Welcome to Forest Town and District U3A
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Membership
We currently have 244 members and are open to new members.
You can join at one of our monthly meetings or download an application form by clicking on this link: Membership application form
Full details for joining are contained on the application form.
If you need further information please contact our Membership secretary Kathryn by clicking on this email link: Membership Secretary.
You are allowed to visit two monthly meetings free before deciding to join us, sign in as a visitor or talk to one of our greeters - see the Generalnews page and the Events and Groups pages for details of our meetings and group activities.
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The u3a ‒ what does it mean to you?
The original University of the Third Age (u3a) was started in 1973 by Professor Pierre Vellas from the Faculty of Social Sciences at Toulouse University, France.
His more academic version with connections to local university continues to be the model in much of continental Europe.
In the UK however the original French concept was significantly modified into a Self-help organisation originally focussing on people of retirement age and recognising that they have something to contribute.
The emphasis has been on sharing, without formal educational links.
Many English—speaking countries have followed the UK pattern.
Today there are some 1035 separate u3as in the UK, with almost 400,000 members between them. Each one is independent but affiliated to the Third Age Trust.
The aim is to encourage people who are no longer in full employment to engage in educational and cultural activities and to find and help such people use their skills to learn and teach others.
‘The Third Age’ is defined as a time in your life (not necessarily chronological) where you have the opportunity to undertake learning for its own sake.
This means that in today's u3a movement there is no minimum age, rather a focus on people who are no longer in full time employment or raising a family.
0ur Forest Town U3A has over 20 groups that you are welcome to join.
If you have a skill, interest or hobby that you would like to share please think about starting your own group, it doesn't necessarily have to be one person, two or more people can share the running of a group.
Help in running a group is available, contact our Groups co-ordinator Marilyn Redfern by clicking on this link: Groups co-ordinator to find out more.
I know it's great to have lots of holidays and day trips and events going on but we need to get back to the roots of the u3a movement and keep our groups alive.
Irene Brooks - Chairperson Forest Town u3a 2023.
NEWSLETTERS
The Forest Town and District U3A April 2024 newsletter and all previous newsletters are available to read on the Newsletters page.
To read the Newsletters and other .pdf documents on this website you will need Adobe Reader or Adobe Reader DC.
There is a download link to the Adobe website and guidance on the Computer and IT Group pages.
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Forest Town U3A now has 20 interest groups and we are always looking for people to become a group leader and run a new group.
New members are always welcome, come and visit us, we meet on the 1st Friday of the month at the Forest Town Arena at 10.30am. You can meet our members, talk to our group leaders, and join our membership if you like what you see. You can visit twice free before taking out a membership.
The U3A is a national movement which supports people in their third age to continue their learning and interests in an informal environment. Its ethos is “It’s vital for people in their later years to keep their minds and bodies active”.
2022 was the 40th anniversary of the u3a and events celebrating this were held throughout the year. The U3A also undertook a tree planting scheme to celebrate this celebratory year.
Recent U3A national research – ‘Learning Not Lonely’ - demonstrated the impact of the U3A movement on wellbeing in later life in terms of confidence, combatting loneliness, feeling supported in new communities, learning new skills and perhaps, most important of all, feeling valued and enjoying life.
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Nationally, the U3A was founded in 1982 and has grown steadily since then.
There are now 1,000+ U3As in the UK with 10,000+ Trustees over 400,000 members.
The Forest Town U3A’s inaugural meeting was on 1st October 2015 and the U3A became a registered charity on 18th November 2019. The U3A Movement brings together people in their Third Age to continue their educational, social, and creative interests in a friendly and informal environment.
Members of each U3A draw upon their knowledge and experience to teach and learn from each other (peer to peer learning).
There are no formal qualifications or exams to pass and there is no age limit to join U3A; the only criterion to join is that you are no longer in full-time employment (you are in the third stage of your life) and have the time to take part in the activities and learning on offer.
For more information on the national movement go to https://u3a.org.uk/ or find us on twitter @U3AUK and Facebook @u3auk.
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The Launch of Forest Town and District U3A took place in St.Albans church Forest Town in September 2015 when surrounding u3a's were full to capacity and had waiting lists, you can read How We Began further down this page.
We are a friendly organisation offering a range of informal groups to follow our hobbies and interests and to enjoy the companionship of others with similar interests, it is a good way to meet people and make new friends.
We have a general meeting in the Forest Town Arena on the first Friday of each month starting at 10.30 am. see the General News page
We have a guest speaker or other entertainment at the monthly meeting, the meetings usually last about 2 hours.
See the Events, Days Out, and Groups pages for details of future activities.
Browse through our website using the links at the top of the page.
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You can now find us on FACEBOOK
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HOW WE BEGAN:
The Launch of Forest Town and District U3A (University of the Third Age) successfully took place in St. Albans Church on Thursday the 3rd of September 2015. There were approximately 130 people in attendance which far exceeded expectations and there was a buzz of excitement as the meeting voted in favour of creating a Forest Town and District U3A.
The Launch meeting heard Michaela Moody, the U3A National Vice Chairman (formerly the East Midlands Regional Trustee), outline the workings of the U3A at local, county, regional and national levels.
A representative of Sherwood U3A explained the development of her branch of the U3A and others locally and about the benefits to be had as a member of the U3A.
After the presentations volunteers came forward to form a Steering Committee to plan the activities of Forest Town and District U3A for the first year.
The inaugural meeting of the Forest Town and District U3A took place in St.Albans Church on Thursday the 1st of October 2015.
The meeting was addressed by the Chairman of the Steering Committee Mike King.
"The purpose of this inaugural meeting of the Forest Town and District U3A is to enrol members and to give them the opportunity to sign up for the first series of interest groups.
For those of you who may be unfamiliar with the U3A, it has been said that we are “A Youth Club for Retired and Semi-retired People".
The U3A provides educational opportunities for retired and semi-retired people to pursue their interests in a wide variety of activities as well as organising a monthly meeting and other events for all members.
No qualifications are required to join the U3A.
At this first meeting, l encourage you to join in order for you to sign-up to the interest groups of your choice and to come to the monthly meetings. These meetings will be held in St Albans Church on the 1st Thursday of the month.
Some interest groups are available to be joined today and more will be available as we progress.
The interest groups, from my personal observations as a very new member of U3A, is that they are the life blood of the organisation and are greatly enjoyed by members.
There is no requirement for you to have any qualifications to join the U3A or any of the groups nor do we hand out qualifications or diplomas. We all have experience of the school of life. You would be surprised by what you have learned over the years which can then be passed on to others, as indeed you will learn from them. That is what U3A is all about and you can use your experiences and knowledge to lead or help in the leading of interest groups ~ quite possibly you have an interest or hobby you would like to share with other people. Please let us know if there is any group you would like to see running and it is possible other people are interested in the same thing.
All interest groups have to be self-financing so you may have to contribute a small amount towards the cost of room hire and anything else associated with the costs of that group.
Whatever you do, enjoy the U3A ~ being a “Third-Ager" will change your life for the better". Mike King
What is the U3A?
The U3A is the University of the Third Age. - a nationwide organisation for people who are retired or semi-retired.
It is not a university in the traditional sense, members don't study for qualifications but they can join informal interest groups and share knowledge and experience.
By doing this people can enjoy taking part, meeting others and making new friends.
Founded in 1982, the UK U3A movement - based loosely on the French model - aims to encourage people in their third age to come together and continue their enjoyment of learning in subjects of interest to them.
From the start, the guiding principles were to promote lifelong learning through self-help interest groups covering a wide range of topics and activities as chosen by their members.
The 'third age' is defined by a time in your life where you have the opportunity to undertake learning for its own sake, there is no minimum age, the U3A focuses on people who are no longer in full-time employment or raising a family.
Our founders envisaged a collaborative approach with peers learning from each other, the U3A movement was to be self-funded, with members not working towards qualifications but learning purely for pleasure.
There would be no distinction between the learners and the teachers – everyone could take a turn at being both if they wished.
From its beginnings in 1981, the movement grew very quickly and by the early 1990s, a U3A was opening every fortnight, U3As grew in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland and in 2008 membership was increasing by 11% every year, 2010 saw our membership hitting the quarter million mark.
At the end of 2016 the U3A movement reached the milestone of 1,000 U3As celebrated by a conference with speakers including Eric Midwinter – one of the founders of the U3A movement.
Today the UK U3A movement includes over 400,000 U3A members in more than 1,000 U3As and is continuing to grow every day.
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