Waltham Forest

Groups

Due to the COVID-19 situation, General monthly meetings at Winchester Road are CANCELLED until further notice. However members at the AGM in August assured the Committee that there is significant support for online talks and so we have started to arrange these. See the EVENTS page for more details.

Note: The Church itself does open for services, under the new rules.

Some of our groups are beginning to meet again under government guidelines (see below) and many of them are still in regular contact with each other by phone or email. So please do continue to talk to your Group Leader (or Lesley) to find out what's happening, to make a suggestion, or to just have a chat. We don't want anyone feeling lonely or socially isolated during this difficult time.

Update on Groups 19 September: The relaxation of lockdown rules meant that some groups managed to arrange to meet again at last. The new 'rule of 6" - note that is now indoors AND outdoors - will obviously affect this. But the detail of that, including the potential for a registered charity (which we are), or for 'educational' or 'sporting' activities to behave differently means that we need to study recent U3A National Office guidance very carefully. Safety, plus what our members actually prefer to do or not do, will still be paramount of course.

The latest group information follows:
There are plans afoot to resume two more in October: Geography and Remarkable Women. Vicky will lead the former and Anna the latter. Both will be in new venues. It's great to know that members are determined to get together again if at all possible. A couple of Rummikub1 members have had games in the open air and the same goes for some Scrabble enthusiasts. Knit and Natter is regularly meeting, socially distanced. Poetry is getting together similarly. The Shakespeare Group managed its reunion by renting space at Mornington Hall in Chingford and following the strict rules laid down by the Hall regarding sanitising, social distancing and personal risk assessment. They have decided to suspend this now for other reasons. But such meetings are still possible of course if any other groups want to try renting the hall for themselves. The Book Club has had an online get-together too and they are trying to re-establish regular contact under the new rules. Birdwatching had an informal walk which went well. The rules about walking are among those for which special conditions can be relevant.

This is all cheering and your Committee is very keen for more Groups to think about how they can safely meet up again, virtually or in person. The more ideas and initiatives, the better. For more information on the progress of these awakenings, or to discuss possibilities, contact your Group Leader or Lesley.

Rather than bombard you with suggestions for other things to do, if you are looking for ideas try the U3A National website, which has dozens. To connect to it, click on U3A, to the right of the top bar on any of our pages. Or just google U3A.

There is a NEW CONTACT route for Lesley, Groups Co-ordinator. If you're used to phoning or emailing Lesley personally it's fine to keep doing that. But now she also has an entry in the CONTACT page above (see the 'Enquiries about Groups' button). Any message input there will go straight to her new generic email account.

WHEN WE EMERGE FROM CORONAVIRUS
Interest Groups are the life blood of a U3A. WE WILL NEED MORE as our membership increases. Being a Group Leader is not frightening and it isn't hard work either. You don't have to be an expert (very few, if any of us, are.) You only have to be interested in learning more about something and enthusiastic about doing it in the company of a few other people. Groups are often the place where people quietly make lasting new friendships, rather than sitting in the big audience for the monthly talks.

We warmly welcome new ideas and we try to support anyone who is nervous about leading a group but would like to try. If you would like to start a group but you can't offer a home as a meeting place, you might want to consider booking a small room at Winchester Road? The cost is shared between members of the Group but it's very modest; a few groups meet there already. Another possibility is offering a short sequence of meetings to explore a particular topic or try out a new skill. Lesley will be happy to advise. Her direct contact details are in the monthly newsletter (or send a general message on the Contacts page and it will get through to her).

If you'd just like to know more about a particular Group's activities we can put you in touch with the leader for a chat. You do have to be a member of U3A to sample one however. Groups basically finance their own activities and it is also usual to contribute a small amount towards refreshments at their meetings (currently 50p). Occasionally a Group Leader may make application to the Committee for help with some special expenditure. This may or may not be successful.

We need to remind people that group members who do not attend meetings for some time AND haven't kept the Leader informed will be removed from that group. This helps to keeps waiting lists to a minimum. It also makes sure that everyone knows as soon as possible when new opportunities to join groups have arisen.