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”

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

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

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

Refers to the time after

the First Age of Childhood

&

the Second Age of full-time

Employment

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

The U3A movement is based on three

Guiding Principles:

The Third Age Principle

The Self-help Learning Principle

The Mutual Aid Principle

U3As are democratic

self-funded

Operationally independant

organisations

which exist to provide

a wide range of activities

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

Third Age Trust and the National Executive

Regional organisations

County Networks

Neighbourhood Groups

Individual autonomous U3As

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

All day-to-day expenditure is met from:

the per capita membership

subscription

merchandise sales

advertising revenue

a Friends of U3A scheme