30 October 2024

Welcome! The U3AC Bulletin is emailed out to members every Wednesday. It contains the latest news, courses and events.

As advised to all members last Thursday the premises will remain closed due to small traces of legionella bacteria found in a routine testing. We will contact everyone with an update later this week.

 

*** Today’s Wednesday Lecture ***


Today’s Wednesday Lecture at 2.15 pm entitled Trailblazer: the extraordinary life and work of Barbara Leith Smith Bodichon by Jane Robinson. Click HERE for the link or open Zoom and enter Meeting ID: 847 3179 6368 Passcode: 880192.

The Pink room is not available to view in person while the premises are closed.

 

What’s on next week


Tuesday 5 November at 1 pm – Film Group screening will be The Zone of Interest

Wednesday 6 November at 2.15 pm Wednesday Lecture will be Russians at war: what the Russian people think by Alla Viktorova. Booking is now open to attend in person in the Pink room – please email the Office.

 

New items


Allocation statistics

The Courses Committee has been asked to publish the data that was shared with the tutors and course leaders at the recent forum meeting.

At the point of allocation of courses in August, 97% of members secured their first choice. The number of courses offered in the programme booklet grew to 391 from 375 at the same point in 2023. Also, the number of places offered grew to 7598 from 7268 previously. The number of new tutors/course leaders recruited was 38.

The number of members in August allocated 1 course was 426, 2 courses 768, 3 courses 655, 4 courses 391, 5 courses 148 and 6 courses 29 out of a total of 2417.

John Procter Director of Studies (Courses) on behalf of the Courses Committee

An appeal for Trustees

This is the time of year when we invite members to consider becoming part of the overall management of the U3AC organisation, in other words to become a trustee and join the U3AC Council. Although you will know that the day-to-day operational work is undertaken and very well managed by our four members of staff, they are accountable to the Council which, in accordance with the Charity Commission regulations, has overall management responsibility. These two groups of people therefore work closely together.

The U3AC trustees come from varied backgrounds, experience and skills and we all contribute in one way or another to the running and support of the organisation. A number of current trustees will be stepping down at the AGM in March 2025, so we need some new trustees to replace them and to ensure the Council continues to work effectively for the benefit of our members. Speaking personally, over a period of years now, I have found it to be a very interesting and rewarding experience and – yes – it can also be challenging, but that is all part of good management. So – why not come and join us and help to keep this impressive show on the road. If you want to learn more about becoming a trustee and what it entails, then please contact me (Sally Livesey) using the address: secretary@u3ac.org.uk and we can take it from there.

Visit to Spencer House, London and Tate Britain

**This visit has now been opened up for friends and family, so please encourage everyone to apply.**

A visit to Spencer House and Tate Britain has been arranged on Monday 25 November 2024. Cost £45.50. Application forms are now available from on the Trips and Visits page of the website or to collect from the U3AC premises. Closing date for applications is Monday 11 November.

Matthew Bourne’s Swan Lake

A visit to Matthew Bourne’s Swan Lake at Norwich Theatre Royal has been arranged for Thursday 20 March 2025. Cost £68. Application forms will be available from Monday 4 November on the Trips and Visits page of the website.

U3AC Christmas Lunch

This year’s Christmas Lunch will be held in the Park Seasons restaurant at Cambridge Regional College on Tuesday 17 December. Application forms will be available from Monday 4 November.

 

Reminders – Courses and activities


If you are unable to attend one of your allocated courses, please let us know so that the place can be offered to someone on the waiting list. Thank you.

Talks – contact the Office to enrol

Climate Change Adaptation

Speaker: Nigel Blackmore

Date and time: Friday 8 November, 12.00 – 1.15pm

Venue: U3AC, Pink room

Places:30

Climate change is inevitable and worsening. It will, in the near future, have a devastating impact on all aspects of human lives, especially food production. We, and our government, must prepare now how to live in a new, frighteningly different world. This talk explains the problems, with evidence, and proposes solutions.

Nigel Blackmore, now retired was a civil servant, Budget Manger for the £1 billion Standards Fund at the Department of Education.

 

Our Changing Water Environment – Challenges and Opportunities

Date and time: Friday 15 November, 10:30 -13:00

Venue: Main Seminar Room, Cambridge Conservation Initiative, David Attenborough Building

Location: Pembroke Street, Cambridge, CB2 3QZ

Speakers include: Chris Gerrard, Anglian Water, Andy Turner, Environment Agency, Matthew Bullock, FenlandSOIL, Rachael Brown, CambsACRE

Places: 60

Water is fundamental to our health. Globally, access to water is being affected by climate change, and in Cambridgeshire, a high growth area, the added demands to build additional houses is placing more and more stress on our water infrastructure. Our challenges include water quality, flooding and water resource management. These challenges are affecting our chalk streams, agriculture and the future of farming. Our speakers will cover how these environmental considerations are impacting our water resources and their management and how some of these issues are beginning to be addressed. There will be an opportunity for questions, discussion; and identifying personal actions we can all do to help.  The event is open to members of the U3AC and CCF. With thanks to the Cambridge Conservation Initiative for kindly allowing us to host this event at the David Attenborough Building. Please contact the Office to book a place – the deadline for applications is Wednesday 13 November.

Attending classes when unwell

Cases of Covid and colds are again rising and as U3AC members are a high-risk demographic group we politely request you to consider your fellow U3AC members and if you feel unwell, particularly if you have a temperature and display symptoms of a respiratory infection, please do not attend your courses or enter the Bridge Street premises or any of our external venues used for courses and activities.

Vacancy list

If you are interested in applying for additional courses, there is a Vacancy list on the website showing all courses with current spaces; this is regularly updated.

Reminders – Visits and events


Support U3AC via City of Cambridge Symphony Orchestra (CCSO) concert

CCSO will be giving its next concert in West Road on Saturday 30 November at 7.30 pm.  You can support U3AC by buying your ticket through us as 50% of the ticket revenue will come to us. Cost £20, £10 (students), £6 (under 14).

The orchestra will be playing 3 pieces: Gershwin’s An American in Paris, Korngold’s Violin Concerto and Prokofiev’s Symphony no.7.

George Gershwin’s ‘An American in Paris’ is a cheerful and humorous overture portraying the impressions of an American visitor strolling about the city. The hustle and bustle of continental street life (complete with real taxi horns!) blends with nostalgic elements of jazz and blues in this entertaining cameo.

Erich Korngold emigrated from Austria to the USA during the 1930s, establishing himself as a film composer who brought symphonic techniques to the studio. By 1947, the year of his violin concerto, he was doing the reverse: his violin concerto is built on themes from his film music and is full of soaring melodies and rich harmony.

Prokofiev who, like Korngold, was also an accomplished composer for stage and film, composed seven symphonies over the course of his far from easy career. The seventh symphony was completed in 1952, the year before he died, in an attempt to improve his finances by winning the Stalin prize. Prokofiev originally ended the symphony on a sad note but was persuaded to add a more cheerful coda to impress the judges.  How the symphony (and the concert) will end at CCSO’s performance in November will be up to the audience to decide; you can be part of that decision.

To buy tickets for the concert, go to the CCSO website  https://ccso-online.org .  There is a link on the home page to BUY TICKETS. When you get to the check out, there is an option to enter a discount code, where you should enter the code CHARITY. Please do remember to enter this code, as doing so means U3AC will benefit financially from your attending the concert.

Reminders – general


Lift in Bridge Street

The lift has now been fixed and will be working when we re-open.

‘Chat with the Chair’

We regret that the first ‘Chat with the Chair’ which was to be held today, cannot now take place due to the premises closure. The first one will now take place on Monday 18 November 2-4 pm in the Social area on the 2nd floor of the U3AC premises.

Volunteers’ Day – 6 November

The contribution that our members make by volunteering is crucial to the ongoing success of U3AC – it is highly valued and there is no doubt that we could not manage without you.

Members who volunteer say they have found it enjoyable and fulfilling, it is also part of the ethos of the U3AC, as a member organisation.

Please come along to our Volunteers’ Day in the U3AC premises on Wednesday 6 November between 11 am and 2 pm and find out about all current volunteering opportunities.

U3AC Champions

Do you have a recent background in communications, PR, marketing, events or advertising?

We are looking to create a team of members who are willing and able to represent U3AC at various local events and networking opportunities. This would be a voluntary role that may require some travel within the city. For instance, we missed the opportunity to represent U3AC at this year’s Seniors’ Fair at the Abbey Football Stadium, as we didn’t have a team to staff an exhibition stand, put up a banner, hand out flyers and talk to attendees about U3AC.

Being a U3AC Champion requires a good understanding of the organisation, what we offer, how membership works and a keenness to share the benefits of being a member (e.g. staying physically and mentally active, learning new things and making new friends).

You would be provided with an in-depth brief before starting to represent U3AC at events.

If you’ve got a relevant background in communications, PR, marketing, events or advertising and the time and willingness to promote U3AC when opportunities arise, please contact the Office.

The closing date for finding our U3AC Champions is 1 November.

Please check your spam / junk folders

Several tutors have advised us that members have not been receiving their emails and when the member has checked they have found them in their spam or junk folder. It is a good idea to check these folders regularly so that you don’t miss any important information.

Other organisations

U3AC supports other local organisations by listing their activities on the Other organisations page of our website https://www.u3ac.org.uk/news/other-organisations/