I’m doubling up yet again – this is my latest contribution to The Golden Times.
Melbourne’s Glen Eira council puts out a monthly newspaper, Glen Eira News, which is delivered free to municipal inhabitants. It regularly arrives in my No Junk Mail letterbox, and if not busy I quickly peruse the latest comings and goings of the mayor as well as other fascinating news about the neighbourhood.
One of the latter pages is community diary, divided into meetings and clubs, and community. Halfway down the first column is the heading U3A Bentleigh, asking if you are over 50 and want to pursue a special interest.
Well, if you do, Bentleigh U3A is offering a wide choice via nearly 90 classes. New classes are also welcome, so come along and join a class, or consider sharing your special skill or interest. Check out the Bentleigh U3A website and come along to live, learn and enjoy our wide range of interesting possibilities.
But what is U3A? The University of the Third Age is, as Wikipedia explains, “an international movement whose aims are the education and stimulation of mainly retired members of the community – those in their third age of life.”
More specifically, as a UK U3Asite says, “the third age is defined by a time in your life (not necessarily chronological) where you can undertake learning for its own sake. There is no minimum age, but a focus on people who are no longer in full-time employment or raising a family.”
So, overall, apart from the age and maturity aspects of this movement, the emphasis is on learning rather than qualification.
Different countries have made their own brand of U3A. In Australia, what began in 1984 has grown to a network of 250 U3As with about 100,000 members. Each operates independently, allowing them to respond to the desires and needs of their local community.
There are state and territory networks and an overarching U3AA, the University of the Third Age Australia, the national co-ordinating body. Membership is a relatively modest $65 a year, allowing you to participate in any number of courses and events.
Getting back to the Glen Eira News, an announcement on page 15 declares ‘U3A – 537 Days of Winter’ author talk. Yes, this is your opportunity to hear the author, David Knoff, recount his epic Antarctic tale in person.
Knoff was station leader at the Davis research station in Antarctica, leading 24 expeditioners in a standard six-month mission when the COVID pandemic hit, international travel came to a standstill and their ride home was cancelled indefinitely. What was supposed to be a routine mission became a high-pressure cauldron of uncertainty and anxiety where everyone was pushed to their mental limits. Exciting stuff.
That’s a special one-off event, of course, and most courses run for at least weeks, if not months. They are typically daytime, rather than evening, which suits most retirees, and sessions usually last two hours.
U3A Bentleigh has an inviting if somewhat eclectic range of offerings, including pastel painting, Russian culture and literature, a model railway club, Italian for beginners, recorder ensemble, chess and strength training.
Curious? Then look up your local U3A provider and sign up for whatever piques your interest and time availability. You might even wonder if there’s a skill or area of knowledge which you’d like to share and become a U3A teacher. Onwards and upward.
