Issue number one hundred and fifteen (July 2010) in a series of Signposts from WorldU3A International, sent once a month to any and all U3A members anywhere in the world.

Please send snippets of possible interest to the editor, Tom Holloway.
Feel free to copy any or all of this information in your newsletters.


The U3As of India are quite different from both the French and British models of U3A. Very few have the range of 'subject-oriented groups' that we know. All of them regularly run free health checks for the poor, either for eyes, or hearing, or early signs of ill-health. Some support hospitals and clinics, Homes for the aged, Schools, impoverished families.

As an example we show above a regular feature of the school work of U3A Bengalaru (Bangalore) who recently distributed stationery kits to children of domestic service providers (cleaners, postal workers, refuse disposal workers, street sweepers). On the right is a presentation made to a debating contest (in English) for Secondary School-children on the subject of whether current legal redress for abused elderly people was sufficient.

Excellent examples of cross-generation projects. We would be very pleased to hear from other local U3A's doing similar work.

According to the UK Online Measurement Company (UKOM) the net audience now stands at 38.8 million, up from 36.9 million at the same time last year. Details can be seen at http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/10448204.stm and the majority of internet newbies were made up of over-50s and Internet services are increasingly targeting the older generation.

Over-50s account for 31% of the UK net audience. The older generation are attracted to a range of sites, including travel, genealogy, fashion, video and community sites, according to UKOM. Health website RealAge and community site Saga are among the most popular with an over-50s market share of 89% and 78% respectively.

(Looking at the graph here, the question is - are we ready for the computer-clever generation just behind us, waiting to retire in the next few years? If not, what should we do about it? - Editor)

The Ashmolean Museum of Art and Archaeology in Oxford presents the following talks in July:

Early Music, Bronze Age and Iron Age instruments. 11am Sunday 18th July FREE
Tephrochronolgy, An Explosive Way To Date the Palaeolithic. 2pm 20th July FREE
Conservation techniques (several times throughout the day) 23rd July FREE
Crime and Violence in the Stone Age. 2pm 30th July FREE
Ovid and the Renaissance, the Great Seduction. 2pm 29th July, £6.50 (includes tea)
Get Digital - http://letsgetdigital.org.uk/ - helps over-65's hook up to the internet. The scheme, which runs until March 2011 directs cash (£2.8m) and training into sheltered housing schemes for equipment and training. It includes grants of up to £5000 for hardware and software.
Do you know someone who would like to receive this newsletter in future? Ask them to email tom@worldu3a.org with a request and they will be put on the list. This webpage may be printed onto both sides of an A4 page and distributed to those with no Internet.