Trustees’ Annual Report 2023
The u3a in Bath is a member of the Third Age Trust. Our membership is open to anyone who is no longer in full-time employment: there is no age qualification.
The Objects of the group are the advancement of education and, in particular, the education of older people and those who are retired from full time work by all means, including associated activities conducive to learning and personal development in Bath and surrounding areas.
These objects are carried out partly through our monthly talks and mostly via our many interest and activity groups.
Communication is through our website, monthly bulletin and quarterly newsletter, the ‘Third Ager’, the monthly lecture and coffee morning, and we also have a Facebook page.
Governance is through our Committee who are also Trustees of the charity. We are entirely run by volunteers, including Trustees, non-Trustee officers, group convenors and co-ordinators; without them this organisation would not exist.
For a small annual membership fee, members have access to all our groups and talks; other activities, outings, and residential trips require further payment. They also have access to insurance cover while on u3a activities and the huge range of learning resources provided by the Third Age Trust. In addition, we keep a small amount of equipment which can be borrowed by groups to help them with their activities. In order to facilitate some of our Trustees in their work we have provided dedicated laptops for the Treasurer, Business Secretary, Membership Secretary and Newsletter Editor.
All our groups are autonomous, but we provide help as needed through a dedicated section on our website, the Groups Advisers, and an annual meeting for convenors which gives them the opportunity to share good practice and problems, as well as providing input on matters of importance, most recently handling money, GDPR, and our new management system, Simple Membership.
Changing the way we have previously managed our records to this new integrated system has been much of the focus of our work this year. We ‘went live’ at the end of 2022 and various members of the committee have worked assiduously to ensure that all our convenors know how to use the system, the Groups Organisers are encouraging convenors to manage their own webpage but are also carrying out this task for those who are reluctant. The focus now is to get members to use the website as their first port of call to find out information, but again we have had mixed success.
At the moment we have 1383 active members, 266 lapsed members and 48 left members. There have been 306 new members since 1 April 2022 so the new members are slightly less than the lapsed and left, and we are therefore maintaining our numbers. Use of Simple Membership is enabling us to track where members have actively left or have just not yet renewed their membership.
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So far as our groups are concerned the year has seen a good deal of positive activity, with groups returning to a more regular pattern of meetings. The current schedule of groups masks a wide diversity, ranging from thriving small groups of up to 8 or 10 meeting mostly in private homes, to groups of 80 or more, who meet for sports, music or outdoor activities of all kinds. As at 30 April 2023, there are 101 groups in the Groups Directory compared with about 118 groups in 2019. New groups include:
· Beginners Bridge
· Craft · History of Art – Further Study 3 · Novel Writers’ Workshop · Play Reading 2 · Rummikub · Social Bridge
· Violin Ensemble
Some of the new groups are still in the early stage of getting established, and others are progressing well. Yet they are far from replacing the groups lost over the last three years, which include some which were quite large, e.g. Mathematics, a Countryside Walking group, and the former Sailing group. All these, despite the enthusiasm and effort of individual members, were unable to recruit appropriate volunteers to act as Convenors, and represent a significant loss to the organisation as a whole.
All of the groups are dependent on u3a members being willing to help organise them, and to share the workload and the responsibilities with their Convenors. The Groups Advisers are available to offer support and encouragement to any member prepared to take on board the self-help philosophy of u3a and co-operate in doing the groundwork to get a new group started.
The Outings group in particular is still struggling to engage with members, day visits have been achieved, but residential trips have still not managed to get off the ground. The Theatre group has had a bit more success and have organised a couple of theatre trips, however neither of these groups have returned to their preCovid strength which may be due to a number of factors, not just people’s reluctance to participate in larger outings.
Our monthly meetings continue to be well attended however, thanks to some excellent publicity in a variety of local magazines and free papers. We regularly see non-members attending and our Membership Secretary is generally busy with membership enquiries.
