Using digital platforms to stay connected
 

During these unprecedented times, the Third Age Trust has been looking at different ways to support our amazing U3A community. We wanted to enable and support U3As, members and Interest Group leaders, to stay active and connected with each other.
 

To this end, from today, Monday 6 April 2020, we have launched three online discussion forums so that you can share ideas and support each other. Thanks to the Beacon users, we are doing this by extending the existing (and successful) Beacon User Forum to all U3As, regardless of whether or not you are using the Beacon management system at your U3A yet.

It is easy to get started. All you need to do is visit the forum website at https://forum.u3abeacon.org.uk, click the ‘register’ button and fill in your details.

From there you will be able to explore the forums and get involved in the discussion.

If you are not familiar with online forums, we have prepared a how-to guide to help you get started. We welcome your feedback on the guide.   Your feedback will help us develop our guide which will be available on the national website in the next few days.

There will be three forums that you can join:

Learning – discussions around subjects and all forms of interest and learning
Our U3A Community – discussions around how we support each other
Beacon – discussions around using Beacon, the U3A management system (Note: Hornsea and District U3A do not use this system)

This is just an outline of what the forums are about because it will be led and developed by you when you join and the conversations that are happening.

A volunteer team will moderate the site and support you to use the forums in a safe, positive and productive way.

We will send more details through the week as we have them on our website and in the newsletter.

Please join us, sign up and get chatting. Together we will network, share ideas and stay connected.