On 2nd  February 1996 an exploratory meeting was held at the Quaker Meeting Room in Devizes to see how many would be interested in setting up a U3A group for the district.  33 people attended. A steering committee was formed.

On 12th April 1996 an inaugural meeting was held at which speakers from the U3A's in Kennet, Swindon and Salisbury explained how their groups were run and what they did. At this meeting 30 members decided to set up and join the Devizes & District U3A, the original steering committee plus some others were elected to form a committee for the first year.  By the end of April another 3 members had joined. and at the end of the first financial year (31st March 1997) the membership was 63.

This was the start of the Devizes and District Branch of the U3A and it has been growing ever since. Enrolment or Membership renewal takes places every year and current membership now numbers 578 as at 3rd February 2012.   The annual membership fee is £15.

We are one of over 832 U3A's in the UK with some 273,679 members nationwide sharing learning experiences. The number of U3A's increases all the time! 

We do not offer any activities leading to recognised qualifications. We have no syllabus, and no examinations. All our activities are run by our members, on a self-help basis, co-ordinated by members who have volunteered to be Group Leaders.