My name is Zoë McHayle and I am a second year PhD Psychology student from Kingston University. I will be conducting an experiment investigating visuospatial working memory and how this changes as we age. Research has already found that cognitive abilities such as planning, memory for future events, verbal knowledge and empathy all improve with age.

My study involves the latest technology in eye tracking and consists of cognitive, IQ and a visuospatial working memory tasks. I am recruiting healthy retired/semi-retired adults aged 65-80 years for this study. Ideally, participants will be right-handed and have normal or corrected to normal vision, and will not have a history of falling, psychosis or brain damage.

Participants will be provided with refreshments and will have their travel expenses reimbursed. Those who take part will also be entered into a prize draw where they will have the opportunity to win a £20 voucher for Patisserie Valerie.

This study will take place at Kingston University at the Penhyrn Road Campus from 3^rd May 2017 to the 1^st September 2017. If you require more information and would like to take part in this study please email me at k1205553@kingston.ac.uk and I will be happy to give you further details on the design of the study.

The National Gallery is delighted to be hosting a U3A study day focusing on French Impressionism.  Learn about the techniques and subject matter of Impressionist paintings in the National Gallery collection and discover why these ground-breaking paintings of modern life were so controversial in France during the Belle Époque.

Join National Gallery experts for a day of talks exploring Impressionism in France c.1874-1926, from Monet, Degas and Renoir’s contributions to the first Impressionist exhibition to Monet’s Water Lilies series, painted during the final years of his life.

Be dazzled by the light, colour and spontaneity of Impressionism at a day of talks at The National Gallery

£20.50 (lunches & refreshments not provided)

THIS EVENT IS FOR U3A MEMBERS ONLY

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/national-gallery-first-impressions-tickets-33453856385?ref=ecount

Location: the Museum of London

Description: A team of cognitive psychologists from the University of Westminster, access specialists and Museum interpretation professionals are working together to explore different ways of presenting artworks. This project is grounded in the growing understanding that exploring the ways in which museum visitors ‘receive’ an exhibition or permanent display is crucial to the development of optimum museum provisions for all.

Participation: The study takes place at the Museum of London, where the Leaning Department have kindly provided dedicated space for the study to be run. Participants in the study will simply experience an ‘exhibition’ of photos from the Museum’s archives, and they will then be asked to complete a questionnaire about the experience (all carried out at the Museum of London). Participation in this first part would take approximately 30-60 minutes (including viewing the exhibition).

For part two, we simply ask you to fill out an online questionnaire, which would be emailed to you 1 month later, with some follow-up questions.

This study will provide important insight to museum professionals and curatorial staff about what helps to provide a positive experience in the Museum. Your participation will be invaluable in helping us to provide useful information to the sector.

How to take part: if you would like to take part (we can test up to two people at one time), please do contact me (Rachel) on: r.hutchinson@my.westminster.ac.uk to book your session (current available dates below):

Friday 21^st April: 11.00-17.00

Friday 28^th April: 10.00-17.00

Friday 5^th May: 10.00-17.00

Wednesday 10^th May: 14.30-18.00

Wednesday 17^th May: 14.30-18.00

Friday 19^th May: 10.00-17.00

Wednesday 24^th May: 14.30-18.00

Friday 26^th May: 10.00-17.00

We need as many participants as possible, so please feel free to share this message with anyone you think might be interested in getting involved. If you would like to take part but the above dates are not convenient for you, then please email me and it might be possible to arrange an alternative day/time.

===========================================

2. Research Study: Museum Memories

Description: this study is exploring what makes for a memorable museum visit.

Location: Online – this study is a simple online questionnaire, which takes around 20 minutes to complete. You can click on the link below to access the study:

https://westminsterpsych.az1.qualtrics.com/SE/?SID=SV_cHeF4paER2IFVgV

Rachel Hutchinson

Doctoral Researcher

University of Westminster

115 New Cavendish Street

London W1W 6UW

Step into spring … with The Vivaldi Gloria and other beauties!
The concert will be introduced and conducted by Robert Porter, the Brandenburg Choral Festival of London’s Artistic Director. The programme will include a selection of a cappella and organ favourites, and the ever popular Vivaldi Gloria. The Brandenburg Singers is a small hand-picked group drawn from the finest of the members of the 150 choirs that perform in the Brandenburg Choral Festival of London – the largest choral festival in the UK.

Seating is unreserved. There is a maximum of 2 tickets per booking.

