IIt is my great pleasure to present the Chair’s report for the year 2025 – 2026. Our u3a continues to thrive. I am sure that you will be as impressed as I was when you see the range of opportunities offered by Tavy District u3a to Learn, Laugh and Live over the last twelve months.

Membership. As of Sunday the 8^th of February, we have 541 members registered on the Beacon database. This is more than we had at this time last year, but numbers go up and down as new members sign up and others leave. However, the direction of travel remains that of continuing growth.

May I take this opportunity to remind you that you should have paid your subscriptions by now. If you have not yet paid, and you do not do so very soon, then I am afraid you will be removed from the membership list and you will not be able to participate in any u3a activities.

Monthly Speaker Meetings. Our monthly speaker meetings have been well attended with between 100 and 150 members at each one. Our speaker secretary, Isobel Davies,  curated an impressive variety of speakers and topics.  Three talks related directly to Tavistock including “Picturing the Past” by TDu3a member Kevin Dickens, “The River Tavy and early Tavistock” by Dr Sharon Gedde, and “Tavistock versus the Taj Mahal, the town’s significance as a World Heritage Site” by local historian and archaeologist Andrew Thompson. Other talks that stood out, at least for me, were “What have anarchists ever done for us?”, “Sam Sweeney’s Fiddle”, and “The Enigma of Left Handedness”. The Christmas meeting comprised a musical entertainment by Ray Stenning and Rob Shepherd in the styles of Tom Lehrer and Flanders & Swan followed by seasonal light refreshments. Our August meeting took the form of our fifth “Party in the Park”, which was well attended and received. Graham Foster stood down from providing technical support to the meetings in December and Roger Plumb has taken over. I would like to thank them for their invaluable support. Finally, the speaker meetings would not be the same without tea and coffee enjoyed after the talks, so thanks go to Jane Ward and the volunteers for organising and serving refreshments, and also to the intrepid band of volunteers who “Meet and Greet” and make our visitors and new members feel welcome.

Groups. Our Groups Coordinator, Linda Diggle, reports that there are currently 63 active groups. Since the last AGM, a new birdwatching group has been established and several other groups that were in their infancy this time last year are now thriving. These include “Art Appreciation 2”, “Exploring Art” and “Monday Thinkers”.  Unfortunately, two groups, “Craft Group 3” and “the Environmental Group” have closed but new group leaders have come forward to continue “Café Français” and the Chess and Canasta groups. The photography group is currently being facilitated by a temporary leader while the usual group leader enjoys a world cruise! A huge thank you to all who lead, convene, or facilitate groups. It is truly fantastic that you willingly share your time, knowledge, experience and skills with your fellow members.

Theatre Visits. Thanks are due to Carole Thompson and Shona Dickinson for their hard work organising trips to the theatre and ballet for our members. The task is becoming increasingly arduous as a result of the conditions imposed by the Theatre Royal. It is now quite usual to have to book seats for major productions a year or more in advance. Nevertheless, we have had the opportunity to watch a variety of shows including Cinderella (Birmingham Royal Ballet), Midnight Express (Matthew Bourne ballet), The Woman in Black, Matilda the Musical and Miss Saigon. Carole and Shona are busy organising the programme for 2026-27 and bookings for several productions have already been made or are in progress.

Events. The Events Committee has had another successful year. Activities included visits to the Mayflower water treatment works, a quiz and cream tea, and coach trips to Topsham, the Devon county Show, Dartmouth and Totnes with a river cruise, St Ives, and IKEA & Exeter Christmas market.   The 2025 u3a Holiday was a visit to Liverpool & Cheshire. Highlights included both Liverpool cathedrals, tours of Liverpool, Chester and a salt mine, and a visit to Paradise Hill

I should like to thank Norma Woodcock, Janet Hunt, Chris Webb, Shirley Smith and Sonja Armstrong for working so hard to deliver a wonderful programme of events for our members.

A number of visits were organised separately by interest groups for their members including Rocks and Ruins, Garden Visits, Weekenders’ Group, and Wine Appreciation Group 2.

Newsletter. A big thank you to John Noblet who edits and produces our excellent newsletter. Please remember that John relies on members to submit content. All members, not just group leaders and committee members, are invited to contribute articles and photographs for publication.

