Waltham Forest

Groups

Due to the COVID-19 situation, General and group meetings are CANCELLED until further notice. But many groups are still in regular contact with each other by phone or email. So please do continue to talk to your Group Leader. We don't want anyone feeling lonely or socially isolated during this difficult time.

30th June: A LITTLE BIT OF CHEER The recent relaxation of some lockdown rules has meant that one or two groups have managed to arrange to meet again at last. A couple of Rummikub1 members recently had a game in the open air. Knit'n'Natter recently met, socially distanced, in the leader's garden at the start of Jul and two more such meetings are scheduled over the next few weeks. Poetry have got together similarly for the first time. The Shakespeare Group is hoping to be able to start meeting again at Mornington Hall. And hopefully some Gardeners might be able to manage something too, although these are large groups and certainly cannot meet as usual yet. For more information on the progress of these awakenings, contact group leaders or Lesley.

Rather than bombard you with suggestions for 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 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.