Join our happy band

IF you join a course run by the University of the Third Age do not ask your fellow students how old they are.

You can be certain they are all at least 50 but they never talk about age. The fact that some are well over 80 is considered irrelevant.

There are more than 800 of them in Swindon, and they have one belief in common retirement from full -time work should not be a signal to spend afternoons slumped in an armchair, snoozing in front of the telly.

It is an opportunity to acquire knowledge and new skills, keep the brain cells ticking over and have fun you never had time for when you were a wage slave.

The U3A is run by its students. They need no A-levels to get in and they earn no degrees.

Neither do they need to worry about tuition fees. For a subscription of £18 a year, plus 30p a class for a cuppa and a biscuit, they can sign up for as many courses as they wish in subjects ranging from the study of aviation to the theory and practice of yoga.

The idea began in France, crossed the channel in 1982 and reached Swindon five years later.

Swindon branch of U3A was founded by Norman Richards, a former senior probation officer who said he had known too many workaholics who, within a year of collecting their retirement present, dropped dead because they had nothing to look forward to except boredom. It has proved that some people are never too old to learn, or to teach. The classes are run by U3A members with knowledge, experience and skills to pass on, and some take place in members' own homes.

"We once had a philosophy group leader who was 90," said courses co-ordinator Veronica Murray, 73-year-old divorced mother of three sons.

Mrs Murray, who lives in Alexandra Road, joined the Swindon U3A in 1994 after retiring from her job with the Department of Social Security. She liked its "use it or lose it" philosophy as applied to mental muscles.

"There are so many interesting subjects to choose from," she said.

"They include antiques, art appreciation, embroidery, painting, textile design, ancient history, military history, the humanities, literature, computers, drama, handbell ringing, mah jong, petanque, Scrabble, physics, and several languages, including Russian."

There are also travel groups that study the architecture, art and history of towns and then visit them.

"A travel group to which I belong is going to Rouen in France for three days," said Mrs Murray.

And there are country dance, folk dance and music groups, including the 17-piece U3A Dance Orchestra.

In fact, this year's U3A prospectus has a list of about 70 different classes or groups to which prospective members can sign up.

Some people merely fancy some exercise, so join one that organises manageable five-mile country strolls.

Others have their sights set on stargazing or astrophysics.

Some join primarily because they want to meet and socialise with other people in their own age bracket. If so, that's fine.

"When you retire, particularly if you are on your own, it's not easy to get involved with new things," said chairwoman Sylvia Allen, 69, who was in human resources before giving up work.

She joined ten years ago after visiting an exhibition at the Haydon Centre celebrating the huge range of interests covered by Swindon U3A's programme.

"If you can't find a subject you like you are hard to please," she said.

"I am in a travel group which this year has been studying cathedrals. We spent Wednesday and Thursday last week in Canterbury."

She also belongs to a group studying the universe, physics, cosmology and time.

"It certainly keeps the brain from addling," she said.

Recently she also ran a U3A course about the internet. "One of the members was 85. Afterwards her family got her a laptop, and she was thrilled to bits," she said.

Shirley Mathias