u3a

Helensburgh & District

Events

All members are welcome to join the meetings detailed below and invitations will be sent out via email.

Non members and guests of members are welcome to attend up to 2 meetings but will need to join Helensburgh and District u3a if they wish to continue to enjoy monthly meetings or group meetings and events.

All General, Social Science and Public Policy & Science Group events are advertised on our Facebook page in more detail.

Our General Monthly Meetings are held in Helensburgh main Church Hall at 2:00 pm.

Coffee & tea are available after the talk and there is no charge. If you can bring your own reusable cup or mug, it will reduce waste.


Our Science & Social Science and Public Policy Group Monthly Talks are held at 11.00 am in the Helensburgh small or main Church Halls

Open to all u3a Members.

Coffee is available from 10.40 and there is a charge of £2 towards room hire.


The U3A ‘Coffee and a Chat’ sessions are held on the 1st and 3rd Wednesday of every month.  

‘Coffee and a Chat’ events will take place in Helensburgh Civic Centre café, 38 East Clyde Street, Helensburgh G84 7PG at 10.30am. 

Sometimes a U3A sign will be displayed on a table, but if not, the café staff will usually be able to tell you which is the U3A group.  

Go to the counter and order your tea or coffee (which will be brought to your table), then go and join the U3A group, which usually numbers between 6 and 12 (it’s not always the same members who attend the event and no booking is required, so numbers and attendees vary).  

New members are particularly welcome.  

The café is a relatively quiet environment, which makes it easier to converse and hear everyone at the table.

The Coffee and a Chat group details can be found on the website Groups page 


Forthcoming events

1st June 2026
2:00 pm
Meeting
Dr Paul Skett - " Sex, Drugs and Alcohol - the life of a forensic pharmacologist" Dr Paul Skett  Glasgow Expert Witness Ltd and honorary senior lecturer, School of Cardiovascular […]
19th June 2026
11:00 am
Meeting
Electrical Power Systems in Scotland: Past, Present and Future by Prof Campbell Booth Summary: Scotland’s electrical power system has evolved from early hydroelectric schemes and coal‑fired stations into one of […]
Cost: £2
26th June 2026
11:00 am
Meeting
Title:  THE DISRUPTION OF THE BRITISH PARTY SYSTEM: A Guide to the Next General Election by Prof. Richard Rose Summary:  The British political party system has been much slower to change […]
Cost: £2
6th July 2026
2:00 pm
Meeting
17th July 2026
11:00 am
Science and Technology
Richard Shaw - Astrobiology
Cost: £2
3rd August 2026
2:00 pm
Meeting
James Day - “Charles and Margaret McKintosh - A lifelong partnership of excellence”.
14th August 2026
11:00 am
Meeting
'Diseases shared with animals' Kate Stalin
Cost: £2
7th September 2026
2:00 pm
Meeting
'The Glasgow School of Art fires', by Gordon Gibb
18th September 2026
11:00 am
Meeting
Title:  Green Hydrogen for a Green Future? By Prof Mark Symes Talk summary: In theory, we could replace fossil fuels with a “hydrogen economy”. This concept involves using renewable energy to electrolyse […]
Cost: £2
5th October 2026
2:00 pm
Meeting
Helen Yaffe on "Cuba".  Helen lectures on Cuba and Latin America at Glasgow University. She has written books entitled 'We Are Cuba' and Ché Guevara: The Economics of Revolution'
16th October 2026
11:00 am
Meeting
'Endoscope' Miles Padgett
Cost: £2
13th November 2026
11:00 am
Meeting
'Control of human obesity' Naveed Sattar
Cost: £2
4th December 2026
11:00 am
Science and Technology
AI’s growing impact' - Simone Stumpf (to be confirmed)
Cost: £2
4th January 2027
2:00 pm
Meeting
Dougie Wylie - The refurbishment of the Parish Church Tower and Clock An illustrated talk on the problems and remedial work carried out in 2026