Waltham Forest

Groups

LATEST NEWS: A member has offered to start a Bird Watching group. If that sounds right up your street please contact Lesley and let her know that you're interested in hearing more. Another one we think will be starting in May is Knit and Natter. And 1960s music is still a possibility too. Tell Lesley if you'd like to join any of these.

We're delighted to report that a member of the Upwords group is going to take over and host the group in her home. Contact Lesley for more details.

Current vacancies are in: Art Appreciation; Book Club; Chess; Family History 1; French Studies; Geography; Nineteenth Century Literature; Painting as a Pastime; Play-reading; Recorder; Remarkable Women; Rummikub 1 & 3; Scrabble; Singing for Fun 1; Check with Lesley for the latest news.

How about starting a new group yourself? Or maybe talking to Lesley about a group you'd LIKE to join if it existed. Perhaps there's a subject you know is popular in another U3A. Or an existing group you'd like to help replicate. How about organising regular art gallery visits, starting a recipe club, meeting on a regular basis for afternoon tea, or investigating the potentialities of your iPads together? Or delving into the history of a house?

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. 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.