The U3A movement began in France in 1972 and later expanded to the UK in 1981. It is based on three guiding principles - the Third Age Principle of learning for pleasure after retirement, the Self-Help Learning Principle of members organizing activities for other members, and the Mutual Aid Principle of members sharing their knowledge and skills. The movement has since grown to over 900 independent U3As across the UK organized at the national, regional, and local levels.

2. France
 Founded in 1972 at Toulouse as l’Université du
Troisième Age (UTA)
 Each UTA was attached to a university
UK
 In February 1981, Peter Laslett, a Cambridge
academic, hosted a conference to discuss the
possibility of bringing U3A to Britain
 Eric Midwinter had told him, “Forget children and
youth, old age is the coming subject”

3.  People were living longer than ever before
 People were living healthier lives
 People had higher expectations
 1981 was the year when the Attlee settlement
was threatened
 In January, the Forum on the Rights of Elderly
People (FREE) was held

4.  A straight translation of the French
title where the university link was
important
 University is used in its original
sense of people coming together
to learn not in its academic sense

5. A U3A is a University in the original
sense of the word:
A collection of people devoted to
learning
with members not students
all of whom are in their Third Age

6. Refers to the time after
the First Age of Childhood
&
the Second Age of full-time
Employment

7.  The French model of guidance was
not followed in the UK
 Learning for pleasure
 No accreditation or validation
 No assessments or qualifications
 Three Guiding Principles defined

8. The U3A movement is based on three
Guiding Principles:
 The Third Age Principle
 The Self-help Learning Principle
 The Mutual Aid Principle

9. U3As are democratic
self-funded
Operationally independant
organisations
which exist to provide
a wide range of activities

10.  Be self governing and autonomous
 Be open to all Third Agers
 Have an educational purpose in the
broadest sense
 Be democratically run within a national
framework

11.  Third Age Trust and the National Executive
 Regional organisations
 County Networks
 Neighbourhood Groups
 Individual autonomous U3As

12. Is one of the operationally independent
U3As in the:
 Nottinghamshire County Network
 East Midlands Region
It may also be one of the U3As in the :
 North Notts Neighbourhood Group

13. There is currently 1 Neighbourhood Group in
North Nottinghamshire
Smaller clusters of U3As in South
Nottinghamshire have decided not to form a
Neighbourhood group but to share ideas and
maybe Groups in a very informal manner

15.  Each County in a Region forms a County
Network
 Our network is known as The Nottinghamshire
County Network of U3As
 Each Network has a Chairman, Secretary,
County Contact and Treasurer as well as a
Regional Representative
 A Constitution gives guidance on the structure
and activities of each network

16.  To help further the principles, aims and activities of
U3A in the UK
 To carry out Roles and Functions agreed by the
Association of East Midlands U3A for County
Networks, in particular:
 To provide a discussion forum for U3As in the
Network
 To help develop new U3As in the County
 To enable U3As to initiate cooperative ventures.
 To support the Regional Trustee

18.  The UK is divided into government regions
which form U3A’s regional organisations
 We are part of the East Midlands Region which
comprises:
 Derbyshire
 Leicestershire and Rutland
 Lincolnshire
 Northamptonshire
 Nottinghamshire

19.  The national representative body for more than
900 U3As in the UK
 A registered company and a registered charity
 The members of the Board of Directors, the
National Executive Committee (NEC), are also
its trustees
 They administer the Trust in accordance with
its Articles and Memorandum of Association

21.  NEC manages the business of the Trust for the
benefits of the membership
 It meets as a full committee for 2 days every 2
months
 There are 3 main sub-committees:
 Standing Committee for Education
 Development Sub-Committee
 Finance & Governance Committee

23. All day-to-day expenditure is met from:
 the per capita membership
subscription
 merchandise sales
 advertising revenue
 a Friends of U3A scheme