Dawlish & District u3a Open Day a huge success

Dawlish & District u3a

MEDIA RELEASE

19th September 2021

Dawlish & District u3a Open Day

Organisers of Dawlish & District u3a’s first ever Open Day are celebrating a hugely successful event.  The steady flow of visitors exceeded all expectations, and the membership is now well on course to meet the ambitious targets set before the pandemic disrupted everyone’s plans.  

Visitors enjoyed meeting members to talk about the impressive range of activities the u3a offers ranging from Watercolour Painting, Great Lives, History, French Conversation, Wine Appreciation, Scrabble, Art Appreciation, Page Turners and Theatre.  Centre stage was an inflated kayak to advertise the newly formed Adventure Group.  This will offer enterprising members opportunities to enjoy water sports, paddle boarding, climbing, walking with lamas and a host of other pursuits they may not have experienced before.

By the time the doors shut, 30 new members had joined the u3a, and there was a total of 73 positive enquiries which are likely to lead to more people signing up to enjoy the impressive opportunities u3a offers.

The Open Day contributed to a busy and bustling day in Dawlish, with many local people and visitors coming to the Big Green Week events on the Lawns.  The Strand Centre in the heart of Dawlish proved to be a perfect venue for stands publicising over twenty interest groups and activities.  Not the least of the Strand Centre’s attractions is the excellent café which offered stall holders and visitors a very welcome supply of tea and coffee, bacon baps and cakes throughout the day.  

Members were delighted that Councillor Martin Wrigley found time in his extraordinarily busy schedule to visit and meet members.  He was impressed with the diversity of activities on offer and recognises the contribution the u3a makes to the lives of so many people.  He will be the guest speaker at the November monthly meeting when he will be talking about the many challenges facing local government – a very topical theme which affects us all.

Chair of Dawlish & District u3a John Vick said, ‘Our u3a is in great heart as we emerge from the frustrations and difficulties of lockdown.  Members showed impressive resilience and creativity in continuing activities in the past 18 months but are delighted now to resume almost all of their fulll programme.  The remarkable response to the Open Day shows how important it is to ‘Learn, Laugh and Live’ together.’

Photo credits: Rob Landberger

Dawlish & District u3a has over 100 members who meet monthly to listen to speakers on a diverse range of subjects, and to enjoy each other’s company.  In addition, about 20 interest groups meet throughout the month to pursue subjects as varied as Art Appreciation, Adventurous activities, Great Lives, Natural History, French Conversation, History, Wine Appreciation, Scrabble, Discussion and Literature.  To find out more, visit www.u3a.dawlish.info.

ENDS

Media contact: John Vick publicity@u3a.dawlish.info or 01626 867257