WEATHER ADVISORY: CLASSES ARE RUNNING AS SCHEDULED THIS FRIDAY
Who We Are
Living and Learning in Retirement (LLIR), the oldest 3rd Age Learning Program in Canada, is an autonomous, not-for-profit organization for retired persons eager to pursue the challenge of continuing learning, but without examinations or term papers.
It was established in 1973 by a small group of volunteers, who met with staff from the Glendon faculty of York University to explore ways to enrich their retirement years. The group was able to obtain a start-up grant under the federal ‘New Horizons’ program and Glendon made facilities available for this purpose. The first lecture was presented on September 28, 1973, with 144 registrants. Since then, membership has grown to over 700, with eight to ten courses presented during each academic year.
What LLIR is all about
Our Vision To be a leading Third Age Learning organization providing academic opportunities that meet the learning needs of the increasing number of retired adults.
Our Mission To plan, direct and manage excellent academic programs for the education and pleasure of retired adults.
In providing service to our members, the following values represent the elements that we are committed to preserving and enhancing as LLIR moves forward to meet future challenges and opportunities. In effect, these core values also become the base criteria for evaluating future decisions and initiatives.
- Learning and its contribution to the quality of life for retired adults
- Program and course quality
- Accessible and affordable courses
- Professional organization of classes and administrative procedures
- A warm and caring atmosphere that is conducive to learning
- A spirit of community that recognizes our members’ social interests
- Our relationships with Glendon College, its students, faculty and staff
- A committed, active volunteer Board of Directors
A word from our president, Bill Toyne
Welcome to our new website, www.llir.ca. It is designed to provide information to our existing members, with special emphasis on the programs, which is what LLIR is all about. This section includes the course outlines as well as reading lists, handouts, links to lecturer sites, and downloadable forms. There is a new ideas form as well as a document that lists submissions from other members, so please read that and put on your thinking cap. This is a member-driven organization and our search for new programs is driven by your input.
You can also download current and past editions of the newsletter, view our Vision and Mission Statement, view and download membership guidelines, and link to other sites. www.llir.ca is chock o block full of items we feel are useful to you and your colleagues.
If there is anything you feel needs to be added to the site, then please send a note to info@llir.ca . We appreciate your input.
What’s up next for LLIR? Well, there is great excitement ahead. We will be moving into two new classrooms this fall. These are large airy rooms with excellent ventilation, state-of-the- art AV equipment, and comfortable chairs. Although they will provide a significant increase in seating, we are not expanding our membership and want to try them out with our existing size.
The board has voted to go to 5 courses for each term, and our program committee is well on the way to securing the services of the course directors. This increases the number of selection options for you. I was planning on giving you a preview of the fantastic lectures we have in store for the next terms, but the program committee wants to have a surprise reveal at some later date.
Thank you for visiting the site. We hope you find it useful.