Waltham Forest

Groups

CORONAVIRUS and Group Meetings Interest Groups can make up their own mind about whether they meet or not. Please talk to your Group Leader. Take sensible precautions but please do keep in touch with your friends. We don't want anyone feeling lonely or socially isolated during this difficult time.

BELOW IS A LIST of WFU3A GROUPS that have definitely been cancelled.
You should assume that any group on this list will not meet again until the current situation has eased (in 3-4 months time?) and the members themselves decide that they want to resume.
It will be kept as up to date as possible but there may still be queries because we are in such an unusual and ever-changing situation. So there is is no substitute for talking to your Group Leader directly. You can also ask Lesley but even she will not necessarily have been given the very latest information.

19thC LITERATURE
BOOK CLUB
CHESS
CLASSICS
ENJOYING CLASSICAL MUSIC A & B
FILM CLUB
FRENCH STUDIES
GARDEN CLUB
KNIT & NATTER
MAHJONG
PAINTING FOR PLEASURE
PLAY-READING
POETRY
SHAKESPEARE 1 and 2
SINGING FOR FUN 1
TABLE TENNIS
UPWORDS
WALKING LONDON

For other local events that we know are cancelled. look at the EVENTS page

NEW CONTACT route for Lesley, Groups Co-ordinator. If you're used to phoning or emailing Lesley 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 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.