The Monthly coffee morning was held in St Francis Church Hall on Wednesday 18 February at the usual time of 10.00am for 1030am.

The morning started with the usual time when members can socialise and was followed by announcements of the activities scheduled for the AGM on March 17 – a display from study groups and individuals, a musical contribution and a jamboree for study group leaders. The retiring Chairman, Ms Phyll Babb announced that nominations for the committee were open until 3 March and that Peter Tee would be standing for Chairman.

The meeting, to which the Chairmen and committee members of Salisbury and Spire U3A's had been invited, then moved on to the main business of the morning – a talk given by Mr Keith Richards, the Chairman of the U3A National Executive on “Shared Learning Projects”. Mr Richards introduced his interesting and informative talk by commenting on the uniqueness of the U3A situation in Salisbury with 3 active branches. He followed this by introducing the 4 stages of his employment which led to him becoming Chairman of the NEC – from a trainer during his National Service, through being a teacher in London, moving on to teacher training and finally in the field of Continuing Education at a University. He emphasised the enthusiasm of one of the founders of the U3A movement, Mr Peter Laslett, for participation in learning, an outward looking approach and combining with outside groups and gencies. This had prompted a research type project involving the British Museum and members from several different U3A branches. Mr Richards described how participants had learnt a great deal not only from museum guides while studying their self-selected artefact but also while sharing information both with fellow participants and the public and in addition while using the skills they needed to do this.

The Museum itself appreciated the project as it gave them much needed experience in meeting the needs of older learners, something they had previously lacked. Following the tremendous popularity and success of this initial project there have been similar but slightly different projects with a variety of organisations – museums (V&A, Science and Maritime); galleries (Courtauld Institute), the Royal Opera House. Negotiations are on-going with the National Trust and the theme may be varied to include Wandsworth Prison inmates. Mr Richards stressed the value of cooperating with outside organisations and promoting an accurate image of the U3A and its activities as this could contribute to a favourable response when approaching agencies to provide funds for outreach projects.

The morning finished with a variety of questions from members and Mr Richards was thanked by the Sarum U3A Chairman for his description of this new type of U3A learning.