BARNSLEY AND DISTRICT U3A
University of the Third Age
Why should you join our Branch?
We offer members access to more than 50 (and expanding) different cultural, social, educational and recreational activities for an annual subscription of £10. The cost of any Group indoor activity attended is normally £1 to offset room hire costs. Members are entitled to a free copy of the quarterly Third Age Trust magazine, (U3A News) and automatically receive our own quarterly Barnsley & District U3A Newsletter listing future activities and events and items of interest.
By joining you will become part of a gathering of friendly people who organize their own activities, using their own expertise and skills for the mutual benefit of each other. We especially welcome people who have a skill or interest that they are willing to share.
How are we organized?
The management of Barnsley and District USA is vested in a Committee, elected by the general membership at the Annual General Meeting, whose duty and responsibility is to carry out the general policy and to provide for the administration, management and control of the affairs and property of the U3A. This committee meets on a monthly basis.
To enable all U3A members to meet together, a well attended Monthly General Meeting (usually in the afternoon on the first Monday of each Month) is held at Priory Campus, Lundwood. At these monthly meetings members are kept up to date by the Committee and group coordinators on activities, events and all general matters. Periodically guest speakers are invited.
Any suggestions or points of view from the membership are encouraged and new members are welcome and are recommended to attend. It is a particularly good opportunity to meet other people socially and find out more about the numerous Group activities.
Who chooses the Group activities and how are they run?
Barnsley U3A operates within a radius of approximately 10 miles from the centre of Barnsley, and group meetings are held at various locations within this area. Group activities are chosen by members.
Each Group comprises of at least 6 members with a maximum group membership number appropriate to each group activity and venue size.
In keeping with the U3A principle of "self help and co-operation", all group activities are led by a member of the Group acting as Group Coordinator.
The timetable for group activities is carefully planned to avoid, as much as possible, duplication of different group meetings on similar dates and times to give members more choice and availability of group activities. As we continue to grow clashes are inevitable and you may have to make a personal choice.
What Group Activities are available?
Explore all of the Groups currently available by clicking on “Groups” button above. Members are free to choose those which are of interest to them, subject to there being room to accommodate additional people in that particular group. In addition, a number of short term courses on other subjects requested by members may be held from time to time.
Before joining a group, new members are asked to contact the relevant Coordinator to ensure that their group is not full (some popular groups have waiting lists) and that the activity is likely to be of value to you. Group sizes vary from less than 10 to over 50.
The committee is always willing to develop new groups if there is sufficient interest from members and suggestions for new groups are encouraged at all times, via our Development Officer.
lf you require any further information or clarification regarding membership and/or group activities, or should you wish to attend one of our Monthly General Meetings before deciding whether to join, please contact the Membership Secretary who will be pleased to help (telephone number on the Contact Us page).
What is Barnsley & District U3A?
U3A membership is not related to a specific age but to a period in one’s life (the third age) after the second age of full-time employment and parental responsibility. Anybody in their third age can join U3A and this includes people who are working part time.
Don‘t be mislead by the word "University". Although group activities may involve learning they are not necessarily academic, with no qualifications required or given. The emphasis is on self-development and enjoyment.
Our branch was established in July 1996 with less than 30 members and we now have over 500 members. The branch is a member of The Third Age Trust, which is the parent body of all affiliated U3A branches. In this country there are now over 620 branches with a total membership in excess of 185,000.
Barnsley & District U3A became a Registered Charity in its own right in October 1999.