Saffron Walden u3a marks 40th anniversary milestone

Saffron Walden u3a are celebrating their 40th Anniversary this year - and Chair Jim recounts the first celebration, an Activities and Groups Taster Session.

Saffron Walden u3a are celebrating their 40th Anniversary this year - and Chair Jim recounts the first of their celebrations, an Activities and Groups Taster Session.

2024 is the year that Saffron Walden u3a celebrates its 40th Birthday. We were the first u3a to be formed in the County of Essex in 1984.

We are planning our celebrations for Monday 23 September when we will be hosting a party at Saffron Walden Town Hall. We will have a special birthday cake made and will be entertained by various groups within our u3a including the Ukulele group. There are approximately 748 members in our u3a, but we know from experience that perhaps we will be enjoying the company of about 100 of our members.

In anticipation of this event, we held an Activities and Groups Taster Meeting on Monday 22 January. It was a three-hour event. We advertised the event in our local paper and many members of the public came along.

We signed up 30 new members on the day with promises from several others. Refreshments were available for everyone.

Two of the new members have subsequently become coordinators and have formed new groups – Scrabble and New Testament Greek Reading. Most of our existing coordinators were present at the event and demonstrated their particular activity. The event exceeded all our expectations.