Minutes of the 27th Annual General Meeting of Elmbridge u3a

Held at Claygate Village Hall 

1.30 Wednesday 2nd April 2025

1.      Apologies 

Philippa Allison

2.      Minutes

Resolved that the Minutes of the 26th Annual General Meeting of Elmbridge u3a held on 3rd April 2024 be approved and signed by the Chair.

Proposed by:  Christine Purdy

Seconded by: Stephen Black

Passed: nem con

3.      Matters arising

There were no matters arising.

4.      Chair’s Address on behalf of the Trustees (Committee)

It has been another good year for our u3a. We now have over 1500 members. Since the last AGM we have updated our documentation, launched our new website and recruited two new committee members.  Sue Warren (Members Secretary) replacing Tony Wharton and Janet Donin (Magazine Editor) who has taken on the role following the loss of Gillian Adams who very sadly passed away last year. Let me introduce the Committee:

• Janet Donin – Magazine Editor
• Andrew Craig – Treasurer
• Mark Dowdney – Public Relations
• Meg James – Secretary
• Nikki Lindsey – Speaker Secretary
• Barry Peters – Groups Secretary
• Sue Warren – Members Secretary
• Peter Andrew – New Members Secretary
• Nigel Cudby – Chair

David Rodway has retired from the committee after many years of service for which we are most grateful.  

In the last year:

• Peter Andrew has expanded his New Members role making a clear delineation between new and existing members and helping the former as they transition into our u3a.
• Our new website was launched in December.
• Most recently we have welcomed Kenn Garroch as our new Web Manager.
• We have further developed our relationship with The Riverhouse Barn Arts Centre, a highlight of which was the Food Matters event last August. 
• Last year at the AGM I outlined a single target for the following 12 months; to focus on increasing the number of volunteers we very much need to sustain our u3a, including the replacement of two committee members who were about to retire. I am pleased to say this has been very successful.

Moving forward we will be looking to continue to grow the relationship with The Riverhouse Barn and develop links with other organisations to benefit our members, and support our local community.

• You may have seen the invitation to attend the Mikado Taster Evening in May. We hope this will be the start of a relationship with the Cecil Hepworth Playhouse.
• We are forming an affiliation with the Walton-on-Thames Bowling Club.  News on this will be released very soon. 
• We will be seeking close links with other organisations where we can realise opportunities that benefit both parties.
• To this end we will be appointing an Affiliations Secretary to manage these interactions.
• We have just introduced an “Unsung Hero” award to recognise members’ outstanding contributions to Elmbridge u3a.  
• We have made the first award to coincide with this AGM.  The recipients are Jane and Cliff Clifford for their tremendous effort and dedication to Pickleball which has brought so much pleasure and wellbeing to so many members.  They received their award a few days ago and you can read all about it in our next Magazine.

Finally, I want to take this opportunity to formally thank my Committee colleagues and every one of our invaluable volunteers – quite simply we would not exist without you.

5. Treasurers Address on the Examined Accounts for the year ended 31December 2021

Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen and thank you for joining us for our AGM..   Printed copies of the Annual report and accounts to 31 December 2024 have been put out for you and these are also available on our website.

Our accounts are a summary of the actual money received into and paid out of our bank accounts in the 12 months to 31 December 2024.   Quite simply they show an analysis of these movements by appropriate categories. For example membership includes all amounts received to renew your 2025 memberships before the 31st of December 2024.  We pay our expenses very promptly and these are shown as and when paid.

There are 2 separate columns in our accounts.  The first shows the receipts and payments in the accounts of the general funds.  These are funds relating to the activities of Elmbridge U3A carried out for the benefit of all our members.  The second column, The ring- fenced funds, are funds, held by and on behalf of certain groups such as the theatre, pickleball, choir and jaunts and whose activities have no impact on the finances of the General fund.  They relate exclusively to the groups concerned.

The good news is our Bank accounts of the General fund increased in the year by some £2000 (£2,068) to £40,000 £40,335.  This may sound a large amount but of this approx. £18000 (£17,79) relates to your 2025 renewals received by 31 December 2024.  

It is pleasing to report that these bank balances are higher than we anticipated at the time of the last AGM.  As an overview compared to 2024 our overall receipts were higher by £2300 (£2,320) but our payments increased by some £5,100 (£5,103).

Our principal sources of income are our membership fees and the related recovery of gift aid.  These showed an increase on 2023 of nearly £3000 (£2,992) which reflects the increase in membership.

Some 75% of our payments relate to two categories:  the Third Age Trust costs, the umbrella organisation under which all U3A’s operate and the cost of tri-annual printed newsletter.

The Third Age costs amount to 42% (41% in 2023) of membership and gift aid receipts.  These payments are outside our control and are a function of membership numbers and the unit costs charged by the Third Age trust.

The affiliation fee is based on the number of members at 31 March each year   The Third Age Matters is also based on the number of copies sent in the year to February and the Beacon cost on the number of members at 31 March.

Higher postage and printing charges, increased membership as well as more activities to report pushed up the cash spend on our flagship newsletter
Elsewhere It was pleasing to see the numbers attending the monthly Claygate village Hall talks are on the rise.

Other costs this year included a couple of one-off payments, namely a contribution to Claygate Village Hall towards improved audio system and a laptop for development of the website and admin generally.

Membership Fee 2026.

At the AGM we set the membership fee for the following year, in this case 2026.

To do this your committee must look at our projected receipts and payments through to December 2026.   As you are aware costs such as postage are increasing yet again.

Finally I would like to say we all owe a special vote of thanks to Adrian Searle for conducting an examination of the accounts and to all individuals, who behind the scenes make Elmbridge U3A so successful and vibrant.

Adoption of the Financial Report for the end of year 31^st December 2021

Proposed by: Sylvia Rodway

Seconded by: Anthea Paul

Passed: nem con

6. Membership Fees for 2024

At the AGM we set the membership fee for the following year, in this case 2025.

Your committee has to look at our cash flow through to the December of the following year, so we have carefully looked at our projected receipts and payments through to December 2026.   

Although we are forecasting our payments will be higher than receipts in 2054 and 2026 we have sufficient funds to hold the membership at £14 for 2026.

Proposed by: David Rodway

Seconded by: Valerie McCloughlan

Passed, nem con

7. Appointment of Independent Examiner

Adrian Searle has indicated that he is happy to continue acting as Elmbridge u3a Independent Examiner for next year.

Proposed by:  Christine Purdey

Seconded by: Linda Tovey

Passed, nem con

8. Adoption of the Annual Report of the Trustees (Committee) for the year ended 31 December 2024

Proposed by:  Joanna Rand

Seconded by: David Hinton

Passed, nem con

9. Resolution: To alter the Constitution section 4.1.1

To increase the Maximum committee size from 10 to 14 members.

Proposed by:  David Hill

Seconded by: David Rodway

Passed, nem con

10. Election of Committee

The following members were offering themselves for election:

The Chair asked that these members be elected.

Proposed by: Stephen Black

Seconded by: Sylvia Rodway

Passed, nem con

9. Any other business

Q. What is the difference between a Committee Member and a Trustee?

A. All Committee Members are automatically Trustees

Q. Have you thought of including a request for members to make a legacy to  Elmbridge u3a in their will to show their appreciation.

A. No but the Treasurer will look into the possibility.

The Chair closed the meeting at 1.55pm

The next AGM will take place on Wednesday 1^st April 2026