Learning for the fun of it helps you stay alert
The University of the Third Age gives people in their more senior years the chance to learn for pleasure. Here, Age Connects explains the movement and gives advice on how to stay sharp in later life
It’s never too late to learn something new, stretch the mind and body and enhance your life. We all want to stay healthy and active as we grow older, so it’s important to be interested in keeping fit mentally as well as physically.
Increasingly, older people are learning about what they can do to keep their thinking skills sharp as they age.
The University of the Third Age (U3A) movement is a unique and exciting organisation which provides life-enhancing and life-changing opportunities.
Retired and semi-retired people come together and learn, not for qualifications but for its own reward – the sheer joy of discovery!
Local U3As all over the UK are charities in their own right and are run entirely by volunteers. There are U3As in Cardiff, Barry, Sully and Cowbridge.
A spokesman for U3A said: “Local U3As are learning co-operatives which draw upon the knowledge, experience and skills of their own members to organise and provide interest groups in accordance with the wishes of the membership. “The teachers learn and the learners teach. Between them U3As offer the chance to study more than 300 different subjects in such fields as art, languages, music, history, life sciences, philosophy, computing, crafts, photography and walking. “A typical U3A has about 250 members but could be as small as 12 and as large as 2,000.
“The U3A approach to learning is – learning for pleasure. There is no accreditation or validation and there are no assessments or qualifications to be gained.”
Similarly, volunteering is a great way of keeping the mind and body sharp.
A study by the Royal Voluntary Service (formerly the WRVS) in 2012
Ufound that volunteering in later life decreased depression and social isolation.
It was also found to boost quality of life and life satisfaction.
Nona Hexter, from the Age Connects Senior Health Shop (SHS) in central Barry, explains why volunteering is so rewarding.
She said: “Our drop-in centre on Holton Road is a one-stop shop for information with volunteers and staff on hand to answer queries.
“The shop also offers access to regular activities such as exercise classes, computer training, stitching and knitting sessions, health checks, quizzes and afternoon teas.
“Many of our regulars comment on the value to their health and wellbeing of being able to access the shop’s facilities.
“The SHS also offers links to activities in the community as a place to volunteer and find out about opportunities to get involved in the local community.
“As a local charity Age Connects Cardiff and the Vale advocates the vital role volunteering plays in its work.
“Additionally, there’s good evidence that volunteering brings benefits to both the person volunteering and the people and organisations they support.”