Banchory and Deeside u3a -100 new members sign up

There was a good turn out for the u3a meeting at Banchory Town Hall.

There was an excellent turn-out and organisers were delighted at such a positive start with a hundred people signing up as members on the day.

Mary Lennox, Chair of the Steering Group said: "We’re making steady progress getting the new u3a into gear.

"Our band of volunteers have been working exceptionally hard to keep up the momentum following the public meeting at the end of June which showed a real appetite for setting up a new u3a in this area.

“I would like to say a big thank you to our Groups Co-ordinator Anna MacKay and her team who pulled out all the stops to make the day a success with many people signing up for a range of interest groups.

"We hope to have at least some of these up and running by the end of September and the beginning of next month.

"However, as you will appreciate, our Membership Secretary is now processing the details of all those who signed up as members and this will take time.

"Only if you are a member can you join any of our interest groups.”

She added: “The range of interest groups is wide and there is much work to be done collating and organising these into viable groups. In this regard we ask for patience, as we are all volunteers.

"In due course we hope to have some listings to show what groups we have set up and how you can be part of them.”

Organisers say there will be regular u3a monthly meetings on the second Thursday of every month at Banchory Town Hall from 1.30pm till 3pm.

The first meeting will be on October 13 with guest speaker Jane Lilley from the River Dee Trust who will talk about the huge environmental challenges they face to restore our historic river.

There will be refreshments at the meeting but if you are a non-member you will pay £3 on entry.

Membership forms will be available on the day if you come along and wish to join.

There is a full six-month programme of informative and entertaining speakers lined up with more details to follow.

For further infirmation, visit www.u3a.org.uk