NEWS
30th Anniversary Lunch 17 November 2025
All five speakers at our 30th Anniversary Lunch on 17 November 2025 emphasised the values of U3A: lifelong learning, mutual support and participation.
The speakers were our current president, the president of Takapuna U3A, the Auckland Network president and two foundation members of HC U3A.Takapuna sponsored us in 1995 when HC U3A was formed. Takapuna U3A started in 1991 and is a big enterprise now with 360 members and 35 groups. As our president said, we too have stepped up our membership to over 250 and are now as big as we were 10 years ago. Both Takapuna and HC U3As dipped a bit in membership during the Covid years but are bouncing back now.
We are proud of our 25 groups even though we suffer from a common U3A problem which is finding affordable venues.
David Thompson, the Network President, stated that both the national and Auckland U3As are experiencing growth, with thousands of members now represented on the new Network website. Additionally, a new branch has been established in Titirangi, which is already bursting at the seams.
It's heartwarming to hear that the 84 NZ U3As are part of an international organisation. We think we serve the retired community well, but we need PR and Auckland Network are making a marketing subgroup to let people know what U3A is.
Maureen Christensen, a 1995 founding member who now lives on the North Shore and Graham Lamont still a local member, interviewed each other about what HC U3A was like in 1995 and in 1996 when Graham joined. They agreed that most people who lived in a much quieter coast in the 90s were moving from somewhere else and U3A was a good place to meet people and make friends.
Groups were held in people's homes which made for a more friendly and participatory model of managing a group. Unfortunately, U3A folk are older now, have downsized and we now hiring church halls, the library and community centres.
Interestingly Maureen was part of a council group involved in the design of the Whangaparaoa Library and advocated for the meeting room we have called our home for many years, the Pohutukawa Room. We feel bereft that we have had to reduce our bookings significantly as the library's own groups take precedence.
It was a golden age for them said Maureen because National Super was available at 60 and people could afford to retire earlier than now. However, groups like Toastmasters were segregated back then so U3A gave couples a chance to join the same enterprise.
Finally, all speakers agreed that learning from one another distinguishes us from other organisations. Long may it last.
Group venues have had to change
Most members are aware that we were advised that the Pohutukawa Room at the Whangaparaoa Library, that is used by many of our groups and has been in the past free for us to use, will from July 1st this year carry a usage charge. We were informed that this was because the grant from the Local Hibiscus Coast & Bays Board was being withdrawn. Although the levy is quite low - $13.80 an hour - over a year, with our current usage, we will incur substantial costs.
Meetings and discussions with two members - Alexis Popplebaum and Jake Law - of the Local Board - provided some background to why these levies were being made, and I appreciated their advice.
Our Secretary Maureen and I met with the senior Whangaparaoa librarian - Eileen Sione - last week and found out that the subsidy from the local Board was only $1000 but that the cost of maintaining the Pohutukawa Room was over $15,000 and thus the library needed more income to recover as much of this as possible.
At this meeting Eileen reiterated her strong support of U3A but requested that we only use the Pohutukawa Room in the afternoons so that the library can use the room in the mornings for their activities. We agreed to this and that we would also try and restrict the use of the room to those of our groups that have audio visual requirements thus freeing up more space for the library. Eileen has also kindly agreed not to charge us for bookings we have already made for this calendar year.
This will mean that six of our twenty-five groups can continue to use the Pohutukawa Room in 2026, providing of course that the dates and times they require are still available. Two other groups who currently use this room are in the process of booking a venue nearby. That will leave only three groups that will need alternative venues.
I am working with our Group Convenors to confirm all venues so that we will soon have a settled programme for 2026. Our Treasurer David and I, once all venue costs are known, will determine the effect on our income and then prepare budget recommendations to our Management Committee.
If you have any questions, please email me.
Peter Gillmore
27 August 2025
Annual Auckland Network Meeting
Several of our members attended the 2025 Annual Network event which was held at the Salvation Army Hall in Mt Wellington on Saturday 26th July.
The two invited speakers were entertaining as well as enlightening.
Allan Blackman, Professor of Chemistry at AUT, presented a lively and passionate synopsis of the Periodic Table with anecdotes about many elements of which most are barely known to most of us.
Lynette Tippett, a Professor in the Psychology Department at the University of Auckland, and the Director of two major clinical trials, gave an absorbing in-depth view of the reasons for dementia, how older folk can mitigate the causes of this disease, and how her research is assisting in both detecting and treating the various types of dementia.
There were also four short presentations from U3A members from across Auckland.
Their topics included: - Growing Up on the West Coast
- A Sojourn in Himachal Pradesh
- Food Safety for U3Agers
- The Green Man