Dear Member,

(This is going to every member who signed up for "emails from the chair")

On Thursday 21st May, between 3 and 4 pm, there is a special opportunity to come and find out about what the Chair and Secretary do in our u3a - no need to book. Both Sheila and I will not be serving in those roles from September so we need two members to volunteer, and this session in the Golden Lion is an opportunity to find out more. Every chair does it differently, and that is to be encouraged - almost the only essential is to chair meetings. You could also ask to attend a committee meeting to see what really goes on there!

I will be there the whole time, except 11.15-11.45 when I am giving a short talk on AI (Artificial Intelligence). This reminds me that there are two more opportunities for u3a members to find out about AI:

• Tuesday 16th June on Zoom 10-12
• Friday 19th June in the Golden Lion 10-12

See the website (u3aivo.uk/events) for more information, and to book.

If you want to comment on what I have written or anything happening in our u3a, feel free to click "Reply". If you want to talk, I will be in Wetherspoons every first Thursday of the month and at most Members' Open Meetings on the second Thursdays.

Best wishes

Peter Cooper, Chair, St Ives (Cambs) u3a, chair@u3aivo.uk

Dear Member,

(This is going to every member who signed up for "emails from the chair")

As we move into April, I hope that you are enjoying your time with other u3a members in 2026. There seems to be even more going on this year, with new groups starting and lots of outings and events. I see there are still a few places left for the Quiz in 2 weeks' time, and the Outing to the British Motor museum in May, and both sound like they will be really enjoyable.

Personally, I am very interested in AI, and love sharing the possibilities (and worries) with people. There has been so much positive feedback from our Free AI Workshops that I have arranged two more. They are in the Golden Lion 10-12 on the following dates:

• Friday 15th May
• Friday 19th June

This is an introductory and practical session for members at any level.  More details are on our website, where you can book.  I have also been to several groups to share how AI is affecting their particular interests.

"St Ives Cares" is a very active cooperation between the Town Council and local organisations. You can find out more at the St Ives Community Information Day, on Saturday 16 May, 10am - 1pm, when there will be over forty stands, talks etc in the Corn Exchange and Free Church. We will be there and sharing what we do with people who come along.  If you could help look after our stall on the day, please let me know by replying to this email.

In September, my time as Chair and member of the committee comes to an end, and we really need to find someone who would consider offering to chair our u3a for the next 12 months. Having done her 3 years, Sheila is having to stand down as Secretary, so we also need someone to offer to become our Secretary in September. If you would like to find out more or to express an interest, please let me know by replying to this email.  I am encouraged to see so many members contributing to our life together in various ways - it is the only way we can continue to grow in the way we have.

If you want to comment on what I have written or anything happening in our u3a, feel free to click "Reply". If you want to talk, I will be in Wetherspoons every first Thursday of the month and at most Members' Open Meetings on the second Thursdays.

Best wishes

Peter Cooper, Chair, St Ives (Cambs) u3a, chair@u3aivo.uk

Dear Member,

(This is going to every member who signed up for "emails from the chair")

This is my first email as chair in this new year, so I'd like to wish you a very happy 2026. I hope that you are able to join in all the interest groups, outings, theatre trips, events and Members Open Meetings that you want to during the year. I also hope that you feel able to contribute to the life of our u3a - whether by helping to lead a group, being part of a team that starts a new group, contributing an article to our Magazine, sharing thoughts and experiences with other members, or in any other way that you feel inspired to.

There is a lot going on in adapting our support systems to our needs, particularly as our u3a membership keeps growing. Our committee are working on our Health and Safety policy and practices, on our Application process, on enhancing our methods of payment, and encouraging new interest groups. You'll hear more about these during the year.

Finally, one of my passions is Artificial Intelligence (AI) - both using it and understanding its implications for the future. We do have an AI Club, which all members are welcome to join, and over the year we have been hearing about how AI is used in Healthcare, the Environment, Education etc. I am now offering two Free AI Workshops where any member can come and find out about how to use AI in practice. These are on Monday 26th January and Wednesday 18th February, 10-12 in the Golden Lion, and you can just drop in during the morning for as long as you like but, as space is limited, if you want to ensure you have a place, then email events@u3aivo.uk (or just reply to this email).

