Doreen was first lured into the u3a in 2019 by the Scrabble group – “a great group” –   and she still plays. When the committee needed new members, she volunteered to join the secretarial team, something she felt comfortable with. She writes minutes, tidies up documentation and, over the last year, has been working with Peter Lake on the Learning Grants Scheme. Outside the u3a, she’s busy gardening, exploring the countryside, birdwatching and lots more.  Doreen says, “What I like about volunteering is being able to meet, work and have a laugh with people, with a purpose quite unrelated to my past life in education” and adds, “Please be aware that I sometimes don’t recognise people out of context until we've met several times – I recently learned this is a named condition – so apologies to anyone who thinks I’ve ignored them!”