Elmbridge u3a
THE ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF GROUP LEADERS
Underpinning all that Elmbridge u3a (Eu3a) does are three major policies – Code of Conduct,Safeguarding and Health & Safety. Group leaders are in the vanguard of setting an example of how these policies should be applied to their groups - they are, therefore, expected to acquaint themselves with them.
Code of Conduct for Members
Eu3a is an inclusive self-help organisation with a diverse membership and relies on collaboration and mutual respect between its members. Eu3a is affiliated to the Third Age Trust, the UK’s National u3a, whose guiding principles are openness, shared learning and mutual trust.
This Code of Conduct sets out the standards of behaviour expected of all members, including group leaders, volunteers, and committee members, to ensure the smooth and enjoyable running of our u3a.
The Code of Conduct can be found on the Members page of the Eu3a website.
Safeguarding
This policy is written to enable the committee to address issues where there are safeguarding concerns. Safeguarding includes incidents between members, concerns regarding abuse (physical, psychological or emotional) or neglect that a u3a member may be experiencing outside of the u3a, health-related issues or previous or pending criminal convictions.
Its purpose is to demonstrate the commitment of Eu3a to safeguarding their members and to ensure that everyone involved in our organisation is aware of:
- The legislation, policy and procedures for safeguarding adults.
- Their role and responsibility for safeguarding adults.
- What to do or who to speak to if they have a concern relating to the welfare or wellbeing of an adult within Eu3a.
The Code of Conduct can be found on the Members page of the Eu3a website.
Health & Safety
Eu3a aims to provide and maintain safe and healthy conditions and environments for all members during the meetings of our groups, other meetings and at events. Eu3a will strive to ensure that reasonable care has been taken to avoid the harming of others and that participants are aware of the risks. It should not be confused with Safeguarding - where Safeguarding is about protecting an adult’s right to live in safety, free from abuse and neglect, Health & Safety is about minimising or removing the risk of accidents and injuries.
In general, it is best practice for group leaders to apply risk assessments (updated at least annually) to all meeting venues and activities. These will be used to identify any risks and explore how they could be mitigated.
Sample Risk Management templates for each category of event have been produced and can be downloaded from the Member section of the website under: Risk Management Templates
- Meetings in Members’ Homes’
- Outdoor Sports
- Cycling
- DayTrips/Outings
- Walks and Rambling
- Third Party Venues
- Pickleball - Xcel - St Peter's Hall
These templates can be found on the above links..
It is recognised that Group Leaders are conscientious about risk management. However, risk awareness and mitigation are important in order that we do not invalidate u3a insurance. Hence, the emphasis on this in our Health and Safety Policy. Some important, generic, risk mitigations are to;
- ensure that our meetings and activities are held in a safe environment that is free from hazards
- ensure that ICE (In Case of Emergency) contact details for members is available in case of an incident (this can be obtained from Beacon or direct from members), note that members are not obliged to provide this information
- ensure that third part venues have their own health and safety procedures and their contact details are available in case of emergency.
Should an incident/accident occur an Incident Report form must be completed and submitted to the Groups Secretary.
An Incident Report form can be found on the Members page of the Eu3a website.
The Group
1. Each group runs itself. Members and the leader(s) normally decide together the form of study/activity, the regularity of meeting, the time & location and whether the group has any breaks during the year.
2. On start-up of a new group, the group leader(s) should agree a description with the Groups Secretary, including the information in (1) above, together with an initial list of group members. This information will then be input on to Beacon, our in-house administration & management system, by the Groups Secretary. It is important that group leaders know how to subsequently edit the information themselves on Beacon and tuition is available through the Groups Secretary. The group will also be published in the Bulletin, the Newsletter and, later, on the Website.
3. The group leader(s) must check that all members of their group are members of Elmbridge u3a (Eu3a). (To be sure, always ask for a member’s Eu3a Membership Number – if they are not registered they will not be able to be listed on Beacon). The group member list should be kept up-to-date at all times.
4. If a group leader experiences any problems with a group member, then this should be reported to the Groups Secretary. However, the group leader(s) is/are the final arbiter of who can be a member of their group.
5. It is good practice to fix a maximum number of members per group. It is Eu3a policy that if a group becomes oversubscribed, a Waiting List should be maintained. When a place in the group becomes available, then a new member should be added to the group from the waiting list in the order in which they were added to the list. The waiting list should be monitored from time to time to check if those waiting still want to be on the list and, if numbers are such, to alert the Groups Secretary that a new group might then be formed from them.
6. It is a requirement of group leaders that regular checks of their group’s details and contact information are undertaken at intervals to coincide with publication of our seasonal Magazine. At the same time, an audit should also be made of the group’s data, including its current list of members, on Beacon and updated where necessary.
Registers
1. It is good practice to keep a register of attendances.
2. It is similarly good practice to check-up on absences and if an absence is felt to have gone on too long, or if there are too many absences, then the member should be contacted and advised that they will be removed from the group, unless there are extenuating circumstances to the contrary. If available, a replacement member can then be taken from the waiting list.
3. Members are required to inform the group leader in advance of any planned absences so that their place, if appropriate, might be filled.
