Seniors keep minds active with U3A

Otago Daily Times

2 days ago

Raewyn Marshall — the president of Temuka's U3A — said unlike other U3A groups in the area, the group had capacity for more members. PHOTO: CLAIRE ALLISON
For more than half a decade, Temuka's U3A has been keeping the community in the loop.
Club secretary Lorraine Ellis said that despite how long it had been running, the group's unusual name meant some people were still confused about what U3A actually meant.
She said it stood for The University of the Third Age, which was aimed at people in their retirement.
However, "anyone is welcome".
U3A was a community-based organisation that originated in France in the early 1970s. While U3A arrived in New Zealand in 1989, it had only started in Temuka in 2019.
The group offered a place for individuals in the third stage of their life journey (post career, family or working part-time) who were wanting to keep their minds active and make new social connections.
Ellis said the group worked to keep older people — or anyone who was interested — up to date with what was happening in the local community and all of the latest trends.
While she said she was relatively new to it, some founding members were still active in the group.
"It is a way for people to meet new people and keep people informed, really."
In the past six months the members have had guest speakers talk to them about The Dark Sky Project in Tekapo, also covering Matariki and the solar system, and a driving instructor had also visited to clarify elder driver requirements.
And they had a guest speaker pencilled in to speak about spiders, "and this latest spider that's out".
They would also be hearing from someone in the Mayor's Taskforce who helped people get into jobs.
The group gathered at 10am on the fourth Thursday of every month at the St John meeting room in King St.
— Allied Media