Welcome to Ringwood U3A, which was formed in 2012. We are a friendly club with some 200 members and more than 20 interest groups. Please take a look around the site to discover what we can offer to those who are no longer in full time employment. New members are always warmly welcomed.
Monthly meetings take place on the 3rd Thursday of each month from 2-4pm at Greyfriars. Please click the 'Meetings' button for more information.
All groups are organised and led by members with most taking place in members' own homes so that they are small and friendly. Full members may join as many interest groups as they wish at no extra charge unless the group has to hire a room when there will be a small additional cost.
Please click the 'Group Info' button to see details of all groups. If you would like to know more or after joining wish to join a particular group please contact the Group Leader - contact details are on the Group Info pages.
Please contact any of the Committee Members for general information.
Latest news
The September meeting speaker will be Brian Freeland relating interesting and some very amusing tales from his life as a theatre manager in "A view from the wings".
The Mens Group is now taking off after its inauguration. At a recent meeting one member offered to hold cribbage matches with residents of a local nursing home,which was very much appreciated and it made us wonder if there weren't more men out there with hidden talents that could be put to good use within the Group to help the Community as well as maintaining the Groups other activities be they social or educational! The next event will be on 6th September with a visit to the Royal Signals Museum in Blandford. If you feel you would like to join the group at least for an exploratory visit please contact Roger Gregory on 01425470268 or gregorys4@lemonde.plus.com
Our next Monthly Meeting is at Greyfriars on Thursday, Aug 16th at 2 pm when Christine Whiteley and Anne Peters, volunteers at Great Ormond Street Hospital Children's Charity will be giving a presentation. Learn about the history of the hospital which opened with just 10 beds in 1852, it's medical breakthroughs and ongoing pioneering work to help children across the UK and the world. August can be a busy month but please come along to this talk if you can as our speakers are coming down from London especially.
The new Membership Application Form for Sept 2018 to Aug 2019 is now available on the website. Printed copies will be available at the monthly meeting. This form is longer than usual due to the new GDPS rules on privacy - please help us by completing it in full at home before handing it in with your payment in order to avoid a traffic jam at the Welcome Table.
The new 2018-2019 Programme Leaflet is now available on the website. Printed copies will be available at the monthly meeting. Please advise Hazel if you notice anything that needs amending.
Did you know that we have a RED Suggestion Box at our Monthly Meetings? We would love to hear any of your ideas. In particular we are thinking about what to do in July 2019 when we again won't be able to use Greyfriars - would you like to have a speaker again in Trinity, have a Summer Party (if so any ideas on where) or perhaps a group outing such as a Coach trip or Poole Harbour boat trip. We'd love to hear from you.
Do you have mobility issues, perhaps you would like to come to the monthly meetings or certain groups but have trouble getting there - if so please contact a member of the Committee to see if we can find a local member who could provide a lift.
Phil and Valerie Grant have kindly offered to open their garden to us on Monday 20 August from 2.00 - 4.00pm to let us have an opportunity to visit the "man cave" which recreates in miniature the New Forest station of Hinton Admiral, viewing the waiting room and booking office as they looked 30 years ago. Phil has an A5 4 page illustrated history of the station which he will give us and he will also give us a brief talk on the station's history and his own association with it. There will be tea and coffee and cakes from the 1930s. Numbers are limited to 15 so first come first served and we are asking for a donation of £5 per person to cover the cost of the cakes but mainly in order to make a donation to the Ringwood Food Bank. If interested please contact Jo (New Forest Group) asap.
The craft group has decided to support the Innocent Big Knit again this year. The Big Knit started back in 2003 and over 6 million hats have been knitted in the UK. The small hats are distributed on Innocent Drink Smoothies each Spring. For each hat that is sent in Innocent make a donation of 25p to Age UK. The money is used to run activities to help prevent loneliness. You could support us in one of two ways: 1. Please donate to us any unwanted knitting yarn that you might have. It does not matter how small the ball is, what colour or what thickness. We can find a use for all yarn. 2. You could knit or crochet some hats yourself. We will display some of our hats at the next monthly meeting. Patterns can easily be found by searching on the internet for "The Big Knit" Any donations of yarn or completed hats should be sent to Christine, our treasurer, via any of the committee members.
U3A Signpost for July 2018 is now online. To see it click the following link: http://worldu3a.org/signpost/july2018.htm Contents include:Invitation to U3A Mauritius Conference; News from Iceland, Poland, Kazakhstan, India; Learning basic French and CommonAge Africa report from PassItOn Network
The SKITTLES evenings this month will be on Tuesday 21st and Friday 24th August at 7.30pm at The Three Legged Cross Pub in Ringwood Road Three Legged Cross BH21 6RE. If there are insufficient responses, one of the evenings will be cancelled, so if people are interested in coming they will need to say whether they can make both or just one of the dates. The choice of prices is £8.50 with a basket meal or £5.50 without. Please contact Peter Knight whose email address is knight@lapalmera.co.uk This evening is open to members and non members, but places must be booked in advance. THERE WILL BE NO SKITTLES IN SEPTEMBER.
Remember to look at the Members' Only Page (Noticeboard) on our website which gives members the opportunity to publicise non-U3A events that they have a keen interest in or to invite others to join them for something particular like a cinema trip or garden visit etc. It will not be used for 'selling' items. If you would like something posted to the Noticeboard please email full details to Hazel via the contacts page. Inclusion will be at the discretion of the Committee.
WALKS - Our full Summer Programme of walks is now available in the Groups Section on the website. The next walk is on Thursday 23rd August - Slap Bottom and Castle Hill - 4 miles Led by Ros Meet at Burbush Car park, on the road from Burley to Bransgore (Map OL22 ref 201 018) A mixture of forest tracks and quiet roads, hilly in places. For full details please refer to the Groups Section
How to join
If you are no longer in, or looking for full time employment you may join Ringwood U3A by downloading a membership form using this link or by emailing our Chairman, Pete Jackson.
When you have completed the form you may take it, and your £24 membership fee, to the Thursday monthly meeting.
Please also read the
RINGWOOD U3A CODE OF CONDUCT
Ringwood U3A strives to be a friendly and welcoming organisation, available to all who are no longer in full time employment. Our main aim is that our members enjoy the experience of being a member. We do realise, however, that problems sometimes occur and, whilst we do not want to control every potential difficulty with a raft of rules, we have prepared the following statements to cover any situation that may arise.
If any member or prospective member's behaviour or presentation causes distress or offence to other members, the Committee have the right to ask for that behaviour or presentation to change. If this change does not take place the Committee will have the right to rescind or refuse membership to that individual. In order to maintain our informal and friendly atmosphere, we would strive to deal with problems of such nature in a quiet and discreet fashion. If a member feels that certain behaviour is detrimental to our organisation or themselves, please raise the issue with a member of the Committee.
Pete Jackson
Chair
June 2018
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