Ealing

Meetings

THURSDAY Morning Meetings

Our Thursday meetings are held at Ealing Green Church, Ealing Green, London W5 5QT but we also continue to broadcast the talks online, using Zoom video conferencing software. We no longer have any restrictions on the audience in the Church, other than the space available. There are no restrictions on the numbers who can view these talks on Zoom.

We now have talks on the first, second and fourth Thursdays each month and on the third Thursday monthly, we have Coffee Mornings, which are open to ALL members. There are 5 locations for these, in Acton, Ealing, Greenford, Hanwell and Northfields - notifications of the dates for these are distributed by email and letter. If there is a fifth Thursday in any month, we will usually put on another event.

Thursday meetings usually start at 10:15am, with u3a members admitted to the Church from 10:00am. The meetings begin with announcements and any in-house business, followed by the speaker's presentation (from around 10:30am) during which there is a break of approx. 10mins. There is usually time for a Q&A session after the talk with the aim to finish the proceedings by 12:00 noon.

WINTER TERM 2024 talks

This term ended on 21st March with our AGM followed by a short talk. Details of the past talks for the term can be found on the 2024 Talks page, where copies of some presentations are also available, along with information on any recordings.

-------------------------------

SPRING TERM 2024 talks

These start on Thursday 11th April and the term ends on 18th July. There will be an Interest Groups Showcase event at Ealing Green Church on 30th May. Details of all the events for the term are shown below.

  • Thur 11th April (EGC & Zoom) - The House of Everything with Robert Seatter, a poet, performer, writer and broadcaster who has published six poetry collections and is also the author of 'Broadcasting Britain: 100 years of the BBC', published in 2022 to mark the Corporation’s centenary. He is currently Head of BBC History, based in Broadcasting House and gave a talk to us in 2022 to celebrate the BBC's 100th Anniversary. Robert has many connections with Ealing, where he first began his BBC career, as well as being a regular performer at Questors Theatre.

What do houses mean to us? How do they make material our elusive dreams and imaginings? This is the overarching theme of this talk, based on Robert's book 'The House of Everything', and explores through the story of the life and works of Sir John Soane, the tragic and flawed figure behind Sir John Soane’s Museum in central London, and our own Pitzhanger Manor in Ealing. As an experienced performer and interpreter of spaces, Robert has created a unique reading that weaves poem and place in the objects, rooms and staircases of Soane’s houses.

  • Thur 18th April, various start times - Ealing U3A Coffee Mornings at 5 venues. See the EVENTS page for full details of venues and times for this month.
  • Thur 25th April (EGC & Zoom) - From Care to Coronation: an audience with Dame Elizabeth Anionwu with Professor Dame Elizabeth Anionwu OM DBE FRCN, an Emeritus Professor of Nursing at the University of West London. Her memoirs, 'Dreams From My Mother' are available both in paperback and as an audiobook. Elizabeth has been honoured with a Damehood, the Order of Merit and is a Fellow of the Royal College of Nursing and she carried the Sovereign’s Orb in the Royal Procession of King Charles III. Elizabeth is a mother and grandmother.

A short introduction about her life, then by a Q & A with the audience. Her parents met towards the end of World War II whilst students, but they never married. Her mother, of Irish heritage, was born in England and was a 2nd year student of Classics; her Nigerian father was completing a Law degree, and Elizabeth was 25 before finding him. The first 9 years of her life were spent in a Catholic Children’s Home in Birmingham, followed by 2 years with her mother and a physically abusive stepfather. She was rescued by her maternal grandparents with whom she lived with until the age of 16. Elizabeth qualified as a nurse and health visitor before becoming the 1st UK sickle cell nurse counsellor in 1979. She moved into Higher Education and ultimately became a Professor of Nursing at the University of West London. Apart from a nine-month period in France, she has lived in Ealing since the early 1970s.

  • Thur 2nd May (EGC & Zoom) - Fighting for the Mother Country with Simone Higgins (aka Simone Adams), who has recently retired, was a government lawyer and law lecturer for just over 25 years. She regularly gives talks on Black British history and has written and narrated the 8-episode podcast ‘From the Romans to Windrush,’ which can be accessed through Morley Radio. The podcast tells the story of the lives and careers of key Black British personalities who lived in Britain, before the arrival of the Windrush in 1948. Simone has also written film reviews for the Talking Pictures TV podcast and written, narrated, and produced the podcast Classic Hollywood MTC, which tells the story of the lives and careers of several classic Hollywood movie stars, including the World War II veteran David Niven.

A talk about the soldiers, sailors and others with black and brown heritage who supported and contributed to the British War effort during World War I and II.

