About us

U3A Cygnet is a wholly self-funded, voluntary organisation formed in 1991 to provide interesting courses to our retired and semi-retired members. We are a small and very friendly club. There are no exams, no entry requirements and no limit to the number of courses members may enrol to attend. As we are all volunteers, costs and fees are kept low.

There are three terms of ten weeks each year, and the program of courses varies slightly each term. Some courses run for the full year, others run for just one term. We offer a variety of lectures on topics including music, movies, science, history, literature, and art. We also run a play reading group and two writers’ groups, Drawing for Beginners, and art for continuers. We have an extremely active Garden & Gourmet Group which runs during the spring and autumn terms. Both Book Clubs, a Family History group, and the Men’s Forum meet monthly. Throw in the odd lunch and various activities during the term breaks, our Christmas party, and one or two social outings to assorted places of interest, and you can see why you just have to look at our full Program.

Classes are all held in the daytime. Morning sessions are usually from 10.00 am to 12.00 or 12.15, and afternoon sessions from 1.30 pm until 4.00 pm. Morning tea or coffee (and biscuits) are available for $1.00.

You can download the most recent term program on our Program page, and see more information about us on the For Members page. We also send out occasional email newsletters to members. For more information, please contact us.

If you are presenting a talk for us, there is more information you may need, and details of what we need from you, on our For Presenters page.

You can see news items and photos of our recent activities on our Facebook page.

‘U3A’ in our name stands for ‘University of the Third Age’. The idea of the founders of the U3A movement was that U3A’s are for retired or semi-retired people (that’s the third age) to keep learning new ideas and skills (that’s the university). It’s a nice idea, but do not be put off by this! We are far from being a stuffy academic organisation, and we are certainly not arrogantly intellectual. Visitors are always welcome – try us out before passing judgement.