The History of Sandbach u3a

In 2003 there were people living in Sandbach who were members of Crewe or Congleton U3A and had the vision for one here in Sandbach. They got together and formed a working party to get started.


The first committee meeting was held on 20 June 2003 following which a questionnaire to gauge possible interest was sent out. At the first meeting, it was discovered that most groups would be extremely popular – for instance 35 people were interested in Art and 80 in walking.


On 1 July 2003, a public meeting attended by 130 people was held in the Town Hall at which 14 definite group leaders volunteered and more quickly followed suit.


The first enrolment day was 3 September 2003 when 213 members were signed up to join 26 different activity groups.


Group leaders’ meetings were a feature of the new U3A, the first being held on 11 August 2003.


The first AGM was held on 28 April 2004 in the Town Hall.


in 2019/2020 our membership was over 1400 with more than 100 interest groups.  A few of our leaders are responsible for more than one group and many of the groups have 2 or more leaders sharing responsibility for contacting interested members, planning sessions, and collecting fees.