Caldicot & District U3A
Lottery Grant for U3A Gardening Group
Caldicot U3A Gardening Group has been awarded a grant of £1819 by The Big Lottery Fund to help towards the cost of coaches for the summer outings this year. Norma Shreeve, who has been convenor of the group for the past 12 years is thrilled.
*Please click the image below to access a larger photograph
photo: Norma Shreeve, Gardening Group convenor
She has arranged visits to Savill Gardens, Windsor Great Park in May to see the Rhododendrons, Waterperry Gardens, Oxfordshire in June and Cannington Gardens near Bridgwater, Somerset in August.
She also organises an annual holiday week to visit gardens and this year some will travel to Holland to the Floriade. She is assisted by Jennifer King who acts as her treasurer.
Group meetings held in the autumn and winter months generally include a visiting speaker and cover a wide range of topics. Talks are well attended with up to 80 members keen to learn the magic techniques of producing beautiful plants.
Caldicot U3A has over 400 members who participate in 14 different groups including art, Bridge, computing, drama, exercise, gardening, handicraft, history, music appreciation, science and natural history, Scrabble, Spanish, walking and most recently, table tennis. This newly formed group meet in The Scout Hall, Sandy Lane on Monday afternoons and has attracted many interested players.
The subscription fee of £10 per annum enables members to access all these activities.
For further details contact Chairman Jim Hill on 01633 889259 or Brenda Buckley on 01633 880500.
Chairman’s Letter
Welcome back everyone.
I hope you had a good break during the August holidays. Unfortunately the weather wasn’t too good for anyone looking after their grandchildren and limited what you could do with them but I’m sure you all enjoyed their company.
Well I have been very busy since the July meeting. Firstly I, along with several members of the Computer Group, attended the Eistedfodd at Ebbw Vale at the invitation of the National Lottery.
We were representing the U3A on their stand as we had received Lottery funding and they wanted us to let people know how we had spent the money and what help it has been to our Computer Group.
We did have a lovely day (apart from the weather) and we met the Older People’s Commissioner for Wales, Ruth Marks, who is a great follower of the U3A and cannot sing our praises enough.
Pam Caines
Caldicot & District U3A Exercise Group
*please click on the image below to access a photo slideshow of our
Exercise Group activities
Photographs were taken by Glenice and Adrian Dallow
During my Chairmanship in 2006, requests were made from members to establish an Exercise Group to encourage and improve health and fitness, especially those who were unable to join the walking groups.
We were also approached by Helen, our Instructor who was starting a new business, therefore a dear friend and member of Caldicot & District U3A offered to hold a coffee morning to give us enough funds to start a trial period.
Members were contacted by Deserie Mansfield a representative of Monmouthshire Rural Community Action a partnership with Monmouthshire County Council, the Welsh Assembly Government and the Gwent Association of Voluntary Organisations to give Groups assistance with projects by providing information, practical support and funding advice.
RCA informed us about the Lottery Community Chest and the Sports Council for Wales where grants were available for our Exercise Group activities, we applied for financial support and was successful with funding of £744.
With this support the Group was able the pay for Helen the Instructor, the hire of the Scout Hall in Caldicot for 20 weeks and purchase the equipment needed. Fortunately Helen brings a lot of her own equipment, which meant our outlay was kept to a minimum.
I am pleased to say that 4 years later we are still going with Armchair Aerobics, Aerobics and Pilate sessions on a Wednesday morning. Our numbers have increased but obviously fluctuate according to the season.
We have a great deal of fun and laughter as well as exercising our bodies. Our members have reported that several health and physical conditions have been improved or cleared with the regular exercise.
Our flyers say:
We have fun, we have lots of laughs and we get fit,
why don’t you come along and join us?Glenice Dallow: Convenor
Caldicot & District U3A Computing Group
John Griffiths A.M. for Newport East visits Caldicot U3A.
The Welsh Assembly Member for Newport East Mr John Griffiths visited the Computer Group of Caldicot and District U3A to meet the members who have recently benefited from a grant of £4,000 from The Big Lottery Fund {B.I.G}. He was accompanied by Rhiannon Doe, Assistant Public Affairs Officer and Fflur Lawton from B.I.G.
*Please click the image below to access a photo slideshow of the visit of
John Griffiths AM.
photo: John Griffiths AM. with a member of our Computer Group
12 years ago the Computer Group comprised 8 members. Now it exceeds 60 members who meet weekly to expand their knowledge in computing. Following the U3A principles of self-help, self-management and lifelong learning for older people no longer in full time work, the group provides opportunities for members to share learning experiences and have fun whilst learning. No qualifications are needed or given.
The latest Grant has enabled the Computer Group to have 6 laptop computers for basic training which is provided through interactive self-help computer programmes such as ‘E Citizen’ and ‘Alison’. With the encouragement of member trainers they work in a dedicated area whilst more advanced members have tutored practice in digital imaging, question and answer sessions and demonstrations involving word processing, spreadsheets, databases and Internet use in the main hall.
The Grant has meant that the number of software licences has been increased, e.g. ‘Office 2003’ and there is access to Broadband. Additionally the Drama Group has benefited by the purchase of a Public Address system used in the presentation of their plays.
Mr Griffiths and his colleagues spent over an hour chatting to members who demonstrated their new skills and explained how these have changed their lives, from ordering goods over the Internet to accessing train timetables and booking holidays. More importantly it enables members to e-mail their friends and grandchildren and keep up to date.
The group has given members, without any computer experience, the confidence and ability to sit down and try new things with the computer without the dread of panic setting in when an error message comes up on the screen. For more experienced members it has meant that they can pursue new fields in greater depth and also be there to help and encourage new members.
Caldicot & District U3A Drama Group
The Drama group backroom team and some of our artists using the Lottery grant equipment
*Please click on the image below to access a photo slideshow of our
Drama Group activities
Photo: The Drama Group has benefited by the purchase of a Public Address system used in the presentation
of their plays by the National Lottery Charities Board.
the Drama Group received a grant to buy a sound amplifying system for the Drama Group. The system includes wireless collar microphones which allow the players to have their voices amplified without the encumbrance of wires and they were used publicly for the first time in September when the Group gave a performance of "The Worst Day of my Life" to an audience of over 100 people in the Choir Hall in Caldicot.
website link: www.biglotteryfund.org.uk
| Return to Homepage |  |
Return to top |
|---|