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2024-12-31-accounts

The Hertford and District U3A

(Charity Commission number 1027766)

Report and Financial Statements for the Year ended 31st December 2024

The Hertford and District U3A

Officers and Committee - year to 31 December 2024

Chair Anne Egan to 4th March 2024 O
Myra Campbell from 4th March 2024 O
Vice Chairman Robert Sprigge to 4th March 2024 O
Elizabeth Cooper from 4th March 2024 O
Secretary Pamela Beale O
Treasure
r Brenda Anderson to 30th November 2024 O
Christna Knight from 1st December 2024 O
Commitee Vera Young to 4th March 2024 T
Robert Sprigge T
Valerie Vanderbroeck T
Christna Knight from 4th March 2024 T
Pat Cain from 4th March 2024 to 9th August 2024 T
Janet Mollinson to 4th March 2024 T
O = Ofcer &

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Trustee T = Trustee

Accountants Thickbroom Chartered Accountants 147A High Street Waltham Cross EN8 7AP Principal Bankers HSBC Welwyn Garden City Howardsgate Welwyn Garden City AL8 6BH 102776 Charity Number 6

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The Hertford and District U3A Trustees Report and Financial Statement for the year ended 31st December 2024

Trustees

The trustees listed have served for the Year unless otherwise indicated.

Aim

The objectives of The Hertford and District U3A (H&D) 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

Organisation

H & D is an unincorporated organisation under the auspices of the Third Age Trust (TAT). It operates using guidelines provided by TAT.

The Main Committee, all of whom are trustees, consists of four officers: Chairman, Vice-Chairman, Secretary and Treasurer. It has at least two and not more than ten other members. Up to four ordinary members may be co-opted to the Committee.

The Main Committee is responsible for:

Charities Act 2011

The Act also indicates responsibilities of the Main Committee, as Trustees, for H&D.

Trustees Responsibilities

Charity Law requires the Trustees to prepare a financial statement for each financial year that gives a true and fair view of the state of affairs of the Organisation.

In preparing the statement, the Trustees are required to follow applicable accounting standards, subject to any material variations which may be disclosed and explained in the statement.

The Trustees are responsible for ensuring proper accounting records are kept that disclose, with

reasonable accuracy, at any time the financial position of H & D. This ensures that financial

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statements comply with the Statement of Recommended Practice. They are also

responsible for safeguarding the assets of the Organisation and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.

Health and Safety Policy

H&D's policy is to ensure that all groups operate in a safe manner without risk to health, as far as is practicable, and that they comply with legal requirements.

Reserves Policy

The Trustees guideline is that the general reserve be held representing a minimum of six months revenue expenditure within H&D. This takes account of estimated revenue projections and is designed to provide suitable contingency to protect the continuity of H&D in the future.

Risk Management Statement

Key risks are assessed and reviewed as an ongoing process and through reporting to the Committee.

H&D also has access to a comprehensive set of policies and guidelines provided by TAT, which are made use of as required.

Insurance policies exist to cover reasonable risks.

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The Hertford and District U3A

Chair’s Report for the year ended 31 December 2024

This Annual Report starts with membership which is after all the foundation of our organisation and within the membership are our many volunteers to whom the organisation owes a great debt. During the year membership has risen steadily to a peak of over 1,500. Most new members now join using the online form and pay online resulting in greater efficiency and a significant saving. Renewals this year were managed within our database system, Simple Membership.

The u3a has managed the transition from plastic membership cards with no expiry date to digital membership with an expiry date which members can print out or display on a phone screen. We have clarified and codified the East Herts Group Sharing Scheme.

There have been four New Members Meetings during the year. These have been very friendly supportive meetings that have encouraged new members into joining activities and Groups. At the latest of these, when ten new members attended, five of them joined the same newly formed Group. New leaflets and a poster have been designed to display at local venues to encourage further members to join.

Our new database system was integrated into the website in March at which point it became available to Members who can log in for additional information about Groups and Events and to access their personal profiles. Since March the My Profile page has been accessed 872 times. ‘How to’ guides in the Members area of the website have been added so that any of us: Members, Group Leaders, Committee Members, can find out how to use Simple Membership.

