University of the Third Age, UK

The University of the Third Age (U3A) in the United Kingdom is a series of local groups, based on the mutual aid principle, organising learning circles and allied activities for those who are no longer fully employed, and/or have no dependent children. There is no minimum age to join but instead, the U3A movement is based on the idea of participants being in a third stage of life after employment and child-rearing. Each local U3A has legal status by dint of being a registered charity and each is a member of the Third Age Trust, which is the national umbrella body.

As of 2019, there were over 1,000 such U3As in the UK, comprising close to 500,000 members and running an estimated 40,000 interest groups covering ...