NW U3A NEWS
Issue No.13 April 2011
1. From the NW Trustee
Dear NW U3A Member,
Since the last Newsletter there have been meetings of the Education and Development Contacts (EDCs) in the NW, the NW Region Executive Committee (NWREC), The national Finance and General Purposes Committee (F&GP), The national Standing Committee on Education (SCE) and the National Executive Committee (NEC) all of which I attended. I am keen to attend as many Network meetings as possible as this gives me access to local U3As (there is no way I can visit all our 70+ NW U3As). Recently I have been to the SECheshire & NStaffs cluster which is discussing a 3 way split to increase local collaborations and save travel time, and SWLancs which is also endeavouring to increase local collaborations. I have visited West Cheshire Rural and Southport U3As to present their Third Age Trust Membership Certificates; the latter is unusual in that they are 25 years old but have only just joined the fold having been one of the very few U3A anywhere in the UK who did not affiliate when the Trust got going all these years ago. We look forward to both these U3As taking a full part in our activities.
The NEC has now altered the arrangements for some aspects of start-ups of new U3As giving more responsibility to the Region. We believe this will greatly improve the start-up process for new U3As. If any of you have ideas for areas where a start-up might be a good idea please let me know. We are already involved with Cheadle & Gatley, Hale & Bowdon, Middlewich, Parbold, Skelmersdale, Wythenshaw, Workington and Wyre. We are aware of how few U3As there are in East Lancashire and of several areas where total U3A membership is remarkably low.
The NEC have now fixed a two day session in late May on a forward planning exercise for the longer term development of the movement informed by the Survey you took part in last Autumn. If you have any other ideas or things you feel we ought to consider please let me know asap and at the latest by early May.
We had an excellent day in Carlisle organised by Peter Monaghan on the influence of the Romans and Reivers on the Borders.
There is quite a lot of progress on various events in the NW foreshadowed in previous Newsletters. These are detailed below. APPLICATIONS NOW NEEDED FOR
AGM and Annual Lecture Liverpool - 20 May
NW Regional Conference No1 on Running your U3A with Mike Long, Manchester - 28 June
NW Regional Conference No2 on Finance and Size & Recruitment with Terry Hardie, Chester - 25 July
In addition I wish to remind you about the U3A National Conference that will take place in Nottingham in September this year. More information in the National U3A News and on the National Website. These only occur every two years nowadays.
John Ellison – NW Regional Trustee j.ellison521@btinternet.com 01524 733400 11 April 2011
2. Future NW Events
26-28 April 2011 Myerscough Easter School may be able to accommodate a very few extra people so if you are interested contact Kathleen Mercier kathleenmercier@talktalk.net or phone 0151 652 0808. Mobile 07939110006.
20 May 2011 Distinguished Lecture and NW Region AGM at Liverpool. You are reminded that this event will be a lecture for a general audience followed by our AGM. The lecture this year will be given by Prof Carole Mundell on Black Holes. She has an excellent reputation both as an experimental Astronomer and for her talks to lay audiences. The event will be held at the Liner Hotel behind Lime Street Station. Full details and an application form and flier are Appendix 1 to this newsletter or on NW Regional website.
28 June 2011 Regional Conference No 1. This will be a full day event in Manchester funded by the Third Age Trust and free to delegates. It is designed to help U3As to run efficiently and profitably for their members and help with communications between and within U3As and between U3As and the Trust and Region. Individual applications should be made, but if numbers from any one U3A are too large we will consult their U3A on priorities since individuals are regarded as delegates from their U3A. Each NW U3A is entitled to send delegates and we hope all NW U3As will be represented at this and/or the July Conference outlined below. In order to avoid waste any cancellations must be notified as soon as possible, although substitutions are acceptable without notice. In exceptional circumstances additional places may be available for non delegates for a modest charge. If this situation arises applicants will be advised by mid May. An application form is in appendix 2 to this newsletter.
