This text was generated using OCR and may contain errors. Check the original PDF to see the document submitted to the regulator. This document is also available as Markdown.

ELMBRIDGE

Registered Charity No. 1071550

27th Annual General Meeting 1.30 Wednesday, 2 April 2025 Held at Claygate Village Hall

After the AGM Andy Thomas will speak on

Conspiracy History of the World

TWENTY SEVENTH ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING OF ELMBRIDGE u3a, WEDNESDAY APRIL 2 2025

AGENDA

Chair - Apologies for absence
Chair - Adoption of the Minutes of the twenty sixth Annual General Meeting of Elmbridge U3A held on 3 April 2024 (found in the back of the booklet) – proposer and seconder
Chair - Matters arising
Chair’s Address
Treasurer’s Address – Proposer and Seconder
Treasurer - Membership Fees for 2026 – Proposer and Seconder
Treasurer - Appointment of the Independent Examiner – Proposer and Seconder
Chair - Adoption of the Annual Report of the Committee for the year ended 31 December 2024 – Proposer and Seconder
Resolution To alter the Constitution section 4.1.1 – (see P4 under Structure and Governance) – Proposer and Seconder
10 Chair - Election of the Committee – Proposer and Seconder

The members who offer themselves for election are:

Nigel Cudby	Meg James
Andrew Craig	Nikki Lindsey
Sue Warren	Janet Donin
Phillipa Allison	Mark Dowdney
Peter Andrew	Barry Peters

ELMBRIDGE u3a

REGISTERED CHARITY NO. 1071550

TRUSTEES REPORT FOR THE YEAR TO 31 DECEMBER 2024

Legal and Administrative Information

The present Trustees and their Offices, (the committee), who served throughout 2024 unless otherwise shown, are as follows:

Trustee Name	Office
Nigel Cudby	Chair
Meg James	Committee Secretary
Andrew Craig	Treasurer
Sue Warren (appointed 18 September 2024)	Membership Secretary
Barry Peters	Groups Secretary
Nikki Lindsey	Speaker Secretary
Janet Donin (appointed 19 March 2025)	Magazine Editor
Mark Dowdney	Marketing and Public Relations
Phillipa Allison	IT
Peter Andrew	New Members Secretary

The following also served on the committee during the period: Tony Wharton served as Membership Secretary up 18 September2024 Gillian Adams as Newsletter Editor up to 29 October 2024

David Rodway retired from the committee as Vice Chairman and Webmaster on 19 March 2025.

The registered address is:

The Sanctuary, 21 Matham Road, East Molesey, Surrey KT8 0SX

Agents and Advisers:

Bankers: National Westminster Bank plc. 73 High Street, Walton-on-Thames,

Surrey KT12 1DW

CCLA: Charity Funds, One Angel Lane, London EC4R 3AB

Independent Examiner:

Adrian Searle FCA ACMA CGMA Chartered Accountant

122 Thorkhill Road, Thames Ditton,

Surrey KT7 0UW

Structure and Governance

The governing document is a constitution dated 26 March 1998, as amended 21 March 2003, 2 April 2014 and 4 April 2018.

To continue to efficiently manage our growing u3a we need to be able to recruit more committee members. We are currently limited to 10 and would like to raise this to 14.

Therefore, we need to amend our Constitution section 4.1.1, sentence 1 from:

The Committee shall consist of at least five and not more than ten members, excluding those who are co-opted.

to:

The Committee shall consist of at least five and not more than fourteen members , excluding those who are co-opted.

Management

Another great year for our u3a. We now have over 1500 members and we have new committee members Sue Warren (Members Secretary) and Janet Donin (Magazine Editor). Peter Andrew has expanded his New Members role making a clear delineation between new and existing members and helping the former as they transition into our u3a. Using his PR skills Mark Dowdney has improved Elmbridge u3a’s visibility at the national level with articles in their media. After a huge effort Phillipa Allison led the development and introduction of our new website. Most recently we have welcomed Kenn Garroch to the team as Web Manager. We launched our new website at our Group Leaders and Volunteers Tea in December. This celebration of the invaluable contribution from our amazing volunteers was expertly managed by Barry Peters.