For more information and a blue button see our Events page.

If you want to comment on what I have written or anything happening in our u3a, feel free to click "Reply". If you want to talk, I will be in Wetherspoons every first Thursday of the month and at most Members' Open Meetings on the second Thursdays.

Best wishes

Peter Cooper, Chair, St Ives (Cambs) u3a, chair@u3aivo.uk

Dear Member,

(This is going to every member who signed up for "emails from the chair")

Congratulations and thanks to our newest team (the "Events" team) for their first event - a quiz evening in the Golden Lion. As well as thanking everyone who helped, I want to say a special thanks to Barbara, our quizmaster for the night. I know how much work and thought you put into researching the questions. It illustrates something often said: "Our u3a relies on all of us contributing", and I believe that everyone who went enjoyed the evening. I'm looking forward to the next events - there is already information about them on the website (u3aivo.uk), including how to book.

Something I have been working on recently is our list of possible venues for groups, and adding details about rooms, facilities, costs etc to a document. This "Venues" document is on our website, and includes quite a few places that we are able to use for groups for free as long as we buy drinks or food. You can find it via the menus, but maybe the easiest way to find it is by putting the word "Venues" into the search box (this is on the top right of every page). Members planning new groups could find it useful when considering where to meet. If you see anything there that is wrong, out of date, or missing please email venues@u3aivo.uk.

Lastly, I have news of a national u3a event that is open to everyone, even if they are not members.  Did you know that landlines in the UK are going digital by the end of January 2027? There is a Zoom session on December 11th from 3 to 4 pm entitled "What the future changes in landlines will mean for you". To sign up for this event, click on this link, and then on "Reserve a spot".  It is all free  - and feel to invite a friend.

If you know of fellow u3a members who don’t have access to join online but have a landline and might be interested in knowing more, why not team up with them so you can watch together or take notes and share with them? 

There is more about the Landline switchover on this page of our website.

If you want to comment on what I have written or anything happening in our u3a, feel free to click "Reply". If you want to talk, I will be in Wetherspoons every first Thursday of the month and at the Members' Open Meetings usually on the second Thursdays.

Best wishes

Peter Cooper, Chair, St Ives (Cambs) u3a, chair@u3aivo.uk

Dear Member,

(This is going to every member who signed up for "emails from the chair")

There's lots going on in our u3a! We now have over 985 members - that's 100 more than 12 months ago!

MOTO and Reading for Pleasure have started, Fairweather Bikers are going on their first ride together, and Latin for Beginners and Masters of Modern Art and Architecture are starting in the new year.

Preparations and bookings for the first ever Event organised by our new "Events team", a quiz, are well under way. I see there are still a few places left, but you do need to book if you want to come.

I am told that the script is ready, and casting has begun, for a mini panto as part of our "making our own entertainment" meeting on December 4th in the Corn Exchange. (Yes it is the FIRST Thursday of the month this year!) Look out for further details of this event in the November newsletter.

Less fun but still important, your committee are working on reviewing and revising our policies, as they need to be kept up to date.  They are also looking at some strategic aspects, in particular our budget for 2026 and when we might need to increase our subscription.

Reflections on u3a

I have been asked why we talk of ourselves as the "u3a" (lower case) these days, especially as I insist on changing it from the upper case version when I see it, so I thought I would summarise my thoughts.

Many of you will remember the old days when we were the "University of the Third Age", affectionately known as the "U3A". It seemed quite an ambition to be thought of as a "University"; and it was a recognition that it was mainly for people after their working life had finished.

Originally, the word "university" referred to a guild of either teachers or students, and came from the Latin phrase "universitas magistrorum et scholarium", which means "community of masters and scholars". However the term evolved away from being about people to describe a centre of learning itself.  Although we wanted to maintain the feeling that we are an association of learners, at every level, our movement were concerned that the modern meaning of "University" put many people off joining - it felt elitist and purely intellectual.

