Articles
On Thursday 8th May 2025, we celebrated VE Day from 2 pm onwards at Kingswinford Community Centre with special displays from some of our groups and we were entertained by Singing for Fun who sang songs from the 40's. Refreshments were available. A fuller update will appear soon. Pictures on the VE Day page.
A reminder that if you are ever not able to get to Kingswinford Community Centre for a printed Newsletter, and want to now what is going on, just search our website on kingswinford.u3asite.uk
Important Update (25th April) - at the AGM it was agreed that from 1st May 2025 for a period of six months there would no longer be a £1 charge for attending Group meetings, Speaker meetings or Coffee mornings.
KADSfest 2025
David Westley-Smith
Following the Kinver Ukulele Festival held in October 2023, Kingswinford u3a Ukulele Group decided to host a similar meeting this year, when ukulele ensembles from Stourbridge, Pershore, Wyre Forest (Kidderminster) and Kinver u3a’s were invited to join our ukulele group (KADS) at KADSfest. The event took place at Dudley Kingswinford Rugby Club on Thursday, 3rd April, when around 100 ukulele players and a couple of dozen guests enjoyed an afternoon of musical entertainment. The planning started back in the middle of last year and its outstanding success was a credit to Festival Organiser Haydn Moss and his team. The pictures speak for themselves and show the musicians having a great time.
New Year – 2025
Speaker Meetings and Coffee mornings are back, after making way for Christmas activities – details on the Events page. And Groups resume after the Christmas/New Year break.
Membership renewal for 2025/26 is now underway – full details on the Renewal page. Renewal closes on 31st March 2025, so please ensure you renew by then.
Introducing eCards
We are introducing eMembership Cards, for those who want them, which provide proof of membership when required. They are issued by email when you request an eCard by attending a Renewal Session. Traditional cards are still available where required.
For more information about eCards and how to use them GO TO the eMembership Cards page.
Christmas 2024
The Guitar group got us into the festive mood with a SingAlong in November. In December, several events had a Christmas theme: a Day Trip to Warwick Castle and the Christmas lights, a Christmas Fun and Laughter show with the Recycled Teenagers, and a Christmas Party with entertainment by some of our music groups.
There are pictures on the Events page and on the following group pages: Recorders – Shanty Singers – Singing for Fun – Ukulele
And our Christmas Tree was again on display at the Wordsley Christmas Tree Festival.
With all this going on there was no Speaker Meeting or Coffee Morning in December.
u3a week
For national u3a week 2024 we took our u3a into the community on a stall in Kingswinford Market. Committee members were there to promote our work with interested shoppers.
And three of our groups were represented on Silver Saturday, a community event at Amblecote Christian Centre. More pictures on the Art – Craft – Ukulele pages.
Website changes – Since launching our NEW website in June 2024, we have focussed on keeping the site up to date. Now it’s time to continue developing and improving the site, starting with a revamped Home page ready for u3a week. There’s also a new colour scheme on the Events page and more pictures to bring the site to life. (Sep-24)
Interior redecoration – volunteers from u3a recently completed the big job of repainting and tidying-up inside the Community Centre.
Pictured are the quartet of original volunteers. They were joined later by others – including Bob with a long-handled roller to reach the parts other rollers cannot reach.
As well as repainting, no small task, the tidy-up included big improvements to the the cupboard in Room 4. And the Council joined-in with new flooring
Surprise was expressed at the high standard of work by “a group of pensioners”. Clearly the wrong idea about u3a.
Big Clean-up – work has begun on the grounds and garden at Kingswinford Community Centre. A band of ten volunteers from u3a turned up one afternoon, and worked for one to two hours each – pictured below. Their efforts have already made a huge difference to the appearance of the Centre and work will continue in the coming weeks and month (01-Sep-24)
Newsletter
Published every two or three months – recent issues:
Keeping in touch
This website is one of our main channels of communication.
In addition, we produce a Newsletter every two months, which is available here and in printed form at the Community Centre.
We also use Coffee Mornings, Speaker Meetings, the Notice Board and email to keep members informed.
We may write to members with important information about membership or groups they are in, either by email or letter.
Also, we email members about activities they may or may not be interested in. If you do not want these mailings, you may opt out by sending a message to the Membership Secretary.
News about Coffee Mornings, Speaker Meetings, Day Trips and Social Events can be found on the Events page under Forthcoming Events