Interval refreshments, including wine, available for a modest extra charge

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/register?orderid=226b36320ee011e7b9410edd8c635740&client_token=aba13bcd8c6b4a0e9deae96ea071cf5e&eid=31022116987

Working with Louisa Ridgeway.
The Ambassador Theatre Group’s West End Creative Learning team has created this one day bespoke event to bring together up to 150 U3A members from across the UK to enjoy the experience of working together with a professional West End Musical Director.

The group will fill the auditorium of one of our West End Theatres with a series of songs from various West End musicals.  You’ll be taken through a series of warm-up exercises , spend time learning songs, working with the MD on vocal qualities, tone and harmonies in preparation for a recording of the pieces before the end of the day, a CD copy of which will be sent to you after the event.

Previous choir experience and the ability to read music is not necessary and the Sing Out is designed for all abilities and all voices.

The Savoy has various staircases without lifts so please wear comfortable footwear.

Programme

10.30am Doors open

11.00am Welcome. Warm up with Louisa Ridgeway and group begins to learn songs

12.45pm Sandwich lunch (included in ticket price)

1.20pm   Group continues working on songs, harmonies and solo lines

2.40pm   Break

2.50pm   Dress rehearsal

3.30pm   Recording of songs

4.00pm   Workshop finishes.

If there are insufficient bookings by 9th April the event will be cancelled and payments returned.

FAQs

What’s the refund policy?

Should you be unable to attend we cannot refund ticket money unless we are able to offer your place to another U3A member if there is a waiting list.

Do I have to bring my printed ticket to the event?

We will have a list of attendees so do not worry if you do not have your ticket.

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/west-end-sing-out-tickets-31964308106?ref=ecount

Fri Apr 21st Comfort & Convenience in the Country House
Presented by Professor Marilyn Palmer, U3A Member, Emeritus Professor of Industrial Archaeology, Leicester University
Spaces available
Fri May 19th Signs & Symbols – The Hidden Messages in Paintings
Presented by Val Woodgate

Surrey Network study days are open to members of all U3As in Surrey and the surrounding area. They are held in the Menuhin Hall, Stoke d’Abernon and normally start at 9.30am with registration and finish at 4pm. The fee, including coffee tea and biscuits, is £10, though a visitor who is not a member of a U3A will be charged £12.

Attendees should bring a packed lunch. Prior booking is essential and forms are available at the monthly meetings or from the Surrey Network internet site www.u3asites.org.uk/surreyu3anetwork
There will be no Study Days for the holiday months of July and August.

River Cruise aboard MS Serenity  9 December 2017 (shared holiday with Richmond U3A expressions of interest required by March 30th)
Each winter, the streets and squares of Strasbourg are illuminated with light as Christmas casts its spell on this beautiful French city. With festive stalls spread across several different areas, it is one of the largest and oldest Christmas markets in Europe, and has been voted the best for the last two years running. Before spending the day here, we explore the city of Mannheim, which also hosts its own market, and there’s the chance to join our optional excursion to Heidelberg in the Neckar valley, ensuring you have a truly magical break.
4 DAYS FROM £399
YOUR CRUISE INCLUDES
BY COACH Coach travel to the port from your local area Eurotunnel crossing from Folkestone Three nights’ cruise on a full board basis on our 4 star ship.
Day 1: UK – Mainz We travel to Mainz, where the Rhine and Main rivers meet, and enjoy a relaxing evening onboard
Day 2: Mannheim We reach Mannheim in the early morning and have plenty of free time to enjoy the Christmas market. The city is located at the union of the Rhine and the Neckar rivers, and offers lots of sightseeing opportunities; the Mannheim Palace, a stunning baroque structure which now houses the university; the Luisenpark, noted as one of the most beautiful parks in Europe; and the Fernmeldeturm Mannheim, an impressive telecommunication tower complete with observation deck. However, the main attraction during winter months is undoubtedly the Christmas market – one of the largest in southwest Germany! Lunchtime sees us heading off on our optional excursion to Heidelberg for more Christmas markets. We set sail in the early evening, heading towards Strasbourg.
Day 3: Strasbourg Enjoy a full day in the remarkable city of Strasbourg. See the Cathedral of Notre-Dame, a gothic masterpiece; the stunning Kammerzell House which dates back to the 15th century; the Petite France district with its beautiful riverside setting; and the Church of Saint-Thomas, an excellent example of Alsatian gothic art. The Strasbourg Christmas Market is said to be the oldest and largest in Europe, dating back to the 1570s. Voted the Best European Christmas Market for the last two years running, it is spread over 11 areas of the city and features a huge Christmas tree standing at almost 100 feet.
Day 4: Mainz – London We bid farewell to the captain and his crew and set off on the return journey to the UK

