Registered Charity.
No. 1078104
Notice Board
Member AreaMembership Page contains:- List of Group Covenor Contacts, Committee List March 2023 - 2024 with contacts, The current Newsletter / and older newsletters, Committee minutes and contact number.
If you are a member of Swanland u3a then Send an Email to request an Account with your Full name, Membership No. and eMail address, you will receive your username and Password when your details have been verified.
Accounts 2022-2023 Verified
Can be downloaded in the 'Members Area' in the Download Documents Section.
Su3a Constitution
Click on this link for Flipbook version of the current Su3a Constitution :- Su3a Constitution
To read the Constitution in PDF format, please click on image on the right.
This Constitution was adopted by the members at the AGM on 21-03-2024. This is our new Constitution.
Introducing Incoming Chair, March 2024
To read this, please go to the menu and click on link to Chair's Page.
Chair's Outgoing report, March 2024
To read this report please go to the menu and click on link to Chair's Page.
Important update from Chris McDonald, Swanland u3a member,
on his 2021 talk
'Doctor Under The Sea' dealing with the Falklands War.
Hello Everybody,
You will remember my talk on the sinking of the Belgrano. I mentioned the
'diary' of the Supply Officer, Narendra Sethia and how it had become
sensationalised by leakage to the media.
Well, full circle now as it is the focal point of a series of six podcasts by the
LRB - London Review of Books. This series seeks to uncover the true story of
the sinking trying to look beyond the politics, secrecy and media hype; and
promises some conflicting and controversial views and opinions between
players, media and politicians of the time. (Thatcher, Dalziell and Heseltine to
name a few.) It is to be broadcast on Thursdays starting on Thursday 28th
March. A 4 minute trailer is already available on the LRB pod site.
Ivan Blumenthal suggested there may be some u3a members who listened
to my talk who may be interested in accessing the podcasts. They feature
long interviews with Seth himself, along with diary extracts, who is now living
in the Caribbean plus a number of crew members of all disciplines and ranks
of HMS Conqueror, including myself. (Apparently I am featured in episode 2
to be broadcast on Thursday April 4th. That is all I know at present not having
been privy to a preview.)
I am not sure what 'spin' LRB will give it but I was assured they would try to
relate fact in context 'sensitively' by both Seth and the interviewer before
agreeing to talk to them. I guess I will find out when I listen whether they have
been true to their word or not - although the trailer does not exactly fill me
with confidence...
I attach a free link to the trailer through Acast (below) which will also be live
when the series is broadcast. I am sure though just simply googling the title
or LRB will open up other free podcast services and sites.
For info : I get a sound bite of five words in the trailer - (My reaction going to
action stations on being told the order to attack had been given from London
- "Gulp - This is for real.") Not sure what more or less of me will feature in
episode 2 - my interview in November 2022 was 2.30 hours long so plenty of sound bite opportunities.
Here is the link:
https://shows.acast.com/londonreviewpodcasts/episodes/introducing-the-belgrano-diary
Yours aye,
Chris
The Accord
Several years ago the u3as of Beverley, Caves, Cottingham, Hessle and Swanland formed the Accord network in order to share information, experience and ideas for their mutual benefit.Subsequently AWAKE (Anlaby, Willerby & Kirk Ella), Howden and District, Hornsea and District, Driffield & Wolds, Pocklington, and Holderness have been welcomed into the group.
For more information please click on link to go to 'The Accord' page
Recruiting Younger Members
My starting point for this is the item on Market Research: People who have recently left full-time work (aka potential younger members) from the Third Age Trust's Recruitment & Retention Toolkit. Scroll down this page https://sources.u3a.org.uk/recruitment to find it. In summary, it states the following:
The u3a has an ageing membership. Some of this is due to an over reliance on recruiting by Word of Mouth. As members get older they bring older people to the u3a. And so on. The first lesson is that if we want a younger membership we should be wary of Word of Mouth.
But there's a vast pool of potentially younger recruits out there. What do they want? Why should they join the u3a? Research shows four principal reasons: to Keep the Brain Active; to Learn New Things; to Get Out and About; To Meet Other People.
Research also shows that potentially younger members will come to events if they are Fun, Free, Easy to Travel To and are aimed at people of a Similar Age. They will be put off by the idea that the u3a is for 'older people'. So the second lesson is that any promotional material used to attract recruits should be tailored accordingly. It should focus on the principal reasons given above, publicise events that are Fun, Free and Easy to Get To and display images of Younger People enjoying themselves. This includes your website. An item on How to Transform Your Website into Your Shop Window is also available from the R&R online Toolkit. You'll find it using the link given above just below the item on Market Research.
A couple of other items of preparation before you start looking. The article on Market Research highlights potential members' activity preferences. The larger u3as will probably offer a good selection of these already but some of the smaller ones might want to freshen up their Group offerings. How to Make your u3a Offer Irresistible - Interest Groups is yet another item in the R&R Toolkit. You should know where that is by now. Keep scrolling until you find it. Younger potential members are more likely to find you via Social Media. Facebook seems to be the platform of choice amongst the over 65s. You would do well to have an active (and young looking) FB page. Other platforms are available but you need to be easily found online.
