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← Crawley University Of The Third Age

2025-08-31-accounts

Crawley u3a Annual Report and Accounts for year ended 31[st] August 2025

Crawley u3a Trustees Annual Report and Accounts for year ended 31[st] August 2025

Table of Contents

1 Reference and Administrative Details 2
2 Structure,Governance and Management 3
3 Review of theyear ended 31stAugust 2025 4 – 8
4 Aims for theyear ending31stAugust 2026 8
5 Review of Financial Activities for theyear ended 31stAugust 2025 9
6 Trustees’ Declaration 10
7 Independent Examiner’s Report on the Accounts 10
8 Accounts for theyear ended 31stAugust 2025 11 - 15

(Photo credit: Jane Broomer, Horsham u3a)

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Crawley u3a Annual Report and Accounts for year ended 31[st] August 2025

1. Reference and Administrative Details

Crawley University of the Third Age (Crawley u3a) is a member of the Third Age Trust as an unincorporated members’ association.

Registered Charity Number 1029004 The Board of Trustees Members of the Board of Trustees who held office during the financial year 2024-25 are listed below. Independent Examiner of the Tony Neale FCMA 37 St Georges Court, Crawley, RH10 8LP Accounts Bankers Lloyds Bank plc, 1 – 5 The Broadway, Crawley, RH10 1DU

Trustees for 2024-25 (8[th] Nov 2024 – 14[th] Nov 2025)

Post Name First Elected Term Ends
Officer Trustees
Chair Jim McGough AGM Nov 2022 AGM AGM Nov 2025
Vice-Chair Alan Rew AGM Nov 2023 AGM Steps down AGM Nov 2025
Secretary Margaret Lloyd AGM Nov 2022 AGM AGM Nov 2025
Treasurer Graham Friday AGM Nov 2021 AGM AGM Nov 2027
Other Trustees
Communications
Coordinator		 Sue Parker AGM 11thNov 2022 AGM Nov 2025
General Trustee John Williams Co-opted 3rdDec 2024 AGM Nov 2028

Other Trustees Acting During the Financial Year 1[st] Sept 2024 – 31st Aug 2025

Post Name First Elected Resigned
Other Trustees
Groups’ Coordinator Janet Newson AGM 10thNov 2023 Nov 2024 AGM

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Crawley u3a Annual Report and Accounts for year ended 31[st] August 2025

2. Structure, Governance and Management

Nature of Governing Document

Crawley u3a is an unincorporated members’ association, and a member of the Third Age Trust (the national u3a coordinating body). An organisation called ‘Learning in Later Years’ was founded in Crawley in 1981 and this became the ‘Crawley University of the Third Age’ when it affiliated to the Third Age Trust in March 1985. It was registered as a charity (Reg 1029004) by the Charity Commission on 24th November 1993.

The current constitution was adopted on 24[th] January 2023, having been approved by the Annual General Meeting (AGM) on Friday 11[th] November 2022, subject to the insertion of clause 10.1 requiring membership fees for the forthcoming membership year to be approved by a majority vote of those Crawley u3a members attending a meeting to be held at least one month before the start of that membership year.

Objectives and activities

Crawley u3a’s object is:

“ The advancement of education, and in particular the education of older people and those retired from full time work, by all means, including associated activities conducive to learning and personal development in Crawley and the surrounding district ”.

In pursuit of these objectives, Crawley u3a organises artistic, literary, fitness and recreational group activities alongside a monthly series of lectures and a programme of seasonal outings. The emphasis is on social and mutual support and the principle of self-help learning is followed; learning is for its own sake where no qualifications are sought or offered.

Public Benefit

The activities undertaken by the charity to further public benefit are the provision of education and improvements to wellbeing and quality of life for those no longer in full-time employment.

The Trustees confirm that they have complied with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011 to have due regard to the public benefit guidance published by the Charity Commission.

Committee, Trustees and Management

The management of Crawley u3a is vested in the Committee, which is also the governing body and its board of trustees for the purposes of charity law. There must be between 5 and 12 elected Trustees. A non-voting President, Maureen Wicks, has also been elected.

The officers and other trustees are elected by the members at the Annual General Meeting, or coopted by the Trustees, and hold office for one year but are eligible to stand for the same post for a further two years (except for the Secretary and Treasurer who may be elected for a second term of three years so serving up to six consecutive years in total). In the event of a vacancy the Committee may appoint a member until the next AGM.

The trustees meet formally at regular intervals during the year and are responsible for the strategy and policies of the Crawley u3a as well as dealing with its administration, management, and governance. All trustees are required to affirm annually that they satisfy the Charity Commission’s eligibility rules to act as trustees and that they comply with their responsibilities as trustees, all of which are set out in the Charity Commission guidance ‘The essential trustee (CC3)’.