Performance and Objectives

We have completed the update of our documentation. This includes guides, handbooks, rules and regulations. These are now accessible through a single page on our website. The website was commissioned on time before the plug was pulled, by the u3a, on the previous version. From the outset we decided we wanted to take the opportunity to completely change the design of our new website rather than just transfer to a new host without changing what it looks like. We have achieved this very successfully. We were even congratulated by the u3a who were impressed with our solution.

Our regular Newsletter has now become a Magazine with a new look. The first issue was the spring edition published in February this year. Our much-loved monthly talks continue to get very positive feedback - we had a record-breaking attendance during the year. With a schedule agreed to the middle of 2026, Nikki Lindsey has many interesting topics on the agenda. We made a financial contribution towards the incorporation of a hearing loop into Claygate Village Hall which has benefited many of our members, as has improved u3a technical equipment. Chris Dyer has made a number of improvements to our system enhancing the sound quality. New seating in the Hall has enhanced audience comfort.

At last year’s AGM I said we needed more volunteers to ensure we could continue to run Elmbridge u3a efficiently and effectively. We recruited two new committee members since then both of whom have quickly integrated into the team and have already performed brilliantly.

However, moving forward we still need at least one more committee member and more leaders for groups. We need several more groups to satisfy our members’ needs. Unfortunately, it is difficult to get these roles filled. If a member is enthusiastic about a particular subject and would like to engage in it with others, leading a group could be the answer. It is not difficult, the committee will help, and it can be very rewarding. The latest edition of the Magazine included a very interesting article, Volunteering, on this subject.

We plan to introduce an “Unsung Heroes” award to recognise members’ outstanding contributions to Elmbridge u3a. More details will be announced soon.

Building on the affiliation we formed last year with The Riverhouse Barn Arts Centre we want to continue to grow this relationship and develop links with other organisations to benefit our members and support the community.

Marketing and Public Relations

Our recruitment campaigns and promotional activities to raise awareness of Elmbridge u3a continued to attract new members in 2024 and our membership has now topped 1,500 - another record. We plan to carry on this work in 2025 to try and ensure a steady flow of new members who can enjoy the many and varied groups we offer

A word of thanks is due to our over 100 group leaders who are all volunteers and who give up their time and often allow their homes to be used for meetings so the rest of our large membership can indulge their passion for an activity, hobby, sport, or learning something new.

To raise awareness, we continued to run a recruitment stall at the West End Village show on August Bank holiday. Though the day was marred by rain showers, we still managed to sign up some new members and spread the word about Elmbridge u3a. Also, we took our stall earlier in the summer to the much larger Claygate Village Show, for the first time, which is attended by many more people. Thanks is due to committee members and others who generously gave their time to help out in manning the stall.

We have continued our very successful affiliation with The Riverhouse Barn Arts Centre in Walton-onThames, the aim of which is to generate greater awareness of each organisation and to increase benefits to members of both. The joint Philosophy Café remains hugely popular, as are the discounted tickets for u3a members for specific events at the Barn, and future joint projects like the successful Food Matters Day about improving your diet are planned.

Monthly Speaker Sessions

We have been very pleased to welcome a growing number of members to our varied programme of monthly talks at Claygate Village Hall. Where space allows, we also welcome visitors too but members will always take priority when there are capacity issues. Members are advised that to be sure of a place, early arrival is recommended. Where possible, we also record these talks for members who are unable to attend on the day. This is not always possible due to intellectual copyright issues with some presentations.

The talks could not be run without the assistance of a core team of volunteers who provide both technical support and help in welcoming members on the door, arranging the seating and providing refreshments. We’d like to thank all of them for their continued assistance in making these meetings such enjoyable events and hope to welcome many more members in the year ahead.

Following many of the monthly talks, Pat Tilley has been running a Smartphone clinic offering 1:1 support on technical issues. This has been much appreciated by members.

