This page has news about Cottingham u3a together with local information and websites which members might find useful and interesting.
Domain Name
Cottingham u3a have recently purchased a new domain name which will enable our officers to have email addresses assigned to the role that they hold, rather than using their personal email addresses. This will enable these email addresses to be in continuous use even when an officer's role changes.
The new domain name, to be used in collaboration with Siteworks and Google, will be cottinghamu3a.org.uk. The website domain name remains unchanged.
AGM - 2025
Cottingham u3a held its 25th AGM on Thursday 11th September. 85 members were present at the meeting, which again was an excellent attendance for an AGM. A new Executive Committee was appointed and thanks were given to those members who were leaving the committee. Fortunately all the roles on the committee have now been filled, the main ones being:
- Chair: Lesley Tempest
- Vice Chair: Joan Lehain
- Secretary: Pam Jackson
- Treasurer: Karen Hawtree
- Membership Sec: Karen Baker
Those members present voted unanimously to accept the proposal to amend the Cottingham u3a Constitution to allow the roles of the secretary and treasurer to be held for up to 5 years without an interval in service. This was previously 3 years.
To end the meeting this year, being the 25th Anniversary of Cottingham u3a, the members present were served with a glass of wine or juice together with a delicious cupcake in a presentation box.
The full Executive Committee is now as follows:
- Lesley Tempest
- Joan Lehain
- Pam Jackson
- Karen Hawtree
- Karen Baker
- Pat Collard
- Peter Glover
- Jackie McAndrew
- Jill Robson
- Trish Phillips-Clarke
Non-committee roles
- Pat Windle - Newsletter Editor
- Paul Tempest - Beacon Administrator
- David Groom - Website Editor
Older People's Event - Cottingham Civic Hall
This event will be held on Wednesday 1st October in the Civic Hall from 10:00am to 3:00pm. Once again Cottingham u3a will have a stall at the event and help on the day would be very much appreciated. If you can spare an hour or two please contact Lesley Tempest. Please call 07586 532964.
New Groups.
The following new groups have now been set up and have commenced meetings:
- Art Group 2
- Art Appreciation
- Table Tennis
If you are interested in joining any of these groups, or would like more information, please contact the Group Coordinator by clicking on Contacts button below and then selecting Group Coordinator on that page.
Monthly Meetings - 2025
For dates of this year's Monthly Meetings and for information about all the speakers, please click on Monthly Meetings on the tab above.
Membership Fees - 2025
Reminder.
With effect from 01 April 2025, membership fees will be increasing. The new fee will be £12.00 per individual member. The fee for members requesting a printed newsletter will also increase to £20.00. Members will receive their renewal forms along with the March 2025 newsletter.
Christmas Social Meeting
Over 80 members enjoyed a very pleasant afternoon at this year's Christmas Social. The Darby & Joan Hall and all the tables had been beautifully decorated. Each table had platters of cakes and mince pies together with a selection of nuts, nibbles and sweets. Committee members served tea and coffee.
There were two table top quizzes for members to test their knowledge of 60/70s song lyrics and anagrams.
A short film about this year's u3a National Festival was shown and this was followed by the raffle and a short sing along rounded off the afternoon.
Christmas Lunch - December 2024
This year's Christmas lunch at the Canham Turner Building, University of Hull was held on 5th December and was a great success. The members that attended, although fewer than last year, enjoyed a delicious 3 course meal that was followed by tea/coffee and mince pies. There was even the ceremonial lighting of the Christmas pudding!!
u3a Friends
u3a Friends is an exciting new initiative to bring together stories and interests from across the u3a movement; to use our collective voice to change lives and to share exclusive member offers with our exclusive Friends Extra benefits programme. All of these come together under the banner of u3a Friends. Signing up to the newsletter means you are up to date and in touch with all that's happening across the movement as it happens. To progress this further, and for more information, please click on the link below and the web page click on Menu in the top right of the page. This will bring up a menu list on the left hand side. Scroll down and then click on u3a Friends :
Cottingham Day - 7th July 2024
A number of our groups took part in the Darby and Joan Hall Open Day which gave hirers a chance to promote their various activities. As last year we had the small hall to ourselves and were able to show the public what the u3a is all about. Fantastic displays by the Art, Craft, History and Walking Groups together with information Social Events team, Sunday Strollers, T'ai Chi, Quiz and both Discussion Groups all proved interesting to the many visitors to the hall. Throughout the day we were able to show on the big screen the DVD, produced by Janet King, showing the many activities available to our members.
