Next meetings

Tuesday 4th August and 1st September. The meeting room at Number 26 is accessed either through the Book Festival shop or via the passage through the door on the left.

Our meetings will be informal, building on what we do understand and filling in the things we don't know.  The first meeting will spend some time on checking out what everyone wants from the group eg what are the Current Affairs that we want to understand better and how are we going to do that. Current Affairs can mean many different things, some of which may have local importance, some national, some international or even worldwide importance. It'll be up to us. One thing the u3a would prefer we don't do is have Party Political discussions given they don't want members to fall out with each other. And the u3a has policies like Equality and Diversity that we need to be mindful of. We can talk about what other issues might need to be flagged as ones we might need to be mindful about too. 

We might also want to make a plan of what to focus on when, whilst being flexible if something becomes, well, more immediately important. It may be that we have, or could find,  expertise and knowledge on some topics in the group or wider membership so that might also inform our plans. And it's likely that some current affairs might even start to get discussed at this first meeting because they are very current.... Whatever we do, it's sure to be interesting, challenging, fun.

Past topics have included

• AI
• algorithms
• the NHS
• the Gender Recognition Reform bill and the opposition to it by Westminster
• Scottish Independence
• climate change
• the resignation of politicians
• womens' pay and equality issues
• the legacy of slavery
• the pros and cons of wind turbines
• the future of travel and transport
• modern times