u3a University of the Third Age - any members?

I think we do more chatting than crafting at our U3A craft group but somehow still manage to make items for charity.

Our group charges £11 a year and the monthly meetings are free. The Members On Their Own group holds a monthly coffee morning where we pay for our drinks. I found it took a couple of outings with them to get to know people. The art group I go to meets at a Methodist church. It £3 a week and well worth it for having unlimited space to work in. Through one of the members I've also got to know another art group too.

The U3a motto is, Learn, Laugh, Live. My local branch has 43 groups so there is plenty to choose from. Most have a degree of learning attached to them but a few are mainly for socialising.

We have a monthly general meeting with a guest speaker followed by coffee and chat. The rest of the month is run by the group leaders who organise the activities. Most groups meet monthly but some are weekly.

The annual fee is £28 and some groups have extra charges to cover costs.

We’re a very friendly lot! 😂

Thanks for that Franbern, I think the groups are probably a means to an end for lots of people.

If you're "told off" before you even get to a group then I'm not surprised so many people haven't felt very welcome.

I disagree with Watermeadow. I believe that local u3a's are mainly a social club, whatever the the title of it says. Even in the interest groups such as knit and natter, can be a awful lot more nattering than knitting.

Many people join u3a when their husbands or wives die. They do not necessarily have a need to learn anything knew, but a very urgent need to make some sort of new social life.

Our weekly coffee morning, is purely for socialisation. We have a monthly sing-a-long, which is purely for socialisation. Yes, therfe are many groups for lewarning French / German /Spanish conversation , how to knit/crochet./ watch the cosmos, paint, etc.etc.etc. But it is meeting new people, some with like-minded ideas, and socialisation during our
retirement which makes u3a so important.

watermeadow

Several people have mentioned fees. Our branch charges a small annual fee, about £10 I think, and individual groups cost nothing, nor are we charged for coffee mornings or the monthly talks.
The idea is for learning or joining others in something of interest, U3A is not primarily a social club.

Nothing like trying to give someone an extra kick when they're clearly struggling to make a life in an unfamiliar place eh?

What do you learn at your coffee mornings?

I don't think anyone here has intimated that U3a is a social club, but if you're joining others in something of mutual interest I would say there's a reasonable chance you might, at the very least, get to at least chat to them for a while.

When you're longing for some company, that's a bonus in my view.

That’s a bargain, currently £20 they want to increase ours to £25 with a £2 fee every meeting.

Membership is £12 pa here then a contribution towards the cost of the hire of whichever premises and perhaps speakers, collected by the Convenor of that particular group.

watermeadow

Several people have mentioned fees. Our branch charges a small annual fee, about £10 I think, and individual groups cost nothing, nor are we charged for coffee mornings or the monthly talks.
The idea is for learning or joining others in something of interest, U3A is not primarily a social club.

We meet in various halls, community centres so have to pay for the hire of those, plus there is sometimes a speaker who will charge a fee, although sometimes it's just travel expenses.
Some groups are held in people's houses so obviously no cost for premises then.

Before I moved south to be near my family, I was a member of a local U3A. With a friend I started and organised a writing group which produced some very promising poems, stories and articles. The speakers at monthly meetings varied from the absorbing to downright pedestrian! Several members appeared to sleep through them. A better way to join a local U3A is by way of one of the interest groups as it's almost impossible to find friends at a well-attended monthly meeting.
I haven't joined a group here which, judging from its web site is enormous and embraces a vast variety of interest groups. I've looked at the list of interest groups and some of them have closed membership because they are full!

Several people have mentioned fees. Our branch charges a small annual fee, about £10 I think, and individual groups cost nothing, nor are we charged for coffee mornings or the monthly talks.
The idea is for learning or joining others in something of interest, U3A is not primarily a social club.

That's encouraging to hear Franbern. I'm in a similar situation - just moved to a new area and know two people (both of whom, lovely as they are, have partners and established social circles).

Trying to socialise and make new friends when you're own your own is a very different ballgame to being one of a couple. Sitting alone in restaurants and hotels even if you're confident brings it's own challenges which you don't think about until you're on your own. (Have to go to the counter? A buffet? The loo? What do you do - take all your stuff with you and risk losing your seat, or leave it all behind and risk having it stolen?).

But nobody is going to knock on your door and ask you to be their friend so you have to put your big girls pants on get on with it!

