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 Hall

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

5th October 2026
2:00 pm
Meeting
Margo Murray of Home Energy Scotland  The title of the talk will be Home Energy Scotland in the Highlands & Islands. Funded by the Scottish Government and delivered by the Energy […]
16th October 2026
11:00 am
Meeting
Title:  ‘An Endoscope the thickness of a single human hair’ by Prof. Miles Padgett Summary:  How we use holography, a digital projector, graphics cards, and a lot of physics to create a […]
Cost: £2
23rd October 2026
11:00 am
Meeting
Title:  ‘Holding power to account? Looking forward to the U.S. Midterms elections and back to the Scottish elections’ by Prof Chris Carman Summary:   It's often said that elections are how we […]
Cost: £2
2nd November 2026
2:00 pm
Meeting
Crispin Best - Medicine and surgery in Nelson's navy "I was a Consultant in  Paediatric anaesthesia and Intensive Care at the Royal Hospital for Sick Children, until retiring in 2017. Since […]
13th November 2026
11:00 am
Meeting
Title: "The heat beneath our feet"  by Dr Iain Neill Summary: "Should we extract natural geothermal heat from several kilometres underground? Geothermal sources could reliably supply baseload energy for heating […]
Cost: £2
27th November 2026
11:00 am
Science and Technology
Title  'Adam Smith’s economic legacy at 250’   by  Prof Alex Trew Summary:  Two hundred and fifty years ago, Adam Smith published An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations. The […]
Cost: £2
4th December 2026
11:00 am
Science and Technology
Title: Responsible Artificial Intelligence – does it exist?  By Prof Simone Stumpf Summary: In this talk Prof Stumpf will cover the benefits and harms of AI applications and current efforts to make […]
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
15th January 2027
11:00 am
Science and Technology
Biodegradable electronics by Prof Jeff Kettle
Cost: £2
22nd January 2027
11:00 am
Science and Technology
Prof. Jim Conroy  - Scottish Education ‘‘Why does Scottish education struggle so much’
Cost: £2
12th February 2027
11:00 am
Science and Technology
Control of human obesity by Prof Naveed Sattar
Cost: £2
19th February 2027
11:00 am
Science and Technology
Dr. Louise Lawson – Pensions and pensioners "Ageing Well? Inequality and the New Realities of Later Life "
Cost: £2
12th March 2027
11:00 am
Science and Technology
Ageing in birds by Prof Pat Monaghan
Cost: £2
19th March 2027
11:00 am
Science and Technology
Prof. Des McNulty - "Scottish Universities- the case for change?"
Cost: £2
16th April 2027
11:00 am
Science and Technology
Sherlock Holmes and tropical diseases by Prof Mike Barrett 
Cost: £2
23rd April 2027
11:00 am
Science and Technology
Dr. Paul Reilly - "Impact of  Social media of parades, protests and civil unrest"
Cost: £2
14th May 2027
11:00 am
Science and Technology
Chronic Pain Experience and Impact by Prof Barbara Nicholl
Cost: £2
21st May 2027
11:00 am
Science and Technology
Dr. Alan Brown - "The legal and ethical issues surrounding  surrogacy, assisted reproduction, and non-traditional families"
Cost: £2
18th June 2027
11:00 am
Science and Technology
Gut Biome by Prof Simon Milling
Cost: £2
25th June 2027
11:00 am
Science and Technology
Dr Ewan Gibbs - How Britain’s energy policy has evolved through responding to crises since 1945"
Cost: £2
16th July 2027
11:00 am
Science and Technology
Mosquitoes in Scotland by Dr Georgia Kirby
Cost: £2