UNIVERSITY of the Third Age (U3A) is an international movement that started in France in 1973, and first came to Melbourne in 1984 and Hamilton in June 1998.

Its aim is to offer stimulation to the minds of semi-retired and retired persons aged over 55, those in the “third age of life”, because “our brains don’t want to retire”.

U3A classes and activity groups include fun science, covering a wide range of science subjects, French and Italian language classes, book, writers, art, craft, mah-jongg, scrabble groups, Greek dancing, and belly dancing.

A general meeting is held at 10am on the second Tuesday of each month, with a quiz, guest speaker and morning tea.

Occasionally, instead of a guest speaker, we may have a forum led by a facilitator to discuss a subject of interest.

On the fourth Tuesday of the month, members participate in an outing or activity such as a short easy walk or a visit to a place of interest, followed by lunch.

Recent outings include a visit to Peter Francis Arboretum in Coleraine, Lunch at Pierrepoint Winery, a ‘Learn to Play Croquet’ morning, a bus trip to Bendigo Art Gallery for the Elvis Presley Exhibition, and a visit to Portland to join with Portland U3A members to view “The Trails Sculpture Exhibition”.

Most general meetings and activities are held at the Senior Citizens Centre at 100 Lonsdale Street, Hamilton.

This month’s general meeting will be held at Hamilton Senior Citizens Centre at 10am on June 14, with guest speaker Ian Black from the Hamilton History Centre.

For more information, please visit hamiltonu3a.org.au.