We have completed another successful year, with many interesting courses and activities. Our hardworking Course Leaders put a great deal of time and energy into the courses they run, and we thank them very much.

As well as our ongoing courses, we have started a new course called ‘The Readultery Club’ plus one term courses, ‘Australia: Pioneers and Icons’ and ‘Dog Walking’.  We were very fortunate to offer individual activities, ‘Qigong with Churn Chi’, ‘Drum Circle with Lisa’ and an excursion to The Cedars in Hahndorf.

I would also like to express my appreciation for the support and hard work by our committee members during the year. All members of the committee contribute to great team work and take responsibility to ensure a smooth running of U3A Aldinga.

One of our committee members, Kaye Jarrett, who has also been a committee member for some time, is retiring at the end of the year. Kaye has been acting as secretary for the past year. We thank her very much and wish her all the best.

I would like to welcome three new committee members, Thea Hulley, who joined at the beginning of 2025, Mike Dixon and Sandra Barnes, who will begin early 2026. I would also like to thank Chris Patterson for taking on the role as secretary.

We were very sad when Brenda Pentland, our secretary and long serving committee member of U3A Aldinga, passed away in April this year. She is greatly missed by all of us.

One of our Course Leaders, Jill Mortimer, will be stepping down as the Course Leader of the Tuesday Book Club, and I would like to thank her very much for the successful running of the club during the past few years.

The Creative Writing group have produced a fascinating book called ‘Voices of the Fleurieu’ which has now been published. There are three contributions from each member and the book includes a wide range of stories and poems.

We were very fortunate to have articles about our courses published in the Aldinga Bay Residents Association magazine ‘Coastal Views’. As to date there have been articles about the Creative Writing Group, Walking Group, Camera Group, Garden Group, Cycling Group and the Lecture Series

I would like to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a great 2026.

Nola van Dam

December 2025