Hi everyone,
Just thought I would let you know we had a really positive response to our last speaker, Harry Venning. What a star, we must try and get him again. In February I went along with 19 members to see Paddington the musical. For those who did not go to this performance you missed a treat. The actors were superb, the sets were amazing and the singers were wonderful. I do not think I can look at marmalade in the same way again! Just a gentle reminder if any members would like to join the social committee, we only need two more people maybe three. It would be very helpful because the sooner we can get the committee up and running the sooner the trips will be organised. Sue is doing a fantastic job organising the theatre trips but as the warmer weather is approaching, she said, optimistically we need some outings. Please would you bear in mind the price for everything has gone up. We will try our best to get the competitive prices, but unfortunately, they might be higher than 2025.
Take care of each other
Best wishes
Sybi-Chair Epsom and Ewell u3a
Renewals begin the first week of March when our membership secretary will email all members with renewal instructions.
Your early response would be appreciated as there are over 1200 members to renew.
In the first week of March you will receive an email asking you to renew your Epsom & Ewell U3A membership. In preparation for renewing in March there are some points to consider below and answers to questions that have been asked before. This year it is even more important to pay by Bank Transfer if you can.Why is bank transfer the preferred method and what is the impact if I pay by cheque? The bank has very recently started charging charities, including our U3A, for every cheque processed. This reduces the funds we have for other U3A benefits for our members. Bank transfers are free. Even if you do not use online banking you can ask your bank to arrange the transfer, free of charge. Additionally, the postal service cannot be relied upon and last year some cheques went astray in the post, took a long time to arrive or in one particular case arrived 8 months after it was posted to the correct address! Cheques also take longer to process. Further details via this link
Late ticket only theatre availability
Due to a member having to cancel their booking we have one seat for each of the following shows:
March 12th - The Producers - £39.50
March 26th - Les Miserables - £47.50
July 9th - Sinatra the Musical - £50.00
Please email epsomu3atheatre@gmail.com to check availability.
"Singing for pleasure returned in February, lots to look forward to, despite a few members not returning this year we have new members waiting to join, keeping our numbers up to 60, our programme is organised, so we are all set to "sing and have some fun"
Friday 6th March Welsh theme
Friday 20th March “Singalong with the Vintage Band"
Friday 3rd April Good Friday No singing
Friday 17th April "Springtime Songs"
Friday 1st May "Singalong with Sue and her Ukulele Group "
Friday 15th May Normal Session
Friday 5th June "Our 13th Birthday" Party songs
Thursday 11th June "Our Concert at St Barnabas Church, Epsom" together with Keith and his Vintage Band
Friday 19th June "Wild West Session"
Friday 3rd July "Members favourite Songs"
Friday 24th July "Summertime blues” last session
Group Leader
Jenny Sparrow
Exploring London 11
This month one of our members took us around the backstreets of Waterloo to visit the renowned Roupell Street conservation area celebrated for its perfectly preserved 19th-century Georgian terrace houses and workers homes, on our way towards Christ Church Southwark where we saw the 1950-1970's stained-glass windows that reflect the locality in a time of development and change. We discovered the Low Line urban regeneration project in Bankside and Blackfriars centering around the many railway arches and art projects, with snapshots of a unique London such as the Kirkcaldy Test Museum and the Hoptons Almshouses all overlooked by towers on stilts and modern glass or cleared areas waiting for their new buildings. Every corner we turned was a new surprise and entirely different from the last
Our Science Group and Hot Jazz Group March 2026 offerings.
These two events are open to all members. No booking required.
The next meeting of the Joint Science Group is on Wednesday, 4th March when Russell Whitworth will talk about Artificial Intelligence. (To whet your appetite, you might want to watch AI Confidential with Hannah Fry on the BBC iPlayer. There are 3 episodes and can be found easily by searching “Hannah Fry”.)
The following meeting will be on Wednesday 6th May when Keith Davies will talk about What Makes Genetically Modified Crops Distasteful.
