St Austell u3a October 2025 Newsletter
A huge thankyou to those who attended the AGM. Sufficient members were present to ensure that we were able to hold a valid election of Officers for the following 12 months. All members standing were duly elected and for your information, their main roles are as follows:
Chris Crane Chair / Website / Beacon Admin
Heather Lovegrove Treasurer
Richard Ash Secretary / Beacon Support
Jenny Skipp Membership Secretary
Ellie Evans Groups Co-Ordinator
Elaine Hyde-Linaker Vice Chair / Website Support
Kim Robertson Safeguarding / Accessibility
Andy Coles Assistant Treasurer
Joan Hooper Assistant Membership Secretary
Tony Pickup Membership Support
Please join me in thanking Carol Folley, Chris Timmins and Mark Stephenson for their hard work and commitment whilst serving on the Committee.
Mark will continue in his role as Speaker Co-Ordinator.
PrePayment Cards
Due to ever rising costs it has been decided that the cost of Prepayment Cards will increase from £10.00 to £15.00 from 1st April 2026. This equates to the cost to attend a group at the Arts Centre will rise from £1.00 to £1.50. PPC cards purchased before 1st April will remain valid.
Making Payments at Speaker Meetings
If you wish to make a payment for a Social Group or Theatre Group event or to purchase a Prepayment Card, please do arrive as early as possible. We will cease to take payments at 10.15. This just gives us time to pack up before the talk commences. (We like to listen to the talks as well!)
Speakers
The speaker after the AGM was Tom Howe from Chaos Radio. Tom gave an overview of the work undertaken by the CHAOS Group to support the community around the St Austell area.
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Our next speaker on 6th November is a double bill! Mark Grey Chair of the Arts Centre Trustees, will give brief talk about the Arts Centre itself which will be followed by Steph Good from Neighbourhood Watch.
Groups
As previously mentioned, Ellie Evans is our new Groups Co-Ordinator and it may take Ellie a couple of weeks to get to grips with the role, so please be patient. Meanwhile there are potential new groups for which we need to gauge interest as follows:
Pilates – A number of members have expressed an interest. However, we do need a qualified teacher who is (or could be) a u3a member. CONTACT:
Theatre Group
15 members attended Gilbert & Sullivan’s HMS Pinafore, an outdoor theatre production by the Illyria company, at Wheal Martyn on 13th September.
A thoroughly enjoyable evening, with extremely talented actors, singers and dancers. Hilarious!
Science Group
Members of the newly formed Science Group attended Teague Farm machinery’s Open Day at Blackwater last month.
They had a fascinating tour of the factory and met the Managing director of this award-winning family firm.
Short Walks
The next short walk is scheduled at Trevose Head on Friday 24th October. It is a circular walk of approx. 3 miles, and will take around two hours.
Travellers’ Tales
On Friday 7th November, Mark Stephenson will be giving a presentation to the Travellers’ Tales group on his recent travels to Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands. 2pm in the Assembly Rooms, at the Arts Centre. All welcome. NB There is no group meeting in December.
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
