Ealing

Groups

NEW GROUPS

We are always on the lookout for possibilities to start new groups and recently a Beginners Mah Jong group was started by Alison Browne. Full details can be found on the Mah Jong group page.

Previously there was some interest expressed in 3 other new groups - Antiques, Intermediate French and Pilates. If you would be interested in acting as Convenor for any of these potential new groups, please email the Interest Groups Co-ordinator, Tim Carter, contact him at 020 8579 3729 or speak to him at a Thursday meeting (when these resume).

Do you have the interests, skills and experience to help form any other new Interest Groups? All of our Group Conveners are volunteers, motivated by commitment to a particular area of activity and learning. Will you volunteer to form a new group? If so, please email the Interest Groups Co-ordinator, Tim Carter, contact him at 020 8579 3729 or speak to him at a Thursday meeting.

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CORONAVIRUS Epidemic and advice re Interest Groups

Although most face-to-face Interest Group meetings are CANCELLED for the foreseable future, many of our Groups are continuing online, using Zoom video conferencing.

Groups who are meeting using Zoom (as at January 2021) are as follows:
Art Appreciation 1, Art and Design, Beer Investigation, all of our Book Circle groups, Crafts 1, Family History, Film, French Conversation, Gardening, History 1 and 2, Italian, Literature, Mah Jong, the Music groups, Philosophy, Photography, Poetry, Psychology, Science, World Religions.
Many of these groups are able to cater for additional members whilst using video conferencing - see the relevant Group page for further info. Information on running Groups using Zoom is shown below.

Some Interest Groups also held meetings in the open air (eg. a park) when the weather was better and these type of meetings may restart when the weather improves and the current Lockdown ends. Even then there are likely to be restrictions on the maximum number of people from different families who can attend and probably some social distance rules as well.
The National U3A has said that any Group Convenors considering any sort of face-to-face meeting MUST carry out a Risk Assessment before holding such a meeting, and all members intending to attend need to carry out a personal risk assessment. A Risk Assessment Checklist produced by the National U3A can be used for this purpose.
Before proceeding, Group Convenors may also wish to read the latest advice from the National U3A available on the Running your U3A during COVID-19 page on their website. This also has links to many documents with advice on different aspects of running Groups during the pandemic.

Keeping GROUPS running using VIDEO CONFERENCING

Many Groups which involve discussing or talking on their topic can keep running during the continuing pandemic using Video Conferencing.

To use any Video Conferencing software you need to have a computer (desktop or laptop), tablet or smartphone which has

• A camera (so you can be seen)
• A microphone (so you can be heard)
• Speakers (so you can hear other people)
• You also need a good wifi signal (or network connection) to make sure your sound and vision are of good quality during a video conference

Most recent laptops will have camera, microphone and speakers, as will tablets or smartphones. If you are using a desktop PC, it will depend on the age of your computer so will need to check your computer to confirm it has the above.

Ealing U3A has adopted Zoom as the software to use for video conferencing and to enable Interest Groups to use this for meetings, we have purchased two Zoom Pro licences. These licences mean that meetings are not restricted to the 40 minutes that the free version of Zoom has. For any Groups not yet using these licences, Convenors who are interested in making use of them should contact Phil Broomsgrove using the Webmaster email.

We have produced some instructions for Group Convenors on how to install and set up Zoom and to Host a Zoom video conference - click on Zoom Guide for Hosts for these.
We have also produced instructions for how to install and set up Zoom if you are only a Participant in a video conference - click on Zoom Guide for Participants for these.

Now that we have some experience in using Zoom we have a number of Tips on the best way to use Zoom and some answers to common questions that have been raised - you can see these in the Zoom Tips and FAQs document.
If you need any further help or advice with Zoom, Colin Lomas can be contacted on 07909 896 541 or Phil Broomsgrove can be contacted by email on the Webmaster email.

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For GENERAL enquiries concerning Interest Groups contact the Interest Groups Co-ordinator, Tim Carter.

At present we have over 40 Interest Groups as listed below. Each group has a Convener whose function is to act as administrator or leader in its various activities and meetings. For information about a Specific Group, including how to contact the Convener, click on the GROUP NAME in the BOXED LIST at the BOTTOM of this page.

Groups meet in members homes or at other venues. Largely because of space constraints, there is a limit to the number of members that each group can accommodate. To learn if space is available contact the group Convener. If there is sufficient demand and if a member offers her or himself as Convener a second group can be initiated.

In addition, we also occasionally offer short courses of up to 10 sessions led or tutored by a member or associate. For example, in the last couple of years we have run 3 separate Film Studies courses. If you could offer a course covering some aspect of your expertise or knowledge, please contact the Chairman.

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NEWS FROM THE GROUPS

1. Groups which have closed
Unfortunately, there are 3 Groups which have closed recently - Scrabble & Table Games, Gardening group 1, and Meditation with Music. This has been either due to lack of numbers or the Group Co-ordinators withdrawing from running the group.
If anyone is interested in restarting any of these groups, please email the Interest Groups Co-ordinator, Tim Carter, contact him at 020 8579 3729 or speak to him at a Thursday meeting.

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CLICK on the Group Name BELOW for further information on that Group, including how to contact the CONVENER