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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 22nd September Dr
David T Jones gave a fascinating talk entitled How Tropical Rainforests Work;
quite an eye-opener.
At our next
meeting on 13 October Christine Green will talk about working for
the BBC for 13 Years as a Graphic Designer.
OXFORD’S OLDER PEOPLE’S DAY 2025
This
major annual event was held in Oxford’s beautiful Town Hall on 1st
October this year, under the banner “Full of Life”. It is organised by Oxford
50+ Network and provides an opportunity for those who offer services and
support to older people, to showcase their work.
The
event, which is free both to exhibitors and visitors, was a lively affair, with
a friendly atmosphere and a real ’buzz’. Over 70 organisations – both public
and private – were represented and the
number of visitors exceeded 500.
West
Oxford, along with the two other Oxford u3a branches, were there to give
information about us and our activities. We had a nice time, chatting to
potential new members and were, as always, on the lookout for suitable speakers
for future meetings.
We were delighted to receive
a visit from our u3a branch member Margaret Simpson MBE, who for many years
organised this event and is still very much involved. We were also pleased to
meet Mandy of Age UK, one of our future speakers on the subject of ‘avoiding
scams’.

Full of Life: With Margaret Simpson at our stand

Happy to meet Mandy from Age UK
Seventeen members of the Churches & Pubs Group visited the
Church of St Denys, Northmoor on 3rd October. Our guide,
Churchwarden Henry Herford, took us on an interesting tour of the Church, which
is very old: In 2010/11 the congregation held a Pageant to celebrate 750 years since
its inception.

Visitors and Guide by the Pulpit of St Denys
We finished the visit with
lunch at The Red Lion in the village.
The next Group visit
will be to the Church of St Nicholas at Fyfield on 7th November.
Contact Person: Lis Froggatt – l.froggatt66@outlook.com
The Lunch Group made a return visit to a favourite eatery, The
Greyhound at Besselsleigh, on 6th 0ctober. 
Ten hungry visitors at
The Greyhound
The
next lunch meeting will be on Monday 3rd November;
Venue to be confirmed. Contact Person: Beverley Birmingham
– beverleyu3a@gmail.com
The Gardening Group had a useful and enjoyable event in Mary
Gregory’s beautiful garden. She writes: “With summer giving way to autumn,
Group members are sorting out their borders for winter, and for next season.
Clearly the right moment for a plant swap. The weather was kind, giving a warm
and sunny afternoon for 14 members to enjoy tea, cake and much conversation.
And several dozen plants were dispersed to new homes. Thanks to all who came
and contributed”.

A lovely afternoon: plant swap...

.... and tea Contact Person: Mary Gregory
– mary@nandmg.me.uk
Mary
Chait reports that the Walking Group has had some lovely autumn
walks, including one around Burgess
Nature Reserve, which is situated off Port Meadow on the Jericho side. Members
much enjoyed their post-walk lunch at The Trout.
The animals which can
just about be discerned at the back of the photo are the cows in Port Meadow.
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.
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