Summer Talks on Monday afternoons from 17.00-18.00
7th September: Alistair Griffiths – ‘Gardening in a Changing Climate’
21st September: Jo Livingston – ‘Do you Want to Write your Life Story?’
Kind regards,
Catherine Ware