Details of all our talks and activity groups are on our website. We took the decision in the summer of 2021 to change our newsletter offering from 11 editions a year to 7 brief bulletins interspersed with 4 magazine-type quarterly issues which we have called ‘The Third Ager’. Many of the groups provide extra information in this quarterly issue, often in the form of a report about a particular activity and usually with photographs, we also try to include recipes, gardening tips, and puzzles, although the offering does vary depending on what members send in. The bulletin gives information about forthcoming activities, booking forms for trips, and contact
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details for all the groups. We have used the money from a recent bequest specifically to produce a leaflet to give to new members, reminding people to register on the website and suggesting ways in which they can participate more fully in membership of our u3a.
Transition to Simple Membership has meant a completely new website which has taken a lot of effort on the part of the retiring Webmaster and also means that for the first time we have been able to provide a ‘members only’ section, all members have been given a username and are invited to set up their own password. They are able to contact other members and also to access information which is not in the public domain.
Regional News
We are members of the Bath and Wiltshire U3A Network, a group of local U3As organised by Kennet U3A, which meets four times a year. This group has been meeting on-line and our Chair has attended meetings, as other commitments have allowed. This group is meeting face-to-face at the end of June when they will be joined by the national u3a Chair.
The network has also set up an on-line forum for Speaker Organisers, our new organisers attended the initial meeting and found it very useful. A second area Study Day organised by Kennet u3a took place at the end of April in conjunction with Marlborough College, having been postponed from September 2022 because of the late Queen’s funeral.
The Committee and Trustees
We have had some movements on the Committee and support group this year, we now have a second Treasurer, our Webmaster has retired but is still in the process of inducting his successor and our talks organiser has left and been replaced by two people job sharing.
The Committee consists of eleven members,
Anne Banks (Chair), Meg Gore Langton (Business Secretary), John Weinle (Treasurer), Richard Marke (Treasurer) Jill Carr (Membership Officer), Pat Corcoran (Newsletter Editor), Eleanor Ellington & Diane Duck (Joint Groups Advisers), Steve Prowse (Publicity and social media), Christine Barron (Newsletter distribution), David Bethell, (Outings) and Irene Murdoch (Theatre).
We are also supported Betty Suchar & David Hagger (Talks Organisers), Derek Longmore (database) and Andy Pepperdine (Audio Visual)
. The current Chair and Business Secretary both intend to step down in 2023, and also the Membership Secretary after the next membership renewals round in October.
