U3as

the university of the third age, or u3a as it is commonly known, was based on an original idea from france and founded in this country in 1982 by brian groombridge in london and by peter laslett in cambridge. as we were the first u3a in london, we continue to use that name, although there are now many more in greater london and over 800 throughout the country. in common with all others, our u3a consists of a group of men and women who are no longer in full time employment and meet together to study a wide range of subjects. in our case all meetings except monday talks take place in the old hampstead town hall, on monday to friday during term time. there are currently about 180 study groups on offer, all of which are run by members.