25th July 2011 Regional Conference No 2. This will also be a full day event in Chester (note change in venue) funded by the Third Age Trust concentrating on Finance and Size & Recruitment of New members for U3As. As with the Regional Conference No 1 it will include a talk, this time by Terry Hardie (the Treasurer for the Third Age Trust) and parallel sessions including one specifically on Treasurer matters and the other of wide interest on size considerations of U3As and the vital importance of getting new members. The application arrangements will be the same as for Conference 1 discussed above. Details and an application form are now available see appendix 3 of this Newsletter and the NW Regional Website
October/November 2011 Singing Together Days. Two sessions are planned and details are being finalised with the singing groups who we know wish to participate. The southern group will meet at Formby in late October (date to be finalised), the northern group will meet at The Friends Meeting House at Lancaster, next to the rail station, on 2 November. If others we have missed wish to be involved please contact either John Harman for the Lancaster event (01995 603232, j.harman@virgin.net) or Sue Watkinson for the Formby one (01695 422423, wandsw@uk2.net). Lunch will be included on each day and costs will be advised asap.
FOR INFORMATION
We are happy to include pieces on Network Activities or items from U3As which are relevant to other local U3As in these Newsletters and on our website. These should be future events that are available for members of NW U3As. Please send by email to j.ellison521@btinternet.com. We do not have fixed publication dates for newsletters so send items as soon as possible. In all cases the editors reserve the right to omit or edit items submitted. As always 'the editors’ decision is final'!
Also note that items appear on the NW Regional website (nwu3a.web.officelive.com) as and when available. So by watching this you can get earlier notice of events.
APPENDIX 1
NW REGION
All members of north west U3As are invited to attend our 2nd annual lecture. Members of U3As outside the NW are also welcome although initially priority will be given to NW members.
We welcome distinguished speaker
Carole Mundell,
Professor of Galactic Astronomy at Liverpool John Moores University,
who will speak on
Big Bangs and Black Holes
FRIDAY 20TH MAY 2011
in The Liner Hotel, Liverpool (behind Lime Street Station), starting at 2.00 p.m.
Carole Mundell’s area of research is fascinating and she is excellent at articulating her science and making it accessible, producing a "WOW" factor in her presentations. She is especially good at speaking to a general audience and is committed to public engagement with science having taken part in the Royal Society's "Frontiers of Science" programme.
Synopsis of Professor Mundell’s presentation
Although the idea of 'black holes' dates back over 200 years, they remained a speculation until the late 20th century.
Now the existence of black holes has been confirmed by observation and at the forefront of modern astronomy are questions regarding their creation and the far-reaching consequences of their existence. Astronomers can never hope to travel to black holes and so instead rely on the coded information contained within the detected light from these distant objects.
The visible light to which our human eyes are most sensitive has enriched culture for thousands of years. However, this light represents only a small fraction of the total light available for collection: technological advances in the 20th and 21st centuries have ensured that we can collect light ranging from the highest energy gamma rays, through X-rays to long wavelength radio waves - the whole range of the electromagnetic spectrum.
Professor Mundell will introduce some of the most powerful phenomena in the Universe that are driven by black holes, big and small - Active Galactic Nuclei and Gamma Ray Bursts. Comparing and contrasting our current understanding gained from this range of observations across the spectrum, Professor Mundell will give a flavour of life as an observational astronomer in the modern era of robotic telescopes and real-time discoveries.
Coffee/tea will be available after the talk, which will be followed by the
Annual General Meeting of the North West Region of U3As.
Everyone is welcome to attend the AGM but only nominated representatives of each individual U3A in the North West Region may vote. Full particulars have been sent to all U3As in the NW giving formal notice of the agenda etc. This information is also on the NW U3A Website which will be updated as deadlines pass so that you can keep up with the agenda and nominations to NWREC as they develop. If any U3A needs this information in an email please let me know.
NW U3A APPLICATION FORM FOR LECTURE AND AGM 2011
I would like to attend the Lecture on Friday 20 May 2011 in The Liner Hotel, Liverpool, starting at 2.00 p.m.
Name ………………………………………………………………………………………………………….
Address …………………………………………………………………………………………………………
Phone Number ……………………………… Email ………………………………………………
I am a member of ………………………………………………….. U3A
I enclose my cheque for £5, made payable to “North West Region of U3As”
Signed ………………………………………………………………….
Please indicate if you plan to attend the AGM that follows the lecture yes / no
If you wish to attend the AGM but not the lecture, please let us know (email is fine). The AGM is free.
