There’s old adage, “The older you get the quicker time goes”. Who would have thought that here we are approaching the end of another year in the life of our U3A as the AGM draws ever closer?
Overall, I think we have had another successful year thanks to the support of the members and those who so willingly give up their time to organise the groups and activities. The past 12 months have certainly been busy.
In one of the recent U3A magazines I read an article about groups being the life blood of any U3A. We have been lucky to maintain so many different groups thanks to the support of the members and especially the group organisers. I sometimes think some of our members don’t realise how much work goes into organising monthly activities and especially outing and visits. From that point of view, it has been a good year. Nevertheless, we cannot be complacent and where possible try to find ideas for new groups so that our U3A remains vibrant. We have been lucky to have 3 new groups started, the Current Affairs group which has some lively discussion, the Knitting group and the Expendables.
I am pleased to see that we have had some new members recently and more to come. New members and new ideas are so important.
It is impossible to thank everyone but, particularly I would like to mention Mabel H. She does a sterling job finding speakers for our monthly meetings. This must be one of the hardest tasks for any group.
I would also like to thank the different people who have volunteered to lead the monthly meeting. They often keep us entertained in different ways, but it is the same few people each year. Please consider volunteering to lead the one meeting. You don’t have to be an entertainer, a comedian, an actor. Just be yourself.
The Executive Committee has continued to work hard on your behalf with members giving up their time to attend the monthly meetings. We have had some interesting discussions and often not been able to reach a decision immediately. Eventually, we do find a concensus and nobody has fallen out over it. They do this to help keep our monthly meeting running so smoothly.
Finally, I would like to thank you all for your support over the past 4 years while I served you as Chair. I have enjoyed it so much but could not have done it without your friendship and support.
Malcom W