Grantham u3a: Membership

Membership

If you are interested in joining Grantham u3a, or if you wish to re-enrol, please read this page. It gives important information about Grantham u3a, how some of our policies will affect you, and what we expect of our members.

ONLINE APPLICATION AND RENEWAL

To JOIN Grantham u3a online, using a Bank Card or by PayPal, please click here New Member Application.

To RENEW your membership or AMEND your personal details(including resetting password) online please click here Membership Portal.

N.B. If you have NOT ALREADY CREATED a password you will need to click on the "Register a membership account" link before entering the Portal .

PAPER APPLICATION AND RENEWAL

If you really are unable to join or renew online, links to paper versions of the application forms are availble in the right hand column (or at the bottom of the page if you are using a small screen)

Subscription and Method of Payment

The annual subscription for 2024 is £10.00. The subscription year runs from January to December and subscriptions are due on 1st January. If you join in November or December your initial subscription gives you up to two free months’ membership.

Please join or renew ON-LINE.
You will be able to use your credit or debit card or PayPal account if you have one.

You may join and re-enrol in person at our monthly meeting or coffee morning. Card payments are now possible as we have a new card machine and cash is not encouraged.

Gift aid

If you are a UK taxpayer you can Gift Aid your subscription, in which case Grantham u3a receives a rebate from HMRC. This is currently worth about £900 per year to us and helps us to keep our subscription down. You may only Gift Aid your subscription if the amount you pay in Income Tax/Capital Gains Tax is at least equal the amount Grantham u3a will re-claim on your subscription in the current tax year. Please tick the approprate box in your application or renewal form.

ONLINE APPLICATION AND RENEWAL

To join Grantham u3a online, please click here New Member Application.
To renew your membership online, or amend your personal details, please click here Membership Portal.

PAPER APPLICATION AND RENEWAL

ENQUIRIES

To make an enquiry to Grantham u3a please click here Contact.

IN CASE OF EMERGECY

We recommend that members cary an ICE card at all times. Download ICE - In Case of Emergency.

THIRD AGE TRUST

The Third Age Trust is the umbrella organisation for all u3as in the UK. As such, Grantham u3a accepts the Vision and Guiding Principles of the u3a movement as laid out by the Third Age Trust. They are shown here:

Our Vision is to make lifelong learning, through the experience of u3a, a reality for all third agers.

The Principles of the u3a Movement

The u3a movement is non-religious and non-political and has three main principles:

The Third Age Principle

• Membership of a u3a is open to all in their third age, which is defined not by a particular age but by a period in life in which full time employment has ceased.
• Members promote the values of lifelong learning and the positive attributes of belonging to a u3a.
• Members should do all they can to ensure that people wanting to join a u3a can do so.

The Self-help Learning Principle

• Members form interest groups covering as wide a range of topics and activities as they desire; by the members, for the members.
• No qualifications are sought or offered. Learning is for its own sake, with enjoyment being the prime motive, not qualifications or awards.
• There is no distinction between the learners and the teachers; they are all U3A members.

The Mutual Aid Principle

• Each u3a is a mutual aid organisation, operationally independent but a member of The Third Age Trust, which requires adherence to the guiding principles of the U3A movement.
• No payments are made to members for services rendered to any U3A.
• Each u3a is self-funded with membership subscriptions and costs kept as low as possible.
• Outside financial assistance should only be sought if it does not imperil the integrity of the U3A movement.

INFORMATION

Terms and Conditions of Membership

We expect you at all times to
- Abide by the Aims and Guiding Principles of the u3a movement as shown on our ‘Welcome’ page
- Act always in the best interests of Grantham u3a and the u3a movement in general and never do anything to bring the u3a into disrepute
- Be bound by the Constitution of Grantham u3a Constitution/17
- Treat fellow members with respect and courtesy
- Comply with and respect the decisions of the elected committee
- Advise the Committee of any change in your personal circumstances

Data Protection Policy

- We will ask you for personal and contact information when you apply for membership and when you renew your membership.
- we will keep that information securely on a database or in other electronic or paper files.
- Your information will be used for the purposes of communicating with you, managing your membership and running our u3a.
- Your information will not be used for purposes other than our u3a business and communications, and will not be passed to or shared with people or organisations outside our u3a.
- You have the right at any time to check with us the information we hold about you and to change or withdraw all or part of it; but withdrawal may affect your ability to remain a member of our u3a.
To view our policy please see Grantham U3A Data Protection Policy

Privacy Policy

Grantham u3a (hereafter ‘the u3a’) treats your privacy rights seriously. This privacy policy sets out how we will deal with your ‘personal information’, that is, information that could identify, or is related to the identity of, an individual.

To view our policy please see Grantham U3A Privacy Policy

Health and Safety Policy

Grantham u3a is not a place of work and it and its activities do not fall within the scope of the Health and Safety at Work Act. However, we all owe a duty of care to each other within our U3A activities as in other aspects of our life. Each member of Grantham u3a is responsible for his/her own safety and wellbeing at all times. Grantham u3aA will take all reasonable steps to ensure the safety and wellbeing of its members at u3a activities.

Communications Policy

When completing the application form, please bear in mind these points:

From time to time we will need to communicate with you in order effectively to manage our u3a, and to inform you about events and other relevant activities in our u3a. Our preferred method of communication is email since it is cheaper and quicker than post or hand delivery. If you give us an email address we will use it in this way.
Occasionally we may need to telephone you, and in future we may develop text services. If you give us a landline or mobile telephone number, we will use them in this way.
We produce a short Newsletter every month, for every member, which contains essential information and lists forthcoming events. We would prefer to deliver this by email, but a printed option is available for collection, either at the monthly meeting or from the Guildhall box office when it is open.
‘Third Age Matters’ is a magazine produced by the Third Age Trust five times a year. We arrange for it to be posted to every new member free of charge. If you decide you no longer wish to receive it, please let us know.

Approved Minutes of our Committee Meetings are available from the Secretary at the Monthly Meetings on request.