A lovely evening!
Over 100 people gathered together on Monday, 27th July at Biddulph Town Hall for Biddulph u3a’s Summer Extravaganza and AGM.
Our evening started with a slideshow on a huge screen, of events and activities spanning the previous year. The business side of the evening was dealt with quite quickly. The elections for the various committee roles took place, and the majority were re-elected unopposed. As Diane, our Secretary, has reached the end of her term of office, it is very good news to announce that the Secretary’s role has been filled by Margaret Shenton. The Group Coordinator’s role,, previously held by Chairman Bill Hancock has been filled by Suzanne Simpson. A huge thank you goes to all who have volunteered to fill the roles. The Chairman’s Report told us of the possibility of more new groups, including Creative Writing, Swimming and another Intermediate Pickleball Group, along with monthly Coffee Mornings at Biddulph Town Hall plus a Line Dancing Afternoon on 25th September at Biddulph Town Hall. Tony Davis, our new, very efficient Treasurer, gave his first excellent report, including the fact that our finances are in good order and our financial year now runs from April 1st to 31st March. This is to allow more recent accounts to be presented at the AGM.
Membership will stay at £10 for 2026-27.
Next followed the u3a’s presentation of Achievement Certificates which were awarded to members who have either stepped down from their role as Group Leader or have contributed a great deal to Biddulph u3a. Diane Kemp, our retiring u3a Secretary, was presented with a bouquet of flowers, in the u3a colours of blue, yellow and white, along with her certificate. Diane has been a super asset to our u3a in her role as Secretary and huge thanks go her for all the hard work that she has given to Biddulph u3a over the years. Diane was a pleasure to work with and will be sadly missed on the Committee.
Let the Extravaganza begin!
Our Singing for Pleasure Group, led by Tony Myatt, opened the entertainment with popular songs from across the decades. The audience participation was great, as the words were displayed on a huge screen. Tony performed his solo of ‘Are you lonesome tonight?’ as he mingled with the audience, engaging various ladies as he sang to them individually. Some even responded! Lovely!
Following on from last year’s brilliant performance, Biddulph Strummers and Singers took centre stage again and they certainly didn’t disappoint! With their variety of instruments, such happy smiling faces and real enjoyment and enthusiasm for what they were doing, they got people on to the dance floor, clapping and singing!
As Chaiman Bill declared, "Twenty minutes of pure joy!" both for the performers and the audience.
The final entertainment was provided by the Exiles. This group started off as the u3a group Simply Blues and has now evolved into this band. The u3a rock ‘n’ rollers hit the floor and it was great to see so many boogieing the night away. Great!
It was a lovely evening!
The room was full of smiling faces, a lovely atmosphere, so many ‘thank yous’ and lots of very positive comments.
Thanks must go to our wonderful team of tea ladies who, as always, provided us with refreshments at the start of the evening, the staff of Biddulph Town Hall who were really helpful, the bar staff, all of the music makers and every single one of the audience for making our Summer Extravaganza and AGM a resounding success.
Thank you all.
P.S . Linda Huppert, leader of the Scan and Cut group, was not able to be there on the night, so there is a special notice to show her Certificate of Appreciation. Click Here