## **Trustees' Annual Report for the period** ||Period start date|Period start date|||Period end date|| |---|---|---|---|---|---|---| |**From **|**01**|**Jan**|**2025**|**To**|**31**
**Dec**|**2025**| ## Section A Reference and administration details **Charity name** Richmond upon Thames University of the Third Age **Other names charity is known by** Richmond upon Thames U3A **Registered charity number (if any)** 1012343 **Charity's principal address** ||| |---|---| |
52 Essex Court|| |Station Road|| |London|| |**Postcode**|**SW13 0ER**| ## **Names of the charity trustees who manage the charity** |1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20|**Trustee name**|**Office (if any)**|**Dates acted if not for whole**
**year**|**Name of person (or body) entitled**
**to appoint trustee(if any)**| |---|---|---|---|---| ||John Cardwell|Chairman||| ||Geraldine Wear|Secretary||| ||Carole Fletcher|Treasurer||| ||David Wood|Membership
Secretary||| ||Charlotte Gregson|||| ||Bob Litherland|||| ||Norma Cook|Section Co-ordinator|26-Mar-2025 onwards|| |||||| |||||| |||||| |||||| |||||| |||||| |||||| |||||| |||||| |||||| |||||| |||||| |||||| **Names of the trustees for the charity, if any, (for example, any custodian trustees)** **Name Dates acted if not for whole year** **TAR** March **2012** 1 ## **Names and addresses of advisers (Optional information)** **Type of adviser Name Address** Examiner of the Accounts Jeremy Barton 83 Stanley Gardens Rd, Teddington, TW11 8SY **Name of chief executive or names of senior staff members (Optional information)** ## **Section B Structure, governance and management** ## **Description of the charity’s trusts** Constitution Type of governing document First adopted 25 Feb 2003 and subsequently amended on 28 Feb 2006, (eg. trust deed, constitution) 27 Feb 2007, 28 Nov 2012, 28 Feb 2018 Unincorporated association How the charity is constituted - (eg. trust, association, company) Elected by the membership at the annual general meeting of the Trustee selection methods organisation (eg. appointed by, elected by) ## **Additional governance issues (Optional information)** You **may choose** to include additional information, where relevant, about: - policies and procedures adopted for the induction and training of trustees; The Richmond upon Thames U3A is a member of and is affiliated to the Third Age Trust (reg charity no 288007). We follow the Principles of the U3A Movement as set out in the Mission Statement of the Third Age Trust. - the charity’s organisational structure and any wider network with which the charity works; - relationship with any related parties; - trustees’ consideration of major risks and the system and procedures to manage them. ## **Section C Objectives and activities** **Summary of the objects of the charity set out in its governing document** 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. **TAR** March **2012** 2 We have been very fortunate in Richmond u3a that our membership totals have stayed high and people are still joining us every month from word-of-mouth recommendations. Therefore our focus has been on finding an increasingly diverse range of subjects of interest to our existing members, rather than on attracting new members. We are a co-operative with all our groups and other activities run by our members. Thus, joining u3a offers scope for helping as well as access to courses. We operate an impressive range of some 130 groups, each led by one of our members. Our model enables us to keep our costs and **Summary of the main** membership fees exceptionally low. In addition, we do not require **activities undertaken for the** payments from the Government or Local Authority. Indeed, we pay about **public benefit in relation to** £4 per member to the Third Age Trust each year, in addition to payments **these objects (include within** for the Third Age Matters magazine, but we are not part of a centralised **this section the statutory** organisation. Third Age Trust ensures we comply with Charity **declaration that trustees have** Commission rules and negotiates more favourable rates of insurance but **had regard to the guidance** otherwise we are independent **issued by the Charity Commission on public benefit)** - . ## **Additional details of objectives and activities (Optional information)** The organisation is entirely run by volunteers. None of the trustees/ You **may choose** to include officers nor individuals running groups receive any payment from the further statements, where organisation for their services. relevant, about: - policy on grantmaking; - policy programme related investment; - contribution made by volunteers. ## Section D Achievements and performance **TAR** March **2012** 3 Section D Achievements and erformance p |**Summary of the main**
**achievements of the charity**
**during the year**|The year has been one of steady progress with the emphasis on
ensuring that the core activities of our u3a remain well supported
and continue to flourish.
Herewith the main events and achievements of the year.
