HEATHCOTE U3A is on the hunt for new members.<\/p>\n
U3A, or University of the Third Age, connects seniors with through shared interests and activities.<\/p>\n
Heathcote U3A president Nancy Miller said that while U3A membership was generally over for over 60s, she wanted to encourage anyone over 50 to think about joining up.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe aim at an older population and we’re not getting any younger members,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur membership is growing older and consequently it means that people are reluctant to run activities and people are reluctant to come onto the committee.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy mission, while I’m in the presidency, is to try and encourage members in the 50 age-group upwards, unless we try and encourage that age group we, as an organisation, will fold.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ms Miller said there were currently between 35 and 40 people on the books.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur biggest group is our singing group,\u201d she said. \u201cIt’s a very large group and a lot of the newer members towards the end of last year were in the singing group.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur other groups are certainly all going too, it’s been my philosophy even if there are only two or three members in a group then that particular group should still run.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt’s up to the convenor, but I am encouraging them to still pursue it because it gets people out of their house and it gets people thinking.\u201d<\/p>\n
Current Heathcote U3A groups include a book club, morning coffee, creative writing, gardening, current affairs, singing, move it or lose it, and Margaret\u2019s movies.<\/p>\n
Ms Miller also put out a call to community members with more specialised skills.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe as an organisation are very limited in terms of our understanding of technology,\u201d she said. \u201cWe\u2019d like someone to come onto the committee who has IT capacity.<\/p>\n
“We are also looking for more committee members in general.”<\/p>\n