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What is the u3a?
The u3a is a nationwide self-help organisation that brings together people who share creative, social and learning opportunities within their local community with strapline of Learn-Laugh-Live. Almost all u3as have Charitable Status, have their own Constitution and an Annual General Meeting is held each year.
1072478 is the charity number for Buxton & District u3a
How does it work?
The u3a is a membership organisation and is open to any individual who is no longer working full-time, is in their ‘Third Age’ and have a passion for life-long learning. You don’t need any qualification to join and there are no exams. You can also join more than one u3a as sometimes areas overlap and you may find different interest groups set up.
The Founding Principles of the u3a as a whole are just as relevant today as they were when they were first introduced. They can be viewed by downloading from the link below which has been taken from the 'Learning not Lonely' report on the national u3a website.
Please click the link below to see the Benefits of Buxton u3a membership.
What does Buxton & District u3a do?
We were founded in 1996 and have currently about 500 members and various interest groups. Have a look on the Groups tab and see if there is anything that attracts you or browse our leaflet - a flyer - for more information. You can find it under Trifold in the second section of the Documentation page. You can attend two u3a sessions for free as a 'taster'. We welcome interest from members wanting to start a new group and our Group leader liaison can be contacted for advice. See the table of committee members below to email them. In addition to interest groups we hold a general meeting every second Monday of the month with a variety of speakers covering varied interesting topics; see Events tab. If you miss one, you can catch up by clicking on Reviews of the Talks for a write-up by Janette Sykes.
How do I join and how much does it cost?
Please click on this link https://buxton.u3asite.uk/how-to-join/ to be taken to the relevant page. We will be delighted to welcome you.
You can choose to receive the quarterly magazine 'Third Age Matters' by post when you join. If you change your mind, contact the Membership Secretary (see table below) to stop or start it.
You will receive a notice to renew your membership one month before it is due.
What about accessibility?
We will take all reasonable steps to ensure that existing and potential members with impaired mobility, hearing or vision can participate as fully as possible in both general meetings and interest/activity groups. Members who cannot manage to participate in their chosen u3a activities without help may bring a companion/carer with them, who doesn't need to be a member and for the time that they are in attendance, will be covered by the liability insurance provided by The Third Age Trust. (The only exception to this is a professionally employed carer who would have to be covered by an individual liability policy).
The magazine 'Third Age Matters' is available on the Third Age Trust website in screen reader format at https://www.u3a.org.uk/news/u3a-matters/screen-reader-editions
How can I keep up to date with what is going on?
If you have no internet access, we aim to pair you up with an ‘e-buddy’.
We have two News pages:
News Bulletins - Monthly news bulletin written by the chair.
General News page on this website – this page contains news and issues that might be of interest
And there is also
Our Facebook page.
and the Events page on this website – A diary of u3a activities which may be of interest. Non-u3a activities can be found under News
The Third Age Trust also has regular newsletters to which you can subscribe.
Announcements by group leaders to their group members via the different group pages.
Who is on the management committee and what do they do?
The table below shows the names and email contact links for our Management Committee who are volunteers, voted for at an AGM. They take on their role for 3 years. They are Trustees of the charitable organisation and manage the day to day running of the membership. If you are interested in a committee role please get in touch with either the chair person or the business secretary via the link below and information will be sent to you.
| Chair | Jill Murphy |
| Vice Chair | Jean Brown |
| Treasurer | Colin Woodhouse |
| Business Secretary | Diane Ives |
| Membership Secretary | Tineke Bosma |
| Volunteers Organiser | Jean Evanson |
| Group Leader Support | Jean Brown |
| Website Admin | Marge Rose |
| New Member Ambassador | Lindsay Crowe |
