Activities
To contact our Group
Co-ordinator
Click Here
This page contains a brief description of our various activities together with advice on how to form a group if your particular topic is not covered. This listing is far from complete at the moment but it is hoped to add-to as we progress. Topics covered at the moment are:-
How to Form a Group
The Walking Groups
The Handywoman Group
The Gardens Group
The Mah Jong Group
The Creative Writing Group
The Genealogy Group
The Singing Group
The Guitar Group
Does the U3A cover the subjects
that interest you?
Are you satisfied with the content of the subjects covered?
If the answer is NO to either of these questions then we, the members, are deficient to a degree. If there is no group to cover the particular subjects that interest you then something CAN be done about it.
First and foremost we need a group of like-minded members to come together. These can be identified by someone putting an article in the newsletter or asking for an announcement at one of the monthly meetings. Then, simply arrange a get-together at a convenient location in order to discuss what is required and how you are going to achieve it. In particular, determine who is going to be the group leader.
I’m sure there is a considerable misconception on exactly what the duties of a group leader might be:
All the group leader has to do is to coordinate the activities of the group, ie. keep everyone informed of what is going on, together with where and when. It will be handy if the group coordinator (probably a better name than ‘leader’) has access to e-mail, as this is the cheap and convenient method of maintaining contact with group members, but of course there is always snail-mail & telephone to fall back on.
The subject of where to meet really depends upon the nature of the group; for instance it is little problem for a Bridge Group to rotate around members’ houses. Where a particular piece (or pieces) of equipment are required you may be limited to one particular home, or if numbers necessitate, you could hire one of the local community centres as a meeting place. Simplest of all is the likes of the Gardens Group who meet outside, at various locations, for their activity.
Whatever you choose, of course, has to be paid for, whether it be a local community hall, the services of an outside tutor or refreshments at a person’s home. In this we insist that each group be self-financing. Our £8 overall membership fee could not possibly cover the necessary costs of every group.
So – if the Andover U3A does not fully meet your needs, please consider starting a new group. It is not difficult or time-consuming and indeed there is a great deal of satisfaction to be gained. If you would like to talk this through with the Groups Coordinator or one of the committee members, help is always at hand.
A Guide to Walking Groups
Andover U3A has four walking and two strollers groups each with its own slightly different strategy. Read on to find a group that suits you.
Let us start with Walkers 1 who walk on the 2nd and 4th Thursdays of each month. This group prefers to take a leisurely pace with time to chat and take in the views. They take about 2¼ hours to do about 8 kilometres (that is 5 miles in old money). In practice walks vary according to the terrain, the more hills the shorter the route. With the standard 10.30 ramble-off walkers are out of their boots ready for lunch well before 1 o’clock.
Walkers 2, who walk on the 1st and 3rd Thursdays, like a slightly brisker pace and with the same time constraint can manage up to 6 miles, occasionally a little over if stops are kept to a minimum.
Weekend Walkers walk on the 1st Saturday of each month. Their pace is similar to Walkers 2 but most walks are over 5 miles, some are as long as 7 - naturally matched with a later lunch.
The Tuesday Group has a different strategy, being primarily for those who like to walk fast and longer distances than the other groups. With exercise foremost, there is little time to chat except at the short mid-point stop and lunch is not normally part of the curriculum. Meeting at the Iron Bridge on Micheldever Road, Andover, at 9am, they aim to be back between 11 and 11.30.
At the other end of the scale are the two groups of Strollers who, as the name indicates, prefer a gentler way to keep fit.
Strollers 1 (Thursday Strollers) meet on the 1st & 3rd Thursday of the month. They aim to keep walks to 2 - 4 miles long, taking between 1 & 2 hours, giving time to lean on a few farm gates before enjoying lunch.
Strollers 2 (Tuesday Strollers) meet on the 2nd & 4th Tuesday of the month. Walks are between 2 & 4 miles maximum, normally taking 1 to 2 hours and finishing with a pub lunch. This is a very social group who enjoy chatting en route and taking in the English countryside. Due to its popularity Strollers 2 is presently full with a waiting list.
Regarding lunch, you need to know that U3A prefers to walk off-road in the country. Unfortunately there are few cafes out in the sticks so you will find most walks start and finish at a village pub that does reasonable food. However, please don’t get the idea that lunch is a boozer’s paradise. There are normally more soft drinks and coffee cups than pint glasses on the lunch tables. Of course, staying for lunch is not compulsory.
So you are interested. Get in touch with the leader of your preferred group; it’s as simple as that. Trial walks are the norm and if you are up to it, you can join more than one group.
A few essentials:
You will need transport. About 50% of venues are within 10 miles of Andover with a few over 20 miles. Most people share cars.
You will be expected to be suitably attired, pay attention to your own safety and generally keep to the pace of the walk leader.
Walkers take turns to
organise and lead walks once they have become established. Coaching is available
and nobody is turned away if they find it too difficult.
