Andover U3A

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~   Thank You from The Balkans   ~

A Message from Elizabeth Gowing, Speaker at the Andover U3A's February Meeting

Elizabeth Gowing, who gave the talk on "The Rubbish Picker's Wife" to a packed hall at the February 2020 meeting of the Andover U3A, has asked that we pass on a message to those members who attended that meeting.

Elizabeth sends a big Thank You to our generous members who gave a total of £275.10 in cash donations, given to both her and the collectors at the end of the meeting. This amount could enable huge changes where she works in Kosovo, and she is really grateful to you all.

Quester 2 Trip

The Home of Charles Darwin - Down House in Kent

Monday 8th June 2020

Quester 2 are planning a trip to Down House, the family home of Charles Darwin and where he wrote "On the Origin of Species". Further information about Down House can be found on the English Heritage website.

Timetable

Leave from Wickes' car park at 07.45, journey time to Down House approximately 2 hours.

Leave Down House at 16.30, and arrive back in Andover 18.30-19.00.

Expected Costs

Coach seat & driver’s gratuity: £15.75 per person (based on 40 people travelling); £13.05 per person (based on 49 people travelling).

Entrance Fee: £13.10 without Gift Aid;  English Heritage members free.

Lunch: The Down House Tearoom is located in the kitchen of Down House and provides a seasonal menu. However, as the tearoom cannot accommodate a full coachload at any one time, choosing to eat there will involve queuing. Choosing Option 3 of the Optional Extras (below) avoids that queue in the tearoom.

Optional Extras

Option 1 - House Tour. £5.00 per person; 15 people in each tour.

Option 2 - Garden Tour. £3.75; 20 people in each tour.

Option 3 - Buffet Lunch. A buffet lunch can be arranged in a private room for £10.00 per head, in 2 sittings.

The buffet lunch consists of a selection of freshly-made sandwiches (for example, cheddar and chutney, ham with tomato or mustard, tuna mayonnaise with cucumber, and egg mayonnaise with rocket), crisps, salad garnish, cake bites.  Tea, filter coffee, water and juice are included.  Gluten free options are available.  

If you are an Andover U3A member and are interested in this trip, please contact Margaret Bowman by emailing her at bowman92@btinternet.com. You should include details of your preferences for the Optional Extras, and whether or not you are a member of English Heritage.

Proposed New Group

Play-reading

Member Vera Hughes has expressed an interest in starting up a Play-reading Group. The suggested format is that members would be assigned characters in a particular play which they would be able to read through at home, followed by a Group meeting where they would come together to read the play out loud.

Vera is hoping to attend the February monthly meeting at the Fairground Hall, and would like to discuss the idea of this group with any interested parties. If you are interested in the proposed Play-reading Group and cannot attend the February meeting, please contact Vera by email at dvchesters@aol.com

Proposed New Group

Social Croquet

Did you ever wonder about croquet and how to play it? Then the Social Croquet group is for you! This is croquet without any complicated rules - but with all of the fun!

There is already a group which plays regularly, but it is oversubscribed, so Andover U3A member Margaret Henstock has grasped the mallet (!) and is hoping to form a new group. She has found a place to play, and also has enough basic equipment for anyone else interested so that play can commence immediately.

Several members of the established group have kindly offered to act as mentors and help with some basic instruction.

Margaret has been fortunate to get permission from St Mary Bourne Council and the village Cricket Club to have access to their sports field "The Rec" without charge. It has a lovely flat surface in a quiet corner of the field on which the new group can play.

The adjacent village shop serves excellent coffee and tea. Toilets and ample parking are also available. Margaret hopes that this new group can meet on Thursday mornings, but this is just a suggestion at the moment until she can ascertain the level of interest:   the aim is to be flexible.

Anyone interested should contact Margaret by emailing margaret.henstock@beamingmail.com.

Request for Volunteer Qualified Minibus Drivers

Are you a MIDAS-qualified minibus driver, under the age of 70, who would like to volunteer to drive members of a Quester Group on one or more of their outings?

If so, please contact Sally Cousins by emailing sallycousins60@gmail.com as soon as possible.

Royal Holloway University

~ Partnered with the University of the Third Age ~

Citizens 800 Shared Learning Project

Background

Supported by the Heritage Lottery Fund, the Citizens Project aims to provide a better understanding of the development of the relationship between the citizen and the state in Britain over the last 800 years.

Further information about the Citizens Project can be found on the Citizens 800 website.

U3A Involvement

Royal Holloway University is partnered with the University of the Third Age (U3A), and encourages U3A members to join Royal Holloway's programme of Shared Learning Projects.

Shared Learning Projects involve a team of U3A members carrying out research for an institution such as a museum, archive or gallery where there is a specific project to which volunteers can contribute. The emphasis is on partnership:   the host organisation working with members of the U3A team who are contributing to the project.

A number of articles produced by U3A volunteers as part of the Shared Learning Projects can be found here.

Upcoming projects include investigations relating to the Peterloo Massacre, Chartism, and the pre-World War 1 period of "The Great Unrest".

How to Volunteer

Further information and details of how to volunteer can be found on the U3A area of the Citizens 800 website.