Both meetings will be held in Banstead Community Hall, Park Road, Banstead SM7 3AJ (not to be confused with Banstead Community Centre) where there is parking. Doors open at 2pm, the talk starts at 2:30, there are refreshments after and the meeting ends at 4pm. There is a charge of £5 for members of U3A (any branch); non-members are also welcome but pay £10. There is no need to register in advance, just turn up.
Garden Visiting Group
This month the intrepid members found a slightly wet day to visit Timber Hills, a garden in Chobham, open under the NGS scheme. It was wet and muddy underfoot but we slithered around a pretty winter garden full of lovely snowdrops, crocus and camelia and then managed a delightful tea and chat with the owner in her historic barn.
Exploring London 8
Having looked at the weather forecast for our Thursday walk Denise made a sensible decision that we would be indoors for our February walk. We therefore found ourselves heading to the Victoria and Albert museum where we started our visit with coffee, cake and chat. This was a different tour of the museum as we came not to look at the exhibits but to study the architecture and the history of the building itself. It seems that no matter how many times we visit London there is always something new to see. So many different things that we hadn’t noticed before. It always pays to look up and down when out and about.
Exploring Architecture Group
This month our group took a wander around the British Museum to discuss its design, history and subsequent development since its inception as the first purpose-built museum. It was during half term, which brought a few challenges, but we managed to appreciate the design ideas we found both modern as well as some from other civilisations.
Ticket only Theatre Group
For February the ticket only theatre group enjoyed two very different shows. First, we went to see I’m Sorry Prime Minister starring Griff Rhys Jones as Jim Hacker, Clive Francis as Sir Humphrey Appleby, Stephanie Levi-John as Sophie and William Chubb as Sir David.
The amount of dialogue that these four actors learnt in order to present this show was testament to their skills as fine actors.
Our second outing was to see Paddington the Musical. The tickets for this one are really hard to book at the moment due to the popularity of the show. We were lucky that we booked a long time in advance and had really good seats in the dress circle with an excellent view of the entire show.
Interesting that there is no mention of any famous names in the cast but Bonnie Langford was playing the part of Mrs Bird on the day that we went.
For March we are all really looking forward to The Producers and Les Miserables.
To help celebrate International Women's Day Ebbisham will be running a 2-hour FREE event for WOMEN ONLY on Tuesday 10th March from 10am to 12pm.
We're looking forward to welcoming everyone to the club for a fantastic day of sport and socialising.
Members and Non Members will get the opportunity to play doubles games of a variety of sports including BADMINTON, SQUASH, RACKETBALL, TENNIS, TOUCHTENNIS, TABLETENNIS & HIGHBALL.
After the sport, participants are welcome to enjoy FREE tea, coffee and cake in our club lounge.”
Alison Tink: admin@ebbishamsportsclub.com
Tel: 01372 720647
Ebbisham Sports Club, Eastway, Epsom KT19 8SG (free car park onsite)
Rhymetime
We have received the following request from Epsom Library.
If any members are interested in volunteering please contact the library direct via the link.
Epsom Library are recruiting Rhymetime Volunteers to support and lead Monday Rhymetimes at Epsom Library.
We are looking for volunteers to lead a busy Rhymetime session for early years children and their families on Monday mornings at 10.30am.
We are looking for volunteers who will be enthusiastic about welcoming families to the Library and leading a 30 minute session of nursery rhymes for children and their families.
Volunteers will receive training before they lead their first session.
Anyone who is interested in applying for the volunteer role can apply online or they can apply at the Epsom Library Helpdesk.
I have included a link to the relevant webpage: Volunteering in libraries - Surrey County Council
I would be very grateful if you could pass this information to any of your groups who might be interested in the role.
If you have any queries, please let us know.
Kind Regards,
Gemma - Library Assistant
Gertie's Gardeners spent a very productive sunny morning doing a spring tidy up. The bulbs are coming up nicely and hopefully will provide thier usual display of colour.
