South Woodham Ferrers

Executive Committee

Officers
Chairman	Heather Richardson	01245 320205	heatherhmr99@waitrose.com
Vice-Chairman	Janice Tyas	01245 321110	Janice@jwinyard.wanadoo.co.uk
Secretary	Joyce Wren	01245 321098	jandawren@tiscali.co.uk
Treasurer	Jennifer Brunning	01245 322282	alan@markbrunning.plus.com
Committee Members
Reception	Delphin Corderoy	01245 323312	delcoco33@btinternet.com
Membership Secretary	Carol Weston	01245 325080	sturnus@hotmail.com
Programme Secretary	Joyce Wren	01245 321098	jandawren@tiscali.co.uk
Refreshments Organiser	Chris Dutfield	01621 828806
Groups Co-ordinator	Janice Tyas	01245 321110	Janice@jwinyard.wanadoo.co.uk
New Members/Visitors	Jill Hiskett	01245 320794	jehiskett@tiscali.co.uk
	Linda Truppin	01245 425216
	Mary Dodd	01245 320726

Social Committee

Social Secretary	Deirdre Courtenay	01245 321093	deidrecourtenay@hotmail.com
Secretary	Janice Cheese	01245 325399	jancheese@tiscali.co.uk
Members	Margaret Fry
	Betty Dowding
	Monica Streamer
	Shirley Watters
	Unni Vesta-Hodgson

 

 

Annual Report 2008-9

South Woodham Ferrers University of the Third Age (U3A)

Membership has continued to grow steadily during the year and is currently 230 Members, including 4 Associate Members. We consistently have a large number of members attending monthly meetings. We are currently hoping to admit members from the waiting list but then the membership will be capped for Health and Safety reasons.

The number of groups has also continued to grow, rising from 25 in June 2008, to our current number of 31. These groups vary in size from two or three members to some with over fifty members. A few groups have closed mainly through lack of support but most of the groups are thriving and expanding. This year new groups include a third Wine Group, a second Local History group, a second Art group, a second Book group, French, Film making, London Walks and Tai Chi. The Local Theatre group was also re-launched. We are grateful to all group co-ordinators for their time and effort in making their groups a success.

Janice Tyas joined the Executive Committee as Groups Co-ordinator and Jill Hiskett was co-opted to the Executive Committee. I am grateful to all the members of the Executive Committee for their hard work and commitment over the past year. I am also grateful to our Newsletter Editor, Lyn Kear, for all her hard work. They have all contributed greatly to the success of our U3A.

We continued to receive financial support from the Active England Initiative of Sport England through Healthy Living Solutions and their primary partner Mid Essex PCT for activity groups such as Spirals, Yoga, Pilates and more recently Tai Chi. We were grateful for this support, which encouraged fitness activities in this age group but unfortunately this financial support has now ended. We hope these groups are established enough to continue but possibly outside the remit of the U3A.

We have continued our membership of the Association of Essex U3As. This enables us to meet with other U3As to share ideas and solve problems.

Highlights of the year:

A Coffee Morning in aid of Little Haven's Children's Hospice which raised £600
Our first Photography Competition was held with many excellent entries. First prize 'Boatyard' Carol Weston, Second prize 'My Wildlife Garden' Carol Weston, Third prize 'We never close' by John Bridge.
A Book Stall was introduced with all takings going to charity. So far we have contributed £50 to both Macmillan Cancer Care and Marie Curie.
The Social Committee organised a quiz evening which was very successful.
Our Wine group went on the first trip abroad when they visited France.
Ten people attended a cookery day at Taste Italia.
Many groups went on a wide range of interesting visits.
We had a range of interesting speakers with the talk by Brian Curtois the highest attendance so far.
In April we arranged our second performance by Eastern Angles 'Return to Akenfield' at the new venue of William de Ferrers School. This was a great success; unfortunately the level of support by U3A members was disappointing.

For the future we intend to

Consider purchase of a mobile P A  system for use by groups and some display boards.
Continue to bring an interesting range of speakers to our meetings.
Continue to encourage new interest groups.
Ensure that we maintain a stable financial basis for our U3A, including applying for grants, if appropriate, to continue our activities.Continue membership of the Association of Essex U3As.

Rosemary Dorado,    Chairperson, May 2009

 

 

Annual Report 2007-8

South Woodham Ferrers University of the Third Age (U3A)

   Membership has continued to grow steadily during the year and is currently 202 Members, including 4 Associate Members. We consistently have a large number of members attending monthly meetings and we are near a time when membership will need to be capped for Health and Safety reasons. The number of groups has also continued to grow, rising from 20 in June 2007, to our current number of 25. These groups vary in size from two or three members to some with over fifty members. Most of the groups are thriving and expanding. Recently a second Wine Group has been set up building on the success of the first. Other new groups are the Book Group, Ten-pin Bowling, London Shows and Computer Courses.

   Carol Weston joined the Committee at last year’s AGM and she has done a wonderful job as Membership Secretary. Following the resignation of Sheila Wenman, when she moved from the area, Chris Dutfield was co-opted to the Executive Committee. She has taken over responsibility for ensuring the smooth running of refreshments at the monthly meetings. I am grateful to all the members of the Executive Committee for their hard work and commitment over the past year. They have contributed greatly to the success of our U3A. I regret that Cliff Olley, who has been on the Committee since the beginning, has now resigned because of other commitments and I thank him for the help and support he has given.

