Introduction

You will see in the March Newsletter that, by agreement with the Committee, we are launching a pilot trial for a new facility at Shepway u3a, whereby members will be able to apply online to join selected Activity Groups. The facility will be accessed via the Membership Portal on Beacon; the same place that many members will just have used to renew their u3a subscription. The Leaders of participating Groups will then receive an email from Beacon, instead of from myself as the Groups Registrar, notifying them of the member's application. In all other respects the way Group Leaders will handle these applications is unchanged, for example how waiting lists are managed.

Applying to join Groups

• Click on the button below labelled “Online Renewal” which will take you to the Beacon Members Portal
• The Portal will open in a new tab in your browser, leaving the instructions here for you to read
• Insert your email address and password to enter the portal
• Click on “Shepway and District u3a groups”
• You will see a list of all our Groups on the next page
• You will see the word MEMBER shown alongside the Groups to which you already belong
• You will see the word LEADER shown alongside the Groups which you already lead
• Scroll down to the Group you wish to join — and click on the Group name
• If it is possible to join the Group online then you will see "Click this link to apply to join [Group name]"
  in yellow above the Group Description
• Click this link, and you will see a box asking you to confirm you wish to join the Group
• Click confirm, and your message will be sent to the Group Leader