Welcome to the February 2024 monthly newsletter.
From Mark Rubinstein, President
Welcome, especially the 90+ members joining us in 2024 for the first time. As we launch into the new calendar year, it is interesting to reflect on the diversity of our membership. Collectively, our 1,000+ members span:
- 56 different postcodes (including Box Hill, Keysborough and Rye)
- 70 different countries of birth (including native born Australians who comprise 50% of our total membership, as well as people from such diverse countries as Tunisia, Bulgaria, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Myanmar and Zambia)
- A breath-taking variety of former vocations (including teachers, engineers, builders and office workers to list just a few)
This year we have initiated six volunteering ‘courses’. Although they are listed in the course catalogue (under the category: Volunteering at U3A) these are not courses per se but rather, are intended to help with the running of Glen Eira U3A. If your former vocation has given you skills and experience in areas such as building maintenance, grants management or marketing and events, I encourage you to consider offering your services by enrolling in one of these volunteering groups.
You would be part of a team of enthusiastic and like-minded members focused on helping to share the workload and shape the future direction of Glen Eira U3A.
Our Glen Eira U3A 2024/Membership
During our recent enrolment period beginning on 17 January, we had 1,000+ members signup and enrol in our courses – a great start to our year. If you have friends or relatives that you think would enjoy what Glen Eira U3A has to offer, please encourage them to consider joining us. We continue to believe that, for an annual membership fee of $70, we offer an outstanding range of courses.
We also have over 110 tutors who continue to offer their expertise and commitment to conducting our courses. Semester 1 starts on Monday 5 February – you can check the website for your course schedule and location.
Do you have an idea for a short course? If you have an idea for a course or an activity that you would like to see or lead at Glen Eira U3A, please let the Course Coordinator know. Courses do not necessarily require ‘expertise’. Rather, they can be social or activity-driven and may just need somebody to ‘get it organised’. Maybe that could be you!
Our 2024 Courses and Enrolments
2024 enrolments commenced with 145 course offerings and we will be adding more short course offerings as the year progresses. An example of short courses coming soon will be our Senior Digital Literacy courses.
Many courses filled very quickly during enrolments that opened on 17 January. Initial restrictions on the number of courses in which members could enrol have now been lifted and you can enrol in multiple courses. Here are some courses with availability:
Volunteering
24AAV01 – Volunteer: Building Maintenance Team
24AAV02 – Volunteer: Grants Management Group
24AAV03 – Volunteer: Health, Safety & Welfare
24AAV04 – Volunteer: Marketing & Events Team
24AAV05 – Volunteer: Newsletter Management Group
24AAV06 – Volunteer: Website Management Team
Art
24ART06 – Watercolour Painting: Self Help
24ART11 – Create with Montage/Mixed Media
24ART15 – Chalk Pastel Drawing 2
Computers
24COM03 – Apple iPad: Improve Your Skills (Zoom)
Dancing
24DAN01 – Israeli Dancing (Ilana) Beginners to Low
24DAN03 – Israeli Dancing (Marsha) Beginners
Discussion
24DIS02 – Current and International Affairs (Zoom)
24DIS03 – The Ancient Wisdom (Zoom)
24DIS12 – Understand and Navigate Climate Change
24DIS15 – Aussie Humour & The Little Guy
24DIS17 – Class & Success in Egalitarian Australia
24DIS19 – Update: Aged Care Developments (Zoom)
Games
24GAM10 – Bocce: self-managed
24GAM12A/12B – Learn to Play Lawn Bowls
24GAM13 (multiple options) – Golf Croquet: come and learn
24GAM14 – Practice Bridge
24GAM16 – Come and Play 500
24GAM14 – Practice Bridge
24GAM17 – Bowls with a Difference (South Caulfield)
History
24HIS09 – Writing A Family History
24HIS03Z – The 17th Century: A Turbulent Time (Zoom)
24HIS04Z – What the Romans Did (Zoom)
24HIS05Z – 19th Century: Rise of Nationalism (Zoom)
24HIS06Z – Islands & the Part They Play (Zoom)
24HIS10 – Local History of Glen Eira
Language
24LANG01 – German Conversation
24LANH03 – Hebrew Intermediate (Monday)
24LANI01 – Italian: Intermediate 1
24LANI03 – Italian: Advanced (Zoom)
24LANS06 – Fluency In Spanish
Literature
24LIT05 – Some Great Poems
24LIT07 – Create A Picture Book
Science
24SCI01Z – Biology (Zoom)
Social
24SOC04 – Rail Towns: Train Trip to Trafalgar
New courses will be advertised through our website at www.gleneirau3a.org.au and in each 2024 Newsletter.
Enrolments can be completed online at www.gleneirau3a.org.au/members. Alternatively, the Glen Eira U3A Office, at 1151 Glen Huntly Road, open from Monday – Friday from 9.00 am to 3.30 pm can provide assistance to members including those members who, for whatever reason, are unable to enrol online. We would be happy to see you.
The Rise and Rise of Parking Apps
Parking, and the enormous amount of space we cede to it, is undergoing two revolutions. As this article explains, the first is the rise of parking apps. Apps like PayStay promise efficiency through coinless pay-as-you-go parking, adjusted to the minute and location via a smartphone app. Not only are these apps used to pay for casual parking, they are increasingly being used by local councils to provide on-street parking permits for residents. Glen Eira City Council recently adopted PayStay as an integral part of its system for resident parking permits. If you do not already have a PayStay account and do not want one to pay for casual parking, you can register for residential parking permits on the Glen Eira Council website.
If you don’t already have the PayStay app on your mobile phone, be wary of QR codes on parking meters. Parking meters invariably have QR codes on them that link you to a site from which you can download the app. However, there is an ever increasing incidence of fake stickers being placed over the (real) parking QR code on the meter. These fake QR codes are intended to scam you into subscribing to a non existent streaming or other service, instead of downloading the parking app. If you want to use apps like PayStay, much better to download the app ahead of time from your phone’s app store (whether Apple, Android or Google).