Third Age Trust

National Office
The Old Municipal Buildings
19 East Street
Bromley
Kent
BR1 1QE

Tel: 020 8466 6139
Web: http://u3a.org.uk
Best time to phone: 9.30am - 4.30pm, Monday - Friday

The Third Age refers to the period of time after the First Age of childhood dependence and the Second Age of full-time employment and parental responsibility. One in four of the UK population is the Third Age.

The Third Age Trust is the national representative body for the Universities of Third Age (U3As) in the UK. U3As are self-help, self-managed lifelong learning co-operatives for older people no longer in full time work, providing opportunities for their members to share learning experiences in a wide range of interest groups and to pursue learning not for qualifications, but for fun. It is called a university, but it has members, not students. No qualifications are required, and none are given. Anyone in the Third Age can join.

The U3As are democratic, self-funded, self-managed organisations that exist to provide day-time education and leisure activities for retired men and women at minimal cost. They draw upon the knowledge, experience and skills of their members to organise study and activity groups in accordance with the wishes of the membership. Between them the U3As offer over 300 subjects in such diverse fields as:

• Art
• Foreign Languages
• Music
• History
• Life Sciences
• Literature
• Poetry
• Theatre-going
• Philosophy
• World Faiths
• Crafts
• Field Studies
• Archaeology
• Bird-watching
• Computing

To find out the location of your nearest U3A, send a 9" x 4" stamped addressed enveloped to the National Office.