In common with many other voluntary organisations, while we have a thriving membership, we are having difficulty in getting people to take up committee and other support roles. Many of our members have caring duties, some are still working part-time, and others feel they have ‘done their bit’. This is proving to be a problem to us, but we continue to work hard to persuade people to step up.
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Anne Banks Chair u3ainBath May 2023
General Ledger Summary
U3A IN BATH
For the period 1 March 2022 to 28 February 2023
| Account | Account Code | Opening Balance | Debit |
|---|---|---|---|
| U3A Bath Subscriptions (Current Fee year) | 200 | 0.00 | 165.00 |
| Donations | 250 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| Interest Income | 270 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| Gift Aid Tax Recovered | 275 | 0.00 | 0.00 |
| New Group Grants | 280 | 0.00 | 58.84 |
| Monthly meetings | 330 | 0.00 | 7,464.00 |
| Open day meeting | 331 | 0.00 | 1,019.07 |
| Speakers for U3A meetings | 335 | 0.00 | 1,415.00 |
| Convenors meetings | 342 | 0.00 | 145.20 |
| U3A Bath newsletter | 345 | 0.00 | 1,871.33 |
| Advertising & Marketing | 400 | 0.00 | 5,670.00 |
| Audit & Accountancy fees | 401 | 0.00 | 300.00 |
| Bank Fees | 404 | 0.00 | 415.80 |
| Membership costs | 420 | 0.00 | 2,670.05 |
| General Expenses | 429 | 0.00 | 60.00 |
| Trustees Expenses | 430 | 0.00 | 378.00 |
| Trustees monthly meetings | 432 | 0.00 | 462.00 |
| Capitation Fees | 435 | 0.00 | 5,280.00 |
| Third Age Trust magazine | 438 | 0.00 | 3,361.00 |
| IT Software and Consumables | 463 | 0.00 | 1,504.73 |
| Website | 495 | 0.00 | 100.70 |
| 601 Unity Trust - Renewals | 601 | 60.00 | 11,106.75 |
| Petty Cash | 602 | 50.00 | 0.00 |
| Unity Trust - Current | 603 | 7,211.69 | 63,003.10 |
| Unity Trust - Deposit | 604 | 40,886.31 | 49.67 |
| THEATRE BARCLAYS BANK ACCOUNT MEMO ONLY | 609 | 1,922.39 | 0.00 |
| Accounts Receivable | 610 | 0.00 | 29,947.99 |
| BANK ACCOUNT NATWEST OUTINGS | 612 | 5,517.60 | 3,992.50 |
| New Members | 616 | 105.00 | 3,414.89 |
| Accounts Payable | 800 | 0.00 | 37,279.90 |
| Unrestricted funds b/f | 940 | (42,354.71) | 0.00 |
| Outings | 951 | (5,517.60) | 4,612.20 |
| Theatre Group Barclays Account | 952 | (1,922.39) | 3,008.05 |
| Redundant Groups | 953 | (271.25) | 0.00 |
| Groups: Table Tennis | 961 | (587.22) | 2,712.00 |
| Groups: table tennis 4 | 962 | (609.53) | 936.00 |
| Groups: Ukulele | 963 | (69.30) | 210.00 |
| Groups: Swing Band | 964 | (349.20) | 1,454.04 |
| Groups: Art 1 | 966 | (0.36) | 1,140.00 |
| Groups: Art 2 | 967 | 280.22 | 522.50 |
| Groups: Active Adventurers1 | 971 | (1,023.61) | 1,050.12 |
| Groups: Badminton | 972 | (485.34) | 1,365.00 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Groups: Choir | 973 | (1,421.75) | 3,132.11 |
| Groups: Computer Users Forum | 974 | (170.01) | 0.00 |
| Groups: Creative Writing | 975 | (214.50) | 475.00 |
| Groups: Creative Writing Workshop | 976 | (104.00) | 0.00 |
| Groups: Digital Photography | 977 | (477.71) | 578.05 |
| Groups: European & Current Affairs | 979 | 0.00 | 612.00 |
| Groups: Exploring philosophy | 980 | (31.00) | 0.00 |
| Groups: Family History | 981 | 0.00 | 291.00 |