Please return this booking slip and cheque to:
Mrs Susan Watkinson, 12 Church Lane, Aughton, Ormskirk, L39 6SB
(Telephone 01695 422 423, email wandsw@uk2.net)
APPENDIX 2
NORTH WEST REGION
REGIONAL CONFERENCE 1
Tuesday 28th June 2011 from 10.30 to 16.15(approx)
at Unitarian Chapel, Cross Street, Manchester M2 1NL.
The Conference will concentrate on discussions about various aspects of the working of U3As, The meeting will start with a talk by Mike Long (National Educational and Development Officer) covering his experiences over quite a few years and various strategies for improving the workings of U3As. (Mike is retiring at the end of June so its your chance to bid him a happy retirement.) This will be followed by parallel sessions on the three subject areas listed below from which each participant will select 2. Each session will last for up to 90min. Each group will have short introduction(s) followed by discussions. The convenors of these sessions will be Mike Long, Meg Shaw and Sue Watkinson. We will structure the day so as to be of interest to both new and more established U3As and we shall try to discuss and exchange views as fully as possible. This is a Delegate meeting funded by the Third Age Trust and we hope all U3As in the NW will be represented. If a U3A wishes to send too many delegates we may have to charge, however this meeting is it will be free (including refreshments and lunch) to most delegates.
1. Group Leaders - finding & supporting group leaders, sustaining the group, and examining suitable ways of sharing learning.
2 . Committees - efficient running of committees, taking into account the specific nature of U3A committees and that committees are made up of individuals.
3. Communications – promoting your U3A, internal communications, relations with external bodies, websites, newsletters and diaries.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
APPLICATION FORM for NW Regional Conference at Manchester to be returned as soon as possible and if at all possible by 10 May 2011
NAME U3A
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Address
Post Code
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Email Phone
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
I wish to attend the following options. RING the two you want to attend. If you are not too concerned please make this clear by ranking them in order. This would help us as it may not be possible to arrange every combination.
1 Group Leaders 2. Committees 3. Communications
Please use a separate application form for each person. Please return this form as soon as possible since we need to schedule the details. Later applicants may not get as wide a choice of options. Return application forms to Trevor Cheetham, 40 Boat Lane Court, Brett Street, Northenden, Manchester, M22 4EZ. t.cheetham2@btinternet.com. PLEASE remember we need to know who is coming so you must register with Trevor.
APPENDIX 3
NORTH WEST REGION
REGIONAL CONFERENCE 2
Monday 25th July 2011 from 10.30 to 16.15(approx)
at Friends' Meeting House, Frodsham Street, Chester, CH1 3LF.
The Conference will concentrate on discussions about treasurer/finance matters and the need to attract new members to U3As. The meeting will start with a talk and discussion lead by Terry Hardie. Terry is nearing the end of a six year term as Treasurer of the Third Age Trust and has lots of experience of many aspects of the movement. This is almost your last chance to tap into this before he steps down as Treasurer in September. Depending on the numbers attending we plan to split into two groups for parts of the day, one specifically on Treasurer matters and the other going into considerations of size and the need and strategies for keeping new members coming in to a U3A. Overall the meeting will be of particular interest to Committee members and others with an interest in developing their U3A as well as to Treasurers and people interested in Developments and Recruitment.
As this is a delegate meeting financed by the Third Age Trust it will be free and refreshments and lunch are included for delegates from U3As. If a U3As wish to send too many members we may have to make a charge as it is specifically a delegate meeting. We hope all U3As in the NW will ensure that they are represented.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
APPLICATION FORM for NW Regional Conference No 2 at Chester to be returned as soon as possible and if at all possible by 10 June 2011
NAME U3A
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Address
Post Code
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Email Phone
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Please use a separate application form for each person. Please return this form as soon as possible since we need to schedule the details. PLEASE INDICATE if your primary interest is in
Treasurer & Finance or Size & Recruitment of New Members
Return application forms to John Ellison, 4 Crag Bank Crescent, CARNFORTH, LA5 9EQ. j.ellison521@btinternet.com 01524 733400. PLEASE remember we need to know who is coming so you must register with John.