News of general interest to all members

'For the Fallen' exhibit on TV

The poppy cascade and the Hayling Island U3A exhibits were featured on Meridian News on Tuesday 6th November. Click the image to see the article (and the 'Full screen' icon in the bottom right corner to see a larger version)...

The first of the two ladies to speak to camera is U3A member Carol Carter who is a member of the Northney Textiles Craft Group which organised the event. Speaking with her is Alyson Griffin who thought of making the cascade. The third lady shown with Carol and Alyson is Sue Palmer, also a member of the group.

Hayling Island U3A needs help

To all Hayling U3A members,

The committee is seeking volunteers to take over the roles of Treasurer and Publicity Secretary. The tasks are not arduous but are essential  to the continued survival of our U3A. The role of Treasurer is self-evident but the U3A is also very dependent upon publicity in order to bring in new members and perhaps more importantly to let others know of the existence of the U3A which can enhance the quality of life especially those who are new to the Island and those who live alone.

We are fortunate to have over 500 members and there must be many who could undertake these tasks. We are seeking to appoint two members to each task in order to provide continuity when one or the other is away or has other commitments. It also makes the task that much easier. So if you are able to contribute to the future success of our U3A then please contact any member of the committee or persuade one of your fellow members to do so. Without volunteers, the U3A cannot exist.

If you have not already visited St Peter’s Church in Northney then you will have missed a very moving experience of the commemoration to the participants of WW1 from Hayling Island. The poppy display of over 18,000 hand crafted poppies is breath taking and our U3A exhibition inside the church is attracting wide acclaim. The exhibition is open every day except Sundays from 10.00a.m. to 4.00 p.m. until 10th November. Click here to find out more.

In addition, the U3A Digital Photography group have a display of impressive photographs in the Hayling Library which are well worth a visit.

Paul Chapman

Hayling Island U3A - WW1 commemoration

The Hayling Island U3A WW1 exhibition is on display at St Peter's Church in Northney until 10th November from 10am to 4pm on all days except Sundays.

St Peter's has organised a Poppy Commemoration of WW1 and has erected a cascade of over 18,000 poppies made by many people both local and abroad. It is an amazing sight and well worth a visit. To accompany the display of poppies, our U3A was invited to set up our exhibition in the Church and in the adjoining extension. Our book, "The Life and Times of Hayling Island 1914-1919" will be on sale.

St Peter's has requested help with stewarding for the exhibition in two hour slots. If you are interested in helping then please:

  • Take a look at the available stewarding slots here. Note the white squares indicate a slot that hasn't yet been filled.
  • If you can help, please contact Rona Doyle directly at r.doyle939@btinternet.com.

Thank you,

Paul Chapman

From Page to Stage: At the Lyceum Theatre

The Ambassador Theatre Group’s West End Creative Learning team presents a one day U3A bespoke Directing event on November 12th. Ever watched a play and thought 'I can do that'! Well now here's your chance. Under the guidance of three extraordinary directors, Harry Burton (Pinter documentary, Dumb Waiter Trafalgar studios etc.), Lisa Spirling (Artistic Director of Theatre503) and Jane Moriarty (The Birthday Party at Harold Pinter, Queen Anne at Her Majesty’s). You will be given the opportunity, in groups to direct a scene under the watchful eyes of one of these wonderfully thrilling directors, putting into practice valuable lessons learnt earlier on in the day and culminating in a performance involving professional actors, bringing your scene to life.

Click here for more details and a booking form.

U3A group event programme

Dear group leader,

We are coming to the end of the U3A year so it's time to review the group event programme we keep on the web site. This note sets out the procedure for doing that. It also suggests a way to get around the latest email anti-spam 'feature' that has the potential to irritate our members.

The online event programme allows people to:

  • See forthcoming meetings and events:
    • on your group page
    • in the web site's calendar
    • in members' personalised calendars in the web site
  • Automatically include your events in their electronic diaries
  • Look for times to arrange new meetings and events that minimise clashes with existing ones

If your group has regular meetings and they do not each need separate descriptions, I can add them for you. If I don't hear from you by Friday, September 28th I'll assume you are happy for me to do that. I will, however, exclude dates that are close to Christmas or New Year. I'll add dates up to September next year. Next September I'll ask again about dates through to March 2020 so we realign the review with the new HIU3A year start date.

If you have specific information you would like to record for each meeting, there's information for how to do that here or, if you let me have the details, I will add the events for you.

Companies that process emails fight a continuous war against spam. Unfortunately some of that activity gets in the way of legitimate emails.

As a result of previous blockages we now ensure that all emails sent from our web site use 'haylingu3a.org.uk' email addresses. If you send an email to your group with your personal email address, we send it from emailer@haylingu3a.org.uk and instruct the recipient's email software to send replies to your address. Unfortunately some software developers have chosen to ignore this feature and replies are going to emailer@haylingu3a.org.uk, not your address. When that happens we send the member an email explaining the problem and asking them to use your address as provided in the original email. That is obviously irritating, and you might be hearing some negative feedback as a result.

To get around the issue, I can create a 'haylingu3a.org.uk' email address for you. When you send your group emails, there will be no conflict between the 'from' and 'reply to' addresses. When we receive replies to your new email address we will forward them on to you existing email address automatically. There is nothing for you to do at your end, and no cost to HIU3A. Just let me know if you would like a 'haylingu3a.org.uk' email address.

Andy Henderson
Web site editor
Hayling Island U3A

Music, art & history

Join U3A members on Tuesday, October 9th for a bespoke afternoon of talks, local music, history and art at the National Museum Cardiff. With talks on the renowned Davies’ Sisters Art Collection, from a speaker at the National Museum Cardiff. The Welsh National Opera will give a talk on Margaret Haig Thomas and the Suffragettes, along with a very special performance from some of the Welsh National Opera singers. A presentation will be made from Dr Mark Rednap on the 30m 'Redevelopment project' at St Fagan's National Museum of History in Cardiff.

For more details, including a programme and booking form. click here.