Welcome to our News page. Here is where we keep you up-to-date with what's going on in our HHD u3a.
What's New
May 2026 - The first new thing, which you may have already noticed, is the website redesign. As well as this page, there is a new Documents page, where you can find now in one place, all the documents that were previously scattered around the website. The Contacts page has been updated with the new members of the Committee for 2026/27 and that page has been redesigned to make the information more user-friendly and all in one place. Now we have these changes, the HHD u3a page is no longer required and is being removed.
If you have any u3a news or photos you would like us to feature, (ensuring that anyone in a photo has agreed to it being used online) please send them to us at hhdu3aweb@gmail.com or via the blue link below -
Website teamFuture Lives
Future Lives Event – Housing, Planning Ahead
Housing, Planning Ahead will be held in the Green Room at the Adastra Hall on Thursday 18th June from 9.45 to 1pm Early booking is recommended as numbers are limited in the Green Room.
The majority of older people in the UK prefer to stay in their own homes as they age. However, many homes become unsuitable because they are too big, have tricky steps, have a garden we can’t manage any more, have no downstairs bathroom, are expensive to heat and our hearts sink when something else goes wrong and needs repairing. Sometimes, a crisis happens forcing an unplanned move because living in the house is no longer possible.
At our event, the Senior Occupational Therapist from West Sussex Council will tell us what her team can do to help with aids and adaptations to make our houses safer. We will also hear about the small but increasing provision of various types of retirement housing, in particular, local developments. Residents who are currently living in specialist provision will share their experiences and a solicitor and accountant will be on hand to field questions about the financial considerations involved in downsizing to a retirement property.
If you wish to come, please click on the blue link below, to register your interest -
Future LivesWe also now have a lot of information on Future Lives. This can be found in its own section on the Documents page.
Groups News
We have a new novel-writing group which, following the Open Morning, has enough members to be viable. It will start to meet at the beginning of September, but it is on our Groups page now. The group will work systematically through all the stages of writing a novel as a long-term project.
This brings our total number of groups to 73.
We are exploring the possibility of starting a Pickleball group, to play at the Triangle Leisure Centre.
The number of our members wishing to play Table Tennis is increasing but is still not quite enough to be viable at Adastra Hall.
It has also been suggested that we might have a computer skills group or workshop if there is sufficient interest.
More people expressed an interest in Spanish at the open morning. We still have no Spanish “expert”, but there are ongoing conversations about the possibility of a “self-help” group. If you are a Spanish speaker who would like to help, please contact the Groups Coordinator.
Both of our Creative Writing groups are full and there is discussion about a possible third group.
There is now a significant waiting list to join the Local History group and the option of spinning off a separate group specifically interested in the history of Hurstpierpoint is being considered.
Other potential new groups that have been suggested are Astronomy, Swimming, Gym, the Philosophy of Religion and Boules or Petanque.
If you are interested in any of the above potential groups, please contact our Groups Coordinator through the Contacts page.
Where you there? - or what you missed
Our Open morning in May was a big success. New members signed up, new groups were investigated and there was a lot of chatting between u3a friends. Watch out for more new groups appearing.
Burgess Hill and Haywards Heath u3a info
As part of your HHD u3a membership you are able to attend meetings and up to two groups at both Burgess Hill and Haywards Heath u3a.
Here are the links to their websites -