Membership

Membership numbers have been strong this year and we had 1,550 members at the end of 2024. This included 309 new members in 2024, compared with 249 in 2023. Around 90% of our members chose to continue their membership into 2025. In January we lost around 10% who resigned, or did not renew for various different reasons. This is not unusual. New member recruitment is running at more than one new member every day in 2025. We anticipate numbers will soon be back to the same level, and continue to rise further during the remainder of the year.

The majority of our members are based in Elmbridge but we also have around 200 members who live in surrounding areas who choose to be members of Elmbridge u3a and who also contribute to our groups and activities.

Six New Members’ Meetings were held during 2024, at which new members are invited to meet established members to explore their hopes from the u3a, and for a deeper understanding of what it offers. Attendances at these meetings are gradually increasing, and feedback continues to be favourable. The Committee is particularly grateful to those established members who help to host these meetings.

In Memoriam

Gillian Adams, our colleague and friend passed away at the end of October 2024. Gillian was an extremely valued member of the team, and her editorship of our Newsletter contributed so positively to our members in many ways. Gillian was a lovely lady. We all respected her very much and were privileged to know her.

GROUPS

It has been a very positive past year with the addition of some exciting new groups including - Cafe Chats for French, German and Spanish speakers; Piano For Fun; four more Pickleballs; Play Reading 3; Poetry; and Sea Shanty Singing.

We’ve had to address the matter of full groups, which has been a problem particularly for new Eu3a members. Now we have a policy in place which enables groups to operate a waiting list so that we are able to monitor demand and quickly open up new groups where appropriate. Our new website is up-and-running which also gives groups the chance to promote their own activities in a more creative and direct way. In addition, we have re-classified our group categories in line with national u3a divisions (see below).

But as always, Group Leaders are the lifeblood of our operation. They volunteer freely to give of their time, expertise, enthusiasm and often their homes. We offer them a big ‘thank you’ because without them we wouldn’t have the thriving, successful organisation that is Elmbridge u3a today.

TOTAL GROUPS = 120

Arts & Creative = 7

Film Appreciation, Flower Painting, History of Art, Needlecraft, Photography (2), Writing Your Own Life Story.

Card & Board Games = 14

Bridge (7), Card Club, Mah Jong, Rummikub (2), Scrabble (3).

History & Humanities = 11

Current Affairs Discussion, Discussion, Exploring Maths, Genealogy (2), Geo-Politics & International Affairs (2), History, Military History, Philosophy (2).

Languages = 15

French (6), German (3), Italian (3), Spanish (2), Welsh Language Discussion.

Literature = 12

Biographies of Notable People, Book Reading (7), Play Reading (3), Poetry.

Music = 5

Classical Music, Eu3a Band, Music & All That Jazz, Piano for Fun, Sea Shanty Singing.

Pastimes = 7

Aviation, Circle Dancing, Line Dancing, Gardening, Plant Exchange, Quiz (2).

Social = 11

Adventurous Explorers, Di’s Days Out, Elmbridge Friends, Lunch Club (2), Scoff, Sunday Lunch Club, Theatre Trips, Travel Experience, Wine Appreciation (2).

Sport = 25

Adventurous Activities, Croquet, Cycling (2), Golf (2), Padel, Petanque (2), Pickleball (11), Table Tennis (5).

Walking = 7

Rambling, Walks (6).

Associated Non-Eu3a Groups = 6

These groups, although recognised, are not covered by u3a insurance. Badminton, Bridge Guided Play, Chess, Drawing & Painting, English Folk Dancing, Pilates.

Financial Overview

General Funds

The Accounts show an excess of receipts over payments on General funds of £2,068 (2023: £4,851). There was significant increase in receipts of £2,320 (2023: £5,739), whereas payments increased by £5,103 (2023: £1,212). The key points are:

Membership income increased by £2,383 (2023: £4,321) reflecting the rise in membership.
At 31 December 2024 we had received £17,791 relating to 2025 from 1,270 members (2023: £17,076 from 1,220 members).
The increase in interest received reflects the rise in interest rates.
Year on year there were increases in the Third Age costs of £1,484 (2023: £523). These costs are largely calculated in arrears so we can expect a significant increase in the payments made in 2025.
The increase in the Elmbridge Newsletter, arises from the increase in membership numbers, postage and printing.
The net costs of the monthly meetings increased to £1,100 (2023: £483). Although attendance increased, the associated costs of the meetings increased in 2024 as we made a contribution to enable Claygate Village Hall to upgrade the audio system
Under the heading of Administration which includes general administration, IT and PayPal fees the costs increased year on year. In 2024 our costs included a new laptop.

