Barbara Foley from Brisbane U3A, Australia

1. Brisbane is located on the east coast of Australia, the capital city of the state of Queensland. The third largest city in Australia with a population of 1.6 million. For more information of our beautiful city with sub-tropical climate visit www.ourbrisbane.com

2. Brisbane U3A was established in 1986 and has grown to over 2100 members.

3. Close to 200 classes are held in our central city rooms and throughout Brisbane suburbs - including anthropology, art, bridge, computer, discussion groups, history, languages, mahjong, philosophy, scrabble etc. for a full list visit our website on http://www.uq.net.au/u3abrisbane/index.htm

4. The opportunity of like minded retirees to learn and share experiences

5. I hope to see more interaction between U3As in the future and I congratulate Tom and Jean for
organising this website. I am thoroughly enjoying reading messages from other countries.

Universite Inter-Ages de Creteil et du Val-de-Marne, in France

Location: We are situated near Paris, about 25 minutes by Metro ;

Number of members: We now have about 1,300 members

Range of Activites: Our activities consist of some 10 to 25 conferences per month, some 20 or more guided visites of museums in Paris or at locations near Paris and a few guided sight seeing tours in or around Paris. Our main activities however consist of Painting and Drawing courses, six language courses, some 33 Humanities courses including History, Literature, Egyptology, Musicology, Philosophy, Psychology and Sociology, only to mention a few. We, of course, have computer courses ranging from Beginners to Intermediate and Advanced courses, including Word, Excel, digital photography, video editing, photoshop, and not but not least we have a few Science courses in Botonic Garderning, Stars-Space and Man, and a short course of Man and Nature.

What I like best about my U3A: My friends and I had a talk about this and they tell me (and I agree) what they like most about UIA of Creteil is the wide range of courses, the fair prices and above all the competence of the Professors who are for the most part are paid Professors, except for a small number of volunteers teachers in specialised areas such as Computer Courses and some Language Teachers,

My Personal message: I am not a member of the Board nor active in much of anything but I know people who work many hours at their homes so our UIA ,and maybe yours too, keeps running. I hope that the members of UIA’s or U3A’s around the World appreciate all the work that volunteer and unknown and usually unrewarded people do so that UIA’s or U3A’s are working.

East Berwickshire U3A, Scotland.

My name is John Baird and I am currently Chair

Current membership 129

We have 27 Groups: Art Appreciation; Art, Painting and Drawing; Bird watching; Badminton; Ceilidh Dancing; Chat Room; French beginners; French Conversation; Gaelic; Gardening; Geology; German; Golden Oldies; Music Appreciation (Composers); Music Appreciation (DVD/Visuals/opera/ballet/orchestra); Music Appreciation (Themes); Novels and novelists; Oriental Studies; Play Reading; Poetry; Quiz Group; Science, Technology and Society; Scottish Country Dancing; Short Walks; Theatre Visits; and Wine Clubs (2)

What I like best about our U3A are the warm, lively, friendly and mentally challenging membership.

My personal message is that we are delighted to welcome any U3A visitor to any Group or open monthly meetings.

Hi Jean - I'm Richard Aime of the Lifetime Learners Institute, located in Norwalk, Connecticut, USA.

2. We have 750 members.

3. We mainly give courses at the local community college where we are based. About 40 courses in both the Fall and Spring terms. Our members act as "Facilitators" and volunteer to lead the courses on their favorite subjects. We cover history, literature, religion, arts, sciences and many other fields. We also sponsor trips to interesting places not too far from home base, including New York City.

4. I like mostly the courses. They are not expensive and usually last up to eight weeks. It costs $25 to become a member and we charge $15 per course taken. As many as you like. I haven't been on one of the trips yet.

5. Our ILR is a godsend, even though we do have the privilege of attending the community college free of charge (if you're over 62), and they offer many interesting courses as well.

Maj Aldskogius, rector emerita, Ph.D. UPPSALA, Sweden
1. Name and location: Uppsala U3A - Uppsala Pensionarsuniversitet, Box 386, SE 751 06 Uppsala, Sweden tel. + 46 18 24 35 01 Home page Internet: www.upu.nu (in Swedish and English)

2. How many members? 1700. Annual fee ca 20 Euro, which includes two lectures in various topics each month September - May.

