It’s been quite illuminating over the last few months reading through all the “past reflections…” from the previous chairs. What’s been interesting has been the differences in experiences from having to set up the early organisation or expanding and running a growing group, through to the difficulties of trying to keep it going during covid. Whilst many of the experiences are quite different depending on what stage of the past 20 years someone was Chair, there are also many similarities.
The first similarity is that everyone gained a lot of personal satisfaction from the role, and that all considered it to have been a privilege to have been the chair. The second is that everyone was very fortunate and extremely grateful to have had so many other people helping them during their time in post I touched on this in my Chair’s Report for the recent AGM. I have the great fortune to be Chair of Southwell u3a in its 20th year as it continues to grow steadily. In November 2025 we passed the milestone of registering our 900th member and, currently, have a membership of over 970. The number of interest groups is still growing - we gained four new groups last year in Art History 2, Book Club, Violin Group and Vinyl and Vino (all covering quite a broad range of differing activities).
We’ve also had a very successful programme of short courses and workshops; the coach trips to concerts in Nottingham along with the Trips and Social programme prove very popular and, on top of that, are the coffee mornings and the regular monthly meetings at the Leisure Centre with a broad range of speakers. Information on all of this is kept updated on the Website and in Newsline.
Of course, none of these things happen without a dedicated group of volunteers and helpers giving their time, dedication, skills and experiences, to ensure everything runs smoothly.
Our membership grows thanks to the hard work of the Membership Team, along with the publicity folk putting out a steady stream of articles in local papers and Facebook and those who keep Beacon running. The meetings, workshops and trips, etc., go well thanks to those who arrange and prepare the monthly meetings, welcome people and ensure refreshments are available and organise trips and socials. Our website and Newsline is highly thought of by many other groups, so thanks to all who keep them going in an extremely professional way.
At the core of what we do are our various groups and it’s the dedication and hard work of all the group leaders and deputies who prepare and run these each month and who deserve our great thanks.
Backing all this up is the Committee who, as trustees, bring a great wealth and range of experience, along with new ideas, to support the u3a with both dedication and time.
There are so many that deserve our thanks, but one person I would like to name, specifically, is Jan. None of this is possible unless our finances are kept under control, and Jan has done this, admirably, for many years. She’s stepping down from the main treasurer’s role and taking on the Groups’ Treasurer role which I know she will do with the same high degree of professionalism and dedication.
It’s not possible to mention the names of everyone involved and who contributes, but that does not mean that your help is not recognised or appreciated. On behalf of all of us, I’d like to express our heartiest thanks and gratitude to all the people who have grown and developed Southwell u3a and keep it such a fantastic organisation of which to be a part.
Mike Freemantle Chair