April 2026

To send an email to an Interest Group Leader
Select the group from the Interest group page and fill out the form.
It will be forwarded to them .

See the Calendar for a full list of interest groups

BOOK GROUP
Our book this time is ’The Space Between’ by Lauren Keenan. Two women, two love stories, A world torn apart – A riveting novel set at the brink of the New Zealand wars.
Ros

CYCLING GROUP
U3A Cycling April
We have 2 organised rides each month, on the 3rd Monday and the last Friday. We ride mainly on dedicated cycleways around Christchurch and further afield. The rides usually have 2 start points to accommodate distance and speed preferences of the members. Most members have e-bikes. New members are always welcome.
On Monday 20 April we cycled from Halswell to the Heathcote Valley via the Tannery following cycleways and quiet streets. There were 11 of us and what started as a chilly morning turned out to be a pleasant ride with favourable weather. We had coffee at Silo’s Café.
The ride on the Friday 24 April has been put back to Friday 1 May as the rides were in the same week.

FAMILY HISTORY
The topic of our last meeting us ME! This was approached from the angle of our descendants wanting to know about us, our place in the history of our family and what better person is there to give an accurate account? ME!
Our next meeting will be on 19th May at 1.30pm. If you could be interested in coming along or to find out more about this group please contact Carole or Julia via the Family History page on this website.

HISTORY GROUP
This month we covered Unit 3: The first Twenty Years, of the Australian History 1 online course.
Ros

SCRABBLE GROUP
Our Scrabble Interest Group meets on the 2nd and the 4th Tuesday of each month, at 1.30pm. With most members taking turns to host the meeting, we play a couple of games of Scrabble, have afternoon tea, solve the problems of the world, then those who wish to stay longer play another game of Scrabble finishing around 4.30pm.
We limit membership to 10 people due to the fact we meet in private homes. One of our group has recently resigned from U3A, leaving a vacancy in our Scrabble Interest Group.
We are therefore looking for a new member to join our friendly group, with one preference, that the new member has a home large enough to host a couple of meetings each year. We generally find up to six can play at a dining table and we purchased a card table for the remaining four people; this table moves around with us. The main requirement is the ability to provide the space and seating for up to 10 people. We have our own Scrabble sets, dictionaries, etc. Our goal is to play friendly games based on the following principles:
Our rules help games to flow better
The guidelines for our group are that players could use a dictionary and/or the word sheets as much as they like PRIOR to their turn; but that when it is a player’s turn they should play a word without too much delay. Quick and occasional use of the dictionary 6 to check spelling only (**perhaps by another player?) should be the aim when it is a player’s turn to play.
If any financial member of U3A wishes to join our friendly group, please speak to a committee member who will refer any interest to Judith, as Convenor. Multiple applications will result in the creation of a waiting list, or possibly assistance to start up another group.
Judith

SINGING GROUP
Our singing group has met for two sessions with great success. We meet on the first and third Fridays of each month at 2.00 pm at the Halswell Hall in the Supper Room. We love the live ukelele accompaniment from Bronwen. If you would like to join us, just come on the Friday and make yourself known at the door. Our next two sessions will be on the 15th of May and the 5th of June.