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Plymouth U3A was founded in
1998 and has since gone from strength to strength, with now over 700
members. In 2007 the U3A celebrated 25 years since its
inception in 1982. Although the U3A Trust
is a national organisation with over 275,000 members and with 844
local area U3A's., each local U3A is autonomous and is independently
run by its Committee and members.
To
celebrate our 10th anniversary in 2008, Plymouth U3A produced a small booklet
about our history. This has been made possible by our success in obtaining
an "Awards for All" grant, which
is available for smaller community projects.
See their website
"Awards
for All" for full details.
What
is the U3A?
The U3A is a self-help group of people who are no longer in full-time
employment and this gives members time to exchange and share educational,
creative and leisure activities during the daytime. This provides
new social contacts when work is no longer the main social environment, as
well as giving people the opportunity to take up new interests. Over
40 different groups, ranging from Architecture to Yoga cater for a
wide variety of interests and the groups are run by
members, for members. This means that
the costs of running courses are on an 'expenses only' basis. See the link
to 'Group News' for further details of our groups.
A
monthly meeting is held in central Plymouth,
with many interesting speakers and the chance to meet friends and find out
more about group activities and trips. The venue for most of the General
Meetings is the Salvation Army Hall, Armada Way.
Meetings start at 11.00am, with tea and coffee served from 10.30am.
As of May 14th. meeting the doors will open at 10.15 am with tea and
coffee available until 11.15 am. this is to enable members to
socialise more and have time to view the information boards. From
11.15 am until 11.30 am anouncements will be made by the Committee and
Group Leaders and the speaker for the day will start at 11.30 am.
Members are free as to whether they stay for part or all of the meeting.
Our next meeting on May 14th. is our AGM, where we shall be electing our
new Chairman, Vice Chairman, Minutes Secretary, Newsletter Editor, Speaker
Co - ordinator, Equipment Officer and a new post of University Co -
ordinator, for which there are two candidates.
There are also some proposed changes to our constitution to be discussed
and voted upon, so make sure you come along and listen to the proposals,
make your choice and vote accordingly. The AGM will then be followed
by a talk.
The next series of talks are:-
| May
14 |
AGM/Diana
Whitefoord - Maria Foote, 19th. century actress.
Maria Foote came from Devonport and caused a major scandal in
1825! |
| June
11 |
Peter
Marquis - British Antarctic Survey Medical Unit. |
| July
9 |
Open
meeting at the Levinsky Building. Come along and see what we
have to offer. |
| August
13 |
Vicky
Norman - Scattered Homes, Broken Hearts. Recollections of
the Plymouth Blitz and evacuation from the city. A traumatic
period in Plymuth's past. |
| Study
Day Wednesday
29th. February 2012 |
Wow!
What a Day! Thanks to Todd Gray, Ann Widdicombe, Alex
Langlands and Kate & Sue of "Bedlam Bess" for
providing us with such varied and absorbing talks and
entertainment. And thanks also to all those that helped make
this such an unforgettable day. What a stunning climax to
your three years of chairmanship Jennifer, thank you for all your
hard work. |
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Aims
of the U3A
The University of
the Third Age (U3A) is a learning co-operative of like - minded
people that enables members to share educational, creative and
leisure activities. Nationally there are more than 800 branches of the U3A with over
270,000 members. For further
information on the Third Age Trust look at
www.u3a.org.uk.
Aims
and Guiding Principles of the U3A
1.
To encourage and enable people no longer in full time employment to
help each other to share their knowledge , skills, interests and
experiences.
2.
To demonstrate the benefits and enjoyment to be gained and the new horizons to be discovered in learning throughout life.
3.
To celebrate the capabilities and potential of older people and their value to society.
4.
To make U3As accessible to all older people. |
| The
Virtual U3A.
The Virtual U3A (vU3a), which went
live in January 2009, is an online-only U3A, affiliated to the
Third Age Trust. One of its principal aims is to provide the U3A
experience for those who are rendered isolated in some way by
circumstances or geography and unable to play a full part in a
terrestrial U3A. More information is available on the public
website www.vu3a.org
where one can also apply for membership. Why not pay it a visit?
And if you know of anyone who might benefit, please pass the
information on. |
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