The term "Third Age" was also very constraining in its image, especially given the way jobs and careers have developed. We want everyone who is no longer in full-time employment, and therefore has time to join in our community of learners, to be able to feel welcome to join - and to contribute.

Hence the decision was made by the movement to move away from mentioning the word University and the phrase Third Age. To maintain some continuity, it was decided to use what had been an acronym, but now just to use it as a brand ie "u3a". We are no different than before in our emphases, but hopefully more inclusive and attractive to everyone who is no longer in full-time employment.

Finally, there are a few places where you will still see the old "U3A" name:

• On our official documents (bank account, charity registration) - these are too hard to change
• Some particular U3As (eg Cambridge) that are not part of the main u3a movement - they offer courses very like a University
• the on-line platform "U3ACommunities" who aim to "put University back into the U3A" - they are a useful resource for enquiring minds, eg on AI

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If you want to comment on what I have written or anything happening in our u3a, feel free to click "Reply". If you want to talk, I will be in Wetherspoons every first Thursday of the month and at the Members' Open Meetings usually on the second Thursdays.

Best wishes

Peter Cooper, Chair, St Ives (Cambs) u3a, chair@u3aivo.uk

Dear Member,

Thank you to those who came to our AGM earlier this month, as well as to those of you who sent in proxy votes. We are grateful to our new Trustees who will be meeting for the first time on October 1st, as our u3a Committee. I am sure that you will wish them well.

We do have new groups starting this month, and some possible groups that are exploring what interest there might be. They are usually all listed on the Home page of our website (https://u3aivo.uk), in either the "Possible Groups" or "New Groups" boxes, so keep an eye on these. I note that, among others, there is currently a possible cycling group (Fairweather Bikers), and a new Latin for Beginners group. If you might be interested in either of these, have a look at the website.

As a u3a we can have almost any sort of group. For example, I see that the "New Experiences" group at Northampton u3a enables members to explore things they've never tried before in a supportive environment! Activities have included visiting a cheese-making factory, sledging, adventuring in the trees at Go Ape and litter picking! If you feel like helping to start a new group here, please contact the Group Support Team via gst@u3aivo.uk

Many of you should receive about now the Autumn edition of the "u3a matters" magazine from our National office (one benefit of being a member). There is a taster of the content of the magazine on the u3a website, available to everyone. If you would rather not receive the paper copy of the magazine, please let our Membership Secretary know via membership@u3aivo.uk

We are developing other aspects of our life together, and we hope to be able to tell you more about them in future months.

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If you want to comment on what I have written or anything happening in our u3a, feel free to click "Reply". If you want to talk, I will be in Wetherspoons every first Thursday of the month and at the Members' Open Meetings on the second Thursdays.

Best wishes

Peter Cooper, Chair, St Ives (Cambs) u3a, chair@u3aivo.uk

Dear Member,

I have been preparing for the AGM in September 11th, and I do hope that you plan to come to that. My "Chair's Report" is already on the AGM page on our website - it has been good to look back at this last year's developments.

Could you serve our u3a as a Trustee - the only qualification is trustworthiness? We particularly need someone to come forward to be nominated as Vice Chair. Nominations must be in by August 23rd. 

I am really pleased that one or two new members are offering to help in various other ways, and I do hope that they can find fulfilment in doing so, as well as helping our u3a. There is so much interest and life amongst the members of our u3a that we are only limited by the number of members who are willing to help in some way.

One particular need we have at the moment is for new members of our Group Support team (a central point of contact for group needs). Because our u3a is growing, we urgently need another member of the team who can help encourage new groups and support them as they get going. Don't worry about whether you have enough experience, we will support you as you learn to do it.

One of our new groups starting is our second book group called "Reading for Pleasure", and I hear that it is still open to new members.

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If you want to comment on what I have written or anything happening in our u3a, feel free to click "Reply". If you want to talk, I will be in Wetherspoons every first Thursday of the month and at the Members' Open Meetings on the second Thursdays.

