The Association  of East Midlands U3As

Latest News

The Park & District U3A launch

A new U3A is to be launched in The Park in Nottingham on Tuesday 18 October 2016 at 10 o’clock at The Nottingham Squash Rackets Club, Tattershall Drive, The Park, Nottingham NG7 1BX.  Click here for more information.

About the Region

U3As are organised into Regions in England, and into countries for Scotland, Wales, and Ireland.  The East Midlands Region comprises the counties of Derbyshire, Leicestershire & Rutland, Lincolnshire, Northamptonshire, and Nottinghamshire.


The Region has two fundamental purposes:

1. To enable U3As to work together to help them meet their objectives (learning, recreation and companionship) – by cooperative activities usually involving discussion and sharing of experiences.

2. To ensure U3As have the opportunities to propose and vote for their representative on the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the Third Age Trust.  The Regional Trustee provides a means of communication to the NEC.  Read more about the role of Regional Trustee under the Region tab.

Because of its geographical size the Region has divided itself into five County Networks of U3As (with Leicestershire and Rutland operating as one).   Find out more about the extent of the U3As and their Networks under the U3As and Networks tabs..  You might like to have a look at the websites for the Derbyshire, Northamptonshire and Nottinghamshire Networks to see what they do and their latest news.

The Region has formed also a Representative Council on which each Network has two elected representatives. The Council meets four times per year to organise events and publications, discuss items of common interest, and to provide a forum for the exchange of information between the member U3As and the TAT. Read more about the Regional Representative Council under the Region tab.

The Region and Networks are about U3As (and their members) doing things together.   It is not a talkshop or another layer of bureaucracy.

About the U3A

In the UK the U3A is a movement which provides opportunities for retired and semi-retired people to participate in learning activities both educational and recreational.  It also provides companionship.   There are over 940 U3As in the UK with nearly 341,000 members and each, under the umbrella of the Third Age Trust, is independently operated. The range of activities in each one is up to the members to decide and provide.

U3As provide a wonderful opportunity for retired and semi-retired people to enrich their lives by learning new skills and developing new interests. To Learn Laugh and Live is the aim of all members. Each U3A is a “university” of people, who come together to share and pursue learning in all its forms.   It is also a member of The Third Age Trust (TAT), which is the national support and advisory body and to whose aims and guiding principles every U3A member adheres.

To learn more  about the TAT aims and guiding principles follow this link - Aims and Guiding Principles - to the TAT website.