WI or U3A?

[Cheersminesalargeone]

Retired a few years ago and feeling a bit lost. I volunteer at my local hospital once a week and try to get out for a run a couple of times a week to,I’m not a gym person but need to get out and meet others in my wavelength. I’ve found lots of groups tend to meet in the evening but I want stuff to do during the day that isn’t going to drain my finances to much.
Anyone have experience of both of the above??
tia

I’m not retired, but I think the WI is great. There are meetings every month, with great speakers and activities, and other monthly sub-group meetings (craft, theatre visits, diners club, bookclub and gardening). It’s all very low-pressure and fun.

Something else I really enjoy are lectures, often hosted by libraries etc and held either in-person or online. These are usually free. For example, Gresham College or City of London libraries. Have a look at Eventbrite online for events in your area.

WI is usually either daytime or evening and groups vary in how busy they are. So some will just have the monthly meeting while others will have lots of subgroups (gardening, craft etc).

u3a tend to be more focused on activities - mine has lots of music groups - singing, recorder etc, plus language groups and also mah jong, bridge etc.

I’m in the Women’s Shed, that might be an option if there’s one in your area. I’ve also joined a Rock Choir….many older people there and brilliant fun

im not quite retired but work p/t and planning on taking my NHS pension next year

W3A has a lot of daytime stuff, and tends to be more small-grouo focused, with lots for various interests (walking groups, craft groups, language groups etc) who all have their own weekly meets. My impression is that the WI is more about the whole branch doing stuff together.

In my experience WI meetings are in the evening and U3A ones are principally during the day. My local U3A is different from the rest of the country’s, though, so I could be mistaken in that.

I was in U3a for a year, it was excellent and very cheap. I don’t have time now. I was the youngest at 57 so they made a fuss of me. Being very young. If you are gender critical look up the WI policy.

Obviously it depends where you live but in my semi rural location there are several walking groups which you can join. They get you out and about, have different groups for different ages/abilities and are quite sociable.

Most U3a groups take place during weekday days, as the u3a is for retired and semi-retired people (of any age) , whereas I imagine the WI covers can include full time workers too - our local one meets once a month in the evenings.

All local u3as are affiliated to the national Third Age Trust but run completely independently of each other, so the offerings and pricing structure can vary widely between different ones, depending on the skills and interests of the members.

My local U3a, of which I'm a member, has around 700 members and around 50 different interest groups, covering everything from various crafts, music, discussion, walking, dance, card and board games etc etc etc. And if there is something you are interested in that isn't currently offered and other members would be too they'll help you set up a new class - its run by its members for its members. I'd highly recommend it.

Ours charges £20 for annual membership and £1 a session class fees, which is very good value, but others will have different pricing policies.

u3a website has links to your local branch webpage, they will set out the groups they run as well as monthly meetings. I like the fact most meetings are in the day and there is a mix of social and educational groups.

My local U3A group U3AC in Cambridge is independent of all the others. Illness means I’ve not been a member for several years, but unless things have changed:

There are about 300 courses. Many happen once a week for three terms, others are one or two terms only, or once a month throughout the year. Anyone can join, the only stipulation is that you don’t also have a full-time job.

The annual fee is £120 this year. Most courses are run by volunteers and there is no extra charge for most of them. If they have an external tutor who they need to pay then there will be a charge, but this is clear in the course brochure. Anyone can volunteer to run any course they like - many of the tutors have been teachers or university lecturers, or just have an interest in something.

Initially you fill in a course preference form, where you can nominate up to 5 courses, with alternates. Some clever computer programme allocates as many as it can to their first choice, those who don’t get it have priority for their second choice, and so on until all the choices have been worked through. Any courses you’ve not been given you can go on the waiting list for, in case people drop out.

Courses with vacancies are then advertised, which you can signup for at any time. There are also weekly lectures, a film group (where the chosen films are shown at a local picture house) and so on.

The group hires rooms in meeting halls in various places all over the small city and also rents a property in the middle of centre for meetings. It has a social area with a self-service coffee machine for drinks etc (£1 each?) which anyone can use when the building is open.

One of my courses has stopped running after a few years, but the members still meet in a pub once or twice a term to discuss the same things. There were far more men than women in that group, but other classes have been mostly women: the sex balance seems to depend on the subject.

£120 sounds, and is, a lot of money. However, when I was last a member I was doing 3 different dance classes (all taught by retired dance teachers) and two craft groups a week, so it worked out at less than £1 a meeting.

Edit: here’s a link to the course brochure. I recommend it to anyone within easy travelling distance of Cambridge.

Our u3a is £13 annual membership so you could try with no worry about losing much. You could go online and put u3a with your area and see what is on offer.

From speaking to older family members, it can depend on your area, exactly what is on offer with U3A. I suspect it might be similar with the WI and other groups - who they can get to run activities do talks, etc.

It might just have been me, but I didn't like WI. To me it felt like a group of people who didn't necessarily have any shared interests or real purpose. It seemed like a series of 'entertainments' that were either of interest or not at all. The speakers were of hugely varying quality and I spent a couple of meetings willing it to be over and didn't go back.

For me doing a course means that you know you stand a chance of meeting like minded people and will be interested in the subject.

I'm well aware this might just be me though.