Website The Tavy District u3a website is often the first point of contact for prospective members and for those offering to provide services such as speaking at our meetings. I am grateful to Jan Draper, who manages the website and tries to keep it up to date. Please let Jan have anything of interest to promote our u3a and to demonstrate how much it has to offer.

NB If submitting photographs that include recognisable images of members, please check that everyone is happy for their photograph to appear in the newsletter and/or on the website as appropriate.

Miscellaneous. At Christmas, Craft Groups 1 & 2 again participated in the annual Christmas Tree Festival in the parish church and decorated a tree with beautiful handmade angels. The recorder group performed a recital of modern and ancient music at the festival and had earlier performed in the Tavy Fringe festival in July.

Apologies. It is very difficult to capture all of our u3a’s activities in a single report and I apologise for anything I have omitted.

Committee Your committee assures compliance with the essential administrative, financial  and legal requirements associated with being a registered charity, regularly reviews and updates our policies and procedures, and determines our overall direction of travel. Angela Pitt (Treasurer), Hannah Miatt (Secretary) and I, have represented Tavy District u3a at meetings of the Two Moors Network, and I have regularly liaised with our regional representatives on u3a Council.

In addition to the “office” functions, members of your committee have organised and delivered specific events including coffee mornings for new members, a group leaders’ lunch in the Parish Rooms, the Picnic in the Park in August, and the catering for the Christmas meeting.

Angela and I will be standing down at this year’s Annual General Meeting, and we look forward to welcoming our new officers and committee following election. In the meantime, I would like to thank all TDu3a members for your contributions over the last year, no matter how big or small. Tavy District u3a would not exist and thrive without your active participation.

Paul Ward

Chair, Tavy District u3a

9th February 2026

You will find details of Speakers for January to March via the link. This page is found as a sub-heading under the Calendar of Events.

The details for the speakers for November to January are now on the website. To view them all together go to the Monthly Speakers tab found under the Interest Groups on the main menu.

Isobel Davies

A new page has been developed on the website to bring all the details of the Monthly Speakers onto one page. This page is found as a sub-heading under the Calendar of Events.

Wednesday 5th March is the annual AGM – The draft accounts are attached if you wish to look at them before the meeting.

Accounts

The details for the speakers for March to May 2025 are now on the website. The first of these, on Wednesday 5th March, will start with our Annual General Meeting at which I shall, after 6 years, be handing over the speaker baton to Isobel Davies and returning to where I started life in the u3a ….. the kitchen. Thank you all again for the very many speaker suggestions which you have given to me. Even if they have not as yet spoken to us, they are almost certainly on the list of possible future speakers which I shall be passing to Isobel. I hope that you will keep the suggestions coming.

Jane Ward

It is my great pleasure to present the Chair’s report for the year 2024 – 2025. In brief, our u3a is thriving. We remain the largest u3a in the Two Moors Network and we are still growing.

Membership. As of Saturday 15th February, we have 515 members registered on the Beacon database. 83 new members have joined since March 2024. Other than having a stand at the Tavistock Wellbeing Fair in Butchers Hall to promote our u3a, we have not actively recruited new members. People have come to us because of word-of-mouth recommendations and after viewing the website.

Membership numbers may fall a little in the next few weeks when we take account of those who do not renew their subscription for various reasons. May I take this opportunity to remind you that you should have paid by now. If you have not yet paid, and you do not do so soon, then I am afraid you will be removed from the membership list and you will not be able to participate in any u3a activities. If you have any queries about your subscription, please contact the treasurer, Angela Pitt, who will be very happy to help you.

