Nillumbik University of the Third Age (U3A) welcomes retirees and semi-retirees to join our friendly community. We offer opportunities for members to engage in great learning, sporting, artistic and social activities without a need for formal educational qualifications – all that’s required is a love of learning and a friendly outlook.
We have moved to a new membership system called Member Wizard. With this new system, the processes for joining Nillumbik U3A, renewing your membership, reading about our classes, and enrolling in classes have all changed somewhat. The corresponding pages on this website have also been updated.
If you have any problems with the new system, contact the Office by phone (0468 300 764), email (office@nillumbiku3a.org.au) or visit (on Mondays, 1-3pm or Thursdays, 10am-midday, Eltham Central Pavilion, 18 Panther Place, Eltham).
Our newsletter
We send out regular newsletters (Gibber Gabbers) to around 2,000 people in total. You can read all these newsletters, dating back to 2012, on our newsletter page.
Our latest Gibber Gabber was sent out on 29th April.
If you would like to submit an article for a future Gibber Gabber, or discuss the possibility of so doing, send an email to the editor.
If you are not a member but would like to receive these free newsletters yourself, just sign up.
Our 2025 classes
We currently run around 90 different courses each term.
These cover a wide range of subjects including languages, physical activities, cards & puzzles, music, art, literature, history and science.
Read about our classes and potentially enrol in some of them.
Our weekly 2025 classes started on 3rd February.
Our Office & new membership system
Our Office is at Eltham Central Pavilion, 18 Panther Place. Map. It is open (during term times only) on Mondays, 1-3pm and Thursdays, 10am-midday. Email: office@nillumbiku3a.org.au. Tel: 0468 300 764.
In March 2025, we moved to a new computerised membership system called Member Wizard. This new system will make it easier for our members to enrol in classes, to see their membership and enrolment status, and to maintain their contact details. Read more about the Member Wizard system.
Membership
Membership is open to all retired and semi-retired people and we have no age limits. We have around 900 members.
Our annual fee is just $55 a year and participation in classes is then free.
Our upcoming events
During 2025, Eltham Little Theatre are generously offering U3A members half price tickets for their Thursday evening and Sunday matinee shows. The dates for which this is applicable for One Act Play Season are Sundays, 4th and 11th May and Thursday, 15th May.
Peace of Angels by John Jennings: The deepest wounds of war are not always visible … and its greatest horrors can be the most personal.
Red by Paula Armstrong: A woman has amnesia resulting from an accident. Her children have different feelings about her memory returning.
Napoleon in Exile by Daniel Reitz: Evelyn is a single mother sick with cancer. Corey, her low-functioning son with Aspergers, has always been under her care. Evelyn must prepare him for life after she has gone.
Women of the World by Emma Wood: Ready to take on the world, three young women in their first share house celebrate their independence before an uninvited guest upsets the party.
You can book either individual tickets or a table of 6. Tables can take their own food and drink.
Here are the mechanics: you book your tickets online. Choose the date, then either individual tickets or a full table of 6, then the number of ‘U3A member’ tickets, then enter the ‘2550’ discount code in the ‘gift certificate / promotion code’ box, then pay.
In this session, you and your fellow attendees will decide on the best painting that was painted between 1500 and 1850. It will be a knockout tournament whereby pairs of paintings will be presented to you and you will vote on which one progresses to the next round. As the rounds proceed, Guy will introduce the various artists and discuss such matters as perspective, the Renaissance and women painters.
Why 1500 to 1850? Perspective was worked out in the 15th Century and revolutionised painting during the Renaissance, hence 1500 as the start date. And modern painting started with the Impressionists in 1860s, hence 1850 as the end date for this traditional painting session.
Here are the artists that we will cover: Arcimboldo, Bosch, Botticelli, Breugel, Canaletto, Caravaggio, Constable, Corot, Courbet, Da Vinci, Daumier, David, De La Tour, Delacroix, Durer, El Greco, Gentileschi, Gericault, Goya, Hals, Hogarth, Holbein, Lorrain, Michelangelo, Millet, Poussin, Raphael, Rembrandt, Rubens, Titian, Turner, Van Eyck, Velazquez, Vermeer and Watteau.
Our class blogs
Many of our classes blog on this website, including our art classes, choir, golf, jazz appreciation, our walking groups and our writing groups.
Look at some of the art produced by our members.
Or stories from our Collaborative Writing Group, our Writing Workshop and others.
| Nillumbik U3A is indebted to the following organisations for their financial contributions over the years. | ||||||||||
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