U3A

Leading Charity

The national charity, U3A is delighted to be supporting #ALifeWellLived

For more than 35 years, the national charity U3A has been leading the debate on positive ageing.  If you haven’t heard of U3A – it is a world-wide, cooperative movement of Third Agers – retired and semi-retired people – who come together to use their life experiences and knowledge to continue their educational, social and creative interests in a friendly and informal environment.    

Each of the more than 1,000 U3As in the country is a charity in its own right and hosts hundreds of interest groups chosen and run by the members, for the members. U3A members help each other in their learning groups and form strong and meaningful relationships together with a sense of community, social wellbeing, fellowship and belonging.    

The subjects learnt by members are wide-ranging from Architecture and Biology to Yoga and Zoology with every topic you can think of in between. There are around 10,000 U3A interest groups taking place in the UK every week. 

So when we first heard from Connie about her idea of a podcast which celebrates those life stories and experiences of people in the third stage of life, we jumped at the chance to be involved and share some of the amazing stories of our members.

As they get older, people are too often stereotyped or ignored and forgotten; the U3A  movement’s more than 400,000 members are living proof of the positive impact people make within their communities in later life. The U3A learning model produces a sustainable and positive approach to ageing built on group learning, skill sharing and volunteering.  

U3A members report major benefits to being part of this model in terms of confidence, feeling supported in new communities, learning new skills, combatting loneliness, feeling valued and enjoying life.  And it is low cost – on average it costs just £20 a year to join your local U3A.

U3A shows the value of communities of interest and learning which are not defined by age, or by past experience, but instead are defined by the experiences still to be explored”.

If you are in your Third Age you can find out more about U3A and find one nearest you

View Here

Sam Mauger

Chief Executive of the Third Age Trust which supports all the U3As across the country

“When we first heard from Connie about her idea of a podcast which celebrates those life stories and experiences of people in the third stage of life, we jumped at the chance to be involved and share some of the amazing stories of our members. 

“As they get older, people are too often stereotyped or ignored and forgotten; the U3A  movement’s more than 400,000 members are living proof of the positive impact people make within their communities in later life”.

Join the U3A adventure

Twitter @U3A_UK & Facebook @u3auk