Group Leaders Bulletin – May 2026
Renewals
Anyone who has not renewed their IGO membership will be removed from groups on the 4th May. Group leaders do not need to take any action.
Group Leaders Handbook
We have compiled a document which covers all aspects of running a group and also points to useful resources.
Meeting duration
If you use an IGO Zoom account for your meetings, and would like to increase the duration of the meeting, we are happy to do this. If possible, we will just extend the current Zoom slot, but if this is not possible because of a clash with another group meeting, we will create a new booking on a different Zoom account. Just contact us on the link at the bottom.
Contact information on Beacon
Beacon has a slot on the details page where a contact email can be included:
This is displayed on the Beacon Members Portal so members can submit queries about the group. It does not appear on any public platform.
It is, of course, optional. I have replaced all the NULL entries with the IGO email address. Any queries will be forwarded to the group leader.
Beacon user group
With the new Beacon Service Manager now in post, we want to establish more formal and consistent user feedback processes for Beacon. This isn't just about Beacon admins and local experts. We really want to understand the wide range of knowledge and uses, from those who reluctantly log in occasionally to those who are never off it!
To do that, we would like to recruit a large pool of Beacon users who would be willing, every now and then, to give their thoughts and opinions on specific areas of potential development. It's likely to be mainly via online surveys, and each would be completely optional, so it's a very light and occasional role.
If you use Beacon in any way and would be happy to share your views from time to time, we'd love to add you to our user group. Just send an email with your name, role (eg group leader, treasurer) and which u3a you're part of, to
Closing your group
If you decide that you no longer want to run your group, please let us know. We will talk to group members to see if someone else is willing to run it rather than closing it down. You may want to do this yourself. If no-one is willing to do this, we will delete the Beacon entry and the group web-page.
If you need to close the group temporarily, you can use the “Inactive” box on Beacon to hide it from member while keeping all the information in place. Could you please let us know if you have done this so we can remove the group webpage temporarily as well, so that no one joins IGO in the expectation of joining the group.
Beacon calendar
The Members Portal has a tab which enables members to view the group calendar. Groups only appear in the calendar when the group leader, or someone else, has entered the calendar data using the Beacon Schedule tab. Only 78 of our 165 groups which meet regularly currently have calendar entries for May. It would be helpful if group leaders added their meetings to the calendar.
Members joining and leaving groups
Members should join and leave groups themselves using the Members Portal. Group leaders cannot add members to their groups – this is because of a data protection issue. They can remove members from their group but ideally, members should be asked to do this themselves – it reduces group leaders’ workload, and eliminates the danger of removing the wrong person.
IGO Zoom May calendar
This is attached. It lists all the meetings which are booked in May on IGO Zoom accounts. If you are unsure about your booking, please check that your meeting is included on the list and that the Meeting ID matches what you have. If not, please contact us immediately.
.
Generic Zoom calendar
At the moment, slots are available at nearly all times. Thus, you can more than likely move your current IGO slot, or change from your own account to an IGO account.
Thank you
To all our group leaders for your sterling work
From Catherine, on behalf of the IGO team
You can contact anyone on the team using this email