This page shows the next main events happening in iU3A. But if you would like to find out more about what's on across the London Region or at the national level of The Third Age Trust have a look on the What's On — Regionally & Nationally page.

Special Events — Diary Dates for 2018/19
Wednesday 22 May — Computer/Tablet/Smartphone Help Session: another of our regular drop in help sessions. Come along for a one-to-one session with one of our 'experts', or 'helpers', to get your query or problem resolved. Starting from 1.30pm. If you want to come you need to let us know and book a 30 minute slot by sending an email to Isabel here. She will then let you know location, etc.

Thursday 06 June — Theatre Visit: We will be returning to the Park Theatre, Finsbury Park this time to see The Last Temptation Of Boris Johnson by Jonathan Maitland. This theatre visit is open to all iU3A members. The cost of tickets (which will include a glass of wine/soft drink) will depend on the ticket take-up but is expected to be a little under £33.30 for Band A seats, £28.80 (£22.30 if you are over 65) for Band B and £26.30 (£22.30 if you are over 65) for Band C. Please contact Sue Welsford (theatrevisits.iu3a@gmail.com) to reserve your ticket, indicating which price band you would prefer.

DATE	MONTHLY MEETING PROGRAMME — TALKS & 2ND SUBJECTS:
23 May	TALK — Dr Frances Wood, 'The Silk Road', RfL, Seminar 2&3. Silk Road collections in the British Library. Frances Wood was Curator of the Chinese collection in the British Library for nearly 30 years. She has written a number of books on Chinese history and culture including Did Marco Polo Go To China?, Forbidden City, The Silk Road, No Dogs and Not Many Chinese: Treaty Port Life in China 1843-1943, Hand Grenade Practice in Peking: my part in the Cultural Revolution, The Diamond Sutra: The Story of the World’s Earliest Printed Book, Betrayed Ally: China in the Great War and Great Books of China. The over 20,000 documents from the Silk Road in the British Library collections were acquired by Sir Aurel Stein (1862-1943) on his three major expeditions to Chinese Central Asia in 1900-1, 1906-8 and 1913-6. Although other distinguished European and Japanese archaeologists were exploring the Silk Road area at the time, Stein was the first to reach the Buddhist cave-temple complex at Dunhuang where he acquired thousands of documents and paintings dating from c. 400-1020 AD from a walled-up cave that had been forgotten for hundreds of years. Paintings on silk and paper and documents on paper represented the world’s earliest paper archive, including the world’s earliest securely dated printed ‘book’ (dated 868 AD) some 400 years before paper was made in Europe and over 500 years before Gutenberg pioneered printing in Europe.
	2nd SUBJECT — Beacon Tutorial: The subject for this will be a computer tutorial style presentation and discussion of the Beacon Members System. The material will be largely tailored to Group Coordinators use of Beacon, but will also cover Members' use of Beacon as well.
27 June	TALK — Prof Anne Power, Emeritus Professor of Social Policy at LSE, CASE Associate and Head of LSE Housing and Communities, 'Social Housing After Grenfell', RfL Conference Hall + Seminar 5. Following the tragic Grenfell fire in June 2017, the social housing sector has come to the forefront of government policy and there has been increased public awareness and support. Government has made a commitment to helping Grenfell survivors and residents in multi-storey blocks around the country. There has also been a big change in the attitudes of social landlords, who have been forced to invest and focus on their existing homes and residents, rather than on new-build properties. It has also led to renewed calls for a greater voice for tenants. Anne Power will discuss how all of these strands are coming together and what social housing could look like after learning the lessons from Grenfell.
	2nd SUBJECT — iU3A Green Issues Group presents.
25 July	TALK — Sebastian Balfour, Emeritus Professor of Contemporary Spanish Studies at LSE, ’Catalan Independence and its links to Current European Politics’, RfL, Seminar 2&3. The focus of this talk is on the Catalan dimension of the Spanish crisis. It will look at the processes that led to the abortive declaration of independence on 27 October 2017 and then examine the Catalan crisis from an international perspective. A central question is to what extent is the crisis symptomatic of a much broader process combining globalisation and sub-state nationalism.
	2nd SUBJECT — not defined yet
August	No meeting
19 September	Talk & 2nd Subject:  No subjects yet — RfL, Seminar 2&3
24 October	Talk & 2nd Subject:  No subjects yet — RfL, Seminar 2&3
28 November	Talk & 2nd Subject:  No subjects yet— RfL, Seminar 2&3
December	No meeting

Our iU3A coffee mornings are a popular way of getting to know other members. They take place around the borough, are always at 11.00 on varying days of the week and are free to iU3A members. In order to provide opportunities for all our members to attend, we limit attendance to a maximum of three coffee mornings per member per year (1st January to 31st December). The next coffee morning will be on:

• Wednesday 24 April in Stoke Newington

Our coffee mornings are now organised by Sally Fox. To book up for any of the above coffee mornings please email Sally here. She will then advise you that you are booked, or if there are no spaces that you have been put on a reserve list. If you can't attend a coffee morning you've booked for, please let us know by emailing Sally (same link as above) to say you can't now make it.
 

Pub Lunches
iU3A's pub lunches provide an opportunity for members to meet each other in a social atmosphere. They take place monthly, around Islington. If you are buying a lunch the cost is around £10 to £12 with drinks being extra. If you'd like to come along to one of these please email Howard Stone here for more information or to reserve your place.

All those held so far have attracted about 15 iU3A members per event who've enjoyed some good chat. While originally conceived to attract more male members there has been good support from the women members. Do come along and join us. Watch the regular Bulletin for information on exact actual timings for 2018 events and locations. But the following is the expected programme for the year:

• Thursday 11 April
• Tuesday 14 May
• Tuesday 25 June
• Thursday 31 July
• Tuesday 13 August
• Wednesday 25 September
• Thursday 31 October
• Tuesday 5 November
• Wednesday 11 December