To Read More... Click on arrow
Lastly in respect of preparation, if you want younger members I would recommend that you make good use of the latest technology such as Zoom. Keep up to date! I'm aware of at least one u3a which has declined to use email. It will not be receiving this, nor will it last very long in the 21st century. I suspect it has a very elderly membership which will get even older.
Let's assume you're now ready to receive visitors. Where do you find them? One might say almost anywhere other than by Word of Mouth but here are a few suggestions.
The Market Research article suggests u3as could be flagged up in the pre-retirement courses some larger employers offer their retirees. Some u3as have been able to get access to such courses but many have not. York tried it some years ago but without success. We're having another go but nothing to report as yet. If there's a u3a out there who's actually made this work, do let us know.
Another area we're exploring is developing contacts with the voluntary/community/social sector. We've discovered that our local CVS has a Project Worker assigned to Social Prescribing. It may also be worth linking up with your local NHS prescribing team. Cheltenham u3a has had success with this.
It's also been suggested that you could advertise your u3a to younger members by appearing on local radio. The key here seems to be picking the right radio station. Which one does your intended demographic listen to?
Finally, here are two related initiatives which are in the pipeline but have yet to come to fruition. Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) is the way to get your website/webpage to the top of the Google rankings. So if someone in your area searches for Bridge groups for example, it would help if your u3a's offering was first to show up. I'll be looking at this in more detail soon. And lastly, the Third Age Trust are rumoured to be talking about something called NextGenu3a. No details as yet but I assume that if it gets off the ground it will be aimed at recruiting younger members. I'll let you know as soon as I hear anything more.
That's all for now, I hope you've found this useful. If you're aware of anything else on the subject that you'd like to pass on to others, do please let me know via randr@yahru3a.uk Nick David, York u3a 6 APRIL 2023
Policies....A Reminder.
I have been pleased to see new members at our lectures over the last few months - this reminder
about policies is especially important for them but is relevant to even the most long-standing member.
On the Swanland u3a Website you will find Access, Disability and Safeguarding policies.
Their purpose is to ensure that all of our activities are accessible to everyone regardless of any disability and
that they also take place within a safe environment where abuse, bullying or discrimination is not tolerated.
New or old member, please take a few moments to read the policies. If you have any concerns,
please contact.
chair@swanlandu3a.org.uk
Building Our u3a through New Technology.
Next year, we will be launching several initiatives to recruit new members to our u3a. But I would like to draw
your attention to two that we can use immediately.
Firstly, there is 'Facebook.' We have a Facebook group to bring members together and to advertise our activities.
This can be used as a recruitment tool as it is easy to spread the word to other retired people you may know
about what is happening in our u3a. Many other organisations find it an invaluable tool in raising their profile -
that is our ambition.
If you are not on Facebook, it is easy to join - just follow the prompts or use a 'gmail' account to log in. If you are a
member all you have to do is search 'Groups' for our page.
Secondly, you will soon be seeing our new posters appearing in the village. As well as the contact email address
there is a QR code - it can only be described as a square filed with random shapes! If anyone wants to join using
their Smartphone all they have to do is point their camera at the square then they are connected to the 'Join'
page on our website.
If you think anyone is interested, please tell them that it is an option! Keith Taylor
Summer, Describe it!
Many members contributed to our 'Creations' project over Lockdown which is also in this section of our Website.
'Summer…' is our latest project. We are asking all members to please share their Summer experiences - how you coped with the heat this summer or a few words on your summer holiday, anything from a photo to enhance your activity; favourite poems or pose extracts or an account your summer holiday or summer activity. Or perhaps a summer recipe ? Or a recommendation for a good summer read?
Please forward to the Chair or Web Admin for display both on our Website and St Barnabas Noticeboards.
Newsletter Deadline.“Thank you all for your contributions and we look forward to receiving more for the future editions. |
Message from the Chair. YAHR
If you're ever feeling lonely
And you feel a little blue
Try sending out a flyer . . . . . .(Click image to see flyer - - --->)
And replies flood back to you.
Thank you for your patience. I am attempting a different way of forwarding the flyer as I understand people couldn't open the other one.
If this doesn't work I'll send out application forms for my job.
Keep smiling.
Any Questions email Pat Collard chair@yahru3a.uk
Copyright Licence.
The u3a National Office has entered into an agreement with the Copyright Licensing Agency to allow any participating u3a to multi-photocopy and digitally copy books, journals, magazines and original print material for educational purposes. Swanland u3a has paid the annual fee of £60.00 to enable it to take advantage of the agreement. Please note that the photocopying of music is not covered.
Parking at St Barnabas.
Please park thoughtfully in the St Barnabas car park to maximize the number of cars that can get parked while leaving space where the bollard denotes a reservation for a guest speaker.