Welcome to Silhill u3a
Silhill u3a
We are a lively group of people who are no longer in full-time employment. We enjoy learning, laughing and living - fully embracing the u3a Motto.
Have a look around our website to learn what we do . . . and JOIN US!
Why join Silhill u3a?
- Make new friends in the local community
- Explore new ideas
- Join Interest / Activity GROUPS
- Participate in group EVENTS
- Attend monthly Core Meetings
- Develop new skills
- Stimulate your brain
- Engage in physical activity
- Investigate new local venues with friends
- Receive u3a Matters magazine delivered to your home quarterly
- To ‘learn, laugh and live’
Silhill u3a Core Meetings
Silhill u3a hold our main monthly (core) meetings on the first Friday of the month at 10:00am at the Solihull Methodist Church. (Click on the WHITE BUTTON to obtain meeting venue details).
Our Core Meetings are the time when all of our members can come together for a TALK on a variety of subjects, for updates from our Committee, to learn about new events, and for a time to socialise over a cuppa and bisuits. Click on the EVENTS tab for details of our monthly speakers.
Visitors are welcome to attend one of our Core Meetings for free. You will be most welcome. For a membership application form, go to the MEMBERS INFO tab.
Why are we called Silhill u3a?
Back in 2011, there were already ten (10) u3a groups meeting in the Solihull area. Most of these groups were full, with long waiting lists. One of the existing u3a groups offered to help set up a new group that could accomodate the people on these waiting lists. Several planning sesssions were held with a small group of keen future members.
One of the first tasks was to choose a name for this new u3a. Most names including the word "Solihull" were already being used. So we looked back in history and learned the name SILHILL was a popular variation of the name SOLIHULL (which meant "soily hill") in medieval days. In the 14th Century, a manor house called SILHILL HALL was built. It stood on the corner of Streetsbrook Road and Broad Oaks Road for some 700 years. There is a brewery and a football club with the name Silhill, so why not a u3a? And so we became SILHILL u3a!
What is the u3a?
There are around 400,000 u3a members nationally. There is no minimum age, no entrance exam, no formal joining requirements, no examinations, no diplomas. Members just need a desire to make new friends, learn new things, visit new places, and have fun!
The u3a (formerly called University of the Third Age) is an organisation which provides life-enhancing opportunities through more than 1000 local independent u3a groups. Each u3a is run entirely by volunteers and draws upon the knowledge, experience and skills of its own members to organise and provide interest groups and activities in accordance with the wishes of the local membership.
The first u3a was set up in 1972 to encourage local people to draw together talent from among retired and semi-retired people who have an interest in sharing their knowledge, in widening their horizons and in learning, studying and researching topics. The "Third Age" refers to the period of time after the First Age of childhood dependence and the Second Age of full-time employment.
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