   We were successful in an application to the South Woodham Ferrers Town Council for a Grant in October to support a production of the Cuckoo Teapot by Eastern Angles. We are extremely grateful for this grant as it will enable us to stage this and future drama productions.

   Some of activity groups, Yoga, Pilates, Dance and Fitness and Balance received financial support of from the Active England Initiative of Sport England through Healthy Living Solutions and their primary partner Mid Essex PCT. We are grateful for this support, which encourages fitness activities in this age group.

   We have joined the Association of Essex U3As. This enables us to meet with other U3As to share ideas and solve problems.

   There were a number of highlights during the year. There 25 of our members attended First Aid Courses in September. We broke new ground on this, as it is unusual for Third Agers to complete this type of course. In October we had a trip to London to see Joseph, everybody who went enjoyed the show. In February the Cuckoo Teapot was a complete sell out, a wonderful success for our first venture of this kind. March was a very eventful month for our U3A. The Gardening Group made a very successful visit to Kew Gardens and Palace; we all had fun in March at the Shanty Band Evening; we completed this active month when a group went to the live television show Loose Women. In March I also gave a talk on the history and development of the U3A movement to South Woodham Ferrers Rotary Club. There were many interesting speakers at our monthly meetings who covered a range of topics from The Road to Kathmandu to a Day in the Life of a Thames Tugboat. The talk on Antiques by Mark Stacey was particularly well received.

   Thanks to all members of the Executive Committee, Group Coordinators, people who set out and cleared the hall, those who helped with refreshments and anyone else who helped in any way.

   For the future we intend to

Rosemary Dorado,    Chairperson, May 2008

 

 

Annual Report 2006-7

South Woodham Ferrers University of the Third Age (U3A)

   On 3rd May 2006 a preliminary meeting, attended by approximately 50 people, was held at Champions Manor Hall led by U3A members from Maldon and Baddow and Galleywood. The proposal to form a branch of the U3A in South Woodham Ferrers was carried by a show of hands and offers to form a Steering Committee were accepted from the floor.

   On Saturday 6th May, at a meeting at South Woodham Ferrers Library, a Steering Committee was formed and after three months this became the Executive Committee, operational until the first Annual General meeting. It comprised Rosemary Dorado, Jennifer Brunning, Delphin Corderoy, Doreen Wilkins, Joy Wren and Sheila Wenman. On 10th May our first Steering Committee Meeting was held and the name South Woodham Ferrers U3A was adopted but members from the nearby area would be welcome. A decision was made by the Steering Committee to open a bank account. Later in the year a second account was opened to enable the group finances to remain separate from the main U3A account. A decision was made to issue a monthly newsletter to members. At the next meeting, on 22nd May, the Constitution was agreed. An application was made for temporary membership of the U3A and we became full members in July 2006. The Annual Subscription was set at £15.00 for Singles with £25.00 for Partners and £12.50 for Associate Members. Rosemary Dorado was elected as Chairperson, Jennifer Brunning as Treasurer and Joy Wren as Secretary. We received a small start up grant from the national U3A and loans from both Maldon and Baddow and Galleywood, which have now been repaid.

   Most of us had little knowledge of the U3A and no knowledge of how to run a branch. It was a very sharp learning curve, assisted by local U3As.

   On 7th June the first meeting was held at Champions Manor Hall and there were 46 Founder Members. Membership has grown steadily during the year and is currently 122 Members, including 3 Associate Members. We attempted to start interest groups at that meeting and the Gardening and Watercolour Groups were the first to be established. By August twelve groups had been set up. One or two groups have not been successful and have closed but we now have 18 Groups with further groups planned. These groups have been very successful thanks to the members and particularly the Group Coordinators for their hard work.

   A web site was set up by Adrian Wilkins and has been widely praised. Lyn Kear became the Editor of the Newsletter in July 2006.

   We applied to the South Woodham FerrersTown Council for a Grant in July, which we were delighted to receive. It enabled us to firmly establish the SWF U3A in its first year. We established a policy of engaging a range of interesting speakers, which would play a role in attracting members to the organisation.

   In July Mary Dodd joined the Executive Committee as Programme Secretary and Cliff Olley became a Committee Member. Our Membership Secretary resigned in August and later that month we gratefully accepted Margaret Moore's offer to fill this post. Sadly Margaret died unexpectedly in April this year. We are grateful for her contribution to the development of our U3A. She will be deeply missed. The Executive Committee elected Heather Richardson as Vice Chairperson in August.

   In November Mary Dodd and Rosemary Dorado attended a meeting of the Association of Essex U3As. Our U3A intends to join the Federation in the next financial year.

   There were a number of highlights during the year. In December Cliff Olley, one of our members, brought along his band, the Savoy Swingtet, to entertain us. There were many interesting speakers at our monthly meetings who covered a range of topics from the European Parliament to The Gamekeeper's Year. On the 5th March at the invitation of Mark Francois, MP for Rayleigh, (which includes South Woodham Ferrers) 45 of our U3A members visited the Houses of Parliament and were extremely pleased that Mark found time to greet us and speak to us on the day.

   For the future we intend to

Seek to apply for charity status.
Continue to bring an interesting range of speakers to our meetings.
Establish more interest groups.
Ensure that we maintain a stable financial basis for our U3A, including applying for grants, if appropriate, to continue our activities.
Join the Association of Essex U3As.
Seek sponsorship for our newsletter.
Allow new groups to apply for small start-up grant.
Develop more social events.

Rosemary Dorado,    Chairperson, May 2007

© U3A-SWF/2006-10