u3a Core meetings allow all members to meet together as a single group, develop friendships, catch up on news, exchange ideas, and feel valued as part of a local community.
Our Core meetings take place on the second Monday of each month. We meet at at 13:45 for a prompt start at 14:00 in the Bentley Heath Community Centre, finishing by 16:00 at the latest.
The meeting starts with a welcome from our Chair, followed by the main topic of the meeting; a talk by a guest speaker on a topic chosen to be of interest to our membership. Over the years we have had a very wide range of talks and presentations, exemplified by some of the reports of ‘Recent meetings’ below. On some occasions, particularly in December, we have a more social party instead. We always break for refreshments partway through the afternoon, and this provides an opportunity for meeting other members.
Potential new members are always encouraged to come along for a ‘taster core meeting' and we have a good reputation for making them feel very welcome.
Forthcoming meetings
Recent meetings
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Wonders of The Silk Routes
Speaker: Javed Hashemi
Dr. Hashemi, a well-known local speaker who has addressed our u3a twice before, came yet again, this time to share with us his knowledge of the history of the silk routes. These ancient routes have, for many centuries, brought goods and ideas from the Far East to the West, changing their routes over time, but still continuing up to the present day.
Javed illustrated his talk with many images including maps showing the changing routes.
A fascinating talk which members found very enlightening.
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The Dog in My Medicine Cabinet
Speaker: Geoff Lambert
Geoff, who works for the Medical Detection Dogs Charity, gave us a fascinating insight into the work of these very special dogs. Dogs have a far more acute sense of smell than humans have, and many medical conditions have their own unique smell which dogs can be trained to detect.
Geoff described how the charity trains dogs for two distinct purposes. Some dogs are trained to look after people with long term illnesses. The dog can detect changes in the person’s wellbeing much sooner than the person themselves can, so they, or their carer, are alerted to the change and can take corrective action sooner, e.g. ‘brittle’ diabetic patients. This relies on the dog being able to be with the person 24/7 so there can be no internal doors in the house that would prevent the dog from being close-by to the person they are looking at!
The other use of medical detection dogs is initial detection of illnesses. Specially-trained dogs are able to detect the specific smell associated with certain diseases and are often able to detect it more quickly than doctors can through more traditional means.
All in all, a great presentation and insight into the marvellous skills of medical detection dogs.
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‘Sleeping Beauty’
Aunty Jen Productions
For anyone who likes a good old-fashioned pantomime - and we think that's probably most of us, this was a real treat.
This local theatre company put on a special performance of their 39-date pantomime in the Bentley Heath Community Centre just for us, and "pulled out all the stops". In a fun-packed show designed for all ages, and especially our generation, we were gloriously entertained by Jenny Rigby and her troupe for two hours.
The show included song & dance, slap-stick, bad jokes and double-entendres, as all good panto's do. We hissed and booed the wicked Carabosse as she threatened Princess Beauty for agreeing to marry the handsome but penniless Prince Richard, and for tricking the princess into pricking her finger on the spinning wheel. And we helpfully shouted "he's behind you!" as the castle ghost crept up on the unsuspecting cast whilst the princess slept. In-between, Jenny, as the Court Jester, kept us amused during scene changes, and led & directed the audience in a fun communal dance near the end of the show.
The interval prosecco and mince pies gave the afternoon a true Christmassy feel, and we can truly say that "a really good time was had by all"!
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From Westminster to Solihull - Building a Better Britain
Saqib Bhatti
Our local MP for Meriden and Solihull East started his address with an eloquent and unscripted 30-minute overview of his background and introduction to national politics, including amusing anecdotes and aspirations.
Afterwards, he took questions from our members in the audience, offering his views on local and regional concerns about Housing and Infrastructure, Police stations and Solihull A&E, and national concerns about Artificial Intelligence, Digital ID, the “End of Life” bill, children's mobile phone usage and the future of the BBC.
He ended by citing Margaret Thatcher as his most inspirational politician, and offered a pledge of dignity for the elderly and hope for the young.
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VIPs go to Everest
David Carrington-Porter
Blind intrepid adventurer David C-P recounted his 2011 trip to the Himalayas with other VIP's (visually-impaired people). Illustrated with excellent quality slides, he described the thrills and hazards of the flight into Lukla airport and the 50km onward and upward (2750m) trek to Mount Everest base camp.
As he explained, David made the trip with other members of the Milton Mountaineers, a charity group of blind and partially sighted hill walkers and sighted friends and relations who meet to climb hills or mountains. As part of that group David has also climbed Ben Nevis, Snowdon [Yr Wyddfa], Scafell Pike and Slieve Donard - the highest peaks in each UK nation. The Everest base camp trip was made in celebration of his 60th birthday.
David's partner Maggie and her lovable guide dog Jan sat patiently on the side-lines as he delivered his talk.
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Sing a Century
Andy Smith
Midlands-based musician Andy entertained us with a selection of songs from various decades of the past century. Accompanied by his ukulele and various guitars, he covered hits by artists as diverse as The Beatles, Oasis, Cole Porter, Don McLean, and Herman Hupfield*, inviting us to join in and sing along where appropriate.
He interspersed his own compositions, some witty and humorous, others personal and poignant. Between songs, Andy's anecdotes included his childhood, marriage and career as a working musician and tutor.
* ‘As time goes by’, from the film Casablanca