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Crawley u3a Annual Report and Accounts for year ended 31[st] August 2025

3. Review of year to 31[st] August 2025

Chair’s Report

This AGM marks a significant transition for our organisation, with the departure of four trustees: the Chair, Vice Chair, Secretary, and Communications Coordinator. I extend my sincere gratitude to these individuals for their dedicated service over the past years.

As noted in last year’s report, recruiting volunteers for trustee roles remains a challenge for Crawley u3a and the wider network. Despite ongoing appeals, we welcomed only one new Trustee during the year. Our continued legal and financial compliance is a testament to the expertise and commitment of all trustees, especially as some have managed considerable personal responsibilities. I thank them all for their contributions. The level of work put in over the last few years on both our legal compliance and financial management is now being recognised within the wider u3a movement as being exemplary.

We implemented an important organisational change by reducing the number of trustee formal meetings to four annually, while maintaining effective operations through informal collaboration. We are nearing our goal of separating trustee compliance from operational delivery, though some overlap remains, mainly through shortage of volunteers for Events support roles. The Secretary took on the role of overseeing the annual membership renewal process, and the Assistant Groups Coordinator provided invaluable support to those responsible for running activity groups. .

Our activities continue to thrive, thanks to the dedication of group leaders, their deputies and other assistants, the RUGS, the Beacon and website support roles, and welfare support. Special recognition goes to Liz Tennant, the organiser for monthly meeting speakers and seasonal events for her exceptional commitment beyond her three-year term.

Thanks also to the team who organised the very successful Ruby Celebration event in July.

Finally, we are part of a wider u3a community, united in our mission to enrich the lives of those in their third age, and the Chair participates in the regular Chairs’ Forum and West Sussex Network u3a meetings, as well as representing Crawley u3a at the AGM of the Third Age Trust.

I look forward to supporting my successor and the new trustees, and am confident they will receive the same warm welcome I experienced.

Jim McGough, Chairman

Report from the Board of Trustees (Committee)

During the 12 months to 31[st] August 2025 we met formally six times. Until the 2024 AGM on 8[th] November we continued to meet monthly, with meetings in each of September and October, but, as announced before the 2024 AGM, we then moved towards a system of holding formal meetings quarterly. This change was possible because three years of hard work had diminished the volume of Trustee business relating to policies and financial matters.

This new meeting structure worked well. We produced “Trustee Progress Reports” every six weeks or so, posted to the website and disseminated to those involved in the organisation of Activity Groups. These reports explain progress made both on the Trustees’ Aims for 2025 (a copy of which is available on the website under Admin/For Trustees) and on the individual operations. Holding fewer formal meetings freed up Trustee time which could then be devoted to achieving our aims for 2024-25.

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Crawley u3a Annual Report and Accounts for year ended 31[st] August 2025

Major Achievements against the 2025 Aims:

1. 30[th] July Ruby Celebration Event (Aim 7)

We realised that we needed a new format Open Day/Celebration Event providing opportunities for current u3a members to socialise together as well as attracting new members. The main requirement was identifying a suitable venue, more spacious than the Friary. The Treasurer and Communications Coordinator volunteered to lead this project, with the assistance of a working group, and planning started in January with the booking of most of the rooms at the Charis Centre. It was only later that we realised that 2025 marked forty years since Crawley u3a came into existence.

The Working Group worked very hard at organising the event itself, and designing and disseminating the publicity. Group Leaders and members spent a lot of time developing eyecatching displays. The event itself exceeded our expectations in terms of attendance, which comprised existing u3a members, potential members (we have so far recruited twenty-six new members from the day), and other members of the public, including the Leader of Crawley Borough Council, Michael Jones, and the MP for Crawley, Peter Lamb. The Crawley Observer reported on the event, so in addition to providing a good day out and attracting new members it also enhanced our profile within Crawley.

2. Establishment of a Crawley u3a Office (Aim 3)

The opportunity to rent a small office, something we have aspired to for a while, arose from the Chair’s involvement with Crawley Community Action (CCA), as part of our 2024-25 Aim of improving our liaison with local organisations (Aim 5) . A couple of the small offices in Orchard House, the building occupied by CCA at Gleneagles Court on the Brighton Road, became available and following approval by the Group Leaders at their 5[th] June meeting, we entered into a lease agreement from 1[st] July. For various reasons it has taken rather longer than anticipated to get the office fully equipped so we have not yet exploited the full potential of this office in terms of offering facilities for Group Leaders. We have though fulfilled our objective of moving the u3a’s various pieces of events equipment from our homes into the office.

