In this edition:
Notices
Christmas Lunches 2024 at Chichester College
Wednesday 4th December and Friday 13th December
We have again booked Chichester College for our Christmas lunches this year, and booking will open on Monday 30th September and close on Friday 18th October.
A Welcome drink, three course lunch and coffee costs £32.00 per person, not including wine or other drinks with your meal. You can order these at your table.
Please read carefully the booking instructions below.
This year we have 70 places available on both days, with tables of up to 8 people, for members only. We will be running a waiting list for members and if we don’t fill our spaces we will open up to members’ partners, even if not u3a members.
You can see the menu attached here, including allergens and dietary requirements.
We have to give menu choices to the College by Friday 18th October, together with the payment **. You may book as individuals, couples or as a Group booking. If you are booking for your Group, it would be helpful to have one person making the bookings and payment. Please send an email as soon as possible with the day you wish to attend, the names of the people you are booking for, together with their menu choices. Please click here to connect to our contact form.
** Payment: We will contact you after we receive your booking choices to give you details of how to pay by a bank transfer through our website. Please note that this is the only method of payment. Please do NOT try to pay until we contact you.
There will be parking spaces at the College, including for disabled drivers, but both will be limited, so please consider car-sharing.
One of our members has very kindly offered to handle the bookings for the Christmas lunch this year, so all communications will be with her. We are most grateful to her for her time and commitment.
Look forward to seeing you nearer Christmas!
Jill
Chair, Chichester u3a
The Band of His Majesty’s Royal Marines Collingwood and Chichester Cathedral Choir
CHRISTMAS CONCERT
We have 20 tickets for the above concert on Tuesday
3rd December at 19:30.
The tickets are £36.00 each, reduced from £40.00
Booking opens on Saturday 28th September and will close on
Monday 21st October. Please make your payment when you book your ticket. (Look for “Christmas Concert” on our website to find the booking page. We will have a link to it in the next bulletin.)
‘Brimming with cherished carols and classic Christmas melodies, alongside some enchanting new arrangements, you’ll also have a chance to cast your vote for Chichester’s Favourite Christmas Song for an uplifting rendition of the winning number, complete with an audience sing-along!
This festive celebration promises to wrap you in the warm glow of holiday spirit.’
Your Holiday Newsletter Needs YOU!
Hello U3A members,
In the late autumn we are planning to reintroduce the Chichester U3A Quarterly Newsletter, so it’s time to get those creative juices flowing.
Unlike the bulletin, the Newsletter will focus on what has been happening within the various local groups. So, lots of pics please, amusing anecdotes, notable achievements or not so notable ones: it will all be welcome!
This will be your chance, as an individual member, to share with us what interests you, from Mudlarking to MahJong, Sky Diving to Sewing, Bird Watching to Bridge. Tell us why and what, and about your favourite places, books, movies and music.
There will be regular features, competitions and national U3A news, but mostly it will be your magazine, and as well as contributions and photos, I would welcome ideas on what you would like to see in the publication.
So please get in touch, and you can message me HERE.
I look forward to hearing from you!
Penelope Blackmore Smith
Coffee Morning – Tuesday, 1st October, 10am – 12 noon
Always on the First Tuesday of each month, so please mark your calendars!
Our Coffee Mornings are held in the Bar on the first floor of the MINERVA THEATRE building, opposite the Chichester Festival Theatre.
You can use this opportunity to chat with our groups team and learn about current and new offerings, meet old friends and make new ones!
There will be two breakout tables at the coffee morning for these groups:
- MOTO 2
- Beginners Greek
Monthly Meeting on Thursday, 24th October at 2pm at the Assembly Rooms on North Street
Talk: “Tales of a Roving Reporter”
Our speaker will be Alun Jones.
Twenty years of weird, wonderful, and downright crazy stories, from nudists to royalty, dangerous animals, and nervous Bishops.Anything can happen and go wrong when there is a “Live Microphone” Enjoy anecdotes from the unfortunate experiences of a radio reporter and discover what really happens “On” and “Off Air
Tea and coffee will be served in the Crush Bar at the rear of the Assembly Room from 1:15 to 1:45pm and the meeting starts at 2pm.
Groups Notices
World of Books 2
World Books 2 would welcome new members. We meet on the 2nd Friday each month from 10.15-12.15 hosted in member’s homes, where there is sufficient space. Each month we travel to a different country, choosing our own books to read, fiction or non-fiction, then presenting a brief report to the group for discussion (we usually spend 10-15 mins on each book). We have travelled widely, including to Austria, Peru, France, India and Australia. We break for refreshments in the middle of the session. Click on this link to register your interest.