3. Range of activities: There are three different kinds of activities:

Lecture series, at least five each semester (cost: ca 30 Euro/semester = 60 Euro /year)
* multidisciplinary lecture series (history, art history, music history, energy-health-environment, current research themes, the development of gardens)

Study circles, over 50 each semester (cost ca 30 - 60 Euro/semester = 60 - 120 /year, depending on the length of the series)
* religion, philosophy, natural and social sciences (including e.g. bird watching)
* languages - both modern languages and e.g. Latin
* music (e.g. jazz), art (e.g. watercolour), writing
* IT classes (Word, digital photos etc.)
* research oriented study circles (e.g. to become and to be retired, what happened when we were young)

Study visits and tours, at least 10 per semester (varied costs)
* study visits in Sweden and abroad, sometimes prepared through a study circle before the trip
* trips to cultural activities in Sweden (theatre and opera performances, concerts, museums, exhibitions etc.)

4.What I like best about my U3A
The wide range of activities and the exchange of ideas, especially in the study circles.

5. My personal message
As an international coordinator of the Uppsala U3A I hope to establish links for exchange with other U3A members, especially in Europe. Please let me know if any U3A would like to discuss this further.

Maj Aldskogius
tel/fax. + 46 18 46 03 30

Ron Topp, President, Pakenham and District U.3.A.

Annual Fee $30. Totally Volunteer.

160 Members and rising rapidly

In 2005 23 Subjects as follows:-
*Introduction to Computer Computer Basics
*Introduction to Publisher Windows 2000 Publisher
*Creative Computer Publisher, Corel Magic, Hallmark Card Studio Deluxe 2 Arcsoft Photo 2000. Paint Shop Pro.
*Email and Searching the Web
*How to Read Music Beginners in 10 Lessons ( or we will break your arm !!)
*Monthly Graphics Session Questions and Answers arising from the above

We put on many extra courses during the year and those to be presented this year are :- Digital Story Telling, How to make a Clock on a C.D., Convert your L.P,s and Tapes to C.D in MP3

What I like best. The fellowship the lack of grumbles and mature age people not talking about their medication, and the amazing life stories of the members.

My Personal message. Keep Learning, widen your horizons, don't resist change, do embrace younger people if they wish to join, redefine the U.3.A. boundaries to be as inclusive of all things where ever you can Carry your age with dignity and pride, be an example rather than a grumpy old fool.

We have a GREAT U.3.A. and the learning aspects together with the ability to relieve social isolation in this rural area is wonderful and we daily see examples of mature age people doing great stuff. We have an old house(grandly called U3A. House) we call home and enjoy very much.

Helen Borg Bonnici of U3E Malta
1. Name and location of my U3A We call ourselves U3E Malta ( A = Age ; E = Eta in Maltese or Italian). Our U3E is housed at the Old University building in Valletta.
There is also a branch in the sister Island of Gozo.

2. How many members? In Malta 650 members and in Gozo 40 this year.

3. Range of Activities We have a full programme of lectures in various subjects. Each subject- unit is made up of 8 consecutive weekly lectures.There are morning lectures in Valletta from Monday to Friday from 9.00a.m. to 11.a.m. and there are evening lectures in Sliema twice a week on Tuesday and Thursday from 5.00p.m. to 7.00p.m.We are free to attend any study-units we like.

4.What I like best about my U3A I believe in life-long learning and U3A is a splendid way of satisfying my desire for learning. In addition, I have made so many friends. We have set up a U3A Choir . It is 60 Members strong. The number of ladies approx is four times greater than that of males! I am a Choir member.
Our U3A organises about 5 Cultural Tours a year to various places of interest on the Island.On the First Friday of every Month, we celebrate the Holy Eucharist together and afterwards enjoy having lunch together.(Last Friday, 6th May, we were a group of 115 and had a lovely lunch at the SeaBank Hotel in Mellieha Bay.)

5. My personal message Let us all enjoy our years of Retirement by using sensibly the time we have at our disposal!

June Lynn, Past President of Sydney U3A Inc. We are in New South Wales, Australia and we cover the whole of the Sydney basin. We are a self-help organization, as are all Australian U3As. Each is autonomous and democratic.

2. How Many Members: We have approximately 5000 members over 7 regions - Upper North, Harbourside North, East, Manly and Peninsular, Endeavour, Inner West and Greater Western. Our U3A was started in 1988.

3. Range of Activities: We present between 250 and 300 classes in each 5 monthly semester. Each region finds class leaders and venues for the classes run in their region. Venues may be in Community Centres, Scout halls, Church halls, RSL clubs, Senior's clubs, private homes etc. Our main criterions for a venue is it be suitable for the class, close to public transport and at a reasonable cost (preferably at no cost!).Venues and insurance are our greatest expense.

