FOLLOWING the annual meeting of Salisbury & District U3A, at which several new committee members were elected, an expectant audience welcomed Barbara Lewis, the national chairman.

In a lively address she congratulated the branch on its 25th anniversary year activities, telling us that there are now 870 branches nationwide with 295,000 members.

Although following a slightly different format from the original French model, the movement established in England 30 years ago continues to grow.

The challenges, and solutions to those challenges, tend to be shared by most branches and Mrs Lewis urged members to try to recover the sense of excitement and discovery she had felt at the very first meeting she had attended.

One of the founders of U3A in England, Eric Midwinter, is to give a lecture in London in April and Mrs Lewis felt it important that we should remember our heritage, tell our story and how we were founded, while looking forward to new possibilities.

Varied questions followed and we learned about a supportive husband, the French U3A connection with actual universities, and the surprising fact that there is no U3A organisation in the USA (Americanborn Mrs Lewis explained that there are many colleges there offering a great variety of inexpensive courses.) Mrs Lewis is an enthusiastic ambassador for U3A and sees its future as a selfsupporting and inspiring body assured.