During the year our total membership numbers increased to 1538,
from 1457 at the end of 2024. Our finances are in good shape as
you will see from the accounts. We have thus decided to keep the
annual subscriptions at their present level of £15 for individual and
£25 for joint membership.
Much credit for the continuing prosperity of our u3a is due to our
hardworking committee and section leaders.
Our Treasurer, Carole Fletcher, besides managing our finances,
has taken over the production of the newsletter which is now
issued each month and distributed by email. This has meant we
can keep you informed on a more regular basis and is much
quicker and easier to produce than the previous printed version;
this change has also eliminated printing and mailing costs which
were becoming quite substantial, even when producing only four
editions per year.
David Wood has continued in his capacity of Membership
Secretary, doing a wonderful job of exploiting the various facilities
that Beacon offers. For those willing to use the on-line facilities,
one can now join as a new member and also renew one’s
membership, without needing to rely on Royal Mail when
submitting forms and payments. David has also been waging a
constant, though not always successful, struggle to convince
Group Leaders to make more use of Beacon.
A year ago Norma Cook took over from Chris Barclay as Groups
Co-ordinator alongside her existing role of Section Leader. Norma
has been ably assisted by our other two Section Leaders, Jan
McCall and Tricia Abrahamsen. Together they operate very
effectively as a team, overseeing around 120 Group Leaders who
are responsible for over 140 groups. These groups are the beating
heart of our u3a and it is no small undertaking to maintain contact
with so many, keeping them informed of procedural changes and
fielding the various issues that arise.
A year ago Geraldine Wear took over as our Secretary from Sue
Wood. Besides organising and minuting our committee meetings
she endeavours to keep us abreast of the various policies and
guidelines emanating from the Third Age Trust head office.
Together with other members of the committee she has helped
produce a new Safeguarding Policy and a Complaints Procedure,
both of which may be accessed via our web site. Geraldine also
started a program of visits to Kew Gardens for our members, using
the Kew Gardens access scheme which provides entry to the
gardens at aheavily discountedrate.Sadly this offer isnolonger| |---|---| **TAR** March **2012** 4 Section D Achievements and erformance p available to us. During 2025 each month we held a u3a wide meeting in Clarendon Hall. We enjoyed an eclectic mixture of talks and musical events with audiences variously between 50 and 150. Our decision to move back into Clarendon Hall for these meetings has meant that when unexpected numbers turn up for a meeting, we don’t need to turn anyone away though on one occasion it did require a lot of last minute furniture moving. The comprehensive kitchen facilities of the hall have enabled us to provide tea and biscuits on a lavish scale, thanks to the efforts of Charlotte Gregson, Carole Fletcher and other helpers. The ever popular Group Leaders Lunch was held in July and proved a great success, attended by around 80 members. With Libby Barton out of action for health reasons, we brought in an outside caterer who provided us with a wonderful meal. This annual lunch gives the committee a chance to meet many of the group leaders, listen to their problems, involve them in our future plans as well as allowing them to share each other’s experiences. We also revived the custom of holding lunches for new members, giving them an opportunity to meet some members of the committee and learn how to make the most of their membership. We held two lunches during the year, each attended by around 25 members. We plan to continue this practice in 2026. ## **Section E Financial review** We try and maintain a minimum balance on our accounts equivalent to 3 **Brief statement of the** month’s worth of operational expenditure – currently equivalent to £9,000 **charity’s policy on reserves** – though because the bulk of our income is received during August and September when members pay their annual subscription, the balance during the preceding summer months is inevitably somewhat lower. **Details of any funds materially in deficit** **Further financial review details (Optional information)** **TAR** March **2012** 5 You **may choose** to include additional information, where relevant about: - the charity’s principal sources of funds (including any fundraising); Our principal source of funding is the annual subscription. Single members pay £15 p.a.; joint members pay £25 p.a. for two people at the same address. These rates have been maintained at the current level for the last 16 years. - how expenditure has supported the key objectives of the charity; - investment policy and objectives including any ethical investment policy adopted. ## **Section F Other optional information** ## **Section G Declaration** **The trustees declare that they have approved the trustees’ report above.** **Signed on behalf of the charity’s trustees** **Signature(s)** Geraldine WEAR **Full name(s)** Ernest John CARDWELL **Position (eg Secretary, Chair,** Chairman Secretary **etc) Date** 1 July 2026 **TAR** March **2012** 6 ## **Richmond Upon Thames u3a** ## **Income and Expenditure Account Year ended 31st December 2025** |**Note**
