A cluster of curious retirees are preparing for the inaugural lecture of their social learning group, starting up in Paeroa this month.
U3A Hauraki will feature monthly speakers presenting lectures on a wide variety of topics, from restorative justice to the art of guitar making, mountaineering to international animal conservation, and much more.
U3A, or The University of the Third Age, is an international movement aiming to educate and stimulate older members of the community – those in their “third age”. Along with guest speakers, the movement also encourages people to form smaller “special interest groups” to focus on specific topics.
Paeroa local Gill Ellis is one of a handful of volunteers working to get U3A Hauraki off the ground. She said the idea of U3A holds a lot of appeal.
“I was a university lecturer in research and business, but I’ve always wanted to know more about ancient Egypt, and I’d never studied physics,” she said.
“It’s just the idea of stretching people, of lifelong learners always getting stimulation and keeping [their] brains active.”
So far, Gill said, the organisers have had suggestions for a number of special interest groups, including Te Reo Māori, genealogy, creative writing, various crafts, and book clubs.
“You name it, there’s probably an interest group. But it’s all at a higher level. It wouldn’t be a knitting circle for instance, but it might be a group of knitters who say, ‘I might like to learn how to do Shetland Isle complicated patterns’,” Gill said.
“There’s a group looking at women in history, I think there’s a group wanting to do communal singing. And the idea is four to six people meet in each other’s homes… keeping community interests going.”
The group’s first lecture will take place on March 17 at the Paeroa Baptist Church with guest speaker Keith Woodley, manager of the Miranda Pūkorokoro Shorebird Centre. His talk is titled “Filling the Gap – Five Years of Shorebird Surveys in North Korea”.
“[The talks] will be in-depth, but the guidelines for the organisation are that anybody is welcome,” Gill said.
“You just have to have a curious mind that wants to find out about things. So it’ll be intelligent, but it doesn’t have to be only for an educated audience. That’s the point.”
DETAILS: U3A Hauraki lectures take place on the third Tuesday of the month. First lecture is on March 17, 10am-12pm at the Paeroa Baptist Church, 2 Wood St, Paeroa. $10 at the door, email info@u3ahauraki.nz