3. New Website (Aim 8)

We had no choice but to adopt the new SiteWorks based website developed by the Third Age Trust to replace the old Sitebuilder version. Our Webmaster, Stuart Spreadborough, successfully set up the SiteWorks version of our existing website pages and content, and then the WebEditor, Janet Newson, completely redesigned the page structure and content, exploiting the new possibilities presented by SiteWorks whilst keeping it user-friendly. Janet completed the basic work on this by the start of April, although she has continued to refine it since, alongside keeping it updated. Once members had become accustomed to the new format they found it much easier to use than the previous website. The number of visitors per day increased from 12 in April to 17 in September.

Progress on Other 2024-25 Aims:

We managed, with the assistance of a Crawley u3a member, Roger Combes, to produce a Venue Strategy document ( Aim 2 ) to assist Groups and Event organisers to find, when required, alternative venues within Crawley.

We engaged more with Crawley Council and local voluntary organisations ( Aim 5 ) through participation in the October Winter Warm Up event at K2 organised by West Sussex Alzheimer’s Society, liaison with Crawley Community Action (CCA) and inviting local representatives from Age UK, and a fundraiser from St Catherine’s Hospice to the September monthly meeting.

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Crawley u3a Annual Report and Accounts for year ended 31[st] August 2025

We simplified the 2025-26 membership renewal process by reducing the use of forms ( Aim 9) although there is still potential for improvement in future years.

Movement towards the new organisation structure ( Aim 1 ) was hampered by a shortage of volunteers, particularly on Events support roles, though we were successful in recruiting Working Groups and volunteers for the Ruby Celebration and the 2024 Christmas Party. Little could be done on increasing the support offered to the more academic based indoor Groups and their Leaders ( Aim 4 ), due to a lack of interest on the part of Group leaders. Nor, due to pressures of other tasks, were we able to adopt a Risk Management Policy and Risk Register including a Contingency Policy to limit any disruption should a Trustee suddenly need to step down ( Aim 6 ).

The Aims for 2026 (see Section 4 on page 8) take account of those 2025 Aims not completed.

Report on Operations

1. Financial Sustainability

A small deficit was incurred on our General Membership activity (i.e. excluding the costs and income from Group activities) for the year. This was due to the cost of putting on the Ruby Celebration. Ignoring this, the ongoing operational costs were matched by the income generated from the Membership Fee, indicating that the Membership Fee was set at the correct level.

The level of available unrestricted reserves was £21,027 on 31st August 2025. This is equivalent to about three times the current level of operational costs.

The Charity Commission requires Trustees to annually undertake a formal review of the charity as a ‘Going Concern’ and to report the outcome of that review within their published accounts (see Section 5 on page 9)

Activity Groups are all now operating with greater flexibility and financial independence, with the general financial objective being that they all become self-financing. Should any group require financial support, because of a significant change in either their membership levels or cost base, then there is £10,778 available in restricted reserves to provide that help.

The level of both unrestricted and restricted reserves provides a cushion to protect against any unexpected situations and will be used both to keep future fee levels affordable as well as provide investment to both improve and widen the scope and level of activities offered by the u3a.

2. Membership Numbers

Our total membership numbers (including Associate members) on the Third Age Trust census date of 31[st] March 2025 census were 625, down very slightly from 635 at 31[st] March 2024, but by end August this year, with 654 members, we were above the end August 2024 figure of 638. Recruitment of new members has been very vigorous since the Ruby Celebration, though until the ongoing annual renewal process is completed we cannot compare the number of resignations with last year’s. We thank the Membership Assistant, Jean Manuel, for her unstinting work on dealing with new membership applications.

3. Activity Groups

The number of groups at the end of August 2025 was 52, down by two from the 54 at the end of August 2024. New groups starting or restarting in the year were Italian for Beginners (Autumn 2024) and the former Craft Group, which had closed in spring 2024, but which was restarted very successfully in April 2025 under a new leader. 3D Paper Crafting also started in Autumn 2024, but closed seven months later due to the Group Leader’s caring responsibilities.

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Crawley u3a Annual Report and Accounts for year ended 31[st] August 2025

Other closures during 2024-25 were Singing for Fun in late 2024, and the Allotment Group (which had comprised only three members for a number of years) in June.

The two Short Mat Bowls groups were forced to merge into a single group in July, following declining numbers, and Exploring Local History ceased because of the loss of the curator at Crawley Museum.

One new group, Chess, has started since the end of August 2025.

