The Life Long Learning organisation are offering tasters in the Sports Hall, Digital Photography, IT, Water Colour Painting, Calligraphy and Mobile Phones.
SPA treatments are offering, File and Polish, Scalp Massage, Reflexology and Hand and Arm Massage.
In addition there will be 70 exhibitors with topics like Health, Safety, Benefits, Social Care and Housing.
Swansea U3A will be there throughout in an exercise coordinated by our Publicity Secretary Marilyn Croft, who will ensure we have an impressive display and demonstrate the range and friendliness of this organisation. It is vital to us to
continue to attract new members because that is the life blood of any dynamic
organisation.
We now number over 650 members but just as importantly over 150 joined for the first time this year. As Groups Coordinator, responsible above all for the creation of new groups and the strengthening of weaker ones I have learned how important this new blood is. Val Lawton now an enthusiastic member of many groups, and determined to run one of her own once she has recovered her mobility following an operation, told me it was this event last year that sold this organisation to her.
Think of the success of new member Gerwyn Thomas and the hugely pleasurable and effective way he has formed a Jive Group in the Monkey Cafe on Wednesday mornings and The Members On Their Own Group (MOTO) for those who have lost partners. MOTO have an ever increasing range from events in Swansea to overnight trips and were even promoting a short Baltic cruise until the company Travelsphere pulled out for lack of sufficient overall support. A lot of their ideas originate from group discussion over coffee in the Monkey cafe on Jive mornings.
Then think that the French Class was failing as its tutor had died. Along come three new members Steve Johnson who had lived in Paris for 30 years, followed by Beryl Edney who taught our kids French, then Celia Roberts with a degree in French and an interest in teaching, all three joined this year. Think Italian and my chance meeting with Carolina Rosati-Jones who had taught me at DACE, she hadn't even heard of the U3A and is now both a member and a tutor.
Remember how the Chess Group was set up by a hugely enthusiastic new member, and then how Ken Huntley, a school coach, has helped the embryo group with coaching. Think how Lawmary Champion is well on the way to revitalising the Literature Reading Group after its original leader had died, with new members joining to add to a solid core, as well as creating another group in Cards for Pleasure.
Don't forget either how Cecily the Chairman's wife has brought to fruition her idea to have high quality lectures in advance of classical music concerts in the Brangwyn presentations. Concert Goers Group is helping people to enjoy the concerts even more. This added to her last years successful inauguration of a wine group and a third book group with a fourth this year.
The latest group of all, Tai Chi taught by Mike Hart, arose from a contact direct to the Chairman Bob Hughes and has now been split into two classes at 9.30 and 11.00 on Friday morning, so as to allow members of the Digital Media Group (digital photographic editing techniques) run by Anthony Hughes to attend Tai Chi as well.
I am often asked what lies behind this expansion and diversification and I usually answer luck, ie chance meetings and contacts, but though my wife Joan would find this almost impossible to believe I would add 'listening'. Listening to the ideas of strangers at events like this one, and listening to the ideas of established members. Lastly I hope and think this blog has provided vastly improved communication of activities and developments. No less than two first time jivers last week said they were encouraged to try thanks to this blog. The Internet is undoubtedly a technology to be seized. I am prepared to put effort into this publication because I know the information is being potentially shared by 250 members. Think of the effort and cost of producing and mailing an equivalent weekly newsletter. This blog costs the U3A nothing, and me but a few hours of my time each week, usually till after midnight!
Dynamic long term members also contribute on their own initiative. Two years ago long time member Mo Ellard was running the one and only book reading group. Last year she decided with Margaret Winter to establish an Art Appreciation Group with lectures by a respected tutor. This year she has further diversified, with two coach trips to the National Museum of Wales in Cardiff and to an Art based 5 day holiday in The Netherlands. Likewise Marjorie Vanston who has run the Welsh Group for years, also organises trips for instance to the outdoor theatre at St Fagan's, and keeps her eyes open for other events and lectures of interest. The Politics and Citizenship Group also organise trips, this year a guided trip to Swansea's Synagogue and the Mosque in St Helen's Road. Astronomy have projects including hiring a time slot to use a powerful international telescope.