To contact Walkers 1 click here
To contact Walkers 2 click here
To contact Weekend Walkers click
here
To contact Tuesday Walkers
click here
To contact Strollers 1
click
here
To contact Strollers 2 click here
As
indicated by the title, this group is specially designed for ladies to take the
mystique out of the small technical jobs that arise around the home. The aim is
to learn about electrical, water and central heating systems and what you can do
yourself to solve problems before calling in a tradesman. You will learn about
the tools needed for tasks and use them to fit an electric plug, investigate a
dripping tap and fix something on a wall. You will also learn the precautions
to take and the pitfalls that await the unwary.
This practical group’s activities can be tailored to meet the requirements of
the members, so if there are other jobs around the home that you feel you might
tackle, come along and learn in a light-hearted way how to be your own
handywoman.
The group will start
with the basics, but will welcome back several members who have joined during
the year.
We meet
in the Burghclere Down Community Centre Meeting Room at 10.30 am to 12 noon on the first Friday of the month. If you
would like to join us, please come along.
To contact
the Group Leader, Derek Grimston,
click here
By the time you read this the
Gardens Group will be coming to the end of the 2010 programme. There are many and
varied visits to follow throughout the year and I hope there may be
one or two extra little surprise visits tucked in somewhere.
Prior to each visit, everyone in
the group will receive full travelling instructions and I would very much
appreciate knowing whether or not you are able to attend.
At our "cream tea"
afternoon I mentioned that I and some friends do some volunteer gardening in the
grounds of the beautiful Houghton Lodge near Stockbridge.
Under the direction of
the head gardener we prune, snip, tidy, leaf pick, weed and generally enjoy a
three hour session twice a month. Nothing too strenuous and our reward is a free
tea break with scrummy home-made cake in the tea room. Do you fancy joining us
to help maintain this beautiful garden? The day and time can be mutually agreed
and it makes sense to fill a car. I already have one new volunteer from the
group and a few more would be wonderful — just ring or e-mail me
To contact
the Group Leader, Hilary Eddy, click here
Mah Jong
The group meets twice a month on the 1st & 2nd Friday from
2-5pm, except for the Friday nearest to Easter and the 2nd Friday in
December. We meet in members’ houses but this is dependent on the host/hostess
being able to accommodate the numbers and is entirely on a voluntary
basis.
To
contact the Group Leader,
Margaret Bowman, click here
Read Out Loud
We record readings for visually impaired people onto mp3 files and CDs.
The group leader has experience of helping with the Andover VIPs’ monthly audio
magazine and with the RNIB audio library. One member has read for the Andover
Talking Newspaper for some years. Nevertheless, we feel that there is a need
for varied short excerpts, stories and articles, even short play-readings. The
best part is when something sparks off a discussion around our varied knowledge
and interests. We would welcome another one or two members. Meetings are on
the 2nd & 4th Wednesdays of the month, from 2-4pm at
Picket Piece.
To
contact the Group Leader,
Peter Spurgeon,
click here
Creative Writing
Since our inaugural group
leader moved house I have been caretaking. We tend to have some target for
writing each month and bring our 5 or 10 minutes’ worth to read. A blind
writer/group leader from a London U3A (Read Out Loud have recorded some of his
guidelines for the blind) joins us through a Skype computer link. We enjoy
reading our own stuff and getting feedback from the others. Persons may join
the group with the intention of writing a book, contributing to a group
anthology, entering a writing competition etc. We would welcome another two or
three members, a prospective group leader in particular. Meetings are on the 3rd
Wednesday of the month from 2-4pm at Picket Piece.
To
contact the Group Leader,
Peter Spurgeon,
click here
Genealogy
Meetings are held on the 3rd Wednesday
afternoon of each month. Members of the group are at varying stages of
researching their family tree and their family history. The aim is to put
historical ‘flesh’ on the ‘bones’ of the family tree. Whether a beginner or
‘old hand’ there are always stumbling blocks; exchanging news, views and
suggestions on this fascinating topic has helped members to solve many a
problem.
To
contact the Group Leader,
John Barrell, click here
Singing
The group has re-formed and
would love some new members. We sing for fun, twice monthly on the first &
third Friday evenings of the month, from 7-8.30pm. Our meeting place is St
Ann’s Hall, Suffolk Road, where we’re lucky enough to have a piano – and someone
to play it for us! We share the modest hall hire charge between us. Do give me
a ring, or come and give us a try. To contact the group leader, Jean Owens,
please
telephone the number in the groups list issued with each Newsletter.
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We meet once a month at a member's home with
three photos of A4 size, or thereabouts, presented on A2 mountboard. We discuss
our pictures and vote to decide which is our individual best. These pictures,
one from each member, are posted on Flickr. Several topics are selected in
advance so that we know what we are working towards in coming months. To contact
the group leader, Andy Hellyer,
click here
To see some of Photo group three photographs,
please follow this link
http://www.flickr.com/groups/663439@N21.
On entering the Flickr page, follow the instructions to
view the contents.
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Happy
New Year from the Guitar Group. We resume our meetings, on a weekly basis, on
the 12th January.
New members are welcome and may contact me on my home number, 01264 729155. We
meet every Wednesday at my house from 10.30 till 12.00.
To contact the Group Leader, Stuart Hinkin,
click here