Interest Groups are at the heart of u3a. They are organised by members for members. This is not ‘Adult Education’, where you turn up in a classroom with a tutor. The essence of a successful u3a Group is several people joining together around a shared interest and everyone in the Group participating.
You don’t have to be an expert in a subject to set up and run a Group, although some Groups will require a bit more ‘leadership’ than others. For example, in a Yoga Group at least one person has to know what to do, whereas the members of a Reading Group may all be interested in books, while none have any formal qualification in Literature.
For some Groups, like Current Affairs, Art Appreciation and History, to succeed all of the members must be willing to research or investigate the chosen subject, perhaps taking turns, and then bring back to a Group meeting what they have found out. For some Groups there is a required skill level – ‘Advanced French’ is going to require a good deal more fluency than ‘Beginners French’ and some of the Games Groups are intended for skilled players and others for those wanting to learn something new. The Group descriptions will tell you what, if any, previous skill or experience is required.
Lymington u3a Groups
At present there are about 50 existing Groups in Lymington u3a covering a range of 14 categories from Games, Fitness and Sport to Discussion, Food and Drink, and Garden Appreciation.
Some of our Groups like the Lunch Club are more social than learning. The Lunch Club, Walking Group and Theatre Groups are open for all members to join.
The Group You Want to Join is Full or Does Not Exist
Don't give up.....
For many Groups the number of participants is limited by the space available at the hired meeting venue or members’ homes; and also for language and discussion groups by setting a maximum group size that will ensure that all participants have a reasonable amount of ‘talk time’. For popular activities, such as discussing Current Affairs or playing Mah-jong, we have set up several groups to meet the demand.
So, if the Group you would like to join is full or there is no Group for a subject you would like to share with other u3a members, please get in touch with Tim and Sue who are our Interest Groups co-ordinators.
They will add your name to a waiting list for this group and let you know when there is a vacant place,
or do their best to help you to get a new Group up and running if there are other members who have expressed an interest in joining such a group.
We have a GROUP LEADERS HANDBOOK, which sounds a bit official, but is intended to be a ‘how to do it’ guide.