  • Thur 9th May (EGC & Zoom) - Seeing the world through different eyes with Monica Macias, who has lived in several countries around the world and now resides in south London. She has written a memoir 'Black Girl from Pyongyang' which is a collection of stories from her life growing up in North Korea under the protection of the country’s founding leader, Kim Il Sung, as well as her journey to understanding her identity as a mixed-race woman who was raised in a country far from her native land of Equatorial Guinea.

Monica will share stories about her extraordinary upbringing in North Korea under the guardianship of President Kim Il Sung. In 1979, aged only seven, Monica Macias was sent from West Africa to the unfamiliar surroundings of North Korea by her father, the President of Equatorial Guinea, to be educated under the guardianship of his ally, Kim Il Sung. Within months, her father was executed in a military coup; her mother became unreachable. Effectively orphaned, she and two siblings had to make their life in Pyongyang. At military boarding school, Monica learned to mix with older children, speak fluent Korean and handle weapons on training exercises. Reaching adulthood, she went in search of her roots. Spending time in Madrid, Malabo, New York, Seoul and finally London, at every step she had to reckon with others' perceptions of her adoptive homeland. Optimistic yet unflinching, Monica’s astonishing and unique story challenges us to see the world through different eyes.

  • Thur 16th May, various start times - Ealing U3A Coffee Mornings at 5 venues. See the EVENTS page for full details of venues and times for this month.
  • Thur 23rd May (EGC & Zoom) - Out and about in Perivale, the Sweetest Vale of Middlesex with Joanna Dudzinska, a Polish educationalist, English as a foreign language teacher and tour guide turned urban explorer, founder and director of Talking and Exploring, founder of Ealing Walking Talking and Exploring Group. Joanna comes from Poland where she received an MA in Educational Studies (1989) and a BA in Teaching EFL (1994). She holds a CELTA certificate from UWL. In Poland she taught English full time for 15 years and worked as a tour guide. She organised educational visits to Britain for her students and the local community as well as many cultural and educational activities. In England, Joanna has worked as an EFL/ESOL and NVQ support teacher as well as organising walks and, occasionally, other events, online and face-to-face. Currently, as a freelancer, she organises bespoke walks of various lesser known areas, especially in West London, bringing together people of different backgrounds to learn from and about one another along with the areas they are visiting. She continues to teach a conversation class to parents of WestTwyford Primary School and local community members who need to improve their communication skills.

The talk covers the history and present day of Perivale and is based on Joanna's research undertaken for the Talking and Exploring walks of the area which included visits to Perivale and meeting local people as well as online and traditional research. In line with the spirit of how her walks are conducted the emphasis will be on providing a stimulus for those listening to later engage with their own thoughts, observations and memories and maybe questions as well.

  • Thur 30th May (EGC only) - Interest Groups Showcase. A chance for Members old, new and prospective to find out more about the Interest Groups within Ealing U3A.

Many Interest Group leaders will be available to discuss/describe their particular groups and all members can come along to learn about the activities available. There will, most certainly, be a couple of displays from some of the groups and refreshments will be served in the Back Hall during the morning.

  • Thur 6th June (EGC & Zoom) - The End of Roman Britain: A Mystery with Jill Stern who has been both a teacher and a health authority chairman here in West London. She is above all a historian with a doctorate from University College London in the history of the Netherlands in the seventeenth century. Jill has written many articles and a book and has lectured in England, the Netherlands and the United States. She currently teaches at JW3, the Jewish Educational and Cultural Centre in North London.

The Roman occupation of Britain ended in 410 but for at least half a century before that there were signs that things were going wrong. We will examine the evidence from both archaeology and written sources to uncover the secrets of this lesser-known period in our history. Disclaimer: Even the experts are divided.

  • Thur 13th June (EGC & Zoom) - The Secret history of London’s Chinatown with Craig Kao, who is originally from Taiwan and is a Graduate in Fine Art from Central St Martins College of Art and Design. In 2018 Craig gained the Blue Badge Tourist Guide Qualification and likes to explore the history of South East Asian people’s stories in London.

Chinatown in London is a historic and culturally rich enclave that has evolved from its 19th-century origins in Limehouse to its current location in Soho. The many hidden stories make the area worthwhile to explore both for its history and some of the incredible people who once lived on this street. The talk serves as a bridge between East and West, inviting visitors to immerse themselves in the diverse and rich tapestry of Chinese culture within the heart of London.

