The University of the Third Age

The Third Age Trust

Chichester U3A Registered Charity Number 1037027

U3A is an organisation of people who are no longer in full time employment, those in their so-called “Third Age”.

Its members share a variety of educational, creative and leisure activities. 

Each of the more than 734 U3A’s is an autonomous body arranging its own activities.

Here in Chichester we are in our 16th year, with over 650 members, and over 50 different interest groups.

Our first meeting of the Chichester U3A was on Wednesday June 23rd 1993 at the Fernleigh Centre in North Street & Jane Carpenter took the chair. Around 90 people attended & a talk introducing the U3A was given by Mercia Last of the Arun Valley U3A. A steering committee was formed to take the branch through to its first AGM & the subscription was set at £7.50 per annum. 25 people joined at the inaugural meeting & by July 22nd the membership had risen to 56. During the following months the constitution was drafted under control of Ursula Baily & in May 1994 it was declared that Chichester U3A had been accepted as a registered charity.

At the first AGM October 19th 1994 it was reported that the membership had now risen to 181. Outings had taken members to Exbury Gardens, Whitchurch Silk Mill/Jane Austens House, the Record Office & the Body Shop. Two delegates went to the National Conference & the committee were asked help with the forming of a U3A in Midhurst.

By the AGM in 1995 the membership had now risen to 201 & outings encompassed the Festival Theatre, the Organs in the Cathedral, Portsmouth Dockyard & the Mary Rose, & Penshurst Place. Although the membership fee was to remain at £7.50, the capitation fee had already increased from £1.30 to £1.35 & notice had been received that it would shortly be increased to £2. During the year Phyllis Eager had agreed to become the archivist. The National Conference had been attended by Ursula Baily.

During 1996 the membership had increased to 217, Janet Humpheryes & Ursula Baily had represented us at the National Conference in Edinburgh & Jane Carpenter stood down after three very successful years as Chair to be superceded by Stella Cottingham. Outings included the Festival Theatre, the Record Office, Hampton Court, Eling Mill, Saville Gardens & a long weekend in Durham.

October 15th 1997 was the date of our 4th AGM, Stella Cottingham took the chair, the membership was now 241 & over 30 groups were functioning. Outings included visits to Wyld Court, the Marie Rose, the Wld Fowl Trust, Pulborough RSPB, Nymans Gardens, Summer Picnic on the Trundle, Oxford & a long weekend in Shropshire.

By the AGM for 1998 the Chichester U3A were celebrating their fifth anniversary. To mark the anniversary the embroidery group had made a tablecloth for the monthly members meetings showing some of the groups currently active during the year & presented it at the meeting. Outings took members to Kew, Winchester College, Exbury & The Globe Theatre, A short break was taken in London & the first overseas holiday in Tunisia. The membership now stood at 260.

The 6th AGM was held on October 20th 1999, our membership had now reached 281 & the number of groups was still around the 30 mark. Local visits were made to West Sussex Record Office, the Cathedral library & behind the scenes at the Festival Theatre. Outings took us to Wakehurst Place, Bath, Dorchester & Glyndebourne. There was a weekend trip to York, a 4 day visit to London, a week in Lampeter & in the spring the Geology Group went to North Cyprus. Ursula Baily & Linda Inch attended the National Conference in London. Chichester was now a member of the West Sussex Region together with Midhurst & Arun

With our 3rd Chairman, Janet Humpheryes, since inauguration & the membership now at 314 another successful year was reported at the AGM held on October 18th 2000. Outings had taken us to Salisbury, Chelsea, Greenwich U3A, Wakehurst , Eltham Palace & with the geology group to France. Our national organisation were reporting a membership of 420 U3A’s with almost 99,000 members.

At the 8th AGM held on Wednesday October 17th 2001 we were reminded of the year just gone in respect of the floods, foot & mouth disease & the man made atrocity of September 11th. Our membership was continuing to flourish & now stood at 356 & they had the choice of over 30 groups. Outings were arranged, although there were cancellations due to the weather, to the Vyne, the Canal, London Eye & Sainsbury’s. Longer trips were taken to Wales & Norwich.. Our local contacts through the West Sussex Region continued & for the first time we attended the South East Sussex Forum rubbing shoulders & sharing ideas with U3A’s from Surrey, Sussex & Kent.

At the 9th AGM held on 16th Octber 2002 the membership now stood at 369. The group leaders were very active with around 35 different topics. Outings had taken us to Southampton Art Gallery, Petworth House to see the Turner Exhibition, the gardens & houses of Great Dixter, Chartwell & Ightham Mote. A week was spent in Somerset & local visits included the Library & the Planetarium. Coffee mornings at the Bell Rooms & Sunday lunches continued to flourish. Ursula Baily, one of the Founder Members stood down from the committee at this time having served the organisation from its inception. Janet Humpheryes, our Chairman & also a Founder Member, stood down from her post have served her three years but remained on the committee.

The 10th Anniversary year for the Chichester U3A was celebrated in style under the guidance of the chair, Stella Cottingham. We had a celebratory lunch on the 9th July at the Assembly Room in Chichester with visitors including Kate Wedd (National U3A Chairman), The Mayor of Chichester, Andrew Tyries (MP), Mary Russell (SURA Chairman), Arthur Russ (U3A Area Representative) & Sally Greenwell (West Sussex CC Cabinet Member for Education & Arts). There was a magnificent exhibition from the Group Leaders of all their work over the years by the individual groups. At the end of the lunch & the speeches the 10th Anniversary Cake was cut. There was table present of a Chichester U3A bookmark. Those members who were not at the lunch received the bookmarks at a later date so that every member had a memento of the occasion.afterwards.

During this year the West Sussex Region was disbanded & the three U3A’s joined the larger organisation SURA(Sussex U3A Regional Association). This gave the members the chance to go to Saturday study days held through out the county.

Membership was now over 380 with the choice of over 30 groups & outings had included visits to Titsey Place, Wilton House, Salisbury, Whitchurch Silk Mill, Chartwell & Ightham Mote

For the 11th AGM in 2004 we had Janet Humpheryes back in the chair reporting yet another very successful. Our current membership had topped the 400 mark & currently stood at 413. The Groups were also at an all time high, covering 40 different subjects. The Travel Group continued to flourish with fresh faces on the committee taking us to the London Show ‘Anything Goes’, the Wetland Centre, Hidden London, Winchester, Arlesford & Mottisfont. Basildon Park, Denbies Wine Estate & a 4 day trip to Ruskin Water including Cambridge. Stella Cottingham relinquished her post of Groups Co-ordinator, following spells as Chairman & a member of the committee for the last 11 years. Alison Porteous our very successful & diligent secretary for the last 6 years stood down but continued as Newsletter Editor.

In March 2006 the National Organisation - The Third Age Trust(TAT) encouraged U3As around the country to make the local community aware of the existence of the University of the Third Age. We placed U3A literature in the libraries & waiting rooms but our main act of publicity was to encourage the local newspaper to publish an article in the magazine section - please see the following links for the complete article.

Awareness Article Page 1 Awareness Article Page 2

In September 2009 our Chairman, John Fitzpatrick, & our vice Chairman, Jeff Staniforth went to the Third Age Trust National Conference; follow the link below for a report of their visit

U3A National Conference September 2009