THE LAUNCH of MOTO 2
MOTO is a hugely popular group that is for members who live on their own or whose partners are unable to accompany them to social events. Since the group first started, a wide variety of outings have been enjoyed by members, including meals in local restaurants, drop in coffee mornings, cinema and theatre trips, garden visits, walks, day trips by train and coach, to name but a few. All MOTO members are encouraged to contribute ideas and suggestions, and in doing so, have given much pleasure to other members and contributed to the success of MOTO.
This group is now full with over 70 members, so MOTO 2 will be launched in October. This new group will initially run with links and access to MOTO 1, along similar lines and with assistance from the current MOTO group leaders.
If you would like to join the new group, come along to the October coffee morning in the Minerva Theatre Bar & Grill on Tuesday 1st October or click on this link to register your interest.
Ukelele
We are planning to have another try at starting a Ukulele Group at Chichester U3A. it could be a beginners group or a group for people who already have some ability or a group for both. The details of when and where the group will meet is open for discussion and depends on the size of the group.here are ukulele groups all over the country, singing and strumming chord accompaniment to popular songs from the 20’s to today. For beginners it’s inexpensive, a starter instrument and electronic tuner, are all you need. No music theory or scales to learn come along and you can play the ukulele in just a few lessons. Playing an instrument is both a mental and manual skill
click on this link to register your interest
The Art Group
Do you fancy discovering the artist in you? There are a couple of places left on the Art Group’s next six-month course starting on Monday 11 November. The group meets on the second Monday of each month, 2-4 pm at New Park Centre’s Jubilee Hall. The classes are led by u3a members Linda and Hannah and, although structured, the aim is to explore your creative side and enjoy the process. Class members are of varying abilities and experience and look at different techniques together to experiment with drawing, painting and collage. There is no need to have any previous experience or to have attended the previous course. Contact the Group Organiser to find out more
Please contact the Groups Team here.
Flower Arranging Group
Need to express your artistic side differently? Then why not join our Flower Arranging Group that meets on the 3rd Tuesday of the month in the West Wing of Donnington Parish Hall from 2.00 – 4.00 p.m.
Each session we share ideas that reflect either the season or can be linked to a current theme/event. So far we have explored traditional shapes, but also some more contemporary arrangements, and created stunning Easter baskets, loose tied bouquets of Summer blooms and greenery straight from the garden, formal horizontal table centre pieces, button-holes, and creations related to “Valentines’ Day”, the Olympics” and “Sunshine and Holidays’’. We also enjoyed a visit to the Chichester Cathedral Flower Festival in June.
We start our sessions with a video tutorial and break for tea/coffee and biscuits part way through,
Our next session (15th October) will focus on producing Autumn wreaths using dried flowers, leaves, nuts and gourds. In November we will be donating our creations to a local hospice, and the December session will be centred on Christmas table decorations using fresh flowers and candles. We would love you to join us …. just come along or contact the group leader via the website for more information.
National & Regional
National u3a
There is a wealth of information on the National u3a website –www.u3a.org.uk , including online groups, u3a Radio podcast, upcoming events, and the latest issue of Third Age Matters, the monthly national u3a magazine (the link to the current version is:
https://www.u3a.org.uk/news/u3a-matters/screen-reader-editions/u3a-matters-autumn-2024-screenreader-edition
The next bulletin is due out on 11th October, so if you have an item to submit, you may use this link.
Links to our Website
Follow these links to see:
If you wish to unsubscribe from the Bulletin emails, please contact the membership secretary with subject “Unsubscribe from Bulletin”. This will not affect other email communications with the U3A. Please do NOT put the bulletin emails into spam! 😒
Please send a message via the usual channels if you wish to have some item of u3a news put in the Bulletin. Likewise, please get in touch if you have ideas on to how to improve the Bulletin, and especially if you would like to join our team!
Best wishes, Miriam Knight
The Constitution of the Chichester U3A is available to view here, and its Terms of Use here.
Enquiries If you wish to write to the Chichester U3A, then the correspondence address is: U3A Chichester, Box 809, MailboxesEtc., 26 The Hornet, CHICHESTER, PO19 7BB If there is an urgent matter that needs to be discussed then call 07460 109600, or contact the membership secretary.