| Groups: Garden group | 982 | (142.38) | 0.00 |
| Groups: History 1 | 983 | (30.00) | 521.00 |
| Groups: History 2 | 984 | (93.00) | 0.00 |
| Groups: History of Art - Further Study and Discussion | 986 | 0.00 | 180.00 |
| Groups: History of Art 3 | 986a | 0.00 | 33.75 |
| Groups: Italian Beginners | 987 | (7.19) | 150.00 |
| Groups: Local History buildings | 988 | (16.94) | 182.25 |
| Groups: Listening to Music | 989 | 62.46 | 1,404.00 |
| Groups: Mahjong1a | 990 | (118.68) | 0.00 |
| Groups: Mahjong 3 | 994 | (72.00) | 0.00 |
| Groups: Rock band | 998 | 232.00 | 720.00 |
| Groups: Science | 999 | (238.00) | 884.40 |
| Total | (0.00) | 207,308.99 | |
| All groups exc theatre and outngs | |||
| Social group fees | |||
| Social group costs | 26,173.47 |
| Credit | Net Movement | Closing Balance |
|---|---|---|
| 23,541.49 | (23,376.49) | (23,376.49)a |
| 1,123.20 | (1,123.20) | (1,123.20)a |
| 49.92 | (49.92) | (49.92)a |
| 4,394.99 | (4,394.99) | (4,394.99)a |
| 0.00 | 58.84 | 58.84a |
| 0.00 | 7,464.00 | 7,464.00a |
| 0.00 | 1,019.07 | 1,019.07a |
| 0.00 | 1,415.00 | 1,415.00a |
| 0.00 | 145.20 | 145.20a |
| 0.00 | 1,871.33 | 1,871.33a |
| 0.00 | 5,670.00 | 5,670.00a |
| 0.00 | 300.00 | 300.00a |
| 0.00 | 415.80 | 415.80a |
| 0.00 | 2,670.05 | 2,670.05a |
| 0.00 | 60.00 | 60.00a |
| 0.00 | 378.00 | 378.00a |
| 0.00 | 462.00 | 462.00a |
| 0.00 | 5,280.00 | 5,280.00a |
| 0.00 | 3,361.00 | 3,361.00a |
| 0.00 | 1,504.73 | 1,504.73a |
| 0.00 | 100.70 | 100.70a |
| 10,973.36 | 133.39 | 193.39a |
| 0.00 | 0.00 | 50.00a |
| 50,893.94 | 12,109.16 | 19,320.85a |
| 15,000.00 | (14,950.33) | 25,935.98a |
| 1,068.05 | (1,068.05) | 854.34a |
| 29,947.99 | 0.00 | 0.00a |
| 4,612.20 | (619.70) | 4,897.90a |
| 2,081.11 | 1,333.78 | 1,438.78a |
| 37,279.90 | 0.00 | 0.00a |
| 0.00 | 0.00 | (42,354.71) |
| 3,992.50 | 619.70 | (4,897.90) |
| 1,940.00 | 1,068.05 | (854.34) |
| 0.00 | 0.00 | (271.25) |
| 3,086.02 | (374.02) | (961.24)a |
| 880.50 | 55.50 | (554.03)a |
| 223.00 | (13.00) | (82.30) |
| 1,572.75 | (118.71) | (467.91)a |
| 1,140.07 | (0.07) | (0.43)a |
| 1,125.00 | (602.50) | (322.28)a |
| 1,138.50 | (88.38) | (1,111.99)a |
| 1,447.00 | (82.00) | (567.34) | a |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3,170.00 | (37.89) | (1,459.64) | a |
| 0.00 | 0.00 | (170.01) | |
| 435.00 | 40.00 | (174.50) | |
| 0.00 | 0.00 | (104.00) | |
| 595.00 | (16.95) | (494.66) | a |
| 846.10 | (234.10) | (234.10) | |
| 0.00 | 0.00 | (31.00) | |
| 544.00 | (253.00) | (253.00) | |
| 0.00 | 0.00 | (142.38) | |
| 438.90 | 82.10 | 52.10 | a |
| 0.00 | 0.00 | (93.00) | a |
| 90.00 | 90.00 | 90.00 | a |
| 34.00 | (0.25) | (0.25) | a |
| 177.50 | (27.50) | (34.69) | |
| 204.00 | (21.75) | (38.69) | |
| 1,575.00 | (171.00) | (108.54) | |
| 0.00 | 0.00 | (118.68) | |
| 0.00 | 0.00 | (72.00) | |
| 952.00 | (232.00) | 0.00 | |
| 736.00 | 148.40 | (89.60) | |
| 207,308.99 | 0.00 | (0.00) | |
| (7,815.41) | |||
| 26,342.84 |
U3A IN BATH
Statement of Financial actvites (Income and Expenditure)
| Unrest | ||
|---|---|---|
| General | ||
| 2023 | ||
| Incoming Resources from generated funds | ||
| Voluntary Income and investment income | Note 1 | 29,070 |
