The u3a has existed in Northern Ireland since 1990 with the setting up of u3a Foyle. Since then, the organisation has grown to 25 u3as across the region. The establishment of a Ballymena u3a group was started in April 2005 when a public meeting was held in the Leisure Centre. The meeting was addressed by Florence McFarland, Joyce Gibson and Ann Hayes on behalf of the u3a NI Regional Committee and about 50 people attended. It was decided to start a u3a group in the town and those attending the meeting expressed an interest in activity groups including walking, travel, reading and bridge.

At the start, Aileen Graham was the acting Chairwoman/Secretary and Brian Sims the Treasurer of the Steering Group that also included Rosemary McIlroy, Sara Orr, Gary Shaw and John Stuart. To allow the group to be set up officially, Aileen had contacted u3a Headquarters to establish temporary membership for 3 months and the Steering Group received a start-up grant of £75. A general meeting was held at 3.00pm on 16 June 2005 in Café Lamont and four members of the Causeway u3a Group, including the Chairman, Gordon Ward, explained how they had started their group, which by that time had over 500 members. Startup costs were high and no one had paid membership fees so finance was an issue and anticipated support from Ballymena Council did not materialise.

The first monthly meeting was held in the Café Lamont on Thursday 25 August 2005 at 10.30 am at which Donna Carson of Water Service gave a talk on Water Charges, an issue which is still topical. By the end of October 2005 there were 52 members and in that first autumn there were talks on ‘Keeping Healthy in Retirement’, ‘Finances in Retirement’, a demonstration of Tai Chi, a Christmas Lunch and Quiz set by John Stuart, with outings to a textile exhibition at Cultra, to the bird sanctuary at Castle Espie and to a performance of ‘Rebecca’ in the Opera House in Belfast. Ballymena u3a grew organically from 50 members in 2005 to 100 within a couple of years.

The October 2005 meeting was held in the recently refurbished Michelin Athletic Club which, with help from Jim Briggs, was provided free of charge and lunch was available at £7.00 for a main course and dessert. The certificate of full membership of u3a was presented to the Group at the December meeting. The first AGM was held on Thursday, 2 March 2006 at 11.00 am in the Michelin Social Club, a time and venue which would remain for many years until the Social Club closed in 2018.

However, in September 2018 the group moved monthly meetings to the impressive facilities at the Ecos Hub and these were enhanced by the opening of the Secret Garden Café in 2022. Over the past 20 years the strong bond between the committee of Ballymena u3a and the staff of first, Michelin and latterly of the Ecos Hub has been a key element in the development of the group.

By 2020 membership reached 200 but numbers dropped dramatically during the COVID pandemic and have since recovered to around 175. During the COVID lockdowns, the Committee and monthly meetings were held using Zoom, membership fees were suspended for a year and most activity groups were put on hold. Tai Chi continued, there were online quizzes and some members linked into other groups for Spanish, poetry, etc. However, many of the members struggled with Zoom so keeping in contact by email was very important in helping the Group to come through its most challenging two years.

For many members the monthly meetings are the thing that they like best about the u3a. In 2008 over one hundred attended a talk by Lord Laird. Other high profile speakers have included Lady Mary Peters (Olympian and Lady of the Order of the Garter), Arlene Foster (First Minister for Northern Ireland), Baroness O’Loan (former Police Ombudsman), Baroness Blood (Northern Ireland’s first female life peer), Judith Gillespie ( Deputy Chief Constable of the PSNI), Chris Moore ( BBC investigative journalist who exposed the Kincora and Father Brendan Smyth scandals) and Syd Millar, one of the truly greats of rugby union, who attracted the highest ever attendance at a meeting of Ballymena u3a, of which he was a member.

Female members have always been in the majority of Ballymena u3a and Aileen Graham was one of the most influential figures during the first decade. However, after ten years the majority of the Committee were male so a determined effort was made to reverse this trend. The success of this was illustrated by the fact that five years later all the four main office holders were women. Today the committee is made up of 13 members, 6 men and 7 women.

Looking to the future, Ballymena u3a is aiming to increase membership and the number of activities offered to members. A dynamic new website, together with regular press coverage and publicity material will help with this process. Alliances with other local groups are also offering further opportunities and we look forward to the next twenty years of the Ballymena u3a.

Written by Bernie Frayne & Hilary Flockhart

25 August 2025 – Celebrating 20 years