Hillingdon

Latest Monthly Meeting Notices

Monthly Notices March

This is the notes from our Monthly Meeting held in the Winston Churchill Hall on Monday 11th March 2024. The meeting was then followed by a talk by Jo Laurie called "Tales from the Riverbank".

Monthly Meeting - Chairman's Announcements :

Chairman Ann Lines opened the meeting by welcoming all the members in the hall and on Zoom and gave us the usual safety notices.

Ann then mentioned that the Group now known as “Paint and Draw for Fun” are our 'Table of the Month' this month so hopefully members had a chat while they were in the Cafe during the break.

This month’s light hearted information included March 11th ‘s birthdays which are Jody Comer, Rupert Murdoch and Harold Wilson who all celebrate or would have celebrated their birthdays on this day.

Today is the anniversary of Covid 19 being declared a pandemic by the World Health Organisation in 2020. We also celebrate Commonwealth Day today, which leads into a week-long series of events around the Globe.
March 11 is also World Plumbing Day, National Dream Day and Wash your Nose Day!!

Sue Cobb, our the ‘New Member Coordinator’, reminded everyone that she will be in the Coffee lounge during the break for any questions.

Adele also reminded the members that the post meeting ‘Coffee and Chat’ group will meet outside after the meeting.

Ann then thanked the Refreshments Team for all their hard work and April Holland and the Craft Group for producing the bunting on display.

Group Notices :

Interest Groups News:
Margaret gave us some group news…..

The new Table Tennis Group has started. Their venue in Ruislip Manor is good as it has 2 table tennis tables. Everyone enjoyed the first meeting and the group would welcome any new members.

The new Nature group had its first meeting to discuss and agree a format. Two weeks later, it held its first real meeting in Uxbridge. They had a guest speaker from the Wildlife Trust who talked about locations the group could visit on their outdoor meetings.

A group that was suggested just before Covid was Public Speaking. It had had a good response but couldn’t proceed at that time. We want to see if there is still interest so a sheet was left at the meeting for members to register an interest. Let Margaret know if you weren’t at the meeting but want to register an interest.

We’ve also had a suggestion for a Golf group. There is a member willing to organise and run the group so if there is enough interest a new group could start in April, probably starting at the Driving Range. Again, let Margaret know if you’re interested.

Some time ago we removed a couple of groups from our listing. These were Astronomy and Sunday Lunches because they didn’t have a leader. Margaret wanted to remind members that a group doesn’t have to have just one member to run it, it can be run by a small team as we have with some other groups. So, we want to put out a call again to see if anyone could help these groups restart.

The second Wine group Margaret mentioned before, is looking for a venue. Once found we’ll let members know.

The Art-Mixed Media group has changed its name to Draw and Paint for Fun. This is to more reflect its interests. If Art is your thing, they meet in the Southlands Arts Center in West Drayton and would welcome new members. There is good transport links to West Drayton so don’t be put off by the venue and we do want to appeal to potential members in the south of the borough so we need hold groups there. They are our Table of the Month and Margaret encouraged members to have a chat during the break.

An evening of music has been arranged by our musical groups. The Singers, Ukulele and Guitar groups will put on a Concert for the ‘Songs of a Spring Evening‘. It will be held on Sunday 24th March at 5pm in Christ Church in Uxbridge. Tickets which include a light refreshment, are £10 and were on sale at today’s meeting. Contact Sheila Scoates to reserve your ticket or they are available on the door.

Our music groups do a lot of promotional performances for Hu3a by visiting nursing homes, church/ coffee groups and PR events such as the Day of the older Person. So please support them.

Margaret wanted to remind members that if anyone has a problem in a group or a group leader has a problem or anyone has a problem with ‘SIMPLE’ then to let her know. She can also draw on all sorts of help if needed.

Margaret finally wanted to mention that any group organising a trip away from their normal meeting venue such as an outdoor trip then the leader needs to contact the Committee Secretary before the trip to ensure it’s registered for insurance purposes.

London Walk
Brian informed the members that he is arranging the next London Walk. No information yet but he will let everyone know as soon as it’s available.

Rambling Group
The next ramble will be on the 26th March and will be a walk from Baker Street to Westminster via the 4 Royal Parks and Regents Canal. Refreshments will be in one of the Hyde Park Cafes. About 6 miles and all the information is on the Events page or you can contact Jasia.

Sunday Concerts
Harvey reminded us of the last of this year’s Sunday Concert arranged for 7th April. He mentioned that nobody had requested a pickup from Uxbridge and so the coach will only stop at Ickenham. There has been a couple of cancellations so Harvey has some tickets still available. The Application form remains on the website Events page.

Theatre Group
Carol was pleased to inform us that the next theatre visit to see “Three Men in a Boat” on the 20th June 2024 at 2:15pm at Sonning has proved to be very popular and they have sold enough tickets to ensure they can run the trip. More details are on the website.

Visits News

Jim reported that he will be sending an email sometime week commencing 18th March with all the information and booking links for the latest visits. These are;
- 30th April - The British Museum, London @£9 make your Own Way.
- 9th May - The Covent Garden Harlots Tour, London @£10 make your own way.
- 23rd May - Middle Temple Tour with 2 course lunch, London Price £37 make your own way.

Membership News:

Membership renewals is going well. Freda had no further updates to report.

PR and Communications

Chris showed everyone the new leaflet she now has and asked members to take some and ask local meeting points like doctor’s surgeries, libraries etc if you can leave some.

U3a will have a stall at the Ickenham Festival on the 16th June. If any member knows of other festivals, fairs or events where u3a could have a stall then please let Chris know.

Chris reported that she is pausing her collection of Third Age Matters magazine which she gives to new members. She has a good collection for the moment.

IT News:

The Zoom facility was in use again and also for the speaker who was in the hall this month. We did have some laptop issues with losing power but the members on Zoom just missed the introductions. We weren’t able to record the talk this month.

And Finally:
The raffle took place before the members transferred to the Café.

After the break, Alan introduced our speaker, Jo Laurie who gave us a very interesting talk called "Tales from the Riverbank" which was all about the Thames Path.

Ann closed the meeting at 12pm.