The reduction in the number of groups means that our ratio of members to groups has increased slightly from 11.8 for 2023-24, to 12.0 for 2024-25, compared to the TAT’s recommended ratio of 10. It must be borne in mind that this is a fairly crude measure, as groups vary widely in the frequency of their meetings.

More worryingly, the Out and About (O&A) and the Ambling & Walking Groups are all oversubscribed to the extent that not all new members wanting to join them can obtain places. A couple of the O&A groups are now only able to offer no more than one trip a term, due to shortage of those willing to lead trips. In contrast, some of the indoor groups are struggling to attract and retain members. A meeting held in May between Trustees and Out and About Group Leaders to tackle issues around excess demand for membership of these groups and a shortage of volunteers to organise outings made little progress.

Three meetings were held for Group Leaders and all others involved in organising Groups to share their experiences and to brief them about the Ruby Celebration Event, in October, March and June, and were well attended.

4. Events for All Members

The events covered here are the standard ones organised each year, as opposed to the one-off Ruby Celebration Event (see Item 1 on page 5) which differs from these others in that it was open to outsiders.

For the calendar year 2025 we have held nine monthly Friday meetings with speakers, with an average attendance of 81, up from 76 for 2024. This may be due to including a short piece in each month’s newsletter describing the content of the talk.

As in 2024, the best attended meeting was the one at which Tony Harris spoke. Dressed again as the part, he delivered a talk on Winston Churchill. The next best attended talk was in April when Peter Blood, an ex-barrister, demonstrated a historic court case.

In addition to organising the monthly meetings with speakers, Liz Tennant also arranged two seasonal coach trips during 2025, one to the Romney Marsh & Hythe in May and another to Maritime Greenwich in September. In addition, Liz and Jean Elmer together organised a couple of coach trips to concerts at the Albert Hall.

Three coffee mornings were held in the financial year 2024-25, one in each term, as is normally the case, with Trustees hosting special New Members Tables for recent joiners. Average attendance per coffee morning was around 70, compared with 55 for 2023-24.

Jacqui Mercer volunteered to organise the 2024 Christmas Party, assisted only by a very small team, and we are very grateful for their work on this.

5. Communications

The Communications Coordinator, Sue Parker, produced not only the standard monthly Newsletters (for all months except August) but also a Special Edition Ruby Celebration Newsletter incorporating photos from that event. Jean Austin’s lively and informative reports on the monthly Friary talks are particularly appreciated, but thanks to other contributors also.

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Crawley u3a Annual Report and Accounts for year ended 31[st] August 2025

The Chair continued to produce his “Slices” throughout the year, focussing on Trustees’ news and advertising volunteer vacancies.

The number of Crawley u3a Facebook members has grown from 328 on October 23[rd] 2024 to 415 on October 27[th] 2025. In February 2025 a second Facebook account was set up, Crawley u3a Extra, intended to feature the posts from u3a members on topics not directly related to Crawley u3a activities or news. This now has 52 members.

Sadly, although there is no shortage of Facebook members, only a small number of members seem willing to post to the pages. In particular, we would love to see more posts featuring the groups meeting indoors.

6. Other Operational Improvements

The Chair managed to negotiate a new hiring agreement with the Friary, signed in September 2025, which clarifies a number of matters.

As a result of receiving complaints from members experiencing difficulty hearing speakers at the Friary monthly meetings, the General Trustee led a working group to review various equipment options designed to improve the experience of hearing-impaired members. This resulted in the purchase of a portable PA system in early September 2025.

4. Aims for the year ending 31[st] August 2026 .

As usual, we will not be deciding our aims for 2026 until our first Trustee meeting after the AGM, as what is realistically possible is dependent upon the extent to which we are able to fill the Trustee vacancies.

The Board of Trustee’s provisional aims for 2026 include:

  1. Embed the new organisation structure, with operational decisions relating to Communications & Publicity, Groups, Membership and Events, being undertaken by Support Roles and Working Groups, not the Trustees.

  2. To engage more with Crawley Council and Crawley voluntary organisations to market the values and benefits of membership of Crawley u3a.

  3. To adopt a Risk Management Policy and Risk Register, including a Contingency Policy to limit any disruption should a Trustee suddenly need to step down.

  4. Development and implement a strategy to minimise the long-term financial impact of the forthcoming new Bank Charges, that come into effect from November 2025.

In addition, we will support the following initiatives by Working Groups and Support Role Holders:

  1. Given the success of the Ruby Celebration event, to develop and deliver a similar event that showcases the Activities being undertaken across Crawley u3a.