COST

Main Deck£399.00
Middle Deck £439.00
Panorama Deck£479.00

Single Occupancy is available at £50% extra cost

Insurance £29.95 through the River Cruise Line

For more details contact Libby Barton
email libby.barton @btinternet.com
or telephone 0208 977 9064

EXPRESSIONS OF INTEREST BEFORE 31ST MARCH PLEASE

Please click on the links to see the whole timetable and the booking details.

http://u3asites.org.uk/london-region/events

LondonRegionSummerSchool2017_ApplicationForm(Final05Feb2017)

 SHARED LEARNING PROJECT: APRIL TO JUNE 2017

PIONEERS OF WOMEN’S HOUSING – FOR THE NEW MODEL WORKING WOMAN

The early history of Women’s Pioneer Housing

Background: WW1 saw the campaign for equal voting rights with men put on ice. Women instead took on the work men had been doing, jobs it was once thought far beyond the mental and physical capacity of women. Peace came at a price. Wartime casualties had left one in three women with no means of support but millions of women were being laid off to make jobs available to ‘returning heroes’. Those desperate to hold on to their job, or to find work to support themselves, flooded the agencies that had placed women in jobs during the conflict. High on the list of what they desperately needed was a decent place they could call home. Etheldred Browning, an Anglo-Irish suffragist who had recently moved to London, observed that in central London many large houses, designed to function on the back of cheap female labour, now lay empty. Women in the war years had tried alternatives to the badly paid, long hours of domestic drudgery. They weren’t going back to it. Etheldred came up with a plan to buy the houses cheaply and convert them into self-contained flats for women. Her tenants could decorate them to their own tastes, the rents would be moderate and there’d be no silly bars on visitors. Despite some very hairy moments, the new ‘Women’s PIoneer Housing’ proved a success with the active support of a network of veterans from the women’s suffrage movement. Old records recently found in Women’s Pioneer’s safe read like a Who’s Who of the suffragist movement, spanning Ireland, Scotland, England and Wales. They reveal too that the women who supported her project or were housed or employed by it, included some of the first to qualify in professions where women are now accepted as the norm. What we have found is a forgotten chapter in suffrage history that shows how the suffragists turned skills honed campaigning for the vote to another practical purpose, helping protect and progress advances women were making in the workplace. We have a cracking story to tell but need help properly researching it.

The project: We need help:

• reading through archive material to draw up an accurate record of who did what and when. The material will be digitally scanned so this can be done on a computer at home.
• researching individual women to find out more about their lives, specifically: their family background, their education/training, the work they did (paid or unpaid) up to and during the 1920s/30s. A lot of this can be done at home using geneology websites (we’re paying for the subscription) or at the Women’s Library, National Archives, university archives or from online archive material provided by trade bodies. Photos would be a huge plus.
• researching one or more professions that opened up to women post-WW1 or that changed significantly (new technology/materials or much tighter professional standards). What factors helped or hindered women’s progress (for example new laws) and how was the contribution of women valued and rewarded compared with that of men. Again archives, universities and trade bodies may help. Family anecdotes welcome!

You should apply if:

• you are interested in the suffrage movement and/or a period of British history that spans the final years of the struggle for Irish independence, world war one and interwar politics
• you are comfortable using the internet and are up to the challenge of trying to get information from geneology websites, where names are often misspelt or a search one day will throw up information that failed, using exactly the same tactics, the day before
• you enjoy detective work, making discoveries and joining the dots in a complex puzzle
• you have time to spare for our project during April, May and June
• you can attend two meetings in April (dates to be decided)
• you are willing to produce reports detailing what you found and where, including full details of your sources and who, if anyone, is to be credited for information and/or images.

Venues: The first meeting will be held at Women’s Pioneer’s offices in White City at 227 Wood Lane, London W12 0EX (nearest tube station is White City, Central line). The second will be held at the Women’s Library at the London School of Economics, 10 Portugal Street, Holborn, London WC2A 2HD (nearest tube is Holborn, Central and Piccadilly lines). Additional research may need to be done at the National Archives (Richmond Road, Twickenham TW9 (nearest station: Kew Gardens overground), the British Library and
Royal Holloway/University of London. Most other research can be done online.

