About the u3a

  Member AreaMembership Page contains:- List of Group Covenor Contacts, Committee List March 2023 - 2024 with contacts, The current Newsletter / and older newsletters, Committee minutes and contact number.
 If you are a member of Swanland u3a then Send an Email to request an Account with your Full name, Membership No. and eMail address, you will receive your username and Password when your details have been verified.

Swanland u3a is a unique organization for people in their "third age" a period of life that comes after full-time employment and parental responsibilities. We are a community of retired and semi-retired people who believe in self-help learning. Our members are both the learners and the teachers, sharing their diverse skills and knowledge in a wide range of interest groups. From history and art to walking and technology, our groups are created and run by our members for their own enjoyment and personal development. The a low annual membership fee is there to run the whole of our u3a but some of the groups may have extra expenses which group members will have to cover. Our focus is on the sheer pleasure of learning and staying mentally and socially engaged. Join us to make new friends, explore new interests, and enjoy this rewarding chapter of your life.

Members receive a National u3a newsletter 5 times a year and a Swanland u3a newsletter three times a year.

'The u3a* started in France. This was because 'adults' of a certain age had a minimum means of further education and so in 1973 a highly rated Gerontology (The Study of the Social, Psychological and Biological aspects of ageing.) Course, run by Toulouse University of Social Sciences exclusively for local retired people, led to the formation of the first u3a. the organisation 'Les Universities du Troisiemme Age' (University of the Third Age). This was to provide means for adults, particularly graduates who wanted to carry on learning in retirement, and most of these groups were associated with local Universities. In time the original focus on older people began to change and local government became involved so the outlook broadened to encompass many aspects of life such as early retirees, housewives and the unemployed.

The u3a* movement started in England in the 1981 in Cambridge but the emphasis being on 'Self Help' basis, realising that experts of every kind retire, therefore there should be no need for the members to have to rely on paid or unpaid Second Age teachers except where specialist qualifications are needed. The idea spread throughout the UK, in England there are now over 1000 u3a's, over 375,000 members and at the same time it also went worldwide to countries such as Australia, New Zealand, Italy and many more and in 1998, u3a Online was the world-first virtual University of the Third Age delivering online learning via the Internet.

*originally called The Third Age, now u3a.