Information for the March Newsletter should be sent to Moira Fair by Tuesday 23rd February at

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1 Furness FEBRUARY NEWSLETTER Issue No February 2016 Information for the March Newsletter should be sent to Moira Fair by Tuesday 23rd February at u3asites.org.uk/furness Programme of Meetings at The Coronation Hall, Ulverston 10.15am Date: Speaker and Subject: Refreshments: Tuesday February 9th Mr Archie Workman Life in the Gutter - Drainspotting Talking about Please note that filming will be taking place at this meeting. If you do not Poetry wish to be on camera, please sit near the rear of the hall. Tuesday March 8th The Annual General Meeting, Followed by: Judy Pickthall, Chair, Ulverston Community Enterprises UCE): The Future of the Coro Please note that Membership Cards must be shown on entrance The Forum Tuesday April 12th Mr Richard Hargreaves Mountains of Peace in the Balkans Ukulele At these meetings we invite all members who have recently joined to take their coffee break at the front of the hall, where we will answer queries, accept comments or just chat. The Committee Furness U3A Annual General Meeting To be held in the Coronation Hall on Tuesday March 8th 2016 at 10.15am The Committee would like to give notice that at the AGM two members of the existing Committee, one of whom is the Groups Organiser, will be standing down. Please would you consider joining the Committee to maintain the continuous running of YOUR U3A? There is a nomination form at the end of this letter. Attendance as an observer at the Committee Meeting on Thursday 11th February is possible by arrangement by contacting Sheila Price on Agenda 1. Chair s welcome 2. Apologies 3. Minutes of AGM held on 10th March 2015 (circulated ) to be agreed and signed 4. Reports by: a) Chair b) Treasurer Approval for the Accounts for 2015/16. (circulated) Approval for Examiner of Accounts (Tony Sewell) 5. Subscription for 2016/17 6. Election of Officers and Committee Members 7. Date of next AGM Tuesday, 14th March, 2017 Chair closes the Meeting. Please note: Any resolutions you wish to put forward to the membership at the AGM must be sent to the Secretary in writing, proposed and seconded, by 23rd February, Contact: Sheila Price : 12 Rusland Avenue, Barrow-in-Furness, LA14 5PU, sheilapriceless@gmail.com

2 Drop-in Sessions The next Drop-in is on Tuesday 23rd February from am, where the groups featured will be: Friday Walkers, Casual Striders, Bird Watching and Natterjacks Reading Group. There will be free advice available at the Computer help desk, please bring along your own PC etc. as this helps us to help you. Please come and enjoy the coffee and company. A Letter from the Chairman One of the joys of being part of the U3A is the great range of opportunities and topics it offers. My first job was as what was called an ad-hoc market researcher. I was assigned to the Industrial Research Division of the company, and thrown in at the deep end. Even before our basic training (a 13-week course for all the graduate trainees, imagine!), I was putting together research plans and designs for car and truck tyres, wallpaper and shortly afterwards, in-depth research into the British poster industry, interviewing some of the doyens of the advertising industry, and delivering a report that had a big impact on the development of that industry in the early seventies. All aged 22. It was heaven: particularly, the completely random set of topics that you had to get to grips with, fast, in order to be able to understand the industry and its issues, as well as the client's particular problem. Just suited my philomath mind, I suppose. I'm reminded of this because the World History Group is just about to embark on a major study of the American Civil War. As I've told most of them already, I've had a book on the shelf for twenty years just waiting for this, and it's now duly read. Not sure it was worth the wait, but it doesn't matter, there are now another thousand better pages waiting to be read! But the really great benefit of a group like World History is that over the four years I've been a member, we have covered about ten different topics, and each time I get to dig about and understand something that until that moment I knew virtually nothing about. Sometimes we want to learn more about a topic or domain we've always been interested in. But sometimes having to pick up a subject that is completely new is just what the ageing brain needs, and certainly the need to get to grips with the Civil War has awakened all those elements in me that made a career in ad-hoc market research so attractive so many years ago. It's just one of the things the U3A is good at. Let's have more of it. John Kaye New Groups The latest suggestions for new groups are listed below. If you are interested in any of them and would like to register that interest please use the contact provided or Maureen on , maureen@ganyam.com or sign up at the next Coro meeting. If you have any ideas for new groups or have any difficulty joining groups please contact Maureen. All Things Japanese One of our members with family connections in Japan would welcome a group that focussed on Japanese culture and possibly studying the language.. Practical Electronics Handbell Ringing Do we have any members who enjoy electronics and would be interested in forming a group? This is a possible new group for anyone who wants to understand electronics and collaborate with others to build small electronic devices using cheap components like the Raspberry Pi. No knowledge or previous experience necessary. electronics@furnessu3a.org for more information Following the talk at the last monthly meeting, a list of interested members was started. 2