SWANSEA U3A
If you believe that life begins at fifty you will believe anything! BUT being fifty truly does offer a new beginning. There is a life after raising a family, one which opens new opportunities, so does retirement, and though it must be hard to believe at the time there is even a life after losing a loved partner. The Swansea U3A will help you make new friends, widen your interests by helping you pursue new ones and develop present ones, and always in a relaxed, friendly atmosphere - unfortunately often not envisaged from our full title University of the Third Age. Above all this is a self help organisation, run by members freely giving their time to help others pursue an ever wider range of interests. Here then is a departure from the normal style of my blog so as to provide some appreciation of our activities for anyone enquiring at our stand.
There are basically three strands to our activities
1) Weekly Lecture in term time. On Wednesday afternoons, usually in the large Grove Lecture Theatre at Swansea University. The program varies each year and always covers a wide range of topics of general interest - think Radio 4 rather than a university lecture.
2) Interest Groups. There are over forty Groups, say of between 10 and 40 members, with specific common interests.
Physical Activities like Walking (and lunching!), Geology field trips, Jiving, Tai Chi, Short Mat Bowls and Gardening.
Discussion groups like Roly Govier's Discussion Group, Politics and Civilisation, and, Book Reading
Social Groups , like Wine Tasting, Sunday Lunches and MOTO.
3) Miscellaneous Events, like the Jill Govier's Pantomime in the Dolphin Hotel on only its second year, a real fun event for actors, audience and even those who are only there for the cream tea.
An Official Outing just returned from Tintern Abbey.
The St David's Day Lunch for 100 and the Christmas Lunch in the Greyhound. Then there's Taste of World Food where Lyn Holt and Team cook to a theme for 50 - this year's themes were Celtic (Whisky, Haggis, Laverbread etc), then the American Confederacy, finally last week's Asian Food.
The Quiz in St David's Hall, the Open Day in the Dolphin where my year began and the possibilities started to unfold.
Don Mason sends this poem to amuse elderly PC Buffs
The computer swallowed grandpa
Yes, honest it's true!
He pressed 'Control & Enter'
And disappeared from view
It devoured him completely
The thought just makes me squirm
He must have caught a virus
Or been eaten by a worm
I've searched through the recycle bin
And files of every kind;
I've even used the Internet
But nothing did I find
In desperation, I asked Jeeves
My searches to refine
The reply from him was negative
Not a thing was found on-line
So, if inside your Inbox
My grandpa should you see
Please Copy, Scan and Paste him
And send him back to me.
by ANON or was it DON? who adds
We do not stop playing because we grow old
We grow old because we stop playing.
SOUTH WALES & SEVERNSIDE NETWORK of U3As
Margaret Massey is our Network representative. As an organisation they target improved coordination between individual U3As, like this one at Swansea. They also have several meetings a year attended by representatives of all the constituent groups, and the next one is Wednesday 8 April 10am (until 3.30pm) at the University of Glamorgan at Trefforest.
The cost including a buffet lunch, tea and coffee breaks is 10.50. If anyone wants to go they should contact Margaret on 205028 before the end of March. There is a full program of lectures from a Keynote Address by Ruth Marks, Commissioner for Older People in Wales, a hour discussion on 'Sharing Ideas', in the afternoon Angela Fish, Director of the university's Intergenerational Unit will lead contributions on 'Spanning the Generations', and finally to conclude Network Business session.
Margaret handed me this information a month ago but I held onto it seeking a better time to publicise. That time of course was yesterday, before the bog update emails went out. Sorry Margaret.
Many already know that the Geology Group operates across the Network with site visits from the Pembrokeshire west coast to beyond Wales eastern borders, for instance including the Malverns. If interested contact Yvonne Thomas on 01554 832337 or better still email her on
yvonne@lunn-thomas.fsnet.co.uk
and ask her to email a poster of the next visit. One of the beauties of studying geology is the beauty of the sites you have to visit! We are indeed privileged to live in such a wonderful part of the world.
Computer Storage and this Blog
Some people are worried at how large this blog is getting, but you will rarely want to read back further than the last two postings, there is always some editing in the week before the next posting, the Network section above is a case in point.
However be assured that the bulk of the blog is held on a Google server computer on the web. When you bring up the blog only the most recent sections will be downloaded to your PC and the memory they temporarily use will be released the moment, when having finished you shut the blog down. In this respect it is no different to any other time you access the Internet.
INAUGURAL LECTURE by PROFESSOR VANESSA BURHOLT
She is the Professor of Social Gerontology and will lecture on 'Is home where the heart is? The affinities between people and betwixt places in later life'. It will be held in the Taliesin Theatre at 3pm on 1 April, and members are invited to attend.
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