| Incoming resources from charitable actvites | Note 2 | |
| Total incoming resources | 29,070 | |
| Resources expended | ||
| Cost of generatng voluntary income | Note 3 | 9,359 |
| Charitable Actvites | Note 4 | 21,160 |
| Governance costs | Note 5 | 1,657 |
| Total resources expended | 32,176 | |
| Net incoming/(outgoing) resources | -3,106 | |
| Total funds at previous year end | 42,354 | |
| Total funds at 28 February 2023 | 39,248 | |
| Net Assets at 28 February 2023 | ||
| Current Assets (cash balances only) | ||
| Unity Bank Reserve Account | 18,246 | |
| Unity Bank Current Accounts | 20,952 | |
| Cash in Hand | 50 | |
| 39,248 | ||
| Barclays Bank current account for Theatre events | ||
| NatWest Bank current account for Outngs | ||
| Total Assets at 28 February 2023 | 39,248 | |
| These accounts were adopted by the Trustees on | ….............................................2023 and signed on th | |
| Chair - Anne Banks | Treasurer - | |
| U3A IN BATH | Notes to the account 28 February 2023 | |
| Unrestr | ||
| General | ||
| 2023 | ||
| 1A Voluntary Income | ||
| U3A Bath Subscriptons | 23,376 | |
| Gif Aid received | 4,395 | |
| Visitors' Fees | 624 |
| Bequests 1B Investment Income 1 Voluntary and Investment Income 2 Incoming resources from Charitable Actvites Social Groups' Fees Incoming resources from Charitable Actvites 3 Cost of generatng voluntary income Membership costs Open Day costs Advertsing and Marketng 4 Charitable Actvites Hire of rooms, coaches etc for Social Groups Capitaton Fee IT sofware & consumables Postage, printng & statonary Room hire for U3A monthly meetngs Speakers for U3A monthly meetngs Third Age Trust magazine U3A newsleter New Group and convenors costs U3A IN BATH Notes to the account 28 February 2023 5 Governance costs Audit & accountancy fees AGM costs Trustees monthly meetngs Website costs Bank charges Trustees' expenses - authorised re-imbursement of expenses Purchase of U3A banners Statonery, postage & printer costs Governance costs total 6 Capital costs |
500 |
|---|---|
| 28,895 175 |
|
| 29,070 | |
| - | |
| - | |
| 2,670 1,019 5,670 |
|
| 9,359 | |
| 5,280 1,505 60 7,464 1,415 3,361 1,871 204 |
|
| 21,160 | |
| Unrest General 2023 300 - 462 101 416 |
|
| 1,279 | |
| - 378 |
|
| 378 | |
| 1,657 | |
| - |
7 These accounts have been prepared on a cash basis. They should be read in conjuncton with the at
| U3A IN BATH Notes to the account 28 February 2023 8 Actvity Funds Actve adventures Choir Table tennis Groups Art Groups History Groups Badminton Digital Photography Swing band Other groups Group balances held in main bank accounts Theatre Group - Barclays Bank current account Outngs Group - Natwest current account Total reserves of Groups at 28.2.23 |
Balance at 28.2.23 1,112 1,460 1,515 323 -49 567 495 468 |
|---|---|
| 5,891 1,924 |
|
| 7,815 | |
| 854 4,898 |
|
| 5,752 | |
| 13,567 |
9 Reserves Policies
The Trustees believe that the retained reserves should be equivalent to four months gross expenditure
This view takes into account any significant reduction in revenue and any potential loss on any contrac This policy is reviewed every three months by the Trustees.
