City University has now merged with St George’s, Tooting and offers many lectures open to the public at its campuses, free with advance booking, several of which may interest members of iu3a.

Monday 31 March: Free film viewing, The Penguin Lessons: This is the opportunity to attend a free screening of this film before it goes on general release (on 18th April). This poignant dramedy is a must-see from director Peter Cattaneo (Military Wives) and writer Jeff Pope (Philomena) starring Oscar nominees Steve Coogan and Jonathan Pryce. Follow an Englishman’s personal and political awakening after he adopts a penguin during a cataclysmic period in Argentine history. Of course there is nothing for free — at the end you will be asked for your opinions about the film. The booking form provides details on location, etc. Please register here: BOOKING. If you do sign up please turn up on the day as you are taking up a place and the numbers on the day will reflect on the opportunity to receive more similar offers. Thanks.

u3a National Discount Scheme: there is now a discount scheme available for all members called 'u3a Friends Extra'. This offers an extensive range of discount schemes. For a video with more information click here: How to Use Friends Extra or to sign up via Friends see here: Join Friends

u3a National Online Learning Programme: see details of their current talks here. You can always find out more information on their programme here.

u3a Workshops Programme for 2025: see the update Quarter 1 programme for national support workshops on the national website here: Workshop Programme

LRU3A Autumn Events: the London Region Events Team are offering an exciting programme of guided walks and events. You can see the details on  LRU3A Events page.
 

End of Life Planning: in 2019 we started a tie-up with Gentle Dusk regarding End of Life Planning. They hold 'End of Life Planning Cafes' for our members and provide guidance on how to create a Care Plan. You may find our guide useful to help explain some of the terms — read it here: End of Life Planning (document to be updated)

Positive Ageing: see here for why u3a helps enable a positive view of growing old: Video
Our new CEO Iain Cassidy was recently interviewed, talking about the impact of ageism, and the multi-layered, nation-wide initiative "Push Back Ageism" please click this link to view the interview.

Bereavement Support: if you have recently suffered a bereavement you may wish to considering using the Islington Bereavement Community service. You can see some information about the service here or through their website: St. Joseph's Hospice (stjh.org.uk). Or, if you want to help them and consider volunteering for them, find their contact details in the linked document above.

London Age-Friendly Forum (LAFF): u3a is providing input to this initiative. See the latest report on this London Mayor initiative here.

The Third Age Trust is the national U3A organisation. It organises events, competitions and other activities for u3a members nationally. Some of these are in London, others across the country. Some get booked up quickly — to hear about events and when booking opens, you should join the Third Age Trust U3A events mailing list. To do so, you must register (it's very straightforward) with the Third Age Trust website. You can see all their news topics here.

Council Reps: London Region has at last got full representation at the national level. We have two elected representatives who will serve on the new national Council: Jenny Wilson (our previous Regional Trustee and from Croydon u3a) and Chris Bulford (from Islington u3a). You can find more about Jenny here. 


Communications: Third Age Trust are moving towards more electronic communication. There is now a free 'Friends' e-newsletter and any member can register for this here. As requested by u3as, the Trust is trying to raise the profile of the u3a Movement and to publicise the benefits of u3as to raise the membership to 500,000 by the end of 2028. Information on this and much more will be published in the Friends Newsletter.

u3a Matters: Have you considered taking the national magazine, 'Third Age Matters'? It's very good value at just £4.00 for five issues per year. You can select the membership class which includes provision of the magazine when you renew your membership. Or if you missed that option but want to add it now, please contact Joy at iu3amembers@outlook.com. There is also an abbreviated digital version available through the national website: https://www.u3a.org.uk/news/publications

Interest Groups Online: There is a wide range of online interest groups (nearly 80 currently) with more than 5700 members from all over the UK. Annual membership is just £12.00. You can find out more information and join through this link: Interest Groups Online.

National Benefits: iU3A pays £4.00 to the national organisation per member. If you ever wonder what benefits we, and you, gain from being part of this (the 17th largest national organisation in the UK) then this might explain it: Where Does My £4 go? 

Other Events: to find out what is on across the London Region click here.

Research Projects

Research into balance: Falls are a common concern as we age, and sometimes the fear of falling can hold us back. Researchers at Coventry University and Imperial College London have put together a short survey that explores the thoughts and feelings that might contribute to these worries. Your answers could be key to developing new programs that help people feel more confident and steady on their feet. If you are between 60 and 90 years and want to make a real difference, please share your experiences by clicking on: https://app.onlinesurveys.jisc.ac.uk/s/coventry/survey-fearoffalling. If you have any questions please contact Ellie Johnson at johnsone4@coventry.ac.uk.
(Posted: 3 March 2025; Remove: 3 May 2025)