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Warm regards from me Sheila Lovie, I am the Groups Coordinator for our u3a.

My role is to support encourage and develop our various groups by working closely with all of our Group Convenors.

All of our Groups are led by someone amongst our membership, someone who is volunteering their time. We do not use paid for or external teachers. If you have a passion, or knowledge or experience that you could share we are always looking for Convenors who are willing to organise a Group. If you’ve joined our U3A and are unable to find a Group that you wish did exist, for example Philosophy, please consider forming one with our help, as you don’t need to be an expert or even know very much about a subject. See below for our different kinds of Convenors:

  • Someone who guides the group to be self-learning based on their experience e.g. Psychology
  • Someone who is an expert and actively teaches the group e.g. our Languages groups
  • Someone who arranges meetings and so facilitates a group e.g. Book groups
  • Someone who has been part of a group for a while and is happy to form a new parallel group where there is a growing waiting list e.g. Walking groups
  • Someone who organises speakers for their group e.g. The Built Environment
  • Someone who researches and updates and shares current information with their group e.g. The Travel Group

Groups operate in a range of ways, it might take any of the following forms:

  • a discussion group
  • a fitness and health activity
  • a taught course
  • a self-taught group
  • a group led by an experienced person
  • a group where a time and place is simply organised by the Convenor

Guidance for Convenors is in the Convenors Handbook which is due for a significant update now that so many groups are operating under Covid Regulations.

Groups are currently of the following types:

  • Online virtual groups (Zoom, other Video Conferencing platforms, email, and WhatsApp)
  • Outdoor groups with Covid Secure Risk Assessments (dependent on Tiers)
  • Home Groups following Covid Secure arrangements (dependent on Tiers)
  • Indoor groups at our 14 different public Venues (currently suspended)

Guidance for Convenors is in the Convenors Handbook.

This document has been compiled recently from existing material that had been published separately. Any comments or suggestions for improvement are welcome.