Gt Yarmouth University of the Third Age

The Great Yarmouth U3A is a self- resourced group. It is open to all people over the age of 50 years who are retired or semi-retired and who live in Great Yarmouth and its surrounding area.

It meets on the first Thursday of every month at 2 pm in the Northgate Room, Great Yarmouth Public Library. At this meeting there are interesting talks and it is an opportunity to meet and socialise with your fellow members. The meeting ends at 3.30 pm with a cup of tea. If you wish to visit there is a charge of £2 per meeting (refunded on joining).

The Great Yarmouth U3A is looking for new members, especially those who can start new sub-groups or aid the existing ones.

There are over 160 members. You will find that we offer a varied programme with informality and friendliness. There is a modest annual membership fee.

News and views from the groups

A word from your Chair

The AGM was a most encouraging occasion with 52 members present. If you were able to attend, I hope you, too, found it enjoyable and sociable. It gave us the opportunity to reflect on the challenges of the last year and its highlights. Thanks to Bob (Nicholls) we also
had the pleasure of seeing ourselves as others see us!
I think we have cause to celebrate this anniversary of the Great Yarmouth U3A and to thank all those who worked so hard to establish it at the beginning. As members we have had the opportunity of following new interests and making new friendships, both of
which are very important at this stage of our lives. However,it is also a time to take stock.
The library service's decision to charge for accommodation was a seismic shock and while most groups have managed to make new arrangements, two groups have withdrawn from the U3A, namely, an art group and the Scrabble group. The French group which had been a small group meeting at a member's house has disbanded owing to members' personal circumstances. This means a reduction in activity groups, which are an essential element in U3A philosophy. Thus we are at a point where we need to introduce new groups, but to do that we need more leaders with enthusiasm to start them. You do not have to be an expert to lead a group. What is required is a group of people who want to join together to follow an interest and a leader who is prepared to organise the group, so that they can learn together and from each other. If you are enthusiastically interested in some area and would be keen to lead a group, please come forward, as new groups are vital for our future.
I'd like to thank Pauline (Steward) and Shirley (Minett) for their valuable contribution as
committee members over the last three years; and Jackie (Roberts), who managed our finances so efficiently during the last two years. Carol, our editor, has had to relinquish her
membership of the committee. We are grateful to her for her hard work and input.
The committee and I look forward to seeing you at the different events during the coming year. If some of you are members of groups, but somehow have never come to a general meeting, do come along. There's a promising list of speakers and you get to know members from other groups.
With best wishes to you all.

Jean.

U3A Outings

May 17 Ware Hall House in Wells.
June 22 Merrivale Model Village, Yarmouth.

If you wish to attend either of these outings, please book your place with Marlene Corke on 01493 740768.

The U3A 10th Anniversary

In place of the usual meeting in the Library, our December General Meeting will be held in the
Town Hall where there will be a free film show based on Great Yarmouth given by Stewart Orr with films from The East Anglian Archive. A Buffet Lunch will also be held to mark this important event and it will take place at the Town Hall, before the film show. Tickets will be
on sale for the buffet lunch nearer the time. It is hoped that all members will be able to
attend the buffet lunch, but if you are unable to join us for the lunch we still hope to see you at the Film Show.

News and views from the groups:

Literary Group

We are divided into two groups, namely, poetry and fiction. Most of the members attend both
groups. The group has 13 members. We meet twice a month on Mondays. We have room for new members. Firstly,Poetry: We are still dealing with the poets laureate. We have covered several centuries and have only three more poets laureate to study. On the 10th May it will
be Ted Hughes; on the 14th June, Andrew Motion and, finally, on the 12th July, the current laureate,Carol Ann Duffy, the first woman ever to hold this position.
Our programme for September onwards is to be decided later.
Fiction: Our June book on the 28th is a classic,namely "The Road to Wigan Pier" by George Orwell. Our last meeting before the August break will be a lunch, when we will no doubt talk about books,but have no set title which is just as well as we have a substantial biography for September. On September 27th we will read "The Young Stalin" by Simon Sebag-Montefiore.
On October 25th "The Lady and the Unicorn" by Tracy Chevalier. On November 28 we shall aim to read as many books as we can personally manage by Penelope Fitzgerald. However,her "Offshore"
is a must for every one. We shall have a Christmas meeting with festive food and Christmas readings. If anyone would like to join either of these groups, please contact Jean on 01493
661837.
Jean Morris.

Local History Group

Our year started with Peter Paine, Port Chaplain, somewhat thwarted by a malfunction of the library equipment, but nevertheless we heard an interesting view of the outer harbour. Micheal Brackenbury’s talk in February showed us what careful conservation can do to enhance the neglected parts of our town. March was a fascinating story of archaelogical finds in Norfolk from Dr Adrian Marsden, Adrian has also invited us to visit his department in Norwich to see and handle some of these finds at a later date. At our next meeting I shall be taking names and £3-50p from those who wish to visit Hungate Glass Museum in Norwich on 24th June.
I would like to thank all the Local History group for being so supportive but I have decided that next year someone new with fresh ideas should take up the reigns of our group. Please give this some thought.
Pauline Steward, Group Leader.

Lunch Club

The Lunch Club continues meet monthly to enjoy its lunchtime gatherings and a good time is had by all.
Gill Walker.