London Region of u3a's Monthly Online Talks programme: this commences for another season and as usual, the talks will be delivered via Zoom on the first Monday of each month 5.30pm-6.30pm.

• Monday 07 October: The New Scramble for Africa
• Monday 04 November: Secrets of the Human Brain
• Monday 02 December: Women Traveling Alone

Click here to access the Events page of our website for the Autumn Programme with further details and links to booking forms. Please register early as bookings will close 48 hour prior to each talk. For assistance please email talks.lru3a@gmail.com

u3a National Discount Scheme: there is now a discount scheme available for all members called 'u3a Friends Extra'. This offers an extensive range of discount schemes. For a video with more information click here: How to Use Friends Extra or to sign up via Friends see here: Join Friends

u3a National Online Learning Programme: see details of their current talks here. You can always find out more information on their programme here.

u3a Workshops Programme for 2024: see the update Quarter 1 programme for national support workshops on the national website here: Workshop Programme

LRU3A Autumn Events: the London Region Events Team are offering an exciting programme of guided walks and events. Full details of the programme and how to book are yet to be published but you can see the outline and dates on  LRU3A Events page.
 

End of Life Planning: in 2019 we started a tie-up with Gentle Dusk regarding End of Life Planning. They hold 'End of Life Planning Cafes' for our members and provide guidance on how to create a Care Plan. You may find our guide useful to help explain some of the terms — read it here: End of Life Planning (document to be updated)

Positive Ageing: see here for why u3a helps enable a positive view of growing old: Video

Bereavement Support: if you have recently suffered a bereavement you may wish to considering using the Islington Bereavement Community service. You can see some information about the service here or through their website: St. Joseph's Hospice (stjh.org.uk). Or, if you want to help them and consider volunteering for them, find their contact details in the linked document above.

London Age-Friendly Forum (LAFF): The latest report on this London Mayor initiative here.

The Third Age Trust is the national U3A organisation. It organises events, competitions and other activities for u3a members nationally. Some of these are in London, others across the country. Some get booked up quickly — to hear about events and when booking opens, you should join the Third Age Trust U3A events mailing list. To do so, you must register (it's very straightforward) with the Third Age Trust website. You can see all their news topics here.

Regional Trustee: London has at last got representation on the national board now. We struggled to find a reliable volunteer for nearly two years now. Jenny Wilson has now come forward and has been voted in. You can find more about Jenny here. 

Elections: there are a number of elections coming up. Would you like to support the u3a movement and be a Council Rep or serve on the main Board? Details can be found here.

Communications: Third Age Trust are moving towards more electronic communication. There is now a free 'Friends' e-newsletter and any member can register for this here. As requested by u3as, the Trust is trying to raise the profile of the u3a Movement and to publicise the benefits of u3as to raise the membership to 500,000 by the end of 2028. Information on this and much more will be published in the Friends Newsletter.

u3a Matters: Have you considered taking the national magazine, 'Third Age Matters'? It's very good value at just £3.80 for five issues per year. You can select the membership class which includes provision of the magazine when you renew your membership. Or if you missed that option but want to add it now, please contact Joy at iu3amembers@outlook.com. There is also an abbreviated digital version available through the national website: https://www.u3a.org.uk/news/publications

Interest Groups Online: There is a wide range of online interest groups (nearly 80 currently) with more than 5700 members from all over the UK. Annual membership is just £12.00. You can find out more information and join through this link: Interest Groups Online.

National Benefits: iU3A pays £4.00 to the national organisation per member. If you ever wonder what benefits we, and you, gain from being part of this (the 17th largest national organisation in the UK) then this might explain it: Where Does My £4 go? 

Other Events: to find out what is on across the London Region click here.

Research Projects

Researchers reading this and wishing to submit any requests for support should be aware of the u3a's guidelines on this topic. These can be read here: Research Application Guidelines. 

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Researchers at the Royal Free Hospital (RFH) in north London wish to recruit more people in generally good health, aged over 60, to take part in the Nova 301 Phase 3 clinical trial, as part of UK and worldwide research work. The RFH already has enough volunteers aged 18-59. This trial will check if an investigational vaccine protects people against the symptoms caused by norovirus, a common and infectious stomach bug which causes vomiting and diarrhoea. The RFH team will support everyone who takes part in the trial. Participants will also be reimbursed financially. Please see this link Be part of research — by taking part in a norovirus vaccine trial | Royal Free London for more information. If you are interested in participating and want to find out more, please contact the Royal Free vaccine research team by email at rf.vaccination@nhs.net or call them on 020 7317 7679.

Posted: 16/11/24
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To Whom It May Concern at U3A Islington,
 
My name is Maria Chait, and I am a Professor of Neuroscience at University College London. My research laboratory focuses on auditory perception and cognition, particularly investigating how these abilities change across the lifespan.
For our latest set of studies, we are especially seeking participants aged 60 and above. I was wondering if it might be possible to share this opportunity with your community members who may be interested in contributing to our research?
If this is feasible, I would be glad to provide a brief description and additional details about the studies. Please note that all studies have been reviewed and approved by the UCL Ethics Committee.
Thank you very much for your consideration, and I look forward to the possibility of collaborating with the U3A Islington community.
 
Warm regards,
Maria Chait PhD, m.chait@ucl.ac.uk
Professor of  Auditory Cognitive Neuroscience
Lab site: http://www.ucl.ac.uk/ear/research/chaitlab/

Posted 16/11/24