The May meeting of Westbury and District U3A always includes the Annual General Meeting. This year was no exception with the AGM being held at the start of the meeting.
The retiring chairman, Carolyn Los, was unable to attend and so her previously prepared report was read out by her deputy. The report looked back over a successful year with a wide variety of speakers, active interest groups, a lunch in August and a tea party during December.
Carolyn was one of the group of people who worked hard to instigate the U3A group in Westbury five years ago, and with this in mind it was agreed to express thanks to her with some flowers. The treasurer reported that the group’s finances were heathy and the committee for the coming year were elected.
Anne Thompson then introduced the speaker, Rosemary Macdonald, the chief executive of Wiltshire Community Foundation. Rosemary described the structure and workings of the charity and went on to explain how grants are approved and the very wide range of people that are helped by the foundation. Grants can be given to enable people to attend university, 15 from Matravers School alone, or to help with apprenticeship expenses.
Many people have been helped with heating costs and by ensuring that they get insulation grants if applicable. Lastly Rosemary talked about the work involved in preparing houses for a group of Syrian refugee families. She was able to source all materials needed from within Wiltshire, including other charities, and the families have now settled into their new lives.
The next monthly meeting is on June 14 at the United Reformed Church Hall, starting at 2pm, when there is a speaker from Monkey World. Newcomers are welcome.
