Take a look!
Our 30th Anniversary Celebration took place on the 18th April 2026. at Christchurch, Bushmead Luton. It was an amazing day with lots of our groups showcasing their activities with marvellous exhibitions. We provided free teas and coffees and delicious celebration cake to our many visitors both members and friends! His Majesty the King's representative The Lord-Lieutenant of Bedfordshire gave a very interesting speech and cut our cake and then visited every group and spoke to many of the members and committee. All in all, a very enjoyable day. Thanks go to all those who took part and organised the day to make it such a success.
We will post photographs in the near future
u3a Luton is for anyone not in full time employment. Browse the rest of the website for lots more information about us.
- ROLL OF Honour 1996-2026
Chairmen
1996-2000 William (Bill) Aitken (Honorary President)
2000-2004 David Sear
2004-2008 Elizabeth Allam
2008-2012 Philip Ashton
2012-2016 Wendy Squires
2016-2018 Peter Kain
2018-2021 Gerald Peacock
2021-2022 Elizabeth Allam
2022-2024 David Wilson
2024- Gina Indge
Vice-Chairmen
1996-1997 M.Jones
1997-1999 Peter Marshall
1999-2000 David Sear
2000-2006 Laurence Downton
2006-2008 Philip Ashton
2008-2012 Edward Andrews
2012-2015 David Wilson
2015-2016 David Collom (acting vice-chair)
2016-2018 Position vacant
2018-2020 Peter Kain
2021-2023 Vacant
2023-2024 Gina Indge (joint)
2023- Carol Chamberlain
Treasurers
1996-2000 Ron Leach
2000-2003 John Woods
2003-2004 Peter Marshall
2004-2008 Brenda Coleman
2008-2015 David Collom
2015-2017 Michael Adams
2017- Richard Putman
Editors Newsletter (In Touch)
1997-2000 Ron Dean
2000-2007 Emrys Rees
2007-2009 Philip Bray
2009-2018 Diana Tilley
2018-2020 Mildred Peacock
2020-2022 Tony Evers and Philip Muskett
2022- Chris Williams
Coffee & Tea events 2026! These are now known asCAMEOs (Come And Meet Every-One) Many of you joined us at one, two or three last year and brought your non-member friends along to see what we are doing. We welcomed quite a few new members and there was lots of chatting going on and lots of thought over the difficult quizzes! Coffee and tea and biscuits were provided at the FREE events to say thanks to our members for supporting us. We will have more this year on 27th June at Christchurch Bushmead 2-4pm, 15th September at Rayhnam Way Centre 2-4pm, and 8th October at the Olive Tree Church 10am-12pm. Hope to see you there.
For these events in 2026, we need you to book your place with Winnie the secretary (secretary@u3a-luton.org.uk ) or via the 'contact us' page so that we know how many to cater for. You need to provide your name/s, membership number/s, and the date you wish to attend. Look out for the dates to be published.
Our general meeting of 27th October 2025 at Venue 360 saw the return of Paul Barwick who gave us a presentation on Alexander Litvinenko, the Russian spy who was murdered. It was a brilliant account of his life, defection to the UK and his eventual demise. It was enthralling and there was a good attendance of some 145 members many of whom remarked how enjoyable it was.
Take a look at the bottom of the page for all our presentations and dates for the rest of the year.
Tour of Town Hall: On 28th June, 21 members had an opportunity to tour ourTown Hall. Everyone really enjoyed themselves. Hardly anything has changed since it was rebuilt and completed and opened to the public in 1936. All very Neo-classical and Art Deco style. The Chair will organise more visits in the future if possible. Thanks again to David J for sharing his heritage knowledge and for making an interesting morning.
Invitation to the Mayor's Parlour
At the end of April 2025, our Executive members were invited by the Mayor of Luton to meet in her parlour and to enjoy a tour around the Town Hall. We had a most enjoyable time and were fascinated by the history of the building and history over the years. I remember the Town Hall from when I was in local government when I was 18 years old and it hasn't changed much and I still love the retro staircase which we all used to use. A great morning, thankyou Tahmina and David.
