Barnets
Introduction to branch
For many years, the WEA Barnets’ Branch has successfully presented a variety of adult education classes, run by a committee of friendly and enthusiastic volunteers. Main programme classes in the autumn and winter are followed by a varied group of learning opportunities made available to class members after Easter. Classes in Barnet are held in pleasant accommodation at sites easily accessible by public transport, providing a choice of classes in the daytime and evening, including two new evening classes in Tai-Chi and in astronomy this year. Learners enjoy direct access to approachable, friendly and knowledgeable tutors.
The Branch Committee, which meets several times during the year, is responsible for planning the programme of classes, with the assistance of WEA's London Region, which supplies qualified tutors. The Committee consists entirely of volunteers who have been elected at the Branch AGM, which usually takes place in June. The Branch is always keen to encourage members of classes to volunteer and share the work of running the Branch. It continues to benefit considerably from the valuable assistance provided by these volunteers, which helps to reinforce the sense that we are a community of learners who enjoy a shared purpose.
Usually about eight twenty-week courses are held between October and March. These are followed after Easter by short Summer courses and by individual Study Day outings.
We hold an annual Branch Lunch, which has taken place successfully for many years, usually in February. Our fund-raising event is an annual Quiz Supper evening which usually takes place in October.
The WEA is committed to promoting equality and diversity. All are Welcome.
Courses
30/09/2010 to 09/12/2010 for 10 sessions, Thu 14:00 in Barnet
13/01/2011 to 25/03/2011 for 10 sessions, Thu 14:00 in Barnet
07/10/2010 to 16/12/2010 for 10 sessions, Thu 19:30 in New Barnet
24/09/2010 to 25/03/2011 for 20 sessions, Fri 10:30 in Barnet
22/09/2010 to 23/03/2011 for 20 sessions, Wed 13:30 in New Barnet
29/09/2010 to 23/03/2011 for 20 sessions, Wed 19:45 in New Barnet
27/09/2010 to 29/03/2011 for 20 sessions, Mon 2:00 PM in Barnet
01/10/2010 to 01/04/2011 for 20 sessions, Fri 13:30 in
23/09/2010 to 24/03/2011 for 20 sessions, Thu 09:30 in London
24/09/2010 to 25/03/2011 for 20 sessions, Fri 18:00 in London
Branch NewsThe Branch was represented at a Parliamentary Lobby organised by CALL (Campaign for Lifelong Learning), expressing deep concern that recently over 1.4 million places have been lost in adult education due to cuts in funding. Meetings The Branch continues to be represented at meetings of the North London Development Committee, which helps to coordinate plans for future WEA courses in north London.
Events
In the summer of 2009, the Branch organised a series of successful Study Days (see Photo Gallery) comprising a literary walk in The Strand and Fleet Street, led by Branch chairman and Literature tutor Michael King; a guided visit to the Wellington Arch and Apsley House; a guided visit to the Wellcome Collection in the Euston Road; participation in the Open Gardens Squares Weekend, with visits to the gardens of Kelmscott House and Emery Walker House in Hammersmith, and a walking tour of the streets of Medieval London, led by our history tutor Vanessa King.
Photo Gallery
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Visit to Kelmscott House, Hammersmith during the London Open Gardens Squares weekend, June 2009.
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Study Day literary visit to The Strand and Fleet Street, led by Branch Chairman Michael King, May 2009.
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Local HistoryThe main sources of information about Branch history are a scrapbook of press cuttings for the period 1964-1980, maintained by the Branch secretary of the day; some typed annual reports and financial statements; and copies of the leaflets published and distributed locally each year since 1954 to advertise the classes on offer. Dick Woolfstein (1903-1991) is credited with the revival of Barnet WEA Branch in 1944. This implies that the WEA was active in Barnet before the Second World War, but no documentary evidence had survived to support this idea.
In the early 1970s, John Mansbridge, the son of the WEA founders Albert & Frances Mansbridge, was our tutor in Architecture. In recent years, the Branch has planned always to include classes in a wide range of subjects; Literature, Music, Art, History, Introduction to Drawing and a foreign language (French). The recent amalgamation with the Barnet Womens' Branch has enabled us to extend the range to include Tai Chi.
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