President’s Message
April 2026
Our numbers were down a little for the March meeting, despite an interesting lineup of speakers.
Our normal mini speakers were replaced by Joanne Hand, Development Manager from the Kidney Society, who talked about the work of the organisation, including education, support, social work and dialysis in the upper North Island for sufferers of kidney disease, despite receiving no government funding. Possibly their most impressive effort is their dialysis houses which allow over 50 people to receive dialysis outside hospital. New Zealand is a kidney disease “hot spot” because of our high rates of diabetes, especially among Maori and Pacific Island peoples. In New Zealand, diabetes is the cause of nearly half of all kidney disease.
After morning tea we heard from our main speaker Jooles Clements, head of Brand Experience and Business Development at Auckland Zoo. The title of his talk was “Auckland Zoo, a scientific, wildlife management and conservation establishment”. One of the main foci of his talk was the differences between older and modern zoos and between good and bad ones. The older zoo and the bad zoo display captive animals in inappropriate enclosures or cages, such animals being usually unhappy, unnatural and neurotic. The modern, good zoo, on the other hand, has purposes beyond entertainment, such as animal welfare, wildlife conservation, and research and education. Auckland Zoo plays an important role in the conservation and protection of endangered NZ species such as kakapo, kiwi and fairy tern. In addition, considerable work has been and is being done to ensure all animals are in a naturalistic and challenging environment which supports natural behaviour, as much as possible, for example the orangutan treetops area, the savannah and the newly developed SE Asian jungle track. There is of course, an unresolved tension between what the paying customer wants to see and the zoo’s interest in naturalistic settings and research and conservation. The customer wants to see a tiger, but a tiger in the wild may travel 30 km in a night’s hunting – from the zoo to Orewa, Papakura or Muriwai. I don’t think the zoo, or the public would allow this, although it would make the nighttime streets more exciting, if less safe!
John Goodman
How We Operate
Monthly Meetings
At our monthly meetings we get together to listen to a speaker of note. These people are chosen from a wide variety of backgrounds – historians, social scientists, representatives of voluntary organisations, scientists from a wide variety of backgrounds, and from many other disciplines. We also have updates from representatives from our interest groups and from time to time hear from other community representatives to give a short update on their activities
Interest Groups
We currently have many interest groups covering a wide variety of activities. Activities include a number of walking groups, reading groups, a memoir writing group, musical interest groups history and wine studies groups and many others. The complete list can be seen on the Interest groups page. From time to time we have new groups formed, and others cease their activity
Newsletter
Our monthly newsletter is our main means of communication with our members. Most of our members received their newsletters by email. We also post newsletters covering the last two years on our website for those interested in our activities. The website is updated monthly to ensure the most recent newsletters are always available.
Interest Groups
are the heart of U3A Meadowbank.
Our Interest Groups are the key to learning in more depth about a wide variety of topics and activities. They are at the heart of what U3A is all about and we strongly encourage all of our members to actively participate in at least one group. We also welcome ideas about new areas of study or activity from our members
We are a part of a Global Network
U3A is a global movement encouraging mature people to keep their minds active and share their knowledge. It began in France in 1972 as a means of enabling older achievers to continue learning and share their knowledge under the banner “University of the Third Age”. The movement spread widely throughout Europe.
In 1981, U3A reached the United Kingdom, which developed a model based on peer-to-peer learning, away from academia. This same approach was adopted in Australia and New Zealand. The first U3A in New Zealand was U3A Remuera, established in 1989. U3A St Heliers followed in 1992. There are now over 80 U3As in New Zealand, including 27 in the Auckland region. Further Information can be found on www.u3a.nz.
We are part of a local Network
Each U3A association is autonomous, organising its own programme, governance and affairs, but adhering to the principles on which U3A was founded. In summary, these are the guidelines that shape our activities and collegiality.
- Learning and teaching are mutually enhancing. We are all learners and teachers and are encouraged to be actively engaged in discovery, discussion, research and exploration of topics of collective interest.
- We are all recognised as having something of value to bring to the Association. We acknowledge the wisdom and depth of experience that members bring and the potential for new learning and new challenges as we age.
- All of our work is voluntary – no one gets paid for their services (except perhaps a koha for outside speakers). Leadership is shared and rotated, so no-one holds on to office beyond an allotted term.
- There are no admission requirements other than paying the annual membership fee. No entry qualifications are required, no award or recognition given of learning undertaken.