A learning revolution for retirees at University of the Third Age

Описание: (28 May 2017) LEADIN:
Retired men and women in the UK are going back to university in a learning revolution that now has 385,000 members.
The volunteer spirit of the University of the Third Age (U3A) calls on its members' skills and experience to teach anything from languages to ukulele and belly dancing.
STORYLINE:
This group of retired women are back in university and they're shaking their hips and flaunting their latest moves.
This is a belly dancing class with a difference - all of the women in this class are retired and are members of the University of the Third Age (U3A).
But this class is just a drop in the ocean of an educational and social movement which can claim more than 385,000 members across the UK.
This is more people than the combined number of students studying at the UK's top 10 largest universities.
But unlike regular universities there are no entrance requirements, no exams to sit and - perhaps best of all - annual fees are in the region of 10 to 20 UK pounds.
Jackie Marjoram is one of the thousands who volunteer for the U3A.
She teaches two belly dancing classes every week and she's never short of students.
For her, U3A is a way of socialising in retirement and finding new and interesting things to do and learn.
She says: "You need never feel that you're going to be lonely in retirement because there are so many different things you can do (at U3A), such a variety of groups. And it is wonderful coming together I think it helps to lift depression, I mean dance certainly does that, most ladies go home smiling as you see, laughing, smiling. I think the U3A is a really great organisation."
Since it arrived in the UK in 1981, the U3A movement has now spread across the country, with more than 1,000 local U3A groups represented in most towns and cities.
Every year 50 new U3A groups are founded in the UK. The typical size is 250 members but larger groups, like Peterborough, have over 3,000 members.
Peterborough is one of the largest U3A groups in the country.
As well as learning to belly dance, there are over 300 courses available from language classes to photography courses.
The U3A movement began in France, where it was more closely affiliated with official universities.
However, the British interpretation of U3A moved away from formal academic institutions and into the hands of the members, with the emphasis on volunteers giving up their time and skills to teach.
The idea of peer learning is particularly relevant in the age group of retired people, all coming from different career backgrounds and with a wide set of skills to share.
Caroline Davis spent her working life in a classroom teaching Spanish to teenagers... you'd think in her retirement it's the last thing she'd want to do.
But Davis is passionate about teaching and continues to teach Spanish at U3A for free.
She explains why teaching older students has its rewards.
"I wasn't thinking I'd do anything in my retirement for the first year but actually I felt very much at a loose end, I loved teaching and immediately I had a class who wanted to learn, people who really wanted homework, people who wanted to do their homework and that brings its own rewards," she says.
Proof that you're never too old to learn. 76-year-old Pauline Macgregor is a retired registration officer and has been involved with the U3A for 15 years.
She says it's the eclectic mix of courses that keeps her coming back.
"There's a vast number of classes and groups that one is able to belong to, a really big number. So there's always something that's going to appeal to somebody," she says.

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