test groups

Art for Pleasure
 Group Contact: Rowan
 Venue: Leigh Community Centre
 Meets: First Friday each Month 1.30 -3.30pm
 Status: Spaces available. Please contact Rowan     Contact Me

Art for Pleasure is a relaxed friendly meeting for anyone who is interested in coming together to paint and draw using a variety of suitable materials. We improve our skills and knowledge through discussion, books, handouts etc.

Each meeting has a ‘theme’ which members can interpret in their own way.

LOOK FORWARD TO SEEING YOU!

New members are very welcome
The group is suitable all levels of ability
The ‘themes’ are merely to provide some ideas
Members ideas and input is valued
Please contact me if you need more information or wish to join our group.

Book Group
Group Contact: Mary
Meets: 4th Thursday of each month 10.00 am
Venue: TruLeigh Scrumptious (opposite Leigh Library)
Status: Please register your interest by contacting me                 Contact Me

We are a small friendly group and we like to read a variety of books, ranging from classics to biographies to thrillers -- in fact anything goes! We take it in turns to come up with a list of books and decide between us which one we are going to read next, which seems to work well.

 

 

 

Bridge
Group Contact: David White                                                                News & Events
Meets: 1st and 3rd Wednesday of the month 2 - 4 pm  (We try to play each week and days can vary)
Venue: Private House
Status: Please register your interest by contacting me                         Contact Me

Why play Bridge? Well in the words of the novelist W. Somerset Maugham “Bridge is the most entertaining and intelligent card game the wit of man has so far devised”.

As a social game, bridge is unparalleled and a great way to meet new people. Bridge is good for the mind – a mental workout that stimulates both halves of the brain in equal measure. Playing bridge develops both logical and lateral thinking, it helps short and long term memory among many benefits.

At the start of 2018, we were able to get a Bridge for Beginners group underway. After two years of learning and playing, the group acknowledge they are far from complete but decided they are no longer beginners so a name change to "Bridge for Improvers" might better describe where they are.  If you want to join please contact the Group Leader to check level reached and see if it might fit with your standard of play.  Beginners are also welcomed.

Canasta 1
Group Contact:  Marion Stimson
Meets: 1st Thursday each month 7.30 pm
Venue: Private House
Status: This group is currently full. Please register your interest by contacting me                Contact Me

Leigh Estuary U3A Canasta Group has been going strong since November 2017 and meet at a members home on the first Thursday of the month. We have 12 members and we usually get 8-12 members attending. It is a very friendly group and although we did start with 2 or three beginners and a few who hadn't played for some time, everyone is of a reasonable ability now.

Bearing in mind that usually Canasta is played in fours, we do sometimes have to adapt to three-handed Canasta!

Of course we do have varying rules of Canasta within the group which is interesting but we ask that everyone plays the same as the majority and the people we have taught.

Canasta for Improvers
Group Contact: Lynne Daughtrey
Meets:  Every Tuesday (except 1st Tuesday in every month) from 2:00 to around 4:30pm
Venue: Private House
Status: Please register your interest by contacting me                          Contact Me

Already play canasta and looking to improve then contact me using button above to see if spaces.

Church Visits
Group Contact: Margaret Tothill               News & Events
Meets: Various Days
Venue: Various
Status: Please register your interest by contacting me                                 Contact Me

VISITING ESSEX CHURCHES GROUP

This group is for people who are interested in church architecture, history and comparative religions. Members share organising the visits to places of worship. The group has visited many Essex churches of a variety of Christian denominations. We have also visited two synagogues, a mosque and a Sikh gurdwara along with Hindu and Buddhist temples.

