Grantown u3a celebrates 25 years of talks and friendships
Register for free to read more of the latest local news. It's easy and will only take a moment.
Grantown u3a is going strong and proved it in style recently celebrating the movement’s 25th anniversary celebration.
The event was held in the town’s Grant Arms Hotel, with drinks, a buffet and some entertainment.
As the chairwoman Maureen Brown said: “We look to continue learning, and engage in diverse activities and are a lively group of people!”
The u3a movement is a self-help organisation for people no longer in full time employment, providing educational, creative and leisure opportunities in a friendly environment.
It consists of local u3as all over the UK, which are run entirely by volunteers.
Local u3a groups draw upon the knowledge, experience and skills of their own members to organise and provide interest groups suggested by the members themselves.
The sky is the limit – or, more correctly, the only limit upon the variety of groups is the aspirations, skills and willingness of the membership.
The teachers learn and the learners teach.
Across Great Britain these groups offer the chance to study more than 300 different subjects in such fields as art, languages, music, history, life sciences, philosophy, computing, crafts, photography and walking.
The u3a approach to learning is learning for pleasure.
As Maureen put it so succinctly : “Our motto is Learn – Laugh – Live.”
There are no entrance requirements – many join a group in total ignorance of its subject matter.
There is no accreditation or validation and there are no assessments or qualifications to be gained; just the joy of learning, of sharing and of discovering new friends.
Today, there are over 1,000 u3as throughout the UK with more than 425,000 members.
Grantown club spokeswoman Barbara Aarden said: "Our fortnightly talks are delivered by experts in their field.
“This season has seen topics range from the very practical ‘Waste management’ and ‘Getting your affairs in order’ to those based on local and international charitable projects like Mary’s Meals, building girls toilets in remote Nepali villages, the outdoor dementia resource centre at Badaguish and foreign travel with particular focus on wildlife and local history.
"This list is only a sample, giving a flavour of the scope of talks to enjoy over the winter and early spring months.
“Our very last topic, at the end of April next year, might hold a particular interest for men in the local community – The Spey Shed."
"Subjects covered by the current groups range from foreign language conversation groups including French, German and Italian, to art, literature, natural history and gardening as well as Singing for Fun and a cinema and theatre group."
The local u3a group has been represented at the Grantown Show and the Abernethy Games.
Those interested can find out more about the group at www.grantownu3a.org or by emailing chairwoman Maureen Brown at chair@grantownu3a.org .
