Welcome to the Saffron Walden u3a website, where we hope you will find all you need to know about our organisation. We are proud to be the first u3a to be set up in Essex in 1984 and have just celebrated our 40th birthday!

We are a self-help, self-managed, lifelong learning co-operative for those who are no longer in full-time employment, providing opportunities for our members to share learning experiences in a wide range of interest groups and to pursue learning, not for qualifications, but for fun. Hence the u3a motto "Learn, laugh and live".

Most of our 700 or so members reside in and around Saffron Walden, but new members are always welcome, See our Membership page for details about joining.

We currently run about 36 classes and activities and these are listed on our Groups page. Term times are similar to school terms, running from September to July but a number of groups meet throughout the year. We always welcome ideas for new groups and activites.

We hold Open Meetings on the 3rd Monday of each month with a guest speaker, and our Theatre and Travel group arrange a number of outings and holidays each year. Please see our What’s On page for future dates.

We produce our “UPDATE” magazine for members twice a year and a Newsletter each month to keep members abreast of current issues. Please see our latest Update, top right of this page, or visit our Publications page.

Unless you opt out, members will also receive the “u3a Matters” magazine by post 5 times a year, in February, April, June, September and November, from our parent organisation, Third Age Trust.