Best wishes

Peter Cooper, Chair, St Ives (Cambs) u3a, chair@u3aivo.uk

Dear Member,

We have several new groups starting this month - check the website (u3aivo.uk) for details. New groups are listed on the Home page (bottom right on a laptop, and at the bottom on a phone). Click on the one you are interested in to see details.

In September, we have our AGM, when the committee and I report to you on what has been happening, about our finances and plans etc. There will be an opportunity to ask questions.

All our trustees only serve for a year, and several are willing to be re-elected. However, we do need a few members to come forward to offer to serve as new trustees on the committee for 12 months. Could you do this? Do you want to find out more, or even attend a committee meeting to see what it is like - without any commitment? Please reply to this email and let's talk.

We have taken the bold step to have no speaker or entertainer for our Members Open Meeting on Thursday December 4th. We hope that we can find a way to entertain ourselves, especially as it will be near Christmas. Could you be part of the team that organises this? Could you even offer to entertain us for a few minutes on the day, maybe with a group of friends? Exciting times!

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If you want to comment on what I have written or anything happening in our u3a, feel free to click "Reply". If you want to talk, I will be in Wetherspoons every first Thursday of the month and at the Members' Open Meetings on the second Thursdays.

Best wishes

Peter Cooper, Chair, St Ives (Cambs) u3a, chair@u3aivo.uk

Dear Member,

We have two new groups starting in two weeks (Tuesday 10th) and they both still have places. One is the weekly "Tai Chi Tuesday" group, meeting 10:15-11:30 in the Corn Exchange. The other is "All about the Art" (for members of all abilities and using any medium), meeting every 2nd and 4th Tuesday in the month 10:00 - 12:00. As the Tai Chi Friday group and all the other art groups are already full, it is likely that both these groups will be full soon so don't miss the opportunity now!

For something completely different, why not join our monthly AI Club on Zoom? At the next meeting (2nd June) I will be sharing presentations and real-life examples about using AI in u3as. 

To sign up or make an enquiry about any of these groups, you can go to the group's webpage (there are links on our Home page, u3aivo.uk), or just reply to this email.

Lastly, if you have signed up to receive the national u3a Friends newsletter you will have seen Iain Cassidy's comment about our open day, "which was a great event where I both met existing members and people who had come along to find out more about u3a". He commended me for putting on such a great and lively meeting! But I want to put the record straight - we put it on together, and so many members put a lot of thought and effort into making it such a success.

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If you want to comment on what I have written or anything happening in our u3a, feel free to click "Reply". If you want to talk I will be in Wetherspoons every first Thursday of the month  and at the Members' Open Meetings on the second Thursdays.

Best wishes

Peter Cooper, Chair, St Ives (Cambs) u3a, chair@u3aivo.uk

Dear Member,

You will have heard the sad news about Pat's death, and Bob Wilson and I are working on making sure that we can continue Pat's diligent work on the finances and membership processing. Thank you to those who have offered to help - we are all volunteers and every contribution is valued.

The next event we are at is the "Community Information Day" this Saturday 17th 10 - 1 in St Ives, sponsored by "St Ives Cares".  We will have one of the stalls in the Free Church, but there will be many other stalls in the Corn Exchange. Why not pop along to see all the groups and services we have in the town? 

Do you fancy creating some art with like-minded friends? Have you been disappointed that all our art groups are full? There is a new opportunity to join an art group - "All about the Art" that starts on 10th June, and meets to create every 2nd and 4th Tuesday in the month 10 - 12. Sign up now via the website (or just reply to this email) while there are still a few places.

Lastly, I am hoping to encourage a group to form who will plan and organise ad hoc "Events" (eg mobile phone training, a quiz evening, a meal out). There are lots of organisations who will supply trainers etc and all we need to do is organise the venue and members. If you might be interested in helping this group organise a few events, just contact me by replying to this email.

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If you want to comment on what I have written or anything happening in our u3a, feel free to click "Reply". If you want to talk I will be in Wetherspoons every first Thursday of the month  and at the Members' Open Meetings on the second Thursdays.

Best wishes

Peter Cooper, Chair, St Ives (Cambs) u3a, chair@u3aivo.uk