CEDU3A’s first Annual General Meeting
More than 100 members gathered at the Union Church Hall for our inaugural AGM. The main items were adopting the constitution, confirming the nine trustees who now form the Executive Committee and adopting the accounts for our first 15 months (to December 2018). There were a couple of questions: whether members could receive the quarterly magazine Third Age Matters from the National Office, and keeping closer contact with members who don’t use email. Answers to these will be in the next Bulletin and on website posts. Draft minutes of the AGM are on the website: https://cedu3a.org.uk/2019/04/17/agm-2019-minutes/.
We also paid tribute to two trustees who were standing down: Sue Picano, who launched our very popular social events programme (and many other things), and David Pashley, Groups Organiser, who has left us the amazing legacy of 72 interest groups. We are so grateful for their vision and hard work in helping establish the U3A.
Summer Garden Party
We now have a date and venue for our Summer Garden Party. It will take place on 4 July between 4.30 and 7.30 at the Crouch End Cricket Club in Shepherd’s Cot, off Park Road N8.
We are very pleased that five volunteers have come forward from our appeal for help in the April bulletin. We need just one or two more to ensure the evening goes with a swing. Help includes ordering food and drink, serving welcome drinks, getting the hall ready, welcoming members, helping out those who will be entertaining and clearing up.
If you would like to help with this one-off project to celebrate summer and the second year of our U3A, or would like to talk over what it might involve, contact Sue: chair@cedu3a.org.uk or Sally: vicechair@cedu3a.org.uk.
Monthly Meetings
These are held on the second Thursday of the month at Union Church and Community Centre, Weston Park N8 9PX, from 10.00 a.m. onwards. Talks begin at 10.45 a.m.
Thursday 9 May 2019
John Hinshelwood: Crouch End and District: a photographic record 1860–1920
An intriguing glimpse back in time to see how our area looked between 100 and 150 years ago.
In 2001 the Hornsey Historical Society acquired a collection of prints assembled by the North Middlesex Photographic Society. John Hinshelwood, HHS’s Curator and Archivist from 1998 to 2005, catalogued the collection and created a digital database of the prints, several of which were included in the National Photographic Record Association’s collection now held by the V&A Museum. This talk will outline the work of the local Photographic Society in recording local landmarks for the photographic record and survey of England’s buildings, monuments and customs of historic interest made in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. John Hinshelwood gained an MA in Metropolitan and Regional History in 2007 and now spends his time researching and writing on aspects of local history. He is also convenor of the U3A local history groups and has published several local history books including, with Janet Owen, A Vision of Middlesex, the HHS’s 40th anniversary publication of photographs of the North Middlesex Photographic Society.
Thursday 13 June 2019
Jayne Forbes: A Solo Traveller’s Tales
Many of us are cautious about travelling alone, but CE&DU3A member Jayne Forbes is something of an expert, having crossed the Sahara, trekked the Himalayas and swum the Amazon, accompanied only by a backpack and a good map. She has travelled throughout India, China, the Middle East, Europe and South and North America: just about everywhere except Antarctica. In this talk Jayne will share her experiences, which include dining out on tarantulas in Cambodia and crossing a minefield in Western Sahara. There have been funny and challenging moments – including dodging bandits – and happy coincidences. Jayne has recently returned from three months in Africa and we are lucky to catch her and share her expertise and experiences before she heads off again. You will never fear travelling alone again …
Social Events
Since starting out we’ve put on a number of social events: three quizzes, a ceilidh and a theatrical evening and we’d now like to develop the number and range of such events. We already have a wonderful organiser who needs help with ideas and implementing them. If you’re interested in finding out more, please contact Sue: chair@cedu3a.org.uk.
Group News
We’re Talking Travel
This group is for those among us who love travelling and are excited at the thought of where’s next in the world to discover and explore. What better way could there be than to hear first-hand from people who have been there and done it? Members will share knowledge and experiences and agree the theme for each month’s meeting. This might be a country, a region, special interest holidays, road trips, city breaks or travelling solo. The first meeting will be on Tuesday 21 May in the Union Church (Downstairs Hall) from 1 – 3 p.m. There has been a good response to this new group but there are still places available. br>
Tennis
Our new tennis group starts the season on Friday 3 May in Priory Park. Members will meet at the café by the children’s paddling pool at 10am before proceeding to the courts. This group is for vintage players who have not played for some time but would like to join a not-too-strenuous knock-about. Sessions will take place every two weeks: the next session will be on May 17 – same time, same place.br>
Walking Football
Fancy a game of walking football? Walking football is different to regular Association Football in many ways and is aimed at the over 50’s age group. Many tournaments are now catering exclusively for the over 60’s age group. It has very specific rules that ensure that the sport is played safely with full consideration to the participants’ age. This allows people who have loved the sport all their lives to once again safely get back to playing and also introduces the sport to people who perhaps have never considered playing before.br>
First Monday Pub Lunches
A reminder that, as it falls on the May Bank Holiday, there will be no pub lunch on 6 May: the next lunch will be on Monday June 3, 1pm at the Mossy Well in Muswell Hill. These lunches provide an opportunity for members to meet each other in an informal and social atmosphere. Members will of course have to pay for their own food and drinks. If you are interested in coming along on 3 June, please email crouchendanddistrictu3a@gmail.com so we have some idea of numbers.br>
Coffee Mornings
The next few mornings are currently full, but keep an eye on the website: https://cedu3a.org.uk/coffee-mornings/for further details, or to be put on the waiting list.br>
National U3A Newsletter
The Third Age Trust publishes a monthly National U3A newsletter which is available to any individual U3A member free of charge by signing up at https://www.u3a.org.uk/newsletter.
The newsletter comes via email and is not available as a hard copy.br>
Great Exhibition Road Festival 2019
Join Imperial, the Natural History and Science Museums, the V&A, the Royal Albert Hall and many other friends on and around Exhibition Road for a brand-new, three-day celebration of science and the arts, in the spirit of the Great Exhibition of 1851. Friday 28 – Sunday 30 June https://www.imperial.ac.uk/festival/.
London Region Summer School 23-25 July 2019
Venue: St Bride Foundation, Bride Lane, Fleet Street (easy access: 5 minutes from Blackfriars underground station).
Choose from 28 talks, 4 workshops, and 6 guided walks around the City of London. The wide range of topics covers the themes of Art, Current Affairs, History, Literature, Music, Science and Travel. This year we have selected ‘Celebration of the Sea’ as a general theme.
The programme and application forms are available via the Events page of the London Region website: http://u3asites.org.uk/london-region/events and through individual U3As. You can book online or use a postal application form.
Non-residential: attendance can be for one, two or three days, the cost is £38 per day. Refreshments and a cold buffet lunch are included.
If you have any queries, please contact Chris Feldman ccris@waitrose.com or 020 8449 4847.