We vary the days we visit.
Computer
Group Contact: Marija Seager
Meets: By arrangement
Venue: By arrangement
Status: Need help with your computer, a specific programme or maybe just need guidance to use email then please get in touch                      Contact Me

If you need help with your computer or tablet then please get in touch using link above and we will see what we can arrange.  We will not be able to sort every problem out but we will help where we can.
Ravenshead U3A have kindly shared their useful computer guides. Click on the *Computer Help Guides* link here.
Contemporary Novels
Group Contact: Frances Devereaux (temporary leader)
Meets: 2nd Wednesday each month 10 - 11.00 am
Venue: Leigh Community Centre
Status:     Currently full, but please ask to be put on a waiting list   Contact Me

We focus Current reading on novels post 2000 and we try to keep it wide ranging.
Each member contributes by nominating a novel they recommend to be read over the following month. During the monthly discussion meeting, we loosely follow recommended reading book club questions.

 

Country Walks
Group Contact: Dave Rixon                                                    News & Events
Meets: Various days
Venue: Variable venues
Status: Currently on hold      Contact Me

We have decided to change our group name from vigorous walking to Country Walks as this better reflects what we do.

Apart from the name change everything else remains the same.

Click on News & Events above for details of our walks.

This group has proved very popular with members wanting to get out and exercise and although the group is currently full with some 50 members, if you are interested please let Dave know using the button above and he will add your name to the waiting list.  Then again, maybe time to start another walking group - if you want to get another group going do shout.

Craft
Group Contacts: Pat Lytheer and Amanda Archard                               News & Events
Meets: 2nd Tuesday each Month 1.45 - 3.45 pm
Venue: Leigh Community Centre
Status: Please register your interest by contacting us                     Contact Us

The Craft Group is a very friendly, informal group which welcomes members with an interest in any craft, whatever their level of ability.

In keeping with the spirit of the U3A, we are all willing to share our skills with each other. Although we generally work on our own individual projects, which include knitting, crochet, quilting, card making, embroidery etc, we also, on occasion, try a new skill as a group, led by one of our own members. Member-led sessions to date have covered Chicken Scratch, Quilting, Iris Folding, Gift bags and boxes. Some of our members' recent work can be seen in 'News and Events' above.

We meet at Leigh Community Centre, from 1.45 - 3.45 pm on the second Tuesday of the month. To enjoy a sociable afternoon and maybe feel inspired to try a new skill, please contact the Group Organisers via  the link above.

Cryptic Crosswords
Group Contact: Pat Wickham
Meets: 3rd Monday each month 3 - 4 pm
Venue: Various, see below
Status: Spaces available, please get in touch with the Group Contact                 Contact Me

The Cryptic Crossword group aims to support members to improve their skills at completing Cryptic Crossword clues (i.e. those which are not just straight definitions).
Both those with existing skills and those who want to learn how to do crosswords of this type are welcome to join the group.

Group members bring along crosswords they are working on and blank crossword grids are provided for those who are beginning to learn.

More experienced members of the group support new learners.

We also have general discussion on the different types of clues and how they can be solved
Members are invited to nominate a Clue of the Month which they have found particularly clever, challenging or amusing!

The venue for the meetings is generally at cafes in the Leigh area. At present it is at the TruLeigh Scrumptious, (opposite Leigh Library), Broadway West.

Your Group Contact will e-mail members each month to confirm the meeting date and venue.

Please check with Pat before attending.

Days Out by Coach
Group Contact: Moira Sweet 01702 710337                                                News & Events
Meets: Various Days
Venue: Various
Status: Please register your interest by contacting me                               Contact Me

The title says it all!

The group will enjoy bi-monthly(ish) visits to interesting venues using scheduled coach trips from local coach companies. Destinations will be within approximately two hours journey time.

I will be using Cooks Coaches for transport on all excursions, all their vehicles are air conditioned with a toilet. The pick-up points will be Chalkwell, Leigh Elms and Thames Drive, although if sufficient demand for other pick-ups these could be added.

I will also be using two companies with guides, Greatdays (www.greatdays.co.uk) and City and Village Tours (www.cityandvillagetours.com). Both companies have very good websites, so do take a look.

Please note: Payment arrangements:  I will be taking a non-refundable deposit of £5 per person at the time of booking, with the balance being due about six weeks before departure.  I will also limit each trip to a maximum of 40 people, and I will only do about six trips a year

Although the group is full, I do keep a waiting list and in the event numbers are down on any trip I do make contact to try and ensure our coach is full.  So if interested in Days Out then please do make contact using the link above.

