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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.

 

 
   
Dr seiber

 

                                  

2025 AGM

 

At our AGM on 9th June Members elected a new Management Committee. Beverley Birmingham stood down as Chairman after three years’ unbroken service (the legal maximum allowed by our constitution). She was succeeded by Inga Martin. Elizabeth Stevens also stood down, having served for many years – first as Secretary and more recently as Newsletter Editor.

The meeting elected three new members – Voirrey Carr, Pauline Simpson and Alex Brown. The remaining members – Lis Froggatt, Russell Ansell, Liz Jones and Ruth Finar – were re-elected.

The meeting received the audited accounts for the year ended 31st March 2025. It was agreed that the annual subscription rate would remain at £20.00 for the year commencing September.  

 
Afterwards Vivien Sieber recounted the story about her Grandmother Paula Ticho, as told in her book entitled ”Kino & Kinder: A Family’s Journey in the Shadow of the Holocaust”. The photo shows the new Chairman with Dr Sieber.

 


Thirteen members of the Churches & Pubs Group  visited the Church of St Mary the Virgin in Charlbury on 6th June. This is a most impressive church, parts of which date back to the 12th century.

Our guide was Mike Summers, who gave us a talk about the history of the village and the church, with particular emphasis on a major restoration project carried out in the 1990s.

 

Charlbury


Visitors and guide in the beautiful Church of St Mary. Also in the picture is  local flower arranger Sarah                                                     

 

Charlbury is a beautiful village, but the restrictions on car parking are such that it took quite a major exercise to transfer the visitors between the church and Woodleys, Woodstock,  where we had lunch at The Duke.

 
The next group visit, on 4th July, will be to Rycote Chapel, Albury, Thame.


Contact Person: Lis Froggatt – l.froggatt66@gmail.com

   


The Lunch Group made a return visit to The Maybush, Newbridge, on 2nd June.  We all enjoyed our menu choices and all (well nearly all) had dessert.

 
Lunch

               

                                                   

The group will next meet at The Doghouse, Frilford, on 7th July.

                                                               

Contact Person: Beverley Birmingham – beverleyu3a@gmail.com

 

 

The intrepid members of the Walking Group continue to brave the elements. Their most recent walk was around Farmoor Reservoir, on a rather blustery day.

 

Farmoor


 
Contact Person: Mary Chait – smchait@gmail.com
 
 
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.

 

 

 

 


 



 Site last updated: 18 Jun 2025


 

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