New Mobile Phone Number
I am pleased to let you know that Cottingham u3a now has a mobile phone number that members can use to contact any Committee Member or Group Convenor. The phone will be held and answered by a Committee Member who will then pass on any queries to the relevant person/group concerned to ensure the query is dealt with.
The phone number is: 07586 532964
Please note that this number is for Calls and Text Messages(SMS) only.
NB (The phone cannot receive or send WhatsApp calls/messages)
Message from the Chair
I would like to draw your attention to a very important issue – DATA PROTECTION – NO, don’t switch off yet; ALL members need to take note so please read on. For some time now, I have felt a little uncomfortable regarding the publishing of members’ personal information ie telephone numbers and email addresses. Therefore, I asked the committee to consider how we might do things differently. A small working party has spent some time looking into this and a decision regarding the way forward has been reached and approved by your u3a committee. A generic email address has been set up and will be published in all documentation regarding Cottingham u3a.
The new email address is cottinghamu3as@gmail.com
Currently this new email box is monitored by 4 members of the committee (chair, vice chair, secretary and treasurer) – it will probably be extended to include the membership secretary. Anyone wishing to contact a member of the u3a for any reason (eg membership, interest group etc) will be able to use this email address; the message will be dealt with and passed on to the relevant person promptly and efficiently. From now on, we will try to eliminate the use of personal data in all correspondence (it’s available all over the place at the current time!!). As with all changes, this might take a little time for everyone to get used to the new system so please bear with us!!
In addition, the committee is well aware that not everyone uses, or has access to, email. We will very shortly, therefore, be purchasing a mobile telephone, held on a rota basis by committee members; this telephone number will also be published in all Cottingham u3a documentation and I hope to be able to pass on this number to everyone in the next few weeks.
All of the above does NOT mean that members cannot pass on their ’phone number/email address to other members, eg those in interest groups. That is still an individual choice. It simply means that we will not be putting members’ personal data in the public domain; this is for your protection. Interestingly, other u3as are also looking into this issue, so we are not alone.
If anyone has any questions about the use of the generic email and telephone number, please do not hesitate to contact me (cottinghamu3as@gmail.com) or any member of the executive committee
Lesley
24 hour Legal Advisory Service.
The free legal telephone advice service from ARC Legal Assistance has been cancelled as this has not proved to be financially viable.
In future, please contact National Office direct for legal advice and they will deal with any enquiries on a ‘case by case’ basis.
Telephone 020 8466 6139 and Quote U3A Legal Helpline.
This free telephone advice service is available to all U3A members; there is no limit to the number of calls you can make and advice will be given on all aspects of law. If you are asked for an insurance number, tell them that you do not have one.
Click on Citizens Advice to go to their website, where you can obtain helpful information or be pointed to the nearest location for advice.
Advice on avoiding Scams
Being aware of different possible scams is the best way to avoid them. Click on any (or each) of the following for advice.
| takefive-stopfraud | - Awareness campaign by FFA UK, its members, and partners Cifas & City of London Police |
| AgeUK Avoiding scams | - similar guide from Age UK. |
| Postal & Phone Scams | - article from Cottingham U3A Newsletter (Sept 2016) |
Mobile Phone Emergency Contact
Have you thought of adding ICE (In case of emergency) next to the mobile phone number of your next of kin or contact person? This would inform the Emergency Services of who to contact in case of emergency. It would also be helpful for Group Leaders.
The Third Age Trust
The Trust holds several summer schools, workshops and conferences annually although these tend to be held in the south. To see if there is anything that appeals to you, check out their website by clicking on the U3A heading above.
This gives details of selected National Theatre plays which are filmed and broadcast live. Cineworld at Kingswood shows these excellent broadcasts which include extras such as the background to the play or interviews with the author.
East Riding library catalogue - & - Hull library catalogue
Find out which books are available. No need to log on.