If you want to stay active, keep learning and have fun in 2025, now is the perfect time to join Rotherham u3a.
The member-led organisation has recently celebrated its 30th anniversary. Since launching in August 1994, it has provided lifelong learning opportunities to scores of people in Rotherham after they’ve finished full-time work.
In its infancy, Rotherham u3a started with 60 members who had a choice of five activity groups. Today, membership is up to 500 and there are now 38 interest groups ranging from sport and exercise to art and languages.
Whether you’re retired, unemployed or work part-time, you can join Rotherham u3a to benefit from their wide choice of activity groups – from bridge to book club, folk dancing to a family history group.
To stay active, you could join walking cricket, football or netball groups, or take part in yogalates, tai chi or flexercise.
If you’re an avid crafter, there are groups for yarn addicts, embroidery and card making. Be inspired with photography, playreading, and creative writing groups. Or the green-fingered might prefer the gardening and grow your own groups.
Always wanted to learn a language? You could try French, Italian or Spanish, with groups for absolute beginners to advanced.
Love music? Rotherham u3a has a choir, a singing for fun group, a ukelele band, and an opera society. There are also various dancing groups for sequence, folk and line dancing.
Although originally called the University of the Third Age, there’s no formal teaching at Rotherham u3a. All activity groups are led by a co-ordinator, a fellow member, but the groups all chip in and learn from each other.
There’s also the notion that the u3a is for retired people who naturally have more time on their hands. But you can be any age, so long as you don’t work full time. In recent years, Ru3a has attracted younger members who have brought with them new ideas, lots of energy and better health, providing a boost for the organisation and its committee.
People join the u3a for all sorts of reasons. Maybe they’ve become lonely and isolated after finishing full-time work. Some want to restart a hobby or do something new for them. Others might want to make new social connections.
One member said: “I have been a member of Rotherham u3a for many years now. I had retired from full-time work and wasn’t prepared for how this would affect me. I felt isolated and lonely, until a friend asked if I had heard about the u3a. I can only say it has been a lifeline for me. I have met some wonderful friends throughout the years and look forward to my weekly groups.”
Most groups meet weekly, with daytime and evening sessions at various venues across Rotherham. There are also plenty of events that take place each year, from Christmas get-togethers to member socials and an occasional Ceilidh.
The 30th year has been even busier, with lots of celebratory events taking place since September. There were regional matches for the walking football, netball and cricket teams, an art exhibition, performances by the ukelele group in community venues like Winthrop Gardens, and a Christmas concert to raise funds for the Forget Me Not memory café. Members also enjoyed an anniversary lunch at Sitwell Golf Club in December.
There is now a Facebook group for Rotherham u3a, sharing updates about the different groups, along with a new-look website where you can easily see the activity groups on offer, along with the days, times and venues where they’re held.
Membership for the full year is £60 which gives you access to as many groups as possible. From January, this reduces pro-rata to £40, and £20 after Easter. Before signing up as a member, you can try two sessions for free.
If you’re interested in joining Rotherham u3a and would like to know more, they are hosting an open event on Friday 21st February between 2pm-3.30pm at Broom Lane Methodist Church, 1 Stag Lane, Rotherham S60 3NR
Find out more at www.rotherham.u3asite.uk
