The last couple of messages from the Chairman, prepared for the Grange and District u3a quarterly newsletter are below:
March 2026
Writing this it is raining yet again! I really hope that by the time you read it the weather will be heading towards spring and will be milder and hopefully drier!
I will start with a HUGE plea. We really do need one of our more than 500 members to step forward and join the Committee as Treasurer-in-waiting. Michael McCormick has agreed to continue for one more year but needs someone to offer to take on his mantle. He is happy to mentor them and show them the intricacies of the system U3A uses but we desperately need someone to volunteer. Due to Charity Commission regulations, WITHOUT A TREASURER, GRANGE AND DISTRICT u3a WILL BE UNABLE TO CONTINUE. So, please, think about it. You don’t need to be a practicing accountant, just able to add up and learn the system, which Michael will help you through. If you are even the tiniest bit interested please contact Michael or a member of the ( very friendly ) committee.
On a much happier note, we are now in our 26th year as a u3a! Starting from very small beginnings we have grown to over 500 members and a very wide selection of interest groups. To celebrate our 25th Anniversary over 140 of us met in December for a delicious buffet lunch and entertainment at the Cumbria Grand Hotel. Malcolm Kimber gave us a very entertaining illustrated talk about the growth of our u3a, Andrew Musgrave updated his 20th Anniversary poem and the Sands Band provided music to listen to as well as to sing along with. Four of our earliest members joined us for the cutting of the cake and committee member Roger Handley put on his Mayoral Chain and joined in the festivities. For as long as I can remember, Erline Robinson has edited our magazine and the celebrations provided an excellent opportunity to present her with a bouquet as a very small token of our heartfelt thanks for all her sterling efforts.
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December 2025
Looking back over the past few months we really have had some excellent Monthly Meeting speakers. A big thank you for this has to go to Morag, our Speaker Finder. She really has found some cracking people to come along on Tuesdays.
Back in September I was in Brisbane, Australia, visiting family, and went along to Brisbane U3A Open Day one Saturday morning. Their group numbers about 3000 out of a population of about 3 million. They have city centre premises which they rent with a mix of smaller classrooms and slightly larger rooms for lectures, as well as outposts in the suburbs, all easily accessible by public transport. Having outgrown the space available, next year they plan to move to larger premises just around the corner. Having so many members they do not have monthly meetings as we do, and work along four ten week terms to match school terms. They feel the need for this way of organising classes as so many members are needed to help with child care during the school holidays. Not having a large enough space to hold their Open Day in the way we do, they use the various rooms available to offer taster classes about what the leaders will be doing in the next term. I was offered the opportunity to sit in on one of these – ‘The History and Culture of Cornwall’. It was very interesting and I was quite disappointed not to be able to continue with the class! While having a wide variety of subjects available, it was interesting to note that this very multi-cultural city group offered much less opportunity to join physical activities but a huge range of language classes, including Russian and Latin. I was made very welcome and it was really interesting to see how a big city group operates in comparison with our smaller semi-rural group.
Back in the UK, I was immediately embroiled in the arrangements for our 25 th Anniversary celebration, though to be honest, Roger, Janet and Susan have done all the work and all I have done is engage in various discussions about the details! Huge thanks go to them as well as Malcolm Kimber for putting together the history of the group in pictures and words for our delectation on the day.
May I take this opportunity to wish you all a very Merry Christmas and a Healthy and Happy 2026.
Tricia Thomas