Pershore & District u3a Celebrate 21 Years

Pershore & District u3a talk about the ways they have celebrated their 21st anniversary; including a picnic for members, a Grow A Sunflower initiative and a challenge for their cycling group.

Members of Pershore & District u3a came together in July to celebrate 21 years since its foundation in 2001. Over 200 members brought along a picnic to the Riverside Center in Pershore and enjoyed a sunny afternoon of entertainment, demonstrations and an exhibition.

A highlight of the afternoon was when founder members were invited to cut the 21st Anniversary cake. Current Chair Jackie said, "We owe our founder members an enormous debt of gratitude for the huge amount of time and effort they put in at the very beginning to set up our u3a and support its growth. It is thanks to their exceptional contribution and dedication in the early years that our u3a is still flourishing. I am delighted that they are here today and are all still active members, 21 years later."

Sheila, a founder member and the u3a's first Groups Coordinator commented, "Peter Laslett, the charismatic founder of the British u3a movement would have been proud to see his dreams coming to fruition, so many retirees living a full and productive life. What a legacy to leave."

Entertainment was provided by some of the u3a's 70 interest groups. Members sang along to 1960s tunes performed by the Ukulele group and the Band-Age rock group. Chancers drama group put on an amusing show involving hats, and a flash mob choir surprised the crowd with a performance of "You'll Never Walk Alone".

Croquet and Petanque groups demonstrated their sports and members' many talents were on show in an outstanding exhibition of paintings, photography and tangle drawing. Knitting and Crochet groups were busy for weeks before the event, producing several meters of beautifully crafted bunting in yellow and blue u3a colours, to provide decoration for the day.

The celebration day in July is just one of the ways that members are marking the u3a's 21st Anniversary. At the start of the year, interest groups were challenged to come up with their own ways to mark the u3a's coming of age, using the themes of "21" and "celebration" as inspiration and in true u3a fashion, the response has been creative and enthusiastic.

Earlier in the year, one of the Gardening groups organised a Grow a Sunflower initiative, distributing seeds and instructions for giant and even dwarf sunflowers, so anyone with room for a pot could join in.

Cycling Group took up the challenge to visit 21 villages and hamlets in the "Pershore & District" area. They enjoyed some lovely rides in the beautiful surrounding countryside, collecting photos of village signs along the way and stopping off at the delightful pubs and tearooms for much-appreciated refreshments and friendly chat.

The Local History group put together a history trail, containing 21 facts about the lovely Georgian market town of Pershore and 21 questions to be answered by looking at clues found by following the trail around town. Yoga group chose the summer solstice to perform 21 rounds of the sun salutation, Surya Namaskar. They have now moved on to learning and performing 21 different animal poses during their practice sessions. Italian for Beginners group decided to improve their vocabulary by challenging themselves to create 21 lists, each on a different topic of interest and each containing 21 Italian words or phrases - over 400 in total to revise or learn.

u3a Chair, Jackie said, “I am thrilled that so many of our interest groups have risen to our "21st Anniversary" challenge throughout the year and have come together to support this very special day in our history. It's inspiring to see the energy and creativity displayed by our members. Their talents never cease to amaze me! Today has been a wonderful opportunity to come together in a relaxed and informal setting. After a long and difficult time of not meeting, or meeting in small numbers, it is such a joy to see so many of our members getting together and enjoying each other's company in the sunshine. This is exactly what u3a is all about.”

Pershore & District u3a has over 70 interest groups studying a wide range of subjects and active groups for sport, walking, music, games and nature. To find out more, go to u3asites.org.uk/pershore or email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..