Questions and applications by Tuesday 28 February or earlier to:

Lisa Thompson thompsonstwo@icloud.com 01732 750 433 Or text 07885 519 117

Jo Walters jo.walters.slp@gmail.com 01689 854880. Or text 07713916620

Dionne Antrobus Dionne.Antrobus@womenspioneer.co.uk 020 8749 7112

Pioneers of Women’s Housing SLP

Citizens: 800 Years in the making: exploring the history of
liberty, protest, power and rebellion

Citizens is a three year project being run by Royal Holloway which will launch in January 2017. The aim is to create a website that explores the history of liberty, protest, rebellion and reform from Magna Carta to the Suffragettes and beyond. This site, promoted especially to teachers and school pupils, will help visitors understand and learn how and why people’s rights and their relationship with the state has changed; how people have challenged authority; how governments have responded to such challenges; and how Parliament and parliamentary democracy have evolved. With your help, Royal Holloway plans to identify, map and share the stories, discovered by U3A members, to build up a picture of how communities have contributed to our democratic heritage.

U3A members will be playing a vital role, highlighting local stories, figures, movements. Here in London, for example, members will look at the relevant history of a particular borough which has contributed to this eight century long struggle to define, defend and extend rights and liberty. Here in Battersea, you may like to research the Putney Debates or the central role Battersea played in the early days of British Socialism – for example,names such as Charlotte Despard, John Burns and John Archer.

This is a more flexible form of Shared Learning Project than we have been used to in London as members will be asked to work in small, local groups or on their own on their chosen topic and then come together for meetings every eight weeks when they can discuss their progress and raise any questions. The meetings will be held at Senate House, University of London National Archives in Kew, and the first briefing meeting will be on Monday 16^th January 2017.

If the project interests you but you would like some suggestions as to research topics, please sign up and come along to the first meeting to hear Dr. Matthew Smith’s proposals. Matthew will also be able to give you a letter of introduction to your local museum. If you haven’t found anyone with whom to work, come and find a group you can join. If you are at all interested or have any queries, please email Jennifer Anning, the U3A Co-ordinator of the project.

Please click on link below for more information

http://citizens-u3a-slp-flyer-london-region

Jennifer Anning, National SLP Co-ordinator
ja_ku3a@btinternet.com

Day 1: We board our Executive coach at the four pick-up points in the Kingston area and make our journey north for our lunch stop at Moseley Old Hall (NT) – an atmospheric Elizabethan farmhouse that saved a King. Find out about the dramatic story of King Charles II hiding from Cromwell’s troops after he fled the Battle of Worcester in 1651. After lunch we continue to Cumbria where we check into our 3* AA Cumbria Grand Hotel at Grange over Sands for four nights on half-board basis.

Day 2: Today is dedicated to a guided tour of the stunning Lake District. We will visit many areas of outstanding beauty and small villages, steeped in character and history: Hawkshead and Beatrix Potter Gallery (NT) and Hilltop (NT), Beatrix Potter’s 17th century farmhouse, Grasmere and 400 year

old Dove Cottage, once home of the famous poet William Wordworth.

Day 3: This morning we will board the Windermere Lake Cruise for a 40 minute cruise to Bowness. After lunch we visit Holker Hall & Gardens, the family home of Lord and Lady Cavendish. This is a delightful family home with fine displays of antique furniture and art.

Day 4: Today we start by visiting Kendal with its many historical buildings, castles, bridges and a street market on a Wednesday. In the afternoon we visit Sizergh Castle and Gardens (NT).

Day 5: This morning we check out of the hotel and on our way home we stop at Leighton Hall. Stepping inside this house is like taking a step back in time, but it still retains the atmosphere of a family home. An enthusiastic guide will reveal the Gillow Reynolds’ family history and habits. Each room from the Gothic Hall to the principle bedroom and the charming library has some interesting secret to reveal or tale to tell. Why is there a lock of James II’s hair in the Drawing room, and why is the table in the hall shaped like a daisy? A light lunch is included here before we retrace our steps homeward.

Date: 17th – 21st September 2017

Boarding:
8.30 am. – Kingston, High Street,

opposite The Rose Theatre 8.40 am. – Surbiton, outside

Coronation Hall Pub
8.50 am. – Surbiton, Ewell Road, Bus

stop ‘Telephone Exchange’ 9.00 am. – Tolworth – Bus stop ‘J

Princes Avenue’ – outside ‘Our Lady Immaculate’

Cost: £499.00 pp Half-board, sharing a twin/double bedroom

Included: All entrance fees (except to NT properties) plus 1 light lunch on day 5

Single room Supplement: £39.00 (4 nights)

Deposit: £85.00 pp (non-refundable) Balance due by 04.08.2017

Travel Insurance: £30.00 (No upper age limit – conditions apply)
For a detailed booking form please complete the attached application form and send it together with a stamped addressed envelope – not too small, please – to Gisela Zürcher-Feiß, 37, The Byeways, Surbiton KT5 8HT – Phone 020 8399 4990

If you do not give an email address please enclose a stamped, self- addressed envelope.

The beautiful Lake Distric application form