Bank Balances and Membership fees

At 31 December 2024 cash and bank balances were £40,335, of which £17,791 relates to 2025 membership fees in advance.

In looking at our membership fee for 2026, we must make a projection of our receipts and payments for both 2025 and 2026 anticipating the level of future cost increases. We are advised that The Third Age Trust has kept the per head affiliation fee at £4.00 but that the TAM subscription has been increased to £4.00 per head. We must anticipate a further increase in other costs, particularly those of the Newsletter.

Based on the present bank balances we currently have sufficient funds to cover 2025 and 2026 at the present membership of £14, so no increase will be proposed at the AGM.

Ring-fenced activities

On the Ring-fenced activities the excess of income of £3,282 (2023: £9,349) relates to timing differences due to the receipt of amounts in advance for future activities and trips as well as to the late invoicing of costs.

Trustees and Employees

No remuneration was paid to the Trustees during the year and no staff were employed directly or indirectly. Expenses incurred on behalf of Elmbridge U3A and re-imbursed to Trustees during the year were as follows:

General Funds £1,146 Ring-fenced groups £1,034

ELMBRIDGE U3A RECEIPTS AND PAYMENTS for the year ended 31 December 2024

ELMBRIDGE U3A RECEIPTS AND PAYMENTS for the year ended 31 December	2024
Note RECEIPTS Membership receipts during the year 1 Gift Aid Tax refund 2 Donations 3 Advances to assist groups: amount repaid in year 4 Miscellaneous Deposit account interest Monthly meetings: income 5 Cash collected by Ring-fenced groups 13 Total Receipts PAYMENTS Third Age Trust affiliation fee Third Age Matters Beacon costs Third Age Trust costs 6 Elmbridge Newsletter 7 Elmbridge U3A activities Group Leaders' events 8 Monthly meetings: Speakers and room hire 5 Publicity & Advertising 9 New members' meetings 10 Administration General administration expenses 11 IT related costs 12 Paypal fees Advances to assist group activities 4 Payments on behalf of Ring-fenced groups 13 Total Payments Excess of Receipts over Payments Opening bank balances 1 January 2024 Closing bank balances 31 December 2024		2024			2023
	General	Ring-fenced group activities	Total	General	Ring- fenced group activities	Total
	22,547 3,564 76 78	- - - -	22,547 3,564 76 78	20,164 2,955 1,538 115	- - - -	20,164 2,955 1,538 115
	1,263 1,443	- -	1,263 1,443	578 1,301	- -	578 1,301
	2,706 -	- 53,391	2,706 53,391	1,879 -	- 52,436	1,879 52,436
	28,971	53,391	82,362	26,651	52,436	79,087

	(5,572) (4,095) (1,393)	- - -	(5,572) (4,095) (1,393)	(5,028) (3,282) (1,266)	- - -	(5,028) (3,282) (1,266)
	(11,060) (9,066)	- -	(11,060) (9,066)	(9,576) (7,465)	- -	(9,576) (7,465)
	(1,140) (2,543) (379) (280)	- - - -	(1,140) (2,543) (379) (280)	(672) (1,784) (323) (360)	- - - -	(672) (1,784) (323) (360)
	(4,342)	-	(4,342)	(3,139)	-	(3,139)
	(693) (1,397) (267)	- - -	(693) (1,397) (267)	(735) (540) (230)	- - -	(735) (540) (230)
	(2,357) (78) -	- - (50,109)	(2,357) (78) (50,109)	(1,505) (115) -	- - (43,087)	(1,505) (115) (43,087)
	(26,903)	(50,109)	(77,012)	(21,800)	(43,087)	(64,887)
	2,068 38,267	3,282 16,728	5,350 54,995	4,851 33,416	9,349 7,379	14,200 40,795
	40,335	20,010	60,345	38,267	16,728	54,995

