“Everything is about relationships and the sense of belonging”.
Margo Anderson is a current member of the U3APP Committee of Management {CoM}. Margo is also one of the six members of the Course Coordination Team (CCT).
What motivated you to join U3APP?
I joined about 10 years ago following my retirement and as I was involved with providing services related to community aged care, I was familiar with U3A and I could see the benefits so I looked forward to being part of it. Whilst looking forward to being “idle”, I also wanted to involve myself in new activities with new people, so I slipped nicely into U3APP.
Which course did you select at the time?
I enrolled in a course I was passionate about, Writing. This was a great course for me as there was no set curriculum and we were encouraged to write about anything we wanted to. We read our pieces out to the class and received enthusiastic and joyful acceptance and sometimes constructive guidance.
Not long after I joined U3APP, I was asked to become the Office Manager with Bev Fryer and we were there at the time of great change from everything being paper based to mostly everything on computers. It was laborious work back then, but we made it work and I got to know so many of the members which I enjoyed immensely.
Where did you spend your childhood years?
I was born in the Mallee and this area is significant to me as my father’s family are from there and many continue to live there. He came from an area between Pira and Bolga, NW of Swan Hill.
Dad was a returned serviceman and spent the last three and half years as a prisoner of war in Java. His family did not know what happened to him and believed him to have died – an horrendous experience for everyone.
Following his return, he met mum, a Western District lass, they married, and my sister and I were born in due course. We moved to Dunkeld onto a Soldier Settlement block and nearer to mum’s family in Winslow. Dunkeld was so lush and green and fertile, and we set about making a good life on our beautiful farm. Other families in the area had similar histories and so the village grew and thrived, Australia was rebuilding and I loved being part of that community. Our farm was called “Yasme” which is Japanese for Rest and we all knew this was dad’s way of finding peace from his wartime trauma – I’ve always known that no-one wins from wars.
Along with everyday farming, we grew crops, bred good riding horses, had a Brahman bull and some dairy shorthorn cattle, developed a magnificent Dorset Horn Stud, played golf, grew roses and mum had over 700 gladioli bulbs at one stage. Chooks, dogs, cats and remedial wildlife were our playmates and responsibilities.
We were people of the land, farmers, agriculturists, primary producers-community members.
My childhood memories relate to being engaged with what felt like a community family. Fire Brigade, Red Cross, Church life, Pony Club and Horse Shows, Fleece Shows, building the swimming pool and golf course (on the side of a mountain) to mention a few. Everyone you knew went to everything and most importantly, we looked out for each other.
Your school experience?
I had primary school in Dunkeld and then went to boarding school in Ballarat. There were so many girls from similar farming backgrounds and we developed a great sense of connection and looking out for each other – we were young girls so perhaps not all the time. Boarding school helped my independence.
What followed next?
I moved to Melbourne and my life became “city bound”. I trained as a Mothercraft Nurse {1968} and from there I went on to work with the Brotherhood of St Laurence and the Uniting Church in their children and family services areas (I had the privilege of working with Barbara Splading at the Brotherhood and met up with her again at U3APP). After more study and some travel, I managed a programme in Richmond for the UCA supporting people who lived locally. This was a time when limited services and support was available and Richmond was a troubled area. I found the families to be extraordinarily tenacious and generous and we were able to build great relationships all round. No highbrow ideals, just honouring and respecting each other.
What else stands out during your long working career?
I then worked with children with disabilities and their families and in 1996 I moved into the area of Aged Care, working as a Case Manager of people on Aged Care Packages.
People inspire me so much as they face challenges and hurdles and discrimination, the human capacity to endure is amazing and I saw this over and over in my career.
What aspects are you most proud of?
Well, not being the manager of this or that, rather the relationships and connections I enjoyed. I have been privileged to “walk” with so many people – and sometimes as they left this world.
How do you view the current situation in respect to people with disabilities? This is topical right now in respect to the recent Paralympics in Paris?
I believe it is more possible for people with additional needs to achieve things they want to do, and the Paralympics is an example of this. Although this is an exclusive club and does not speak to the whole community of people with additional needs.
Your current role in respect to Tutor Recruitment and Course Coordination?
I love working with this team, it’s a fantastic group and we all have specific areas of responsibility, and we all assist each other as required and requested.
My role is to respond to people offering a course, this can be just a thought through to a fully formed idea. There are times when I have ideas and I go seeking a tutor to fulfill them.
Do you have regular meetings?
Yes, we meet monthly by Zoom and we talk more often than that.
How do you locate new Tutors?
