We are proud to be part of the community of Kibworth and its surrounding District.

We have something in the order of 300 members who belong to a wide range of interest groups which offer cerebral, physical, creative and fun activities.

We also contribute to the u3a at county and national levels.

The current committee consists of:

The current committee contact details:

How Kibworth & District u3a started

Soon after retirement, Clive Huntley realised that his world of work had left him not knowing many people in his local community. He also needed to continue an active and engaging life so he joined the South Leics u3a where he played table tennis and learned how to play bridge.

Frank Griffiths came to table tennis and was keen to set up a Kibworth u3a branch. Frank kept pressing them but they were not that keen - the South Leics branch was keeping them busy, but one day they got an invitation to a meeting in Kibworth that included a u3a head office representative who promoted startups.

About a dozen people were there. The meeting went on and people kept getting up, saying sorry “gotta go now”, “gotta go now” until there were 6 of left. 

The head office rep was asked as to the minimum number of people needed to set up a group steering committee. The answer was 6! Their fate was sealed… they were the steering group committee: Frank Griffiths, Clive and Joyce Huntley, Ros Holmes, Val and Martin Crofts.

They threw themselves into their new task and an introductory meeting was held 26 September 2006 when 84 people turned up.  They described what u3a could do for Kibworth and as there was more than adequate interest, they proceeded to set up their u3a.

The early days

There was much to do - find venues, organise group leaders and get groups going; write the constitution, find speakers for the monthly meetings, create a membership database, organise a bank account and collect subscriptions.

Rightly or wrongly they decided that groups should be autonomous. They must survive on their own merits.

Activities continued and they were officially recognised and included in the National u3a organisation in February 2007. Frank Griffiths was chair. Joyce was treasurer and Val was secretary. Frank stood down as chair around a month later and Clive took over his position in March 2007. 

The first newsletter recorded that they had 105 members and 19 active groups.

In 2007 they heard that there was Section 106 money available so they formed a 106 committee. Thanks to the experience of Carol Townend and her expertise in grant making, she was able to submit a successful application. K&D u3a was awarded £16,621. This gave them stability and the option to buy needed equipment from which they have benefitted for many years.

Chairmen

Frank Griffiths - 2007

Clive Huntley - 2007 - 2011

Martin Crofts - 2011 - 2012

Anne Bailey - 2012

Keith Holyoake - 2012 - 2015

Ron Spinks - 2015 - 2018

John Freeland - 2018 - 2021

Chris Bradburn - 2022-

The U3A Movement

The seeds for ‘Lifelong Learning for older people’ were sown at the Summer School of the Université du Toulouse held in 1972. This led within a year to the formation of the ‘International Association of Universities of the Third Age’. 

In 1981, Cambridge University academic Peter Laslett hosted a conference in Cambridge to discuss bringing the U3A to Britain. The conference attracted the social entrepreneur Michael Young, whose initiatives include the Consumers Association and the Open University. 

It also resulted in an invitation from the BBC for Eric Midwinter, director of the Centre for Policy on Ageing, to be interviewed on the radio programme You and Yours on July 22 1981. That short interview was the first chance anyone outside a small circle of educationalists had to hear about the U3A. The U3A in the UK started by the creation of the Third Age Trust in 1982 as registered charity.

Peter Laslett formulated the objects and principles of the U3A. He firmly rejected the French model, in which the local U3A was guided by the local university. Laslett wanted groups of people to get together to learn what interested them, and they would have, not a teacher, but a group leader or convenor, who could co-ordinate and help guide their efforts. The U3A should not be dependent on public funds.

Local U3As were to be self-governing, and open to all Third Agers; their purpose must be educational in its widest sense, which meant that “educational” embraced including leisure pursuits and social purposes; and they must be democratically run.