4. If a group leader becomes aware of any changes to a member’s contact details, the Membership Secretary should be informed.
Finance and Regulation
1. There is no charge per se for attending groups or receiving tuition, nor are group leaders paid. (All group leaders and officers are volunteers). However, group members may pay a charge per session, agreed by the group, to cover the group’s costs and the cost of any external hire facilities used or support given. If a group meets at a member’s home, then it is customary that a minimum amount of £1 is to be paid to cover the cost of refreshments.
2. For insurance purposes, all regular bookings of outside venues (eg sports facilities, village halls etc) must be made with the prior agreement of the Treasurer (via the Groups Secretary) and in the name of Eu3a. A risk assessment must be made addressing Eu3a members’ use of such premises, which is shared with members and updated annually. (The Committee can help with templates and examples). The group should ensure, through written evidence, that these third parties have public liability insurance.
3. Groups are categorised according to their financial turnover. This means, for a very small number of groups with a high financial turnover, extra conditions must be met. The committee will identify these groups and inform the relevant group leaders accordingly.
4. Groups are entirely financially self-sufficient.
5. Where a group leader holds funds on behalf of a group, these should be in a separate account to show that the funds are held on behalf of Elmbridge u3a.
6. In case of query, group leaders should maintain a proper and open record of all expenditure with copies of receipts/invoices, etc., which must be available on request to group members.
7. No equipment provided to groups by Elmbridge u3a, or any equipment procured by individual groups to facilitate group activities, may be loaned to or borrowed by members, or non-members, for private use.
Data Protection and Privacy
1. Group leaders will be handling member’s personal information and must not share it with anyone other than the Eu3a Committee, nor use it for any purpose other than those agreed with the member. Group leaders must at all times take care to keep each member’s personal data secure from access by anyone else, unless the member has given permission to do so.
2. Group leaders are reminded that they are consenting to have their own contact details published on Beacon and in our regular Bulletins and Newsletters. The Bulletin and the Newsletter are intended only for members of Eu3a but inevitably, come into the public domain and may be seen by third parties.
3. Members of a u3a group operating WhatsApp for communication purposes need to be made aware that where applicable, for example when setting up a group, the Groups Secretary may become a member of the WhatsApp group. WhatsApp should only be used for information related to the specific Eu3a group for which it was established.
Complaints
1. Occasionally, there may be a need to address a complaint raised by a member. These should be handled in accordance with our Complaints Procedure.
2. Every effort should be made to deal with issues arising on a one-to-one, ideally face-to-face, basis to avoid the need to pursue the Complaints Procedure.
3. Effort must be made to respond to complaints in person rather than just by emails – since so much interpersonal information is missing in emails and hence further misunderstandings arise.
The Complains Procedure can be found on the Members page of the Eu3a website.
Medical Emergencies :
1. As a general rule, Eu3a advises all members to provide details of people to contact in case of an emergency. Where provided, these are held on Beacon. However, in case there might be difficulty in accessing Beacon for any reason during a group meeting, it would be good practice if the group leader retained their own separate list of group members emergency contact details.
2. It is also recommended that members carry a medical card detailing their NHS number and any health conditions that might be important in a medical emergency while participating in a group activity. (Examples can be found in the Bulletin and on the Website).
3. It is good practice that group leaders encourage members to provide the information in (1) and (2) above.
Help and Assistance :
See Annex A to this document to find contacts who can offer help and assistance, covering a range of topics, to Group Leaders.
| Roles and Responsibilities of Group Leaders | Elmbridge u3a | |||
| Version | Description of changes | Date of Change | Review Date | |
| 1.0 | Replaces previous undated version. Several changes including reference to Code of Conduct, Safeguarding and Health and Safety Policies. | 21/07/2025 | 21/07/2026 | |
Annex A
GROUP LEADERS COMMUNICATIONS PROTOCOLS
The following protocols indicate who to contact whenever assistance is required with any aspect of a group.
1.a. General enquiries and MINOR PROBLEMS.
Contact : Your Coordinator.
1.b. For SERIOUS PROBLEMS.
Contact : Groups Secretary.
2.a. General assistance with BEACON.
Contact : Your Coordinator.
2.b. Log-in problems with BEACON.
Contact : Groups Secretary.
3.a. Changes to your Group Directory details in THE (seasonal) MAGAZINE. (Note that such changes will also be automatically updated on the website).
Contact : Your Coordinator. (Do not contact The Editor direct).
3.b. Changes to your group details on the WEBSITE.
Contact : Groups Secretary. (The GS will liaise with Annie Fluke who has been trained and singularly authorised to edit group data on the Website).
4.a. Specific and latest updates to your group details for the regular, all-members GROUP NEWS bulletin.
Contact : Groups Secretary.
4.b. General promotion, articles of interest and photos about your group for possible inclusion in THE (seasonal) MAGAZINE.
Contact : The Editor. (editor@elmbridgeu3a.org).
5.a. Concerns regarding safeguarding.
Contact : Any Committee Member.
5.b. Health and Safety Concerns.
Contact : Groups Secretary.
5.c. Breaches of the Code of Conduct.
Contact : Groups Secretary.