**INCOME**
Subscriptions
1
Group Members' Contributions
2
Coach trips
3
Bank Interest
Gift Aid
4
**EXPENDITURE**
Monthly meeting speaker fees
Monthly meeting room hire
5
Monthly meeting catering
Printing and Stationery
6
Postage
7
Group room hire
8
Group Leaders' and Volunteers' lunches
9
New Members Lunches
10
IT costs and Communications
11
National U3A News
12
u3a Membership Charges
13
Coach trips expenditure
3
Bank charges
Copyright licence
SW London Network
Presents and Donations
**SURPLUS OF INCOME OVER EXPENDITURE**|**Year to 31/12/2025**
**£**
**£**
24,519.83
18,014.31
-
286.24
4,162.55
46,982.93
1,242.10
1,276.00
338.61
724.66
664.06
20,996.60
3,476.93
723.95
1,753.44
5,047.48
6,144.00
-
117.60
69.37
-
65.00
42,639.80
4,343.13|**Year to 31/12/20**|**Year to 31/12/20**| |---|---|---|---| ||||**£**
22,565.87
18,591.30
2,445.00
163.17
3,943.24| ||||646.00
924.00
275.96
3,401.92
2,288.14
20,042.42
2,888.96
-
2,053.24
4,485.48
5,692.00
2,134.00
143.00
64.20
50.00
-| ## **NOTES TO ACCOUNTS FOR YEAR ENDED 31st DECEMBER 2025** **1. Subscriptions** The annual subscription has remained the same at £15, with £25 for joint membership. At the year end there were 1537 fully paid up members, compared with 1460 at the end of last year. It is proposed to keep the membership fees at the same level for the year 2026/ **2. Group Members' Contributions** Where a group is of a size or nature that cannot be accommodated in a private home a suitable venue is hired and group members are asked to contribute to the cost of the hire. The basic individual contribution is £3 per meeting but may slightly higher depending on the cost of the venue. **3. Coach Trips** There were no coach trips in this year. It is hoped to be able to reinstate them in some way in the 2026 year. **4. Gift Aid** Gift Aid was claimed for the tax year 2024/2025 based on the membership fees of the number of people who have signed up for Gift Aid. **5. Monthly Meetings** Monthly meetings have been held in Clarendon Hall, York House, Twickenham and each month a speaker is engaged to speak on various topics of interest. **6. Printing and Stationery** These costs are lower this year as we discontinued the printing of our Newsletters and Prospectus during the year. **7. Postage** Mailing costs are also lower due to the discintinuation of the printed Newsletters and Prospectus. **8. Group Room Hire** **9. Group Leaders/Volunteers' Lunches** ## **10. New Members' Lunches** **11. IT Costs and Communications** **12. National U3A Newletter** **13. U3A Membership Charges** **14. Bank Balance** These are the costs of hiring venues for group activities which include various sports activities and also rooms for groups with larger memberships. To show appreciation for their commitment Group Leaders and Volunteers are invited to a lunch each year at the expense of Richmond u3a. New Members are invited to a lunch to meet some of the Committee and other recently joined members. This cost is mainly the contribution paid to the National organisation for our use of Beacon which has been charged at a rate of £1 per member. This cost is charged by the National organisation at a rate of £4.00 per member (increased from £3.80) for the TAT magazines. Fees are levied by the National organisation at a rate of £4.00 per member. This is expected to remain the same for the current year 2026. |Balance at 1st January
Surplus for Year
Balance at 31st December|**2025**
34,917.25
4,343.13
39,260.38|**2024**
32,297.99
2,619.26| |---|---|---| ||39,260.38|34,917.25| This balance excludes funds belonging to SW London Network of £9.21 ## **ACCOUNTS EXAMINED AND APPROVED** Jeremy Barton U3A member No.2692 Carole Fletcher Treasurer ## **REGISTERED CHARITY NO. 1012343** **024** **£** 47,708.58 45,089.32 2,619.26 d /27. be ndependent EiamiDer's Report to the Trustees of The Richmond upon Thames Lnii'ersiti. of the Third Ag¢ I report on the accounts for the vear ended 31 December 202). Respective Responsibilities of Trustees 2nd Examiner The charitv trusiees are responsible for ihe preparntion of the accounts. -rhe charity's I￿Stee5 consider th