Monthly Speaker Meetings. The attendance at the monthly speaker meeting is increasing. Approximately 160 members came to the last one. In 2024/25 our speaker secretary, Jane Ward, arranged an impressive variety of speakers and topics. It would be iniquitous to pick a favourite but there were some that stood out. Two talks were given by Tavy District u3a members. David Benzie spoke about “Artificial Intelligence – how does it work and why does it matter” and Dan Bishop, a retired Punch & Judy Professor, entertained us at Christmas with “ Seeing the World with Mr Punch – Reminiscences of a puppeteer and reflections on the legacy of Punch & Joan”. We are very fortunate to have such talented and interesting people among our membership. Two other talks that impressed concerned the Second World War. “Listening to the Enemy”, told the story of an MI6 listening station at St Erth, and “A schoolgirl’s war” recounted life in a girls’ school in Kent. The latter was accompanied by illustrations painted by an art teacher at the school at the time. Our August meeting took the form of our fourth “Party in the Park”. Fewer members attended than on previous occasions, not helped by the torrential rain that fell a couple of hours before we were due to start, but we will try again this year. Speakers have been booked for the remainder of 2025. Jane is now “retiring” from the role of speaker secretary. I should like to thank her on your behalf for her loyal service and the wonderful talks we have enjoyed over the last three years. She will be a hard act to follow. I would also like to thank our “technical officer”, Graham Foster, who sets up and manages the audio-visual equipment and looks after our speakers’ technical needs. Graham also advised the committee on the choice of the new projector that we bought after some members told us that they had had difficulty seeing the screen from the back of the room. The new projector produces a brighter and higher resolution image that should be clearer and easier to see. Finally, the speaker meetings would not be the same without tea and coffee enjoyed after the talk, so thanks go to Isobel Davies and the volunteers for organising and serving refreshments.

Groups. Whilst the number of special interest groups varies with time, our groups co-ordinator, Sonja Armstrong, reports that there are 59 active groups listed on the Beacon administration platform although the true number is a little more because some groups are duplicated, e.g. walking groups. The formation of new groups has been slower this year although the pace has quickened in the last few months. There are newly established groups offering Italian for Beginners, Scrabble, and Short Walks. Emergent groups currently include two new discussion groups and two new art appreciation groups. Sonja is now standing down as groups co-ordinator so I would like to offer her my sincere thanks for a difficult job well done. I would also like to thank all of our group leaders. Without your guidance and enthusiasm our u3a could not offer such a wonderful range of learning and social opportunities.

Theatre Visits. We had a good mix of shows on offer appealing to differing tastes. Productions included two musicals – one old – The Wizard of Oz and one new – The Devil wears Prada, two ballets, one classical, La Fille Mal Gardée, and one modern, Matthew Bourne’s interpretation of Swan Lake and, in the autumn two plays, Agatha Christie’s Murder on the Orient Express and Alan Bennet’s The History Boys. In January four members went to the comedy musical The Book of Mormon. This is supposed to be a show you shouldn’t take your Granny to see – luckily our four grannies loved it!

We are still having to book and pay many months in advance for some productions – the big deal last year was booking for 28 members to see Hamilton in August 2025, booked and paid for in May 2024. We also booked ahead to see BRB’s Cinderella this April.

I would like to thank Carole Thompson and Shona Dickinson for their dedicated work making the theatre accessible to all our members.

Events. The Events Committee had a very successful year providing a variety of events that were almost always oversubscribed. Activities included a quiz and cream tea, trips to Tiverton & Knightshayes, the Exeter canal and Exmouth, the city of Bath, and the seaside town of Looe. There were also visits to the “Energy from Waste” facility in Plymouth. The u3a Holiday in 2024 was a very successful visit to the North West. Highlights included The Anderton Boat Lift, the Manchester coach and walking tour with a blue badge guide, Salford Quays and Quarry Bank Mill, and the newly opened RHS garden Bridgewater.

I should like to thank Janet Hunt, Chris Webb, Shirley Smith and Norma Woodcock for working so hard to deliver a wonderful programme of events for our members.

Newsletter. A big thank you goes to John Noblet who edits and produces our excellent newsletter. I am seriously impressed by John’s skill and professionalism. Please remember that the editor relies on members to submit content such as articles and photographs for publication. All members, not just group leaders and committee members, are invited to contribute articles and photographs for publication.

Website The Tavy District u3a website is often the first point of contact for prospective members and for those offering to provide services such as speaking at our meetings. Contacts are referred to the relevant committee member or group leader as appropriate. I am grateful to the webmaster, Jan Draper, who manages the website and tries to keep it up to date. Jan relies on all of us to provide her with information that she can post. Please let Jan have anything of interest to promote our u3a and to demonstrate how much it has to offer.

NB If submitting photographs with recognisable members in them, please check that everyone is happy for their photograph to appear in the newsletter and/or on the website. I am aware that some members may be happy to be included in photographs in the newsletter but are reluctant to appear on the website.