As a follow up, the Mayor invited the Executive to her Civic Ceremony on 17th May 2025 to celebrate her year in office. This took place at St Andrew's Church and was a lovely afternoon where Tahmina gave an excellent if emotional speech. Congratulations to her and we look forward to seeing her again at u3a soon.
We have also been invited to take along 15 - 20 of our members for a tour of the Town Hall during the summer months on a Saturday morning. Watch this space for a date. David Jones will be parting with his excellent, extensive knowledge as we tour. Thanks to him!
COFFEE MORNINGS AND TEA AFTERNOONS!
Thank you to all volunteer members who have helped make these a great success! They have been a huge success for 2 years running now! Our first one was 24th September 2024. About 50 attended and enjoyed the social atmosphere, meeting old and new friends and enjoyed the quizzes. Our second was on 19th October at Christchurch, Bushmead and we had about 80 attending. Again it was a very enjoyable afternoon and we also had a presentation by Luton Healthwatch which our members found very valuable. Our last was on 22nd November at the Olive Tree Church in Blenheim Crescent and despite the snowy morning we had 40 members attending. These are proving to be popular events! Thank you to all members who have attended and supported the volunteers and the work they do to keep u3a Luton ticking over.
These are a chance for members to come along and socialise with friends and meet your executive committee members. These events are very popular and members seem to love the challenging quizzes.
Our November Coffee Morning at the Olive Tree Church. Members enjoying the challenging quizzes.
Monthly Meetings
On the last MONDAY morning of each month (with some exceptions) a meeting for all members, is held in the Riverside Suite at Venue 360 in Gypsy Lane, Luton (unless otherwise advised). Directions from Parkway station can be found here. Directions to Venue 360. The meetings are open at 9:45 which gives members an opportunity to meet their friends and Committee members over a cup of tea/coffee, browse the Bring & Buy stall or buy a book or jigsaw or bric-a-brac. There is usually an entrance charge of £6.00 for the monthly meetings. Please remember to bring your up-to-date membership card with you to sign in. It is also crucial that you enter an 'in case of emergency' telephone number on the back of your card in case you fall ill during an event or when you attend your group sessions.
At most meetings a Speaker gives an illustrated talk for 45 to 60 minutes. This starts at 10:30 am. After questions we give out any notices about groups or items of interest.
There are many free events and tutorials which you can register for on the National u3a website. They include cookery, garden talks, singing, poetry, mathematics, Latin, crosswords cryptic, creative writing, philosophy, law, Japan, Geology, Van Gogh. Click on the u3a tab on the top menu, Learn, Laugh, Live !
We may from time to time have to cancel a monthly meeting because of bad weather. If there are last minute changes you will be advised by email or you can call our voicemail telephone number for confirmation 01582 803923 and there will be an announcement on the welcome page advising you. A member of the committee will call you back if you telephone. Please make sure we have your up-to-date email.
General Meeting 29th July 2024
It was a pleasure to welcome the High Sheriff of Bedfordshire, Bav Shah, to our general meeting today. He met many of us and discovered all about u3a Luton. He answered several questions for us and everyone was enthralled with his formal regalia and how he is getting on in his position. We will be supporting him at the Summer Festival of Fun at the Luton and Indians Cricket Ground in Luton on 18th August from 12.30 to 6pm. The event is free and all proceeds go towards Bedfordshire Crimebeat. He has also offered to return to us and give us a talk and a Q & A. We really look forward to seeing him again soon.
Many thanks Bav
General Meeting 30th September 2024
Martin Orkin gave us a fascinating insight into Simon and Garfunkel's early recording career and the ups and downs which eventually split them in two. A very good presentation, very professional and interesting. Thank you