What a pity if people found their first experiences of u3a unfriendly. It is worth while perservering.

Our town has a large u3a with well over seventy 'interest' groups that met regularly (weekly/ fortnightly /monthly). Lots of coach outings re arranged to places of interst and theatres and holidays.
We have a weekly coffee morning, where, in a separate room there is a Meet & Greet table for people wanting to find out more about us. That is all fine, but often when new comers go into the main room they say it is 'clicky'. Obviously, people do tend to sit with the same people at the tables and it can be a little difficult for a 'newbie' to join in. Now the Meeter and Greeter, takes that new memebers and introduces them to a table.

Most groups welcome new members, but if a group meets in a small space (eg Leaders front room), then there has to be a limit on numbers and,therefore, a waiting list..

Arriving in Weston super Mare five years ago, knowing no-one except my daughter here, u3a has been a lifeline, Just gone on main committee as I hope to be able to return to u3a some of what it has given to me.

I haven’t been able to read the whole thread but DH and I go to the Local History Group together. I know a lot of couples do the hikes and walks together.

the u3a has nothing to do with having been to university as people sometimes assume and think they can't belong! It's for when education and work is over and you may want to see what else is going on...

Good to hear, Ferry23.

Hope you enjoy the groups and that they are welcoming, ferry23

Well, a slightly more positive update.

Having emailed explaining that it seems all groups were full and asking for a refund of my membership fee I received a very nice mail back.

It seems the lady in charge of website/membership (she seems to do an awful lot!) is on holiday and marked all groups as FULL on the website as she wouldn't be able to oversee it all while she was away. As my enquiries AND her holiday AND start of new academic term all came together it was a case of bad timing, unintentionally, all round.

She has very kindly signed me into two of the groups I was interested in and I've duly paid the course fees.

I've responded thanking her for interrupting her holiday for me and hope she's able to enjoy the rest of it without any more interruptions!

So I'm off to my first group tomorrow and we shall see how that goes.

I do understand that this is a volunteer led organisation and I know how much time and effort goes into running groups like this, so I shall put my initial experience behind me and look forward to becoming involved.

I put off joining U3A for years because I thought groups met in each other’s homes, which I couldn’t do as I don’t drive and my own home has a very excitable dog.
I finally joined a year ago and go to three groups and the monthly coffee morning. I find it difficult to meet strangers or make friends but enjoy all these and always have something to look forward to.

I'd love to join U3A but each time I've tried it's been fully booked so I've given up for a while

My local U3A has an open day where you can join groups.. it also has 2 bands of fees.. so low income people pay much less. I think it can be quite unfriendly but I go for the activities Tai Chi, Yoga and history and gradually as you become a face that's familiar people seem to become more inclusive.. like everything it takes time but it has been worth persevering.. I think the walking groups may be more friendly...

Our group charges £20 pa and £2 for each monthly meeting.
I joined without knowing anyone but have met a few friendly people through the groups I attend.

I also experienced [over a 3.5 year period, 3 different classes] the cliques, the snobbery [of some, not all of course], and been snapped at by sitting in a 'saved' seat.

I stood and watched once as people I'd shared a class with for months all arranged a get together in front of me, without inviting me. I'd had no altercations with anyone and got on well with them [I'd thought!]. So rude.

I've witnessed a married couple, both very intelligent, ostracised within a group, being blatantly ignored as they 'didn't fit'. I've had someone I was in conversation with walk away from me midsentence when a friend of hers walked in!

So many would spout about their university years etc and their high up jobs/careers and making it appear as if the U3A is for a certain people only.

I know others who have left as I have.

I met many nice people too but too many negatives there for me. And I tried.

BlueBelle

I went once and felt so unwelcome everyone knew everyone and no one took any notice of a new comer I m not at all backward at making friends but I ve never tried it since

Yeh, me too. Very cliquish.

The sewing group my sister and I are going to go to has opened a second afternoon it's so popular. I guess as only eight folk can attend each session, it's likely to get oversubscribed. The same group leader runs both, which is quite a commitment each week.
As for seating, we go to another group at a local sewing shop and we do like to sit next to each other, which is I suppose is only natural. We all sit around the demonstrator and chat across, so no-one is left out.
I've had some questions for the uc3 group leader and questions regarding payment to the area leader, and have had really fast, friendly and helpful responses from both.