Chichester U3A Treasurer’s Report for year ending 31 March 2025
I took over as Treasurer in April 22 with the finances in a healthy position and I hope that at the end of my 3 years I am able to hand them over in a similar healthy state.
I am pleased to report that the financial position of the Chichester U3A remains strong. There has been a strong focus on growing the number and range of groups that are available and working towards more larger group events.
The accounts separate Income from Expenditure and Restricted from Unrestricted funds. The membership fees are unrestricted funds. These are donations to the Chichester U3A and are not directly related to the benefits received by the individual members. It is for this reason we can reclaim Gift Aid where members choose this option. Restricted funds are collected for a specific purpose, such as room hire for interest groups, or for social events, and can only be used for that purpose.
Our accounts are maintained on a receipts and payments basis. This is the simplest approach, is approved by the Charity Commission, and is the only option available in the U3A Beacon system that we use. There are a couple of drawbacks to this: firstly, it does not reveal any outstanding liabilities at the end of the accounting period, and secondly, it can be misleading when comparing the current year with the previous year.
Looking first at the comparison of the 2 years shown in the Financial Accounts (2025 & 2024):
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Gift Aid is the claim for 2024 as it is claimed in arrears, the 2025 figure will appear in next years accounts and is anticipated to be £3,039.
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TAM The Third Age Matter Magazine costs £4.00 per member who requests it.
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Capitation and Beacon: These are charged based on the membership on 1[st ] April which aligns to the Membership fees of the previous year.
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The income and expenditure associated with Group and social events is markedly higher reflecting the large increase in the number of groups and associated activities.
At year-end (31/03/2025) we carried forward £30,121. Of this:
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£3.936 is required to cover existing liabilities (Capitation Fees)
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£7,730 represents membership subscriptions for the period 01/04-31/08
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£4,125 are restricted funds.
The remaining £14,330 plus the £3.039 Gift Aid credit represent our current Financial Reserves of Unrestricted Funds: £17,369. This represents 81% of our total annual income last year or approximately 9.5 months. This is an increase on last year and has remained higher than anticipated due to the jump in membership during the year from 921 to 1013, an increase of 10%
We expect costs to rise in line with inflation and are looking at new ways to provide additional events open to all members. Our reserves are healthy and will give the committee leeway to provide these additional membership services.
As ever I am grateful to all the membership team who have to manage and log the 1000 plus membership fees and to all the group leaders who ensure the viability of their groups. I am also grateful to Patrick Doyle who has volunteered to step into the treasurer role.
Finally, I propose the adoption of these Financial Accounts.
Barry Easton Hon. Treasurer
Chichester U3A Statement of Accounts 2024-25
| Chichester U3A | 01/04/2024 | 31/03/2025 | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Category | Sub-Category | in | out | |
| Income | ||||
| Membership | Annual Membership(1) | £18,552.00 | ||
| Gift Aid(2) | £2,741.22 | |||
| Donations | £488.15 | |||
| Other | ||||
| Charitable Activities | Group Subscriptions | £10,594.97 | ||
| Social Events Income | £4,767.00 | |||
| Total Income | £37,143.34 | |||
| Expenditure | ||||
| Capitation | U3A(3) | £3,552.00 | ||
| Beacon | £921.00 | |||
| Communications | Newsletter | |||
| TAM | £2,375.00 | |||
| Other Marcom | ||||
| Website | £230.40 | |||
| General Events | Speaker Fees | £1,342.00 | ||
| Refreshments | £624.65 | |||
| Hall Hire | £4,052.43 | |||
| Other | £1,561.27 | |||
| Group Activities | Room Hire | £9,510.35 | ||
| Other Group Expenses | £444.84 | |||
| Events, Trips & Visits | Social EVT Expenditure | £5,376.00 | ||
| Xmas Lunch | ||||
| General Admin | Stationery & Postage Travel Expenses |
£59.18 | ||
| General Admin/IT | £442.12 | |||
| Insurance | ||||
| PayPal Commission | £227.74 | |||
| Mailbox | ||||
| Storage | £317.92 | |||
| Regional | ||||
| Miscellaneous | £0.00 | |||
| Total Expenditure | Expenditure | £31.036.99 | ||
| Brought forward | Brought forward | £24,014.91 | ||
| Total carried forward | £30,121.26 |
| Balance Sheet | 31/03/2025 | 31/03/2024 | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Current (Membership) | £25,042.05 | £18,118.99 | |
| Groups | £4,117.58 | £3,162.20 | |
| PayPal | £140.40 | £193.05 | |
| Petty Cash | £0.00 | £0.00 | |
| Social | £7.63 | £844.63 | |
| Treasurer | £813.60 | £1,696.04 | |
| Total | £30,121.26 | £24,014.91 |
| Membership at Year−end | Membership at Year−end |
|---|---|
| Members | 984 |
| Associate Members | 29 |
| Total | 1013 |
Notes:
(1) Annual membership runs to 31/08. So £ 7730 is attributable to period 01/04-31/08 (i.e. 5/12 of membership fees)
(2) Gift Aid claim due in April: £ 3,039
(3) U3A Capitation Fee is collected in arrears: £3 936 still due for 202 4 - 25
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CHARITY COMMISSION FOR ENGLAND AND WALES
, Independent examiner's report on the accounts
Section A Independent Examiner’s Report
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Name aes : oo goes ase f
2025 _ _ e “Charity no | 1037027 |
(if any) peerde [tee] [D]
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Report to the trustees/ members of |U3A CHICHESTER On accounts for the year | 31° March, 2025 _ _ ended
Set out on page | 2
| report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of the above charity (“the Trust”) for the year ended 31/03/2025.
Responsibilities and As the charity trustees of the Trust, you are responsible for the preparation basis of report of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011 (“the Act”). | report in respect of my examination of the Trust's accounts carried out under section 145 of the 2011 Act and in carrying out my examination, | have followed the applicable Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5)(b) of the Act. Independent | have completed my examination. | confirm that no material matters have examiner's statement come to my attention in connection with the examination which gives me cause to believe that in, any material respect: e accounting records were not kept in accordance with section 130 of the Act or e the accounts do not accord with the accounting records
| have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.
Signed: PER AyNy beensMZ i DY ee Date: 2) Ob-/ wes
Name: | P A N GRIMLEY,
Relevant professional | FCA qualification(s) or body (if any): Address: | 43, Sea Place, Worthing, BN12 4BY