3 How to Communicate Knitting Sports Enthusiasts A group to encourage and develop more effective speaking and listening skills. Please see the Group page on the website for further information or visit the February Drop-in. Contact Doug Cross or Liz Vaughan on , doug@ukcaf.org This is currently a very popular activity. Are there members who would like to meet regularly to develop this craft? A group for anyone wanting to discuss knitting problems, hone new skills, just get better at knitting and help others. knitting@furnessu3a.org if you are interested. We have a number of members who have already shown an interest in this potential group. The idea is to visit sports fixtures within the North West. Please contact Maureen, as above. Group Notices Linguistics The next meeting is on Wednesday 10th February, pm in the Small Bedford Room at Ulverston Methodist Church Hall (on the corner of Neville Street and Hartley Street). We will reprise CHILD LANGUAGE ACQUISITION. In addition, a group member will be leading discussion on the topic of how emphasis is or can be shown in writing. Please contact Mark on , morcusporcus@btinternet.com Local History Tuesday 23rd February at St. Mary's Parish Hall, Church Walk, Ulverston at 2.00pm. The speaker will be Mr. Stan Aspinall. All U3A members welcome. Thank you again Margaret for all your hard work for this group over many years. Manchester Camerata The next Manchester Camerata Concert is Baroque Favourites and features the extraordinary Norwegian trumpet virtuoso Tine Thing Helseth as well as the Strings of the Camerata. The concert is on Thursday 19th May at 7.30pm at the Coronation Hall. Our Group Booking (minimum 10 seats) attracts a 15% discount against the normal seat prices and I have made a provisional reservation of 25 balcony seats and 10 front stall seats. We can also book rear stall seats but I have not made any reservation yet. Group discounted prices for this concert are: Balcony and Front Stalls If you wish to book seats for this concert, please contact me on or or chrisaj.hill@gmail.com. For payment I will need your cheque, made payable to Furness U3A Social Fund, to be sent to Chris Hill, 14 Tantabank, Dalton in Furness, Cumbria, LA15 8QY before the closing date of 10th May. Questers A group for those interested in trips to places of educational interest. This group will meet on the 3rd Thursday of each month starting in February. Group contact: Lynda Shaw on lyndalea.shaw@btinternet.com Strollers There will be a meeting of the Strollers walking group to discuss the programme for 2016 at the Home and Finance cafe in Ulverston on Friday 26th February 2.30pm. For more information, contact: Pat on or Diane on Study Group The next full day course is on Thursday 10th March, Vibrant Pastels: Pastel Drawing with Duncan Ibbotson. Contact Carol Green on Sunday Lunch Group 1 Marian Miller is retiring from the leadership of this group after ten years. Thank you Marian for your valuable and much appreciated commitment. If anyone would be willing to take on the role please get in touch with Marian on Visiting Gardens Tuesday 16th February 2016 Conishead Priory. Meeting at Daltongate for car sharing and leaving at 10.15am. Tuesday 15th March - Holehird. More information later. For more details and to book your place, please ring Diane on All welcome. 3

4 Theatre Group The trip to see Two 2 at Bolton Octagon is now fully booked and will take place on Wednesday 24th February. Our next trip is to the Liverpool Playhouse on Thursday 26th May to see The Merry Wives. Known in Shakespeare s day as The Merry Wives of Windsor, it is set in the 1920s in the North of England: Sir John Falstaff is past his prime and skint. He attempts rather clumsily to seduce a couple of well-to-do wives. But Mistress Page and Mistress Ford get wise to his plan and decide to exact revenge with hilarious consequences. If you like your Shakespeare light, funny and wickedly entertaining then look no further. The Merry Wives is bursting at the seams with verbal fun, physical comedy and a bevy of cunningly colourful characters. Northern Broadsides distinctive charisma and zest for performance squeezes every last ounce of comedy gold from this affectionately calamitous tale that will tickle your funny bone and poke a jovial finger in the eye of middle England. Tickets, including coach trip, are 29 each. There will also be a very limited number of coach trip only tickets at If you wish to go, please complete the appropriate slip below. Please note the closing date is 29th March. Slips and cheques should be sent to Brenda Edmondson, 53 Sands Road, Ulverston, LA12 9PR, phone: ; brenda@brendaedmondson.wanadoo.co.uk or given to Brenda Edmondson, Grete Hughes or Moira Fair at the February monthly meeting. Please note that cheques are non-refundable. Tickets can, of course, be passed on to any U3A member. The coach will leave Barrow (Shell Garage) at 8.30 am, calling at Dalton, Ulverston, 8.40, Greenodd and Newby Bridge. Theatre Trip (including coach and theatre ticket) I would like..ticket(s) for The Merry Wives at the Liverpool Playhouse on Thursday 26th May 2016, and enclose a cheque, made payable to Furness U3A Social Fund, for 29 each. Name(s)... U3A number(s) Pick-up point Phone. Coach Trip only I would like..coach ticket(s) for Liverpool on Thursday 26th May 2016, and enclose a cheque, made payable to Furness U3A Social Fund, for each. Name(s)... U3A number(s) Pick-up point Phone. 4

5 Items of Interest JAM JARS FOR MARMALADE If anyone has any jam jars they can spare, with lids if possible, please bring them to the monthly meeting as many of our members are busy making marmalade. High Praise for the Memory Course a review from one of our members I recently attended the U3A memory course run by Kath Jones at the Coronation Hall. There were four morning sessions over 10 days. I didn't know what to expect - could such a course be fun? It was enormous fun as well as being very informative and well run by Kath. I thoroughly recommend the course. Nomination Form for Committee Members Please obtain the agreement of the person you are proposing, find a seconder, then complete the following form and send, by 10th February, to: Sheila Price, 12 Rusland Avenue, Barrow in Furness LA14 5PU. Nomination Form for Committee Members Position. Proposed nominee (print)... Membership No.. Proposed by (print). Membership No... Seconded by (print).. Membership No.. 5