NEWS
MESSAGE FROM OUR PRESIDENT
Most members are aware that we were advised that the Pohutukawa Room at the Whangaparaoa Library, that is used by many of our groups and has been in the past free for us to use, will from July 1st this year carry a usage charge. We were informed that this was because the grant from the Local Hibiscus Coast & Bays Board was being withdrawn. Although the levy is quite low - $13.80 an hour - over a year, with our current usage, we will incur substantial costs.
Meetings and discussions with two members - Alexis Popplebaum and Jake Law - of the Local Board - provided some background to why these levies were being made, and I appreciated their advice.
Our Secretary Maureen and I met with the senior Whangaparaoa librarian - Eileen Sione - last week and found out that the subsidy from the local Board was only $1000 but that the cost of maintaining the Pohutukawa Room was over $15,000 and thus the library needed more income to recover as much of this as possible.
At this meeting Eileen reiterated her strong support of U3A but requested that we only use the Pohutukawa Room in the afternoons so that the library can use the room in the mornings for their activities. We agreed to this and that we would also try and restrict the use of the room to those of our groups that have audio visual requirements thus freeing up more space for the library. Eileen has also kindly agreed not to charge us for bookings we have already made for this calendar year.
This will mean that six of our twenty-five groups can continue to use the Pohutukawa Room in 2026, providing of course that the dates and times they require are still available. Two other groups who currently use this room are in the process of booking a venue nearby. That will leave only three groups that will need alternative venues.
I am working with our Group Convenors to confirm all venues so that we will soon have a settled programme for 2026. Our Treasurer David and I, once all venue costs are known, will determine the effect on our income and then prepare budget recommendations to our Management Committee.
If you have any questions, please email me.
Peter Gillmore
27 August 2025
ANNUAL AUCKLAND NETWORK MEETING
Several of our members attended the 2025 Annual Network event which was held at the Salvation Army Hall in Mt Wellington on Saturday 26th July.
The two invited speakers were entertaining as well as enlightening.
Allan Blackman, Professor of Chemistry at AUT, presented a lively and passionate synopsis of the Periodic Table with anecdotes about many elements of which most are barely known to most of us.
Lynette Tippett, a Professor in the Psychology Department at the University of Auckland, and the Director of two major clinical trials, gave an absorbing in-depth view of the reasons for dementia, how older folk can mitigate the causes of this disease, and how her research is assisting in both detecting and treating the various types of dementia.
There were also four short presentations from U3A members from across Auckland.
Their topics included: - Growing Up on the West Coast
- A Sojourn in Himachal Pradesh
- Food Safety for U3Agers
- The Green Man