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Welcome to West Oxford U3A
The West Oxford branch of
the U3A, (the University of the Third Age), was created
in 1995. The U3A exists for a group of people to get
together to do things with everyone taking equal responsibility.
We meet on the 2nd and
4th Mondays except for July, August and December. Our year begins in September and ends in June, with the AGM being held
at the second meeting in May. Once the
membership fee is paid there is no further charge, although visitors make a
donation. Membership of West Oxford U3A does not cover membership of
Oxford U3A or Headington U3A.
The meetings take place at Dean Court Community Centre, Pinnocks Way,
Botley. The proceedings start at 2.15 pm and (fairly short)
notices are given before or after a talk as set out on your
programme. Tea and biscuits are always served after the talk. Please stay and use this time to
get to know new people and meet friends.
What’s happening? Recent & Upcoming
events. The speaker at our meeting on 24th June was Timothy Walker, world-renowned
horticulturist. The use of colour in
garden design was at the heart of the presentation, which was entitled “Why
gardening can rank as a fine art”.
Timothy with two members of a very appreciative audience
We will now be on holiday until we resume our programme of meetings on 9th
September. The season’s first speaker will be Phil Holt, on “Donald Campbell
– Across the Lake”.
Twenty-two members of the Churches & Pubs Group visited the large
and ancient Church of St Peter in Hook Norton on 5th July. Professor Donald Ratcliffe
of the Hook Norton History Society gave us a fascinating talk about the history
of the village and the church. 
Some of the visitors and our guide
We
finished the visit with lunch at The Sun Inn, just opposite.
The next outing will
be on 2nd August, to the Church of St Mary the Virgin, at Broughton, North
Oxfordshire.
Contact
Person: Lis Froggatt – l.froggatt66@gmail.com
Beverley
tries to find a range of different venues for meetings of the Lunch Group.
On 1st July eleven
members had lunch at the Café at Bampton Garden Plants, which we all agreed was
a great choice. The food was plentiful and tasty, the staff were friendly and
attentive, and – for anyone with gaps in their garden borders - there was the opportunity for some serious
shopping.
Happy Bampton Visitors after a lovely lunch
The next meeting, after the summer break, will be in September; details
to follow.
Contact Person: Beverley Birmingham
– beverleyu3a@gmail.com The Gardening Group had an enjoyable
visit to the beautiful Bletchington garden “Monk’s Head”, home of noted plantswoman,
Sue Bedwell. 
Gardening Group members contemplating Sue
Bedwell’s principle of “letting the plants make their own way”.
Contact Person: Mary Gregory – mary@nandmg.me.uk
SIGs
A list of the Special
Interest Groups (SIGs) is on your programme and they are open to anyone who would like to
join. Just contact the person referred to as arranging the
meetings. If there is a group you would like to start then, if you
think the Committee can give you some help, please ask. For information about each SIG, please see the Groups section.
Newsletter The
membership fee
entitles you to the West Oxford U3A Newsletter which is sent out three
times per year, by email or (for those without an email connection) by
post. The
Newsletter is also published on this website under the 'News' section.
It is full of information about forthcoming events, both those
arranged
by this branch and also those organised by Thames Valley
Network. Please
be certain to look at the notice board at the back of the meeting room
for additional
details of outings and study days and also on www.u3atvnetwork.org.uk as
well as this website.
u3a National A membership
subscription is paid annually to the National U3A office. You
are entitled to attend the Summer Schools and other events. Details and costs
are on the National U3A website.
Queries Do raise any queries when
attending the meetings or contact the appropriate person in the 'Contact Us'
section. To join
West Oxford U3A or to renew your membership:
The
current annual subscription is £20 and subscriptions are due in September
each year.
We
recommend that you use our online membership facility
which can be
found in the Membership section.
However,
you may prefer to complete a paper membership application form which can be
obtained by email or post or will be available at meetings. If you do not
have a form please contact the membership secretary listed in the 'Contact
Us' section. Each
year new members are invited to a 'welcome lunch', which
gives them a chance to meet each other, the leaders of the Special
Interest Groups, and other volunteers.
Gift Aid on Membership Subscriptions Maximising our net income,
for the benefit of members, is a consideration in everything we do.
One way a member can help us
achieve this is by Gift Aiding their membership subscription. This enables
WOu3a to reclaim the tax portion of the payment (25p for every £1 donated) from
HMRC. To be eligible for Gift Aid, the member must:
· be a UK tax payer; and
· have paid an amount of tax
(income and/or capital gains) in the current tax year which is not less than
the Gift Aid claimed on this and any other such donations. The
relevant declaration and consent box is included in the online
Application Form which can be found in the Membership Section.
To send
an email to West Oxford U3A - please select the appropriate contact from the
'Contact Us' section on this website. More information about how the U3A started, its benefits and services,
and other useful links can be found in the 'Links' section on this website.
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