St Austell u3a September 2025 Newsletter
This will be the last newsletter before our AGM which is to be held at the Arts Centre on Thursday 2nd October at 10.30 am.
I am pleased to confirm that Tony Pickup and Andy Coles have been co-opted onto the committee. Tony has a wealth of experience with u3a and St Austell Lions and Andy will be supporting Heather Lovegrove as Assistant Treasurer.
A Committee Member Nomination Form is available on the website. Completed nomination forms must be received before 15th September.
The AGM will be followed by a talk by Tom Howe of CHAOS Group. The CHAOS Group is a B Corp certified organisation based in Mid Cornwall, who specialise and deliver Health and Social Care and a range of focused community services and meaningful activities, to help individuals and families to make positive changes in their lives. I was recently interviewed by Tom and this was broadcast on CHAOS radio on 25th August. The recording is available at: https://tinyurl.com/2ayw5rsr
Speakers
The speaker on Thursday 4th September was member, Rob Wells. His talk about the “Seals of St Austell Bay” and how the Seal Research Trust works was fascinating.
Rob collected £51 in donations and sold 16 copies of his children’s book all in aid of the Seals Research Trust.
Social Group
Unfortunately, the August trip on the Paddle Steamer PS Waverley on 31st was cancelled due to the bad weather.
Monday 22nd September is a Trip to Buckland Abbey and on Wednesday 22nd October 2025 there is a trip to The House of Marbles in Bovey Tracey.
For all social events contact:
Groups
There are a few new groups which are either about to start or for which we would like to gauge interest amongst members.
Chris Timmins is leading a visit to Falmouth Air Show on Wednesday, August 13th which is the inaugural meeting of a new “science” based group.
Cribbage Group
There will be a new group for playing cribbage starting on 8th September 2025 from 14.00 – 16.00 at St Austell Arts Centre and continuing to meet on the second Monday of the month at the same time.
Science Group
There will be an activity every month, sometimes meeting at the Arts Centre, sometimes there will be a visit. The Arts Centre meetings will be on the first Friday of the month in Lounge 1, except for the first meeting which will be on the second Friday, September 12th.
The inaugural meeting has already taken place, a group went to see the Red Arrows in Falmouth in August. The visits have yet to be arranged and the group will vote on where they would like to go. Some suggestions so far are St Austell Printers, Goonhilly, St Austell Brewery, Teagles Farm Machinery. The Arts Centre meetings will be a mix of subjects – Chemistry, Life Sciences, Physics, some practical experiments and some discussions. For the first meeting on September 12th the subject will be Climate Change.
Pilates
Some members have expressed an interest in a Pilates Group.
If you would be interested in joining and / or are a qualified Pilates Instructor please contact:
Debating Group
A number of members have expressed an interest in being part of a Debating Group which would meet once a month to debate a particular question. The type of questions discussed might follow a variety of subjects. For example, it could be a more philosophical question such as “Is Beauty skin deep?” or “Is there such a thing as free will?” Alternatively, we could debate a question like, “Is AI a good or bad thing?” or something more political such as, “Should we withdraw from European Court of Human Rights?”
These are just suggestions to give you an idea of how we might move forward. Also please make some suggestions of what you might like to debate/discuss and let Mark know of anything else about the proposed group including whether you would be interested in running such a group.
If you are interested, please email Mark Stephenson at:
Short Walks
The walk on 22nd August was to the lovely Luxulyan Valley to explore the valley and admire the amazing Treffry Viaduct. Some of the group went to the pub for lunch but others visited the village church for tea and homemade cake.
The next short walk is scheduled at Lerryn on Friday 26th September of approx. 3 miles. It will take around one and a half hours. The walk is circular and will start from the free car park in the village centre next to the river.
Travellers’ Tales
On Friday 3rd October at 2pm, Julie Ng will be giving a talk to the Travellers’ Tales group about her travels to Tibet and Everest Base Camp. You are all welcome to join us in the Assembly Rooms at the Arts centre. Please remember to bring your payment card.
Message from Dee McVey, Chair Oakhampton u3a
As the BBQ’s and race day have been so popular I’ll be organising them again in 2026. In the meantime I’d like to gauge interest in a coach trip, initially on 3rd June 2026, to Abbotsbury Swannery or Subtropical Gardens on the Jurassic Coast.
This is a link to the Swannery Abbotsbury Swannery | On Dorset’s Jurassic Coast | Abbotsbury Swannery and this to the Gardens Abbotsbury Subtropical Gardens | On Dorset’s Jurassic Coast | Abbotsbury Subtropical Gardens
My plan is to have a coach from Newquay, picking up in Exeter at the Honiton Road Park and Ride. I’ve had some quotes but won’t be able to give costings until I know how many members, and guests, would like to go.
I’ll need to know the following:
- Name(s)
- Which u3a you belong to
- Swannery or Gardens
- Newquay or Exeter (or other?) pick up
- Contact phone number
If interested in please contact Dee direct.
Tel: 01837 658590
Don’t forget to tell me of any interesting events your Group may have participated in and include photos whenever possible. I am sure all members would enjoy hearing about them in this newsletter.
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Chris Crane
