Registered Charity No 288007

Dear Members, 

I little thought, as the year 2010 commenced the new decade, that I would now have joined the list of Arun Valley U3A Branch Chairmen who have sat down, with fevered brow, and wondered what on earth to put in the News Letter. It seems to me that the only thing I can do, bearing in mind my limited experience, is to tell you what my sudden unexpected elevation to chairmanship makes me think about our U3A Branch.                                                                                                                                                        

THE AGM .  Apart from the fact that there was no competition to my being elected as your Chairman, I thought we had an enjoyable AGM this year. In Chris Hare we had a very engaging Speaker and the level of conversation at tea time seemed to indicate an appreciation of the event as an opportunity to meet with fellow members. So I do wonder why only 41 out of our approximately 100 members come to the AGM, to at least show support for the committee members. In fact, if you take away the number of new and past committee members, who were there, you are left with a mere handful of other members who concern themselves with the Branch as well as their own Study Groups. When you think about it, without this organisation behind it, the Study Groups would not exist. 

THE COMMITTEE.  The first meeting of the new committee following the AGM went very well, indicating that we will work well together for the year ahead. However I discovered that, like myself, the members of the committee do not love “Committee Work”, and are not doing the job for some personal kudos. We are, without exception, prepared to take our turn in the activities required to pay back a bit for the benefits of attending Study Groups and enjoying the friendship of U3A.

THE TREASURER. The Branch needs to find a new Treasurer, because Jenny Waterhouse, who has ably filled this position since 2004, has done much more than the three year norm and we owe it to her to give her a break. As we do not know who might have an aptitude in this direction, we are asking for help from someone to understudy Jenny with a view to taking over in March 2011. Perhaps for a change it could be a man or perhaps a couple could do it together. Please approach me or a member of the Committee to discuss it; WE NEED YOUR HELP

THE STRAWBERRY TEA. 

Our next big event is the Strawberry Tea on 6^th July in Penny and Graham Martin’s Garden. We would be pleased to find out if any other member has a reasonable sized garden which they would be happy to offer for this event in some future year. Perhaps you could think about it and discuss the idea  with a member of the committee before or on 6^th July. We look forward to seeing a bumper turnout for this very popular event.

 With very best wishes for an enjoyable and rewarding Quarter

Home |  The Committee  |  Newsletter |  Links  |  Members  | Calendar | Help |