The notes attached form an integral part of these accounts

ELMBRIDGE U3A Statement of Assets and Liabilities for the year at 31 December 2024

==> picture [483 x 208] intentionally omitted <==

----- Start of picture text -----
At 31 December 2024 At 31 December 2023
General Advanced General Advanced
funds excl membership Ring-fenced funds excl membership Ring-fenced
Advanced (see note 1 General group Advanced (see note 1 General group
membership below) Funds activities Total membership below) Funds activities Total
(£) (£) (£) (£) (£) (£) (£) (£)
Funds
Balance brought forward at 1 January 2024 21,191 17,076 38,267 16,728 54,995 20,691 12,725 33,416 7,379 40,795
Excess of Receipts over Payments in the year 2,068 - 2,068 3,282 5,350 4,851 - 4,851 9,349 14,200
Change in advanced membership (note 1) (715) 715 - - - (4,351) 4,351 - - -
At 31 December 2024 22,544 17,791 40,335 20,010 60,345 21,191 17,076 38,267 16,728 54,995
Represented by Bank Balances
Bank deposit account 37,310 5,500 42,810 33,377 5,500 38,877
Bank and PayPAL accounts 3,025 3,025 4,890 4,890
Ring-fenced group bank accounts 14,510 14,510 11,228 11,228
- -
- -
TOTAL ASSETS 40,335 20,010 60,345 38,267 16,728 54,995
----- End of picture text -----

Note

Advanced membership: This is the Receipts in 2024 which relate to 2025 Membership

Signed by two trustees on behalf of all the trustees

==> picture [276 x 41] intentionally omitted <==

----- Start of picture text -----
Signature Signature
19.3.25 19.3.25
----- End of picture text -----

ELMBRIDGE u3a Notes to RECEIPTS AND PAYMENTS for the year to 31 December 2024

Accounting Policies

The accounts are prepared in accordance with the Charities Act 2011.

These accounts show both the General and Ring-fenced Group Funds of Elmbridge U3A and are prepared on a receipts and payments basis so that these include:

a. all membership fees and other receipts,
b. all monies collected for Ring-Fenced group activities and,
c. all expenses and costs

received and paid in the year, irrespective of the period to which these relate.

The General Funds: This covers the activities carried out for general benefit of Elmbridge U3A.

Ring-fenced Group activities: all Group activities are self-funding and independent of the General Funds of Elmbridge U3A so there is no contribution to or from General Funds and all monies collected by a group activity are used by and held for the benefit of that group.

Receipts are sums paid by members towards group activities. Payments are the costs incurred by those groups in carrying out their activities, include such as admission fees, theatre tickets and coaches, equipment, hire of venues and music.

The Group activities include Di’s Jaunts, Theatre trips, Elmbridge Friends, Line dancing, Pickleball and the Elmbridge U3A Choir.

Overview

Receipts exceeded payments on General funds by £2,068 (2023: £4,851) and on the Ring-fenced activities by £3,282 (2023: £9,349).

Receipts and Payments: Notes

1. Membership receipts:

Our membership year runs from 1 January to 31 December. The bulk of our membership receipts are banked in the period October to December, in advance of the start of the new membership year and so those receipts are at the rate that applies for the new year.
The increase in membership income in the year was £2,383 to £22,547 (2023: increase £4,321). In 2024, this reflects the rise in the number of members whereas in 2023 the increase reflected both the increase in membership as well as the increase of the annual subscription from £12 to £14.
Membership received in advance as 31 December 2024 relating to 2025 was £17,791. The equivalent as at 31 December 2023 was £17,076.
The Gift Aid: The Gift Aid is claimed in arrears based on membership receipts in the previous 12 months to 31 December.
Donations: We are grateful to several members who also made donations for the benefