Posts – u3a Dacorum

Exploring London – 18 and 20 October

U3A Explore London. – October. – Bond Street to Waterloo.

Sue M leads this Explore London walk on Tuesday 18th and Thursday 20th October 2022.

‘As seen on TV’ Our meander from Bond Street to Waterloo will include some of the routes taken by both the Jubilee and recent Funeral processions together with some Jubilee commemoration monuments. We will take some short cuts through the Royal Parks and include a little known walkway from inside Charing Cross Station to the Thames. This is a 3.5 mile flat linear walk finishing on the South Bank.

If you wish to apply for this walk, please email Sue M at Coordinator after 9.00 on 1^stOctober 2022 with a maximum of 4 persons per application. Please give your full names and U3A numbers. If you have any queries regarding this walk, please contact Sue W via Coordinator.

Rail unions must give 14 days notice of any proposed strike action, so if this becomes a problem at any time before the walks, dates may have to be rearranged.

Post expires at 11:59pm on Friday October 21st, 2022

New Constitution Adopted

The new Constitution was formally adopted at the SGM on 6th December 2021.

414 votes were cast by proxy of which 382 were in favour, and 9 postal votes were cast of which 8 were in favour. In total 390 of 423 votes (92%) were in favour.

Equality and Diversity

A draft Equality and Diversity policy has been posted for comment by all members.

It can be found under the Policies and Documents tab.

Group names changed

As groups have been started, stopped and changed about, their names have changed. So we have made some of the names more logical and standardised the formats, e.g. where there were some groups with the same name, they are now <name> A, B, etc, instead of 1 and 2. This will also make it easier, we hope, for members to find their groups.

You can sort the columns, using the arrows at the at the top.

Group Number	Original Group Name	New Group name
177	Card Making Brkhmstd	Card Making B (Bk)
048	Card Making HH	Card Making A (HH)
082	Creative Writing J	Creative Writing C
090	Discussion Group E (Brkhmstd)	Discussion Group E (Bk)
019	Genealogy Brkhmstd	Genealogy A (Bk)
051	Genealogy Hemel	Genealogy B (HH)
095	Italian Language & Culture	Italian (Language & Culture)
156	Italian Step 2	Italian (Step 2)
027	Literature Group A (Brkhmstd)	Literature A (Bk)
028	Literature Group B (Brkhmstd)	Literature B (Bk)
030	Literature Group E (Boxmoor)	Literature C (HH)
157	Lunch Club 1	Lunch Club A
203	Lunch Club 2	Lunch Club B
092	More Italian	Italian (More)
067	Opera - Introduction	Opera (Introduction)
041	Play Reading 2	Play Reading A
042	Play Reading (Brkhmstd)	Play Reading B
050	Shorter Walks B	Shorter Walks
217	Table Tennis 1	Table Tennis A
224	Table Tennis 2	Table Tennis B
195	Writing: Testing the Waters	Writing (Testing the Waters)

Groups Restarting Meetings Post Lockdown

We are pleased to announce that the following groups have started / will restart their meetings, face-to-face.
Note that a few have confirmed that they are continuing on Zoom for the moment and one is working entirely via email.
Note also that there have been some minor name changes to standardise the formats, there is a list here.
There is a list of the cancelled groups here and of those suspended here.
See the Group Pages for further information.

Armchair Traveller: St John’s Hall, start Tuesday 17 August
Art Club: Gadebridge Community Centre, started 23 July
Arts, Crafts and Skills: Zoom
Astronomy – Practical: St Mary and St Joseph Church Hall
Badminton (New Group): Hemel Hempstead Leisure Centre, starting 9 December
Book Reading Group: St John’s Church Hall, start 20 September
Bus Trippers: Various Locations, start 9 March 22
Calligraphy: Leverstock Green Village Halle, start 6 September
Card Making A (HH): Sundew Road, start 5 October
Card Making B (BK): Open Door Cafe, Berkhamsted (change to venue), start 21 Jan 22 (ex Zoom)
Classical Music Appreciation: St Francis Church Hall, start 14 October
Computer Programming: Zoom
Computer Support: St John’s Church Hall, start 24 September
Creative Writing B: Wrensfield, start 15 October (Note: Change to Friday from Thursday)
Creative Writing C: by Email
Cribbage & Scrabble: Adeyfield Community Centre, start 13 September
Cycling: Various outdoor locations, start 2 September
Exploring London: Various London locations, start 28 September
Exploring Towns and Villages: Various outdoors, start 16 September
Flower Arranging: Highfield Community Centre, start 9 September
Folk Singing: Adeyfield Free Church (change to venue), start 8 September
French Book Club: Highclere Drive, HH
French Conversation Advanced: Zoom
Garden Visiting: Various outdoors, started June
Gardening A: Various outdoors, started July
Genealogy A (BK): Zoom
Genealogy B (HH): St Paul’s Parish Room (change to venue), start 20 September
German Improvers: St John’s Hall, started 2 August
Industrial History: St John’s Hall, start 15 September
Italian (Language and Culture): St john’s Hall, start 23 September
Italian (More): Zoom ~~Various member’s homes~~ (Note: change to days)
Italian (Step 2): Adeyfield Community Centre, start 10 September
Japanese Language and Culture: Various homes, started 26 August
Jazz Appreciation: St Francis, start 7 October
Latin – Beginners: Various homes, started 23 June
Latin – Intermediate: Various homes, started 23 June
Literature A: Various homes in Berkhamsted, started November
Literature B: Various homes in Berkhamsted, started August
Literature C: Zoom
Local History: St John’s Hall: start 28 September
Lunch Club 1: various locations, start 12 October
Lunch Club 2: various locations, start 26 October
Magic Introduction: Buglass Room, Leverstock Green Village Hall, start 3 September
Mahjong: St John’s Church Hall and Bovingdon, start 15 September (Note: change to locations)
Military History: St John’s Hall, start 1 September
Musical Miscellany: St Francis Church Hall
Money Matters: St John’s Hall, 13 September
Nature Study: Outdoor meetings
Needlecraft: Potten End
Opera – Introduction: Bovingdon, start 24 September
Out with Friends: St John’s Hall and various outdoor locations, start 3 September
Painting for Pleasure: Guide HW, start 28 September
Painting for You: adeyfield Community Centre, start 24 September
Patchwork: Guide Headquarters, 6 October
Pencil Drawing: Adeyfield Community Centre
Philosophy: Friends Meeting House, HH, started 19 October
Photography: St John’s Hall
Playing Early Music: Various members’ homes, start 27 September
Play Reading B: Zoom
Play Reading B (141): Location changed to Berkhamsted: starting 7 September
Poetry Appreciation: Piccotts End, started June
Poetry Writing: Gravel Lane, start 11 October
Practical Astronomy: St Mary and St Joseph Church Hall, start 9 September
Railways: Continuing on Zoom, ongoing
Reading: Middle Way, Berkhamsted
Russian: Briar Way, started May
Science and Technology: St John’s Church Hall (Change of venue), start 27 October
Sewing Bee: Adeyfield Community Centre, start 7 September
Shorter Walks: Various outdoor locations, started 17 June (Note: now only once per month)
Swimming (Berkhamsted) (was Watford): Berkhamsted Leisure centre, start 21 October (Note: change to location)
Table Tennis A: Adeyfield Community Centre, started 8 August
Table Tennis B: Adeyfield Community Centre, started 11 August
Tea Dance: Apsley Community Centre: started 31 August
Ukulele: Grovehill Community Centre: started 4 August
Urban Sketchers: Various locations, started 6 June
Walking: Various locations, started 1 June
Wild Flower Study: Various locations, started 30 June
Wine Appreciation: St John’s Hall: started Friday 30 July
Writing: Testing the Water: Berkhamsted, started 3 June

Groups Suspended (for now)

The following groups are temporarily (we hope) suspended for various reasons.
If you believe that you could run one pending the coordinator being available again, please contact the Groups Secretary, on the main contact page.

Bus Trippers (183) – due to start again in 2022
Chaucer (225)
Circle Dance (011) – until 2022
GOAL (036)
Discussion (HH) (010)
Knit and Natter (175) – start date to be confirmed
Knit and Natter (198) – no current plan for re-starting but under review
Literature E (083)
Modern British History (149)
Quiz (053)
Rug Makers (213)
Shakespeare (056)
Spanish with Fun (187)

Group Cancellations

We are sorry to say that the following groups have been cancelled, for various reasons.
If you would like to re-start the group, please contact the Groups Secretary

A Cappella (147)
Belleplates (062)
Board Games (070 and 212)
Bowls (006)
Creative Writing A (077)
French and Fun (015)
French Conversation (014)
Garden Appreciation (016)
Geology 1 and 2 (021 and 184)
Line Dancing (022)
Music Appreciation (034)
Painting Unlimited (09)
Recorder Ensemble (148)
Sign Language (227 and 189). May start again next year.
Shorter Walks A (050) (Shorter Walks B (050) is continuing)
Sunday Scrabble (055)
Swimming Berkhamsted (226)
Ukulele 2 (192)
Whist (091)

National U3A Radio Podcasts

The first ever u3a radio officially launched at 2pm on 29th September directly after the national AGM.

The national office learning team have been working with member volunteers who are skilled in broadcasting and you can keep listening to u3a radio wherever you are as it is delivered as a recorded podcast.

This pilot will feature a series of interviews and features from across the movement – for the launch – all themed around looking forward.

We are very excited about this project which we aim to grow and develop over the coming year. There will be another pilot before Christmas. We hope you enjoy our first broadcast.

u3a Radio Episode 1

1st u3a Radio Podcast

The second episode of the U3A Radio Podcast aired today on our YouTube Channel at 6am.

The U3A Radio Podcast is made by a team of U3A members with experience in radio – Nick Bailey, Ela Watts and Peter Clift– who structure the episode, conduct and record the interviews and put it all together to create the final product.

In this episode, there are interviews on creative writing, opera and much more. Listen to it here:

2nd u3a Radio Podcast

Web Conferencing using Zoom, Skype & Jitsi etc.

Web Conferencing

With the prospect of the Covid-19 situation continuing for a few weeks, we all need to keep in contact and try to have regular “Virtual Meetings”.

Some groups have started to use Zoom, Skype, WhatsApp and other free services for small meetings.

We now have two U3A Dacorum Zoom Accounts set up. (Zoom 1 & Zoom 2)

We have also put together a “Beginners Guide to Zoom” in an attempt to make it easier for U3A Coordinators & Members to have regular “Scheduled” Zoom meetings.

The “Beginners Guide to Zoom” is divided into different sections:-

Using Zoom on a Desktop or Laptop,

Using Zoom on a Tablet or SmartPhone,

Using Screen Sharing,

Joining a Zoom Call for the First Time

Click this link to see the User Guide Zoom Users Guide

It is intended to assist all U3A coordinators to setup a Zoom video conference, or U3A Dacorum members to Join a Zoom meeting when invited by a Coordinator.

u3a Radio Episode 1

Next U3A Radio Podcast Out Now

Web Conferencing