Holme Valley U3A Theatre Group – Information

The HV U3A Theatre Group runs trips to theatres around the region – mainly Bradford, Halifax, Leeds, Manchester and Sheffield. These trips are to a variety of shows, including plays, ballet and opera, but musicals are by far the most popular. All the trips include the theatre tickets and return transport from Holmfirth, usually by either minibus or coach.

1. How Theatre Group Trips are organised

i. The Theatre Team: Theatre Group trips are organised by the Theatre Team, who are U3A members and volunteers. You can contact any of the Theatre Team about any Theatre Trip using this email address hvu3atheatre@gmail.com

ii. Reservations: The Theatre Team make advance group reservations at theatres around the region. These often have to be well in advance, particularly for very popular shows. Each of the Team takes the lead in organising 3-5 trips per year, to shows that they would personally like to see. Most trips are in the winter season (autumn to spring).

iii. Transport from Holmfirth is arranged for all Theatre Group trips - by minibus (up to 16), coach (30+) and sometimes by car and/or public transport. Transport costs are divided between all passengers, and the current average cost for minibus/coach transport, including a gratuity for the driver, is £10-£15.

iv. Payments: We don’t ask for payment at the time you first sign up for a trip, because both theatre ticket prices and the cost of transport can depend on the size of the group. So, payment is requested from you a few weeks before the theatre tickets have to be finalised with the theatre and paid for. We usually request payment for both the theatre tickets and the transport in advance, but sometimes we will initially just ask you to pay for the theatre ticket. We will accept payment by bank transfer or cheque but prefer people not to pay in cash.

v. Who can join a Theatre Group Trip?

a. Theatre Group trips are open to all HV U3A members but you will first have to sign up to the Group’s Terms and Conditions (see separate document). This is because we handle significant amounts of money and personal data.

b. Group members are expected to assess their own fitness (health and safety) to join a trip, both at the time of booking and at the time of the trip, and decide if they are able and safe to attend.

c. For insurance reasons, non-U3A members are not allowed to travel with us on a Theatre Trip. However, we may be able to obtain tickets for friends/relatives making their way to the venue independently, subject to the Terms and Conditions.

vi. Details of current Theatre Group trips on offer are available:

a. At the Theatre Group table at the monthly U3A meetings. A member of the Theatre Team will also often stand up and give an update before the speaker.

b. A monthly Theatre Group update is emailed to everyone on the Theatre Group e-mailing list. Any U3A member can ask to be added to this mailing list.

c. On the Theatre Group page of the HVU3A website (see the homepage tab).

vii. How to put your name down for a Theatre Group trip: You can ask to be added to the list for a trip, either by email or at the monthly U3A meeting. If a trip is full, you can still ask to be added to the Reserve List - inevitably we sometimes get cancellations, and will offer the place to people on the Reserve List before advertising it to the whole group.

2. What you need to do if you put your name down for a Theatre Trip

The Theatre Team are volunteers, and while we enjoy organising theatre trips, it can also be time-consuming. It is a great help to us if Theatre Group members who put their name down for a trip remember to do the following:

i. Save the date: When you put your name down for a Theatre Trip, please put the trip and date in your diary/calendar. Sometimes people forget they have put their name down, which can cause problems for us with numbers and costs.

ii. Communicate by email if at all possible: We are only able to organise these trips because we use email to communicate with most people. It would be simply too time-consuming if we had to telephone or text everyone. Emails save us hours of time.

iii. If you are using email, save the Theatre Group email address hvu3atheatre@gmail.com in your contacts (e.g. as Theatre Group). This will help:

a. To prevent our emails to you going into ‘spam’

b. You will be able to find our email address and contact us, even if you have lost an email from us.

c. Even though this email address is in Pat Whalley’s name and emails seem to be sent by Pat, all the Theatre Team access and use this email address to organise all Theatre group trips.

iv. If you are using email, check for messages from us: Once you have asked to join a trip, please make sure you check for messages about the trip – and please reply to them, even if you no longer want to go on a trip. Chasing up replies makes the organising so much harder!

v. Problems with using email? If you don’t use email at all, or struggle to either receive or to reply to emails, please discuss this with the Theatre Team at one of the U3A meetings, to find the best way of communicating with you. This could be by email through a friend or relative, by text or by phone.

vi. Cancellations: If you have put your name down for a trip and then find that you can’t go, please let us know as soon as possible, even if you haven’t yet paid. Please don’t wait until we ask for payment, or just not reply to our emails about the trip. The cost of both tickets and transport are affected by numbers - and we may have other people who would like your place.

vii. Payments: When paying for your trip please make sure you let us know who you are paying for, and which trip the payment is for. If you are paying for someone else, (by cheque or bank transfer), please let us know who else the payment is for.

viii. Terms and Conditions: Please make sure you are aware of the Terms and Conditions, particularly in relation to cancellations and refunds, before you put your name down for any Theatre Group Trip.

ix. Transferring your place or ticket to someone else: Please don’t give your place/ticket to someone else, or replace someone else on a trip, without letting the Theatre Team know. The Theatre Team are required by the U3A to know who is on a trip for insurance reasons, so although a simple swop might seem sensible, the trip organiser does need to know in advance.