NEWS for ...
Petersfield u3a members

Welcome to our latest e-newsletter, giving a quick summary of what’s happening within Petersfield u3a. To find out more, simply click on the blue links to be taken straight to our website.

Three of the Welcomers Coffee Morning Team: Marjorie Day, Marion Flett and Sue Hampton – with the plentiful biscuits!

Dates for your Diary

10.00 am to 12.00 pm – Wednesday 29 July
Welcomers Coffee Morning – All new and existing members are invited to join us for the next bi-monthly coffee morning to be held at Petersfield Community Centre. Please come along and meet fellow members, get help with any IT issues, meet members of the Committee and make new friends – all while enjoying a drink and unlimited biscuits!

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2.00 pm – Tuesday 15 September
Health Matters –The Building Blocks of Health – how (HDRC) Portsmouth is working to help people live longer and happier lives
Sharon Court is a Research Facilitation Lead with the Health Determinants Research Collaboration (HDRC) in Portsmouth. There are 30 HDRCs across the country, each working in slightly different ways to improve the lives of people in their area.
Sharon will be talking about why health inequalities can have such an impact and ways that you could get involved.

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2.00 pm – Tuesday 22 September
Science and Technology – Medicine Transformed – At a Price
Modern research has resulted in dramatic changes in the development and use of medical treatments.
Dr Peter Ball completed his PhD in molecular biology in the 70s and is still passionate about the progress being made in cell and gene therapy. His talk focuses on recent developments in these areas and the challenges posed by cost and ethics when advancing from the experimental to the mass-production stage.

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No date yet but fingers crossed for 2027:
Arts and Heritage – Bayeux Tapestry
Joan Shepley writes: As you are probably aware, tickets for the Bayeux Tapestry exhibition completely sold out on the first day! Sadly, I was unsuccessful in obtaining tickets for the first tranche. I will, however, try to get tickets in the next release, for January to July 2027. I do not yet know when these will be released but will keep checking.

People of Petersfield u3a

Jenny Thwaites - Chairperson

Jenny joined Petersfield u3a in 2014 and has been a Committee member since 2018. When she first joined the u3a, she and some other enthusiasts started a weekly 'French Linguists Who Laugh' group, which is still going and also initiated 'Spanish Hola', which subsequently morphed into a group of serious Spanish linguists.
Professionally, Jenny had an international food import/export business. In the u3a, she volunteered in order to give something back to the community and to share her skills. Used to working in a team, joining the Committee gave her the team spirit that was lacking in retirement and led to a wider circle of friends. She has enjoyed “Meeting people and ensuring that our members get the best possible experience”.

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Peter Lake - Committee Member

Peter joined Petersfield u3a in 2017. He is a Committee member, the Discussion and Open Groups Hub coordinator and Café Philo convenor.
In his career, he managed IT for a precious metals mining company and later became a consultant. These days he enjoys walking on the Downs – “What a privilege!” – and convenes two u3a groups: International Affairs and Café Philo. As a u3a volunteer, Peter enjoys “Getting to meet and work with new people and having fun!”  

Have Your Say

Congratulations to the team who organised and ran the immensely enjoyable u3a Festival 26 on the University of York campus from 1 to 3 July. Talks, sports, cultural events and visits plus plenty of hands-on activities filled all 3 days, together with a programme of evening entertainment for those of us not completely shattered after supper. If you did have a spare moment, there was an array of exhibitors bidding to book u3a members or groups on holidays and visits, together with eco- and health-related stalls plus an excellent demonstration of u3a's progress in addressing the challenges of AI.
It was a showcase for what an amazing organisation u3a is.
Julia Mayo

‘Connect’ always welcomes news and feedback from Petersfield u3a members via The Editor
To ensure the e-newsletter is easy and enjoyable to read and that the style is consistent, the copy is likely to be edited.
The next issue of ‘Connect’ will be emailed to you on Friday, 7 August, with a copy deadline for all contributions of Sunday, 2 August, a day earlier than usual.