Mostly people approach us and from there I talk them through their ideas and our process. The members often hear of someone or have a thought about courses that would be of interest, and I do my best to follow up. Approx. 99.9% of people who offer to run a course get to do that and we are so grateful.
Exercise, languages and art are always very popular as are history and science subjects. We have several wellness focused courses available and on the horizon too.
I’m always on the lookout and right now CCT is getting prepared for 2025.
Do they go through an interview process?
Not really, I speak at length to people on the phone and answer their queries and explain our processes. Sometimes it can take a while to establish a mutual understanding and sort out what can be achieved. There is continuous tutor support as we want this to work well for everyone.
I would like to comment. When I joined U3APP about 8 years ago, there were several science courses and there are currently none.
Yes, there are other members who share this view and I would be pleased to hear from anyone who has any “sciencey” course ideas to be in touch. We do not preference any course type over another, rather we accept what is on offer.
How would you sum up how our courses enrich member’s lives?
Well, I go back to my core beliefs about the importance of belonging, community engagement, contributing and participating.
People bring their skills, time, enthusiasm and interest and we learn so much along the way – there was a time when I could not play the Ukulele!
What groups are you attending currently?
I’m a member of Fun and Beaut Ukes and I’m one of the tutors of Urban Sketching.
I joined the first class of Ukulele six years ago, it’s a wonderful community of players; we played at Jim Pribble’s memorial service because he was “one of us”. That’s what community means to me, we stick together.
The Urban Sketchers Group, how does that function?
Minuk Richards, who is the ukulele tutor and an artist and an urban sketcher, suggested that together we run a monthly course out and about sketching what we see. We have a fabulous group who come along and simply sketch whatever they fancy. It’s about drawing or painting what we see rather than being imaginative so it’s a form of “recording the environment one sketch at a time”.
We are not a teaching class, we drink coffee, we draw, discuss our work and we inspire each other. We will be displaying some work in our Seniors Week Art Exhibition.
Your travels, I see that you have visited Tibet and Antarctica.
Yes, Tibet was an extraordinary experience on many levels, once over the Himalayas, the vastness of the planes and depth of the hardships people live with was beyond my imagination. The people were downtrodden and struggling to maintain their culture and ways of living, it was very difficult to witness and yet they were also gracious and welcoming and extremely witty.
At the time I was a practicing Buddhist and went as part of a Buddhist group, so it was a pilgrimage of sorts. I continue to be guided by the fundamental Buddhism principals but no longer align myself with any group.
The trip to Antarctica was beautiful and exhausting in every sense of the word. We were immersed and single focused on all things Antarctic. Crossing the Drake Passage was terrifying with a massive storm but once on the Antarctic Peninsula, the seas were so still and the sky clear blue and we walked on the icy continent twice a day. We saw calving icebergs in all colours and whales, seals, glaciers, penguins, birds and a very small patch of lichen and an enormous rock of malachite.
There is mention of Vera on the U3APP Website, who is Vera?
Vera is the best cat in the world, a grey brown moggie. She started life as a feral and was taken in by RSPCA. The Lost Dogs Home tried to socialize her and make her adoption ready, but she was failing so much that “death row” was a possible trajectory. My partner and I fell in love with her (as you must) and decided to adopt and give her a fair go. It’s taken 3 years for her to build trust and believe she could belong. She is an example of resilience, persistence and hope and as the photo shows, she’s something else.
We call her Vera after DCI Vera Stanhope from the TV show “Vera”; they have a similar waddle viewed from the back and of course she is a Pet.
In summary, your thoughts on U3APP?
I think over time we have been ever evolving and I expect that to continue.
New people are always joining with new ideas and skills and that will steer the future course.
We have begun working in partnership with the Middle Park Bowls Club, The Grace and The Men’s Shed and these relationships bring new ways to offer courses that would not be available to us otherwise.
Plans for the future?
I’m content contributing as I currently do, CoM and CCT, but who knows what’s around the corner! I keep an eye on the Course Guide too, I just know there will be courses of interest ahead.
What do you personally get out of your various roles at U3APP?
Well for me it’s contributing and gaining a sense of belonging that’s important – always was from my childhood days.
It’s good to have a view of the big picture and I marvel at what people do and offer to U3APP, everyone puts in and we have great teams of organisers to make the place work so well.
The various courses I have attended have given me new skills, knowledge and great pleasure and I must say I am grateful for the relationships I’ve made with everybody. The link being we are all part of the same U3APP.
“Everything is about the relationship and the sense of belonging”
Felicity May interviewed Margo Anderson