for the year ended 28 February 2023
| tricted Total Groups Funds 2023 2023 - 29,070 26,342 26,342 26,342 55,412 - 9,359 26,173 47,333 - 1,657 26,173 58,349 169 - 2,937 13,398 55,752 13,567 52,815 7,815 26,061 20,952 50 7,815 47,063 854 854 4,898 4,898 13,567 52,815 |
Unrestricted Total General Groups Funds 2022 2022 2022 21,991 21,991 22,328 22,328 |
|---|---|
| 21,991 22,328 44,319 | |
| 2,949 2,949 17,111 20,656 37,767 1,966 1,966 |
|
| 22,026 20,656 42,682 | |
| -35 1,672 1,637 42,389 11,726 54,115 |
|
| 42,354 13,398 55,752 | |
| 34,928 5,958 40,886 7,376 7,376 50 50 |
|
| 42,354 5,958 48,312 1,922 1,922 5,518 5,518 |
|
| 42,354 13,398 55,752 |
eir behalf by
- John Weinle
| ricted |
Total | Unrestricted |
Unrestricted |
Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Groups |
Funds | General |
Groups | Funds |
| 2023 | 2023 | 2022 | 2022 | 2022 |
| 23,376 | 21,870 | 21,870 | ||
| 4,395 | - | - | ||
| 624 | 118 | 118 |
| 500 - 28,895 175 - 29,070 26,342 26,342 26,342 26,342 2,670 1,019 5,670 - 9,359 26,173 26,173 5,280 1,505 60 7,464 1,415 3,361 1,871 204 26,173 47,333 |
- - |
|---|---|
| 21,988 - 21,988 3 3 |
|
| 21,991 - 21,991 | |
| 22,328 22,328 | |
| - 22,328 22,328 | |
| 814 814 525 525 1,610 1,610 |
|
| 2,949 - 2,949 | |
| 20,656 20,656 5,453 5,453 586 586 99 99 3,690 3,690 805 805 3,789 3,789 2,689 2,689 - - |
|
| 17,111 20,656 37,767 |
contnued
| ricted |
Total |
|---|---|
| Groups | Funds |
| 2023 | 2023 |
| 300 | |
| - | |
| 462 | |
| 101 | |
| 416 | |
| - | 1,279 |
| - | |
| 378 | |
| - | 378 |
| - | 1,657 |
| - | - |
| Unrestricted |
Unrestricted |
Total |
|---|---|---|
| General |
Groups |
Funds |
| 2022 | 2022 | 2022 |
| 300 | 300 | |
| - | ||
| 441 | 441 | |
| 71 | 71 | |
| 294 | 294 | |
| 1,106 | - | 1,106 |
| 500 | 500 | |
| 360 | 360 | |
| 860 | - | 860 |
| 1,966 | - | 1,966 |
| - | - | - |
ached Treasurer's Report
contnued Balance at 28.2.22 1,024 1,422 1,197 -280 123 485 478 349 4,798 1,160 5,958 1,922 5,518 7,440 13,398
e.
ct.
U3A in Bath
Charity number 1004449
Independent examiner’s report on the accounts for the year ended 28[th] February 2023
Respectve responsibilites of trustees and examiner
The charity’s trustees are responsible for the preparation of the accounts. The charity’s trustees consider that an audit is not required for this year under section 144 of the Charities Act 2011 (the Charities Act) and that an independent examination is needed.
It is my responsibility to:
examine the accounts under section 145 of the Charities Act,
to follow the procedures laid down in the general Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5)(b) of the Charities Act, and
to state whether particular matters have come to my attention.
Basis of independent examiner’s statement
My examination was carried out in accordance with the general Directions given by the Charity Commission. An examination includes a review of the accounting records kept by the charity and a comparison of the accounts presented with those records. It also includes consideration of any unusual items or disclosures in the accounts and seeking explanations from the trustees concerning such matters. The procedures undertaken do not provide all the evidence that would be required in an audit, and consequently no opinion is given as to whether the accounts present a “true and fair” view and the report is limited to those matters set out in the statement below.
Independent examiner’s statement
In connection with my examination, no matter has come to my attention
- 1 which gives me reasonable cause to believe that in any material respect the requirements:
to keep accounting records in accordance with section 130 of the Charities Act; and
to prepare accounts which accord with the accounting records and comply with the
accounting requirements of the Charities Act
have not been met; or
2 to which, in my opinion, attention should be drawn in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.
Signed
dated
David Hughesdon FCA
165 Newbridge Hill, Bath, BA1 3PX