We cover classes in Aboriginal studies, anthropology, architecture, art, calligraphy, computing, dance, discussion groups, economics, environment, films, gardens, genealogy, geography, health, history (ancient, medieval, modern, Australian, European, Asian, Aviation etc), languages, linguistics, literature, music, mythology, philosophy, psychology, comparative religions, science and technology, sociology, Tai Chi, theatre, travel, walking and writing. Some regions have social events like lunches, trips and even holidays. Class leaders come from a wide variety of backgrounds. Some may be retired teachers or academics, some have life experiences to draw on.

4. What do I like best about U3A: I was widowed in 1993 and was lucky enough to hear about U3A from an aquaintance. Joining this organization gave me friends, social contacts and interests to keep my brain active - I lead both a creative writing and an introductory computer class and attend an Australian history class. I have been much involved in the management of the organisation, firstly as regional secretary, then as regional president and now as President of Sydney U3A.

Gordana Panijan, Coordinator of UTD Belgrade in Serbia
1. 'Univerzitet za trece doba', U3D for short, is in Belgrade, the capital of the Republic of Serbia, and the capital of Serbia. Serbia is the biggest of ex Yugoslav republics, and in many ways its only successor. The country has suffered a long crisis and is still recovering.

2. Membership: We now have around 400 members participating in different activities.

3. Foreign Languages available are English, German, Spanish, French, Italian and Greek, with English having more students than all others together. Art - drawing, painting and sculpture.
Music - Includes the piano, the guitar, the accordion, the keyboards, the drums and the 'frula' (a kind of a wooden pipe.)
Computer literacy - Presenting and mastering basic packages: Windows, Word, Internet, Multimedia.
Fitness - Yoga is a very popular class. History of Theatre, Art and Acting Crafts and handiwork - Practical manual activities offered are designing and sewing clothes and other decorative item. We also organize activities such as artistic colonies, picnics, trips, evening meetings, literary, film and other panel discussions.

4. As an English teacher these are my motives for joining the U3A. First of all, I believe that practicing our memory skills is essential in life. Research confirms that learning a language later in life helps to stave off certain illnesses associated with old age, eg. Alzheimer's. I also believe in lifelong learning. Seeing people with such strong motivation as some of my students have, I feel so much better about life in general.

Jeevan Raj Lohani is Coordinator of Council of U3As in Nepal

1. We started in 2006 and have grown to 6 groups in a short time. These groups for elderly already existed and we have oriented them and given them a national identity and an international awareness. We are now registered as a Non-GovernmentOrgansation (NGO).

2. Membership: So far we have only 120 members in our groups but we are growing fast and trying to bring all of the many other existing groups under the umbrella of the Council of U3As.

3. Activities: Health and fitness events, informal programmes for schools such as poetry, English language, sports events, etc. Current affairs, religious programmes, tours of famous places, visits and help for Old Age Homes.

4. My personal comment is that U3As can contribute in various ways to reducing the inter-generation gap and bring the experience of elders to help society.

Iveta Kacerova from U3A Zilina, Slovakia

1. Name and location
Our Slovak name is Univerzita Tretieho Veku and we belong to the University of Zilina. The town is located in north-west Slovakia (100 000 inhabitants).

2. How many members?
Approximately over 200.

3. Range of Activities
Planning studying courses for the next semesters 2010/2011: Philosophy, Psychology, PC, Art, Media, Society, The history of town Zilina. The students like also creating meetings - decoupage, glass painting, batik. Discussion hours about literature are very popular and well attended.

4. What I like best about my U3A
Our U3A offers people of retired age many interesting study courses. The members like the education, which is taught by professors, prolectors and specialists of various science. Not just the teaching, but also the organization of excursions twice a year helps to form new friendly contacts.

5. My personal message
"Life can be beautifull in every age!" If you like to get in contact with us, send an email to u3a@uniza.sk

Hazel George is from Oxford U3A, England

We started at least 25 years ago and have nearly 300 members.

We have 24 special interest groups which meet informally once or twice a month in members' homes. These cover a variety of subjects with languages and literature very popular. Being in Oxford we are fortunate to have as members a number of retired academics with connections to the University, and consequently are able to have in our programme talks by eminent speakers.

We have a general meeting with a talk every Thursday during term time covering a wide range of subjects. You can see our current programme at http://u3aoxford.org.uk

<< Back to
first page