U3A Benalla hits 400 enrolments, only 20 away from breaking record

By Contributed

Feb 25, 2025

When Deidre Clarke signed up to U3A Benalla, president Margaret Jenkins noticed it took enrolments for 2025 to 400.

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Deidre has been a member of U3A for seven years and enjoys courses including Brain Games, Community Singing and Singing for Fun.

Deidre said U3A was a great organisation for people to meet others of a similar age and pursue a hobby or interest.

With enrolments still open, Margaret said it was expected that the 2024 record figure of 420 would likely be exceeded.

“The 2025 program has been extended to include 50 different course types all convened by knowledgeable volunteer presenters,” she said.

“This includes eight new courses in 2025, which are American History, Car Torque, Colour Mixing and Watercolour Techniques — Botanical, Come and Learn Croquet, Exploring Writing Children’s Books, Mahjong and Train Buffs.”

While the majority of participants are in their 70s or 80s, people ranging in age from 55 to over 90 years attend sessions.

U3A has a participation mix of 65 per cent female to 35 per cent male enrolments.

Ms Jenkins said she was pleased with enrolments and understood that it paid to advertise, following the excellent response received after enrolment advertisements appeared in The Ensign in December and January.