Simple Membership is a skeleton database and a good deal of work is involved in developing and customising it to suit the u3a and then entering data. After much work on the membership aspects of the database we have started developing the database to include financial management and payments. This will lead to improved systems for our Treasurer and help Group Leaders to see more information about their Group Finances and to make direct payments.

Groups are another foundation of our u3a. We have been proactive in integrating new members into groups including a welcome email and encouraging participation. This approach led to a member offering a scam awareness presentation despite having no prior experience in presentations. The launch of Simple Membership has allowed improved communication and administration within Groups

The Group Leaders Handbook is in the process of being updated this year. A Meeting for Group Leaders and Organisers and anyone interested in becoming more active in Groups took place in January.

We now have 90 active groups, Unfortunately, the hope that we could have tables for Groups to promote their activities at the Monthly meetings has not been entirely successful possibly due to the lack of a dedicated area.

During this year many Groups have organised some amazing adventures: visits, holidays, concerts, theatre and art exhibition trips. They have also organised exhibitions walks and all sorts of activities that we read about in Contact or are kindly invited to attend.

The Monthly Meetings are a highly popular part of our u3a activities. We were the first organisation to use BEAM! We are currently using the Large Auditorium as the smaller one, just now becoming available, does not have the capacity for the numbers of people we attract. We are very pleased

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that we no longer must restrict the numbers attending. We have had particularly good feedback on Colin Sutton, Tina Banks, Tony Tutton and Deborah Moggach.

We have continued with the Coffee Mornings started after Covid. They remain popular with over fifty members attending each month. They are held on different days of the week so that different members involved in other activities can attend. We have found that they are a useful way for members to meet up with old friends and have proved a popular way for new members to introduce themselves and to meet other members who belong to various groups and give them confidence to join in. They are attended by various Committee members on different dates and members also use the Coffee Morning to ask questions, iron out problems and float possible new Groups.

The Committee reviews policies regularly and creates new ones when necessary. This year, alarmed by a report that u3a members in another County had embezzled funds, we have reviewed and updated the Finance Policy and agreed a new policy on Hospitality, gifts and gratuities. We reviewed and improved how we monitor the accounts to deter fraud. We also finalised the Bereavement Policy that was started in the previous cycle. These are all available to view on the website.

In addition to Groups and open meetings such as the Monthly Meeting and Coffee Morning and events organised by Groups it is possible to have occasional meetings. One such was the Scam Alert seminar organised by a new member with Committee support. 50 members attended and several talked individually to the member afterwards. We hope to follow up this topic by a presentation from Herts Police Service. The last of a series of First Aid Courses organised by a member took place in January but more could be organised if there is sufficient interest.

There were several trips open to all members during the year; these include: a four-night stay in the Lake District, a visit to Ightham Mote, (a late medieval fortified house), the replacement trip on the steam paddleboat ‘Waverley’ and the seasonal day out at Ely Christmas Market.

At the close of this Annual Report, I would like to thank all our volunteers who make this organisation the wonderful thing it is: we could not operate without them. These include the Committee, Officers, and those who assist them, the Contact Team, the website Team, the Group Leaders and Group Organisers, the tutors, the people who organise seminars and trips, those who store and organise our technologies, those who greet members at Monthly Meetings and those who organise refreshments at meetings and seminars. Perhaps not volunteers at all, but I would like to add thanks to everyone who welcomes new attendees to their tables at Coffee Mornings. I would like to thank all our members who attend our meetings, events and Groups, whose participation makes it all so lively and worthwhile.

Finally, I would also like to thank outgoing Committee Members and Officers, including those who left during the year, for their service and hard work.

Myra Campbell

Chair 7 March 2025

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The Hertford and District U3A

Treasurer’s Report for the year ended 31[st] December 2024

The results for the year are shown in the attached financial statements.

As you can see, there is a surplus this year of £15,591. The main reasons for this are a large gift aid claim of £7,419 received in the year (representing 2 ½ years’ worth of claim) and a substantial reduction in expenditure.

We have also tried to maximise bank interest received by placing funds on short term Money Market deposits with the Bank. This helps offset the cost of bank charges paid by both the main account and the Groups account.

Details of expenditure are shown in notes 2 and 3 of the accounts.

