iU3A Members

FOR MEMBERS

Members' Handbook
You can find a digital version of the latest Members Handbook here

Gift Membership
Remember that you can 'gift' membership to a friend. See the details on our Join Us webpage.

iU3A (Beacon) Members' Login

You can use the Members' Portal to:
- Check and, if necessary, update your personal contact details. This includes addresses, telephone numbers, email addresses and emergency contact information. You are asked to do this whenever your information changes or at least once a year.
- View and/or download a personal calendar, showing your group meetings and iU3A’s Monthly General Meetings.
- See the contact details for group coordinators.
- Enrol in a group online, providing the group coordinator allows this to be done.
- Renew your annual subscription.
- Set a security question and answer. This is intended for future use and is not mandatory at the moment.
- Upload a photo.

If you are a current member of iU3A you can click here to log in to the Members' Portal.

How to Log On to the Portal

The way you access the Members Portal, Beacon, has been updated (from 18 April 2023). Instead of the five pieces of personal data required to log in this is being reduced to two. The first time you log in to Beacon as a member from now on, you will have to go through a short registration process. You will see the screen below, but do not enter your email address and password initially. Instead click on "Sign in with membership details" below that.

You will be asked to enter the following personal data, and it is important to use the data we already have in our membership system exactly as we have it (you can update any contact details if necessary once you are in Beacon)-
Membership number:
Forename:
Surname:
Postcode:
email:

If you don't know your specifics please contact our Membeship Secretary. When you have confirmed your identity you will be able to create a password, and for the future you will use that with your email address only to log in. The usual "forgot password" function will be available if needed. Here is a useful guide to help you through the process: User Guide Article 10.2 Members Portal
Please note the change applies only to logging in as a member. If you have a separate login as a Group Coordinator or a Trustee, that login will not change as you already have a username and password. Only Member's login is changed.
If you are a new member (post 18 April 2023) you will not need to the above switch, you can go straight to using your email and creating a password.

If you still can't log on please email the Membership Secretary here.

Beacon Background
Beacon is an on-line management system, supported by the Third Age Trust, specifically for local U3As. We use Beacon to manage our Membership Records, Groups and Venues information, overall Calendar and to send blind emails to members in a safe and secure manner.

During 2017 iU3A launched the use of 'Beacon'. An additional advantage of using Beacon is that unlike the iU3A web pages which are fully viewable by the public and therefore carry only general information about our events or group meetings, the Beacon stored information is only visible to iU3A members only. There is some duplication with some information visible on both the iU3A web pages and Beacon. The information on the web pages will be reduced and the current live information will be maintained by the Coordinators in Beacon.

Security of the System
For your peace of mind, there are four levels of access to Beacon, each with controlled security access requirements. Each level is described in more detail here:

1. Public Links
Limited information about our Interest Groups and a basic Meetings calendar, viewable by anyone (not just iU3A members).

2. iU3A Members' Login
You can see a tutorial for Members using Beacon by clicking here. This provides further guidance on how you can update any of your personal details. If you are a current member of iU3A, you can click here to log in to the Members' Portal.

3. Group Coordinators' Login

Each Coordinator will be able to access their relevant group's details to publish for example information such as venue, timings and subjects. Coordinators can also use the system to send emails to their current group members as blind copy (protecting personal email addresses) and to check or add members to their group. Only paid-up iU3A members will appear on Beacon. The Beacon login for Group Coordinators is found here.

4. System Administrators' Login
Editing access for the Administrators to all data fields.

Training for Group Coordinators
The Beacon login for Group Coordinators is found here.

There is support for the Group Coordinators in their use of Beacon. A tutorial has been prepared and circulated but can also be reached here. There is also national training material here. Face-to-face training is also available if requested. If you want to look up a particular aspect try the full User Manual here.

If you have any IT queries on Beacon then you can use the following contact here.

Coordinators' guidance regarding GDPR can be viewed here.

The general Guidance document for Coordinators can be viewed here.

Results from our last survey of Group Coordinators can be found here: Coordinators Survey Nov2021

Public Pages in Beacon
Click the link here to see the basic public version of the Calendar. For more information about navigating around the Calendar, visit the Calendar page.

Click the link here to see the basic public version of the Groups List. Click on any Group in the list for additional information about the group.

Emails from Beacon
All email messages sent via Beacon have a 'From' address ending with noreply@u3abeacon.org.uk. Beacon emails can only be sent by Coordinators and Administrator — not from Members. Messages from Group Coordinators will be seen as having come from (for example) John Smith via iU3A. Messages from the Membership Administrator will be seen as having come from Administrator iU3A.

Sending emails from the Beacon system ensures all emails are blind copy, ie that member email addresses are not revealed to others. Any replies to an issued Beacon email must be to the email address stated (ie not to Beacon). For further information on Beacon emails click here.