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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. At our
meeting on 9th February, Dr Anna Beer gave a fascinating talk about
her favourite composer, Fanny Mendelssohn, whom she described as thoughtful,
intellectual and intensely emotional. The
theme of the presentation was gender inequality in arts, of which Fanny was a
prime example. She was immensely talented but her career was restricted by
societal expectations, as well as the attitude of her own family.
Anna
Beer signing copies of her book about Fanny Mendelssohn, as well as her first published
crime novel “Death of an Englishman”
Our
next meeting is on Monday 23rd February, when Dr Paul Stickler will talk to
us about Historical Murders.
Special Interest Groups
The Lunch Group started its 2026 programme on 2nd
February, when eight members visited The Longwall Beefeater in Cowley. Nearly
all of us had dessert, the most popular choice being the intriguingly named Apple
Betty, which none of us had come across before. A Wikipedia search gives
the following description:
“The Betty was a popular baked pudding made during the colonial times in
America. At that time, the crumb topping was made with stale, day-old bread.
According to The Oxford Companion to Food, Apple Betty gets its name from
its creator - an African American woman named Betty.” It was delicious.
Nearly
all of us had dessert
The next visit will be to The Turnpike, Yarnton on Monday 2nd
March.
Contact person: Beverley Birmingham beverleyu3a@gmail.com
On Friday 6th February, 18 members of the Churches &
Pubs Group braved heavy rain and atrocious road conditions to visit
the Church of St Andrew in Sandford on Thames. The church has some interesting
features, the most spectacular being a splendid stone sculpture on the south
wall, dating from ca 1500 and depicting the Assumption of the Virgin Mary.
It was a very interesting visit to a lovely village church and we
finished the outing with lunch at the King’s Arms by the River.
Some
of the visitors to the lovely Church of St Andrew, Sandford
The
next visit will be to St Edburg’s Church in Bicester on Friday 6th
March
Contact
person: Lis Froggatt l.froggatt66@outlook.com
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 across all Charities. 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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