The main changes are that, unlike 2023, we have not needed to purchase much in the way of equipment and have discontinued the Henri prize draw scheme. We have continued with the monthly coffee mornings for the benefit of all members who choose to attend. We have had a full year’s cost for the Simple Membership software which is reflected in the cost of £1,633 for computer software and licenses etc. Later in the year we returned to the BEAM theatre for monthly meetings, the cost of which is higher than that at the Sele Community Centre but considered by the Committee to be worth the extra cost in view of the greater comfort and capacity of the venue. We also did not incur costs of £1,360 for the watercolour demonstrations and Shakespeare performances and we spent less on first aid courses.

As a result of the surplus this year, our reserves have increased to £47,339. The committee are considering ways of reducing this. We propose to hold the memberships fees at their current level for the foreseeable future and are going to continue using the large theatre at BEAM instead of the smaller theatre as was originally planned as this means that more members can attend the monthly meetings.

My thanks go to the members of the committee and the previous Treasurer who have helped me in my role as Treasurer since I took over in December.

Christina Knight

Treasurer

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The Hertford & District U3A

Receipts and Payments Account for the year ended 31st December 2024

Note
Receipts
Members Subscriptons
1
Groups Income
Bank Interest
Gif Aid
Transfers In
Contact (Subs & Adverts)
Other Income
Total Income
Payments
Groups Expenses
Bank Charges
Contact (Print, Post & Editorial)
Management/Administraton
2
HenrI Prize Draws
Events
3
TAT Membership Fee
Miscellaneous
Total Expenditure
Surplus /(Defcit) for the year		 2024
Main
Groups
£
£
22,72
9
100,929
2,011
7,419
1,000
1,862
0
35,02
1
100,929
101,879
-13
1,821
6,696
0
5,381
5,428
117
19,43
0
101,879
15,59
(950)		 2023
Main
Groups
£
£
22,493
116,283
1,089
0
0
2,889
423
26,894
116,283
117,711
832
1,907
12,854
5,453
8,152
5,768
96
35,062
117,711
(8,168)
(1,428)		 2023
Main
Groups
£
£
22,493
116,283
1,089
0
0
2,889
423
26,894
116,283
117,711
832
1,907
12,854
5,453
8,152
5,768
96
35,062
117,711
(8,168)
(1,428)
116,283
117,711
117,711
(1,428)

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The Hertford & District U3A

Balance Sheet as at 31st December 2024

Net Movement
Total Funds Brought Forward
Total Funds Carried Forward
Current Assets: Cash at Bank & in hand
Total Assets
Date: 23rdJanuary 2025		 2024
2023
Main
Groups
Main
Groups
£
£
15,59
1
(950)
(8,168)
(1,428)
31,74
8
35,252
39,916
36,680
47,33
9
34,302
31,748
35,252
47,33
9
34,302
31,748
35,252
47,33
9
34,302
31,748
35,252
Christna Knight - Treasurer

Accountant's Certificate

I have examined, without carrying out an audit, the Financial Statements of The Hertford & District U3A for the year ended 31st December 2024, taken from the accounting records, and from the information and explanations supplied to us and certify them to be in accordance therewith. I have not examined the finances of the Member's Activity Groups.

Date 7 March 2025

R W Boulton FCA Thickbroom Chartered Accountants 147A High Street, Waltham Cross, EN8 7AP

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The Hertford & District U3A Notes to the accounts for the year ended 31 December 2024

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Management/Administraton
Computer sofware, Licenses etc
AGM (Printng)
Computer and Ofce Equipment
First Aid Courses
Plastc Membership Cards
Postage and Telephone
Printng & Statonery
Professional Services (Accounts Examinaton)
Groups Leaders/Organisers
St. John's Ambulance (in atendance)
Travel & Parking
Trustee Expenditure/Commitee Meetngs
U3A Magazine (Payment to TAM)
Anniversary celebratons 2022 adjustment
Total
3
Events
Hall Hire & Refreshments
Cofee mornings
Speakers
Performance & Watercolour Demonstratons
Total		 2024
2023
£
£
1,633
987
0
37
130
1,540
720
1,724
0
150
72
375
206
418
367
360
0
373
115
518
224
687
276
744
2,953
4,955
0
-14
6,696
12,854
2,436
2,020
1,671
3,308
1,274
1,464
0
1,360
5,381
8,152

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