What is the third age?

After the ages of childhood and full-time work there comes a third age of freedom. Time to explore new interests, share skills and experiences, and make new friends.

The U3A movement started in France and spread to Britain in the early 80s. There are now nearly 700 U3As in Britain and more than 200,000 members. It is one of the fastest growing organisations in the UK. It is a self-help organisation for people no longer in full time employment. Local U3As are learning cooperatives which draw upon the knowledge, experience and skills of their own members to organise and provide interest groups in accordance with the wishes of the membership. The U3A approach to learning is “learning for pleasure”. There is no accreditation or validation and there are no assessments or qualifications to be gained.

What does East Lothian U3A offer?

What U3As provide reflects the wishes of the members. At present East Lothian U3A has interest groups in music, languages, history, computing, literature and science. There are also activity and leisure groups for walking, painting, photography, bridge, and gardening. Click on the Groups button above for a full list. In addition there  are several open meetings each year with specialist lecturers.