  2. To simplify both the annual membership renewal process and new member registration process.

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Crawley u3a Annual Report and Accounts for year ended 31[st] August 2025

5. Review of Financial Activities for the year ended 31[st] August 2025

The General Membership activities (Unrestricted and Designated Funds) generated a deficit of £3,640. This was due to a combination of the following factors:

Offset by:

The Groups activities (Restricted Fund) made a combined deficit of £1,137. This was a result of the Groups using up the surpluses they had generated in previous years.

Policy on Reserves

The Trustees on the 8th of March 2023 approved a Financial Policy, which included a Reserve Policy. This reserve policy requires the Trustees to consider the following on an annual basis and make appropriate financial provision.

The Trustees have determined that aiming to keep a minimum level of unrestricted reserves that cover at least six months of regular operating activity would be sufficient.

The combined balance on the Unrestricted Funds is £21,027. This is slightly over £17,000 more than the minimum level of £4,000 required to comply with both Charity Commission guidance and the above policy. The intention is to use this additional balance to both invest in the future of the organisation and to offset future inflationary pressure to maintain the Membership Fee at an affordable level.

The reserve balance on the Restricted Fund is £19,230. This balance can only be used to support Group activities. It is made up of two parts:

  1. Allocated reserves, these have been generated by specific groups and are only available to those groups to spend on their activities. At the 31[st] August 2024 this amount was £8,452.

  2. The remaining £10,778 of Unallocated reserves is available for the Trustees to use to support existing Group and in the development of new ones.

To administer the funds in a fair and equitable way the Trustees have established the following criteria for the application of these funds:

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Crawley u3a Annual Report and Accounts for year ended 31[st] August 2025

6. Trustees’ Declaration for the year ended 31[st] August 2025

The financial statements have been prepared in accordance with the accounting policies set out in notes to the accounts and comply with the charity’s governing document, the Charities Act 2011 and Accounting and Reporting by Charities: Statement of Recommended Practice applicable to charities preparing their accounts in accordance with the Financial Reporting Standard applicable in the UK and Republic of Ireland issued in October 2019.

The Trustees are responsible for keeping proper accounting records which disclose with reasonable accuracy at any time the financial position of the Charity and enable them to ensure that the financial statements comply with the Charity (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008 and are consistent with the charitable purposes of the charity as described in clause 3 of its constitution adopted in January 2023.

They are also responsible for safeguarding the assets of the Charity and hence for taking reasonable steps for the prevention and detection of fraud and other irregularities.

7. Independent Examiner’s Report on the Accounts

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Crawley u3a Annual Report and Accounts for year ended 31[st] August 2025

  1. Accounts for year ended 31[st] August 2025

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Crawley u3a Annual Report and Accounts for year ended 31[st] August 2025

Crawley u3a

Balance sheet as at 31st August 2025

As at 31/8/24
£ £
Current Assets
Debtors - falling due within one year 3,822 3,061
Debtors - deposit paid 250 250
Cash at bank and in hand Cash at bank and in hand
Bank - current accounts Bank - current accounts 234 1,621
Bank - deposit and investment accounts Bank - deposit and investment accounts 40,401 42,465
Cash Floats Cash Floats 154 186
Total current assets 44,861 47,583
Liabilities
Creditors - falling due within one year. 4,604 2,549
Net current assets 40,257 45,034
Creditors - falling due after more than one year 0 0
Total net assets
Represented by:		 40,257
~~ee~~		 45,034
~~
Fund balances Fund balances £ £
Restricted Funds Restricted Funds 19,230 20,368
Designated (Equipment) Fund Designated (Equipment) Fund 3,898 3,198
Unrestricted funds Unrestricted funds 17,129 21,468
40,257
45,034
~~ee~~

These accounts, subject to independent examination, were approved by the Crawley u3a Trustees on the 7[th] October 2025.

The accompanying notes from part of these financial statements.

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Crawley u3a Annual Report and Accounts for year ended 31[st] August 2025

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Crawley u3a Annual Report and Accounts for year ended 31[st] August 2025

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Crawley u3a Annual Report and Accounts for year ended 31[st] August 2025

List of equipment purchased during the year and funded from Designated reserve List of equipment purchased during the year and funded from Designated reserve List of equipment purchased during the year and funded from Designated reserve
£
IT Equipment
None
General Equipment 0.00
~~[		 ~~
None
Equipment purchased and funded directly by Activity Groups 0.00
~~[		 ~~
Mobile Amplifier and microphone (Quizzing for Fun) 31.99
4 Pickleball nets, bats and balls (Pickleball - indoor) 239.36
271.35
~~[		 ~~

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