Chiswell Green

Members Area

JUNE CELEBRATION - Our 10-Year Anniversary

Our meeting on June 6th will be given over to celebrating the ten wonderful years of the Chiswell Green u3a. It will follow the traditional pattern of our summer social events in that the atmosphere will be one of a pavement café.

We shall kick off at 10.00am as usual, but feel free to "drop in". You can sit with friends and chat, and enjoy a piece of cake with your cuppa.

For the bakers amongst you, we'd be very grateful if you could put your culinary skills to good use and bake either a full-size cake or several little cakes to bring for the sharing table.
There will be a cake-making sign-up sheet out at both the April and May meetings.

Do come and celebrate with us!

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NEW MEMBERS MEETING:- 2024 - Date to follow

This is for anyone who has joined the Chiswell Green u3a this year, 2024, or indeed, last year, but didn't make it to last year's meeting. This will be held in Orton Hall.

This social gathering is for our new members to get to know each other and it is a chance for the committee to introduce themselves to new members and to explain what each of us does to help run our u3a. It is also a chance for new members to ask the committee any questions that they have - anything that has been on their mind since they joined.

It is a very informal meeting which we anticipate will last for approximately 1 hour. We shall provide refreshments - tea, coffee and cake.

We look forward to seeing you there.

The CG u3a Committee

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GROUP ORGANISERS' SOCIAL GATHERING: 2024 (date to be advised)
The committee will hold a social gathering for our wonderful Group Organisers. There will be, of course, tea, coffee and cake!

It will be an opportunity for the committee, on behalf of all our u3a members, to thank them for the work they put into running our groups. I'm sure you will all agree that without these organisers our u3a would not be such a vibrant, friendly organisation.

There are a few groups that need new organisers - why don't you consider stepping forward? Sarah Duggan would be more than happy to talk you through what you would need to do.

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CATS PROTECTION
One of our u3a members, Sheila Burns, is running a group of volunteers who are dedicated to helping raise money for the St Albans branch of Cats Protection. They are busy knitting blankets, small toys etc. To keep going they need a supply of otherwise unwanted wool. If you have any such wool ,of double-knit grade, we will be pleased to collect it at our u3a monthly meetings. Thank you.

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BOOK STALL: We have now resumed accepting donations to our stall - books ,cds, dvds and jigsaw puzzles.
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FREE-CYCLE Table:
We have a table purely for items that you are happy to give away for free. They must be in good condition. This table is at the end of the row of tables where the group membership lists can be found. At the end of the meeting please check if your item/items have been taken - if not, then please take it/them home again. Thank you.
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Used stamps - Please continue to save your used stamps for Mary Gotts. Mary donates these to the Royal National Institute for the Blind. Thank you.
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Those of us who are already members of a u3a can take advantage of the opportunities it presents to participate in a broad range of activities, or just to enjoy the camaraderie between members which certainly exists in Chiswell Green u3a (CGu3a). However, this is not always apparent to those outside the u3a, who may not be aware of what it offers, or even know of its existence. In some cases, a misunderstanding exists that u3a is not appropriate for people entering retirement, or semi retirement, in their fifties or early sixties resulting in u3a membership being at the higher end of the age profile. With this in mind the u3a, at national level, embarked on a process of rebranding.

The title University of the Third Age may have been particularly confusing so it was dropped in favour of simply using u3a. However a further review has led to a rebranding with the adoption of a more informal style as u3a, together with a concept of ‘Learn, Laugh and Live’ to demonstrate the key elements of a vibrant organisation.

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Birdwatching has a few spaces available. If you are interested in joining a group, take a look at their group page for contact details etc and send them an email via the 'bird' icon.

Unfortunately, several of our groups have now 'disbanded'. These are: Chair Exercise, Creative Writing, Jewellery Making, Joy of Film, Zumba Gold, Singing-for-Fun, Guitar group and Wish You Were Here. If you would like to restart any of these groups please contact Sarah Duggan via this website. Thank you.

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You can catch up with what our Photography groups are doing on their very own website and there are lots of photos on a variety of themes that have been taken over the years. cgu3a.smugmug.com.

If you are trying something completely new please tell us about it or even pen a newsletter article and email it to Dave Brennan, Newsletter editor, via the Contacts page on this website!

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Chiswell Green u3a has been very successful and has grown considerably since it started in 2014. I'm sure you will agree that the committee and our Interest Group Organisers have done us all proud. We certainly have a great reputation among the other local u3as.

In order for us to keep things moving forward and keep the fresh, friendly feel we welcome your suggestions for groups, trips or speakers. Many of us belong to other clubs and so hear different speakers or go on visits. Don't keep it to yourself, TELL US!!!
To give us your suggestions you can either click on the 'Bird' icon on this page to send an email to a Committee member via the Contacts page or we have a 'suggestion box' on the signing in table. Pop your idea in there and we will see what we can do to help you.

SPEAK TO US.
Our u3a has a membership nudging towards 400 people and each one of us has learnt, laughed and lived through decades.
So your committee is pretty sure that many of us have got a few great stories to tell us or talents to share.
Now we are inviting you to have your 15 minutes of fame by giving a talk/presentation at one of our monthly meetings.
Occasionally, instead of having an outside speaker, two or three members can each either give a talk or demonstrate a skill to the rest of us.
So what is your skill or has your career left you with interesting tales to tell? Do you have unusual or interesting hobbies or have you had unusual travel experiences you can tell the rest of us about ?
Whatever the topic contact any member of the committee about your idea and we can set up suitable dates .
Looking forward to hearing from you.

Click on a picture below to see it full-size with more details.