Open Meetings

Lostwithiel u3a hold regular open meetings every two months. The meetings are held in the Church Rooms, Church Lane, Lostwithiel starting at 2pm. The meetings are divided into three parts::

• Guest Speaker
• Lostwithiel u3a Business Matters
• Refreshments and a Chat 

The meetings give members the chance to chat to other people outside their interest groups, learn about current activities, and find out about any new groups being formed. General Meetings are ideal for new members to discover what is happening in Lostwithiel u3a. 

Our next Open Meeting is on 6th January 2025  in the Church Rooms, Lostwithiel. 

For our first Open Meeting of 2025, on Monday 6th January, our guest speaker
is Lynn Gould who will be talking to us about Daphne du Maurier’s Cornwall,



Young Daphne du Maurier (about 1930)  Credit:  Wikimedia

Our  "Beverage 'n Banter"  Group  meet up on the first Monday in the months that alternate with our usual "Open Meetings"  More details here 

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REPORTS FROM PREVIOUS MEETINGS 

4th November 2024 Open Meeting 

January 2024 Open Meeting

At the Open Meeting on 15th January 2024 the speaker was Stephen Lay.  Stephen is a local retired mining consultant who has worked around the world who will talk about the “dark  side” of mining beyond the romantic Poldark image. 

November 2023 Open Meeting 

 The Speaker at our September 4th meeting was Roger Browne, ‘A raconteur, a humourist, a pianist, a singer, a director, an actor and a writer’.

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The Speaker at our Open Meeting on Monday May 15th 2023 was from  Cornwall Blood Bikes.

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The speaker at our Open Meeting on Monday July 3rd 2023  was  Sarah from Fowey Valley Cider.

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Open Meeting Programme for 2023

Meetings will take place as follows:

January 2nd 2023 Clint O’Connor talk ‘we are all made of stardust’ (More details above)

March 6th 2023  Anniversary Party all afternoon

May 15th  2023  Karen Butfield from People and gardens. A charity based in St Austell, started by Ken Radford. People with learning disabilities and mental health issues work on the gardening project to help them develop work and social skills.

July 3rd.2023 Sarah from Fowey Valley Cider.

 September 4th 2023  Roger Browne, ‘A raconteur, a humourist, a pianist, a singer, a director, an actor and a writer’. 

November 6th 2023 Helen Jane presents the work of ‘Turn to Starboard’ for veterans.

 PAST EVENTS IN 2021

6th September 2021 in Church Rooms

Unfortunately, this meeting was cancelled at short notice, See message below

Message sent 5th September   from Sue Sargent, Vice Chairman :-

"It is with huge regret that I write to inform you that the Committee has reluctantly decided to cancel tomorrow's scheduled Open Meeting featuring a talk about the work of Cornwall Fire and Rescue service,   This has been deemed sensible because of a rise in the number of Covid cases in the town recently.

We do apologise for this late notice and hope that you will understand that circumstances can change so quickly at present,

Please keep a lookout for notifications in the future when we will reschedule this meeting."

19th July 2021

The talk in the Church Rooms planned for 19th July was postponed. The AGM was held via Zoom

5th July 2021 via Zoom

On July 5th Sarah Slater will deliver the talk "Working with the ghosts of Hampton Court Palace". As a Hampton Court Tour Guide, Sarah will tell us about her experiences working with the ghosts of Hampton Court Palace, what it is like to wander the galleries late at night in the dark, the history, stories and sightings of ghosts over the years.

May 2021

On May 10th via Zoom Canine Partners presented an outline of their work. Canine Partners is a charity that trains dogs to bring greater independence and a better quality of life to people with disabilities.  These dogs learn to perform tasks that are difficult, painful or even impossible for their partners to carry out. Dogs can be provided for people with complex disabilities such as cerebral palsy, muscular dystrophy and spina bifida.

 March 2021

 On Monday 1st March at 2pm via Zoom our talk was entitled “The Job of a Laughtime”.

Brad Ashton, a TV and radio comedy scriptwriter, has written for a number of comedians including Tommy Cooper, Les Dawson, Dick Emery, Frankie Howerd, Bruce Forsyth, Hylda Baker, Hattie Jacques, Bob Monkhouse and Groucho Marx. He told us about the fun he had writing for these comedians plus humorous back-stage stories.

 February 2021

Our first Open Meeting of 2021 was held on Monday 1st February at 2pm via Zoom.

Rebecca Smith spoke about the History and Work of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission.

If you missed the talk or would like so see it again, then it is available via YouTube.

Direct link to YouTube:   https://youtu.be/lOKceyy32FU