  • Thur 20th June, various start times - Ealing U3A Coffee Mornings at 5 venues. See the EVENTS page for full details of venues and times for this month.
  • Thur 27th June (EGC & Zoom) - 'Burying the Ghosts': one 'lucky' woman's story of escape from Nazi Germany with Sonia Case who was born in the 1950s, the youngest daughter of German/Austrian refugees who arrived in England shortly before the outbreak of war. She is the first child of Ruth who married Josef, a new widower and father to two young girls, and grew up knowing little of her parents' harrowing experiences. She developed an early love of theatre and pursued acting in her mid-twenties before entering the world of advertising during the heady 1980s. Stories remained central and a long teaching career allowed her to share a love of literature, theatre and the rich world of the imagination. 'Burying the Ghosts' is Sonia's first novel.

A talk on the insidious process of changing hearts and minds - from humanity to inhumanity. The talk follows the experience of the author's mother who was 14 when Hitler's Nazi government came to power in her hometown of Saarbrucken in Germany. It shows how it was necessary to alter attitudes amongst children and adults through propaganda and education prior to introducing the anti-semitic legislation that denied the Jewish population their human rights. The talk demonstrates the process of 'othering', with those attitudes even expressed in the UK.

  • Thur 4th July (EGC & Zoom) - Utterly Immoral - Robert Keable, WW1 chaplain with Simon Keable-Elliott, who was educated at Sherborne School and Durham University. Simon first worked in Fleet Street – as a barman – before managing and owning restaurants in London. He trained as a teacher and spent 25 years as Head of Politics and Director of MUN at a secondary school in Croydon. He now works as a writer and speaker, publishing his first book 'Utterly Immoral' last year.

This talk discusses Simon's grandfather Robert Keable’s time as a chaplain during the First World War and the events that led him to write his notorious novel ‘Simon Called Peter’. Simon looks at the critical reception to the novel, the attempts to ban it and the book’s great success. The author’s life was truly extraordinary, as a child he was an evangelical preacher then won a scholarship to Cambridge, became a priest, worked in Zanzibar and Basutoland as a missionary and gained a reputation as a writer of devotional books. His life was changed by the war, afterwards he left the church and later lived in Tahiti. He continued to write and remained an international celebrity throughout the 1920s.

  • Thur 11th July, various start times - Ealing U3A Coffee Mornings at 5 venues. See the EVENTS page for full details of venues and times for this month. NB - this is a week earlier than usual
  • Thur 18th July (EGC & Zoom) - Is Biba Style Timeless & Ageless? - ‘The Biba Story’ with Lady Lorraine Neale who has over 60 years experience working in the Fashion Buying Business Industry in senior buying roles both here in the UK and the USA. Working for several iconic companies including Harrods, Peter Robinson, Biba of course and Chelsea Girl /River island. Moving into higher education Lorraine developed new fashion business courses both Undergraduate & Post Graduate at the University of Westminster, then became Barbara Hulanicki’s Managing Agent in the UK forging collaborations with Barbara designing collections for George of Asda, TK Maxx & House of Fraser among others. Until recently Lorraine was Chairman and Events secretary for over 7 years for The Friends of St Anne’s Church on Kew Green raising over £100,000 for the church.

With the major exhibition on ‘The Biba Story’ now running at The Fashion & Textile Museum until September, hear the inside story from Lorraine Neale who was privileged to have worked with Barbara Hulanicki OBE as Merchandise Controller for all Womenswear & Production Manager for all UK made clothes, from 1970 until Biba closed in 1975. Lorraine is still very close to Barbara and will bring along a few of her Biba Clothes!

-------------------------------

The SUMMER SEASON of talks for 2024 take place on Thursday 1st, 15th and 29th August.

The AUTUMN TERM starts on Thursday 12th September and finishes on Thursday 12th December with a seasonal entertainment session followed by tea/coffee/mince pies/etc.
The meeting on the 24th October will be the announcement of the results of our 2024 Photographic Competition (see the NEWS page for details of this.

-------------------------------

The organisation of our talks for 2024 has been by our team of Patricia Plummer and Jane Cocking co-ordinated by Derek Atkinson, for which the Committee is very grateful. If you have any suggestions for talks or possible speakers, please send an email to Speakers Organiser.

The Committee is also grateful for the work of Jeannine Andre for her assistance in arranging some of the talks for 2023.

===============================================

PAST THURSDAY TALKS

Details of the talks for 2023 can now be found on the 2023 Talks page, where copies of some presentations are also available, along with information on any recordings. For 2022 and previous years, details of talks can be found on the relevant page under Links on this page. For our Summer season talks, details can be found on the Summer Programmes page.
For a number of these past talks, we have copies of the presentations used and these are also shown on those pages, along with information on the Recordings of these talks that are available on our Ealing u3a YouTube channel. The details of how to access the individual talks have been published in our regular Newsletters but, if you missed that information and would like to view any of these recordings, please contact the Webmaster.

===============================================

Photos of our recent speakers are displayed on this page. Photos of previous speakers are shown on the relevant sub-page