 

Dessert First Lunch Group
Group Contact: Trevor Matthews                                                                          News & Events
Meets: Various on a Sunday
Venue: Various
Status:  Please contact Trevor if interested                                      Contact Me

This second Sunday Lunch group got off to a start with lunch at the Southchurch Park Dining Rooms.  Some wonderful home cooking that was enjoyed by everyone.  Plans for 2020 were also discussed and organised.

February's lunch will be on Sunday 16th February at The Trading Rooms pub on corner of Crowstone Road and London Road for 12:30.  Contact Trevor for more details.

This group does exactly what it says so if you want to enjoy lunch on a Sunday along with friends then please contact Trevor who will keep you informed of where and when.

East London
 Group Contact: John Walters                                                                                 News & Events
 Meets:  2nd Tuesday of the month 2.00 – 3.45 pm
 Venue: Various
 Status: Although currently full, please register your interest by contacting me                                           Contact Me

Members of the group are now organising the sessions. Our objectives are explore and discuss people and their occupations, history events and locations that make up the area East of London. We do not restrict ourselves by looking at London’s East End only but will be exploring South East and North East districts as well as London’s sprawl into Essex.

Family History
Group Contact:  David Shakespear                                                  Contact Me
Meets: 3rd Tuesday each month 10 – 12 noon
Venue:    Venue will be Leigh Community Centre
Status:  Group restarting in February 23    – if you wish to register your interest please get in touch

This group is for everyone who is interested in family history matters in all its many facets. It is not solely for research into ancestry but covers any matter which is related, however loosely, to family history generally.

If you have a family history matter/mystery that you would like the group to research for you please get in touch with the group contact mentioned above.

Fashion & Fabrics
Group Contact: Joan Murphy                 News & Events
Meets: 4th Friday of the month 2.30 pm
Venue: A member's home and alternate 'awaydays'
Status: Full but please register your interest.               Contact Me

Fashion comes quite high on the list of interests of lots of women, with this in mind we could see the need for another group dedicated to inspiring and furthering our knowledge. Meetings are taking place on the 4th Friday of every month. Alternate months 'AT HOME', an hostess from the group members at 2.30 pm to discuss future events. The other alternate months we will endeavour to have an' AWAYDAY' to anything fashion related that catches our eye.

This promises to be a valuable and informative time for us which will hopefully enable us all to make the most of ourselves and not fall into the trap of 'looking old'.

Fabulous Fashions
Group Contact: Heather Tetchner                                                                        News & Events
Meets: Varies
Venue: Private House and out and about
Status: Please register your interest by contacting me                                        Contact Me

If interested in finding our more about any of our planned trips then please contact Heather using link above.

  • Mary Quant at the V&A Museum date to be confirmed
  • ‘Out of the Blue’: 50 Years of Designers' Guild £15.50 or less if 9+ members attend – Wednesday April 5th 
  • 10th June meeting at Jenny’s house.  Contact me for address.
  • We are planning a "Behind the Seams" Tour in June/July to see what goes on and how they create those wonderful outfits for Strictly Come Dancing.  If interested then contact Heather using button above to check on availability etc.

For details of past trips please see our News & Events page

Guitar Group
Group Contact: Jim Jennett                                                                       News & Events
Meets: 1st, 3rd and 5th Thursday of the month 9:30am - 12:00 noon
Venue: St Peter's Church Hall, Eastbourne Grove, SS0 0QF
Status: Spaces available. Please contact me                                                                      Contact Me

The group's initial meeting was on the 17th October 2019 and is being well supported.

The group mainly comprises members who have no previous experience of the guitar although a few have been playing for many years.

The intention is to gradually learn the basics of playing melodies and simple chords to reach a reasonable standard and have fun doing it. There are a few spaces available so, if you are interested, please contact Jim using the above "contact me" link for further details.