To keep healthy and active it is essential to exercise the mind as well as the body.

By sharing skills and knowledge, U3A not only develops academic activities; it also encourages social and recreational activities.

How did U3A begin?

It was founded in France in 1972 to improve the quality of life for older people. The success of the French experiment led to the rapid spread of U3A to many other countries, particularly in continental Europe.

In July 1981 the concept was introduced to Britain through a group based at Cambridge University.

U3A in Australia

U3A came to Australia in 1985 and to Darwin in 1989. It has since spread rapidly through most Australian cities and regional centres. Palmerston and Alice Springs are recent groups here in the Northern Territory.

In Australia today, there is a significant growing population of people who are not prepared to sit back and generally fade away.

We are constantly reminded that to remain healthy and active, it is essential to exercise the mind as well as the body.

Each group makes their own decisions about how their group will operate. The French model was based on prepackaged courses provided by the University while Britain adopted the idea of self-help or mutual aid learning groups.

U3A in Darwin

Here in Darwin we agreed to have weekly lectures provided by the University, community leaders or even our own members. This has worked very well and the diversity of topics has been enormous. We had our fifteenth birthday in 2005 and to mark the occasion a member wrote up the complete story of those years, which we had published and now sell.

By sharing skills and knowledge, U3A not only develops academic activities; it also encourages social and recreational activities.

To find out more contact the secretary Sue Donnelly on 0400 809 742.