About Us
U3A Communities groups are run by members with a passion for a particular subject who want to continue to learn and share their interest. We’re a friendly group of people as you can see from our bios further down the page.
Whilst most of our members are retired, anyone is welcome to join. If you like learning and have a curious mind you’re in the right place.
The website is run by a group of volunteers who share an interest in the use of technology to widen the U3A experience and form the Steering Group.
Chettukindhi Prasanna Laxmi supports and updates the website. We work closely with World U3A who have pioneered the use of video technology through its regular International Forum and websites www.worldu3a.org and www.myu3a.org and like them, we are a free and open voluntary body with no fixed membership and no fees.
Steve Carpenter is a retired scientist and project manager specialising in electro-optical systems. Alongside Barry Zussman, he co-edits the Science & Technology page for U3ACommunities. Steve is S&T Group Leader at Yateley & District U3A, which is currently linking with Ash U3A for joint Zoom meetings on a wide variety of topics. He is also the newsletter editor for Yateley & District u3a, producing a bi-monthly A5 booklet for both print and web.
Anna Grabowska: I’m a retired academic teacher from Gdansk University of Technology, Poland – https://pg.edu.pl/en , a manager of Autodesk Authorised Academic Partner, a co-founder and admin of https://jatobym.moodle.pl/, https://dehure.moodlecloud.com/, keen on implementing blended learning solutions for U3A, https://zpasjami.net/category/szwarc-mydlo-i-powidlo/.
Ray Hardisty: I’m a retired local newspaper journalist and charity volunteer manager, and I lead the Books & Literature discussion group for u3a Communities. Elsewhere in the U3A, I am the PR and Media Adviser in the Third Age Trust East of England region and Publicity Officer for Witham (Essex) District U3A where I am responsible for newsletter production and outreach.
Miall James –Retired pharmacist, who, in his later working life, become interested in Lifelong Learning as a principle, as well as being involved. Former Newsletter Editor of, and past Secretary of, Witham & District (Essex) u3a; now leads the Creative Writing Group there. Other interests include History, especially Social and Family.
Catherine Stevenson – I lead art history groups not only for U3A Communities but also Newcastle U3A and IGO U3A. I have delivered U3A regional study days at a Newcastle art gallery and also present art history to many other U3As in the country. At U3A National Conferences, I organized 4 workshops, all of which included art history. For Tyne and Wear Museums, I act as a tour guide in an art gallery as well as occasionally at museums.
Barry Zussman: I’m a retired pharmaceutical R&D scientist, where I specialised in the analysis of PK data from clinical drug trials, but these days I run the ‘Science, Technology & Society’ group for Torridge U3A in North Devon. For u3a Communities, in addition to my role as co-leader of our Science & Technology group, I also lead our Current Affairs discussion group.
Peter Lord: I’m a retired software engineer where I worked commercially in diverse fields such as telecoms, finance and artificial intelligence. I participate in a number of U3A groups including climate crisis, technology, science, walking and recently leading the Computing forum here. Other interests include web administration, home automation and volunteering at festivals.
Neill Allan has a degree in Industrial Chemistry; was on UK, EU and International standards committees for Knowledge Management, Sustainable Development and Social Responsibility. His career spanned several industries, moving from Marketing to running a number of SMEs, and he was an Executive Coach. He convenes the Leading Edge Discussion Group and a Science Group in Wokingham U3A.
Ian Hawker is an ex-engineer who worked for BT Research for 42 years at Martlesham Heath near Ipswich. Since retirement, he has followed developments in artificial intelligence, climate change and other areas of science. He currently leads U3a groups in The Communities, Interest Groups Online and locally in East Suffolk.
David Youll David leads the Improving Legislation U3A Communities group. Although David has no formal education in legislation, he spent many years of his career as a Major Programmes Manager in the IT industry, working closely with lawyers and legal documents. In his spare time, he leads the Basingstoke U3A Science and Technology group and performs research into Cosmology.
Mary Garbett studied Biological Sciences and worked for BT for 33 years in a variety of roles. Since retirement, she followed developments in Biology, Geology, and other areas of science. Mary currently lead U3A Interest groups online in Geology and Science and Technology.
Past members
Tom Holloway
Tom Holloway, a founder of U3A Communities, has sadly passed away. To find out a little more about Tom see here.
Rien van den Hondel
Rien van den Hondel, who previously ran the Climate Crisis group, has sadly passed away following a long illness, bravely borne. A chemical engineer by profession, Rien moved to North Devon following his retirement, and joined the local u3a soon afterwards. I first met him in 2015, when he became a member of my Science & Technology group, based in Bideford. His passion was the environment, and he was a regular contributor to group meetings on climate-related topics.
So when, in the spring of 2021, the newly-formed u3a Communities online platform was looking for someone to set up a Climate Crisis group, Rien needed little persuading to take on the challenge. The new group grew rapidly, facilitated in no small part by his enthusiasm in fostering a network of like-minded climate champions, which made group meetings not just informative, but highly interactive as well. So it came as a terrible shock when, three years on, he revealed that his health was starting to fail, but even then, he made sure that the handover to Ian, his successor, was accomplished with the minimum of disruption.
Rien will be remembered with great affection as a man who committed himself wholeheartedly to everything he did, a great team player, and – above all – a really nice guy. He’ll be sadly missed.
Barry Zussman (September 2025)