Miscellaneous. At Christmas, Craft Groups 1 & 2 again participated in the annual Christmas Tree Festival in the parish church and decorated a tree to represent our u3a. The recorder group performed a recital of modern and ancient music and earlier performed in the Tavy Fringe festival in July.

Apologies. It is very difficult to capture all our u3a’s activities in a single report and I apologise for anything I have omitted.

Committee Whilst most of our activities are organised and run voluntarily by members in accordance with the self-help and mutuality principles of the Third Age movement, your committee assures compliance with the essential administrative, financial and legal requirements associated with being a registered charity, regularly reviews and updates our policies and procedures, and determines our overall direction of travel. During the year, a mini member survey was undertaken that indicated that 92% of respondents were very happy with their experience of our u3a. Angela, our treasurer, and I, represent Tavy District u3a at meetings of the Two Moors Network, where we have an opportunity to meet with committee members from neighbouring u3as and discuss issues of mutual interest. We are also meeting occasionally with the officers of West Dartmoor u3a to explore the possibility of joint activities that would be of interest to members of both u3as.

In addition to the “office” functions, members of your committee have organised and delivered specific events including coffee mornings for new members at the Wharf and the Bedford Hotel, a group leaders’ lunch in the Parish Rooms, the Picnic in the Park event in August, and the catering for the Christmas meeting.

We now say farewell to our secretary, Randall Williams, our groups co-ordinator, Sonja Armstrong, our speaker secretary Jane Ward, and our membership secretary, Tony Rose, all of whom are retiring from the committee. Thank you to all of you for everything you have done for Tavy District u3a and its members. We now look forward to welcoming your successors following election at the AGM.

And finally …

I wish to congratulate and thank all our members for contributing in so many ways to another very successful year. Tavy District u3a would not exist without your active participation. We now look forward to the next twelve months.

Paul Ward
Chair, Tavy District u3a
15th February 2025

Below is the outline programme for 2025 which comes with the proviso that, as I have learnt to my cost over nearly 6 years as speaker secretary, is subject to change.

With the exception of the August meeting and, this year, also the January meeting, all meetings are held on the first Wednesday of the month in Tavistock Town Hall, with the formal meeting starting at 2pm. In August, we have for the past few years held an outside event and plan to do so again in 2025. The date for this is yet to be determined.

The first Wednesday in January is New Year’s Day!

I am writing this fairly shortly after our packed Christmas Meeting at which one of our members, Dan Bishop, gave a fascinating talk – including a little bit of theatre – about his time as a Punch and Judy Professor and the history of Punch & Judy.

Jane Ward

2025 PROGRAMME

WEDNESDAY 8th JANUARY “War in Ukraine and The Future of Russia” John Dobson:

WEDNESDAY 5th FEBRUARY “Listening to the Enemy” Mike Griffiths

WEDNESDAY 5th MARCH (AGM) “Picturing The Past” Kevin Dickins

WEDNESDAY 2nd APRIL “A Maori Feast” Christine Wallach

WEDNESDAY 7th MAY “Climate and Ecological Crisis; What’s All the Fuss About?” David Ramsden

WEDNESDAY 4th JUNE “What have the Anarchists Ever Done for Us?” Kevin Eady

WEDNESDAY 2nd JULY “The River Tavy and Early Tavistock” Dr Sharon Gedye

A WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON IN AUGUST Outdoor event – the date and further details will be circulated in due course

WEDNESDAY 3rd SEPTEMBER “The Work of the South West Counter-Terrorism Unit” A member of the unit

WEDNESDAY 1st OCTOBER “The Dawn of Modern Portrait Painting” Colin Pethick

WEDNESDAY 6th NOVEMBER “Sam Sweeney’s Fiddle – The Story of a Violin” Chris Sweeney

WEDNESDAY 3rd DECEMBER – CHRISTMAS MEETING Rob Shepherd and Ray Stenning

Norma is once again coordinating a u3a holiday for next year in June 2025 titled

“The Historic Houses and Heritage of Liverpool and Cheshire.”

This has been advertised to the members via email. If you are interested and have lost the email contact Norma at normawoodcock6@gmail.com or via telephone available in the members area.