THE UNIVERSITY OF THE THIRD AGE
U3A or the University of the Third Age is alive and well.
In the UK there are over 520 branches around the UK
providing adult education to the over 50's and there
branches in many countries around the world. Go to http://www.u3a.org.uk
Together they run something like 12000 different study
classes and cater for over 140,000 members.
I have been a member of five years and have run courses on
Astrology, Poetry, Self-Expression and Moral Dilemmas.
I have also run a programme for U3A at the 2003 Summer
School.
My experience of U3A is confined to my local activities and
a group which consists of some 740 members. However for the
very low costs involved in membership every year, to date
our local group has charged £25 per year, there is a range
of some 70 different classes you can attend. This seems to
me to be the best value education available in the country
and anyone who has not participated in the required age
group, is surely missing something very valuable. These
days I go to Table Tennis, Badminton, Duplicate Bridge,
Mind Gymnastics (learning how to do Cryptic Crosswords),
and Poetry and I am currently running Moral Dilemmas until
the end of this summer term.
Next year's course I am offering, is Life the Universe and
almost Everything!