Welcome to Hartley Wintney and District u3a
If you are no longer in full time employment, then we are here to fill a gap in your life! We offer an opportunity to meet new friends, learn something new or maybe revive an interest that has been on the back burner for a while. Please browse our website and contact us if you would like some more information.
Our membership year begins in September but new members are welcome at any time during the year.
History
Hartley Wintney and District u3a came into being in 2006 with 30 members joining during the first year.
Initially, meetings were held at the Cricket Pavilion until numbers increased, necessitating a move to larger premises; the Football Club filled this need. Growth continued, resulting in another move to our current location, the Victoria Hall. Our u3a has grown year on year to a current membership more than 450.
More than 30 Interest Groups cover a range of interests and activities - academic and social, indoors and outdoors, mildly strenuous and physically undemanding.
Monthly meetings are held at the Victoria Hall at 10:30 on the first Tuesday (except August). This meeting usually has an invited speaker – whose subject could be just about anything.
How much does in cost to join?
The subscription for members for the current year (September 2025 - August 2026) is £17.00.
Individual groups may have additional charges to cover room hire, catering, travel, entrance fees, etc.
Our Village
Situated in Northeast Hampshire, Hartley Wintney is a rural village with a wealth of history, surrounded by idyllic countryside. With a population of approximately 5,000 people, the Parish includes Phoenix Green to the south and the adjoining hamlets of Dipley, West Green, Elvetham and Hartfordbridge. The Parish includes large, wooded areas such as Yateley Heath Wood and part of Hazeley Heath as well as large expanses of common land with the famous Mildmay Oaks at its centre. The River Hart flows to the northeast of the village with the River Whitewater forming the western parish boundary.
The u3a Story
Founded over 40 years ago, the UK u3a movement (based loosely on the French model) aims to encourage groups of people in their third age to come together and continue their enjoyment of learning in subjects of interest to them.
From the start, the guiding principles were to promote lifelong learning through self-help interest groups covering a wide range of topics and activities as chosen by their members.
The 'third age' is defined by a time in your life (not necessarily chronological) where you can undertake learning for its own sake. There is no minimum age, but a focus on people who are no longer in full-time employment or raising a family.
Our founders envisaged a collaborative approach with peers learning from each other. The u3a movement was to be self-funded, with members not working towards qualifications but learning purely for pleasure. There would be no distinction between the learners and the teachers – everyone could take a turn at being both if they wished.
From its beginnings in 1981, the movement grew very quickly and by the early 1990s, a u3a was opening every fortnight. u3as grew in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland and in 2008 membership was increasing by 11% every year. 2010 saw our membership hitting the quarter million mark.
At the end of 2016 the u3a movement reached the milestone of 1,000 u3as celebrated by a conference with speakers including Eric Midwinter – one of the founders of the u3a movement.
Today, our movement includes over 400,000 u3a members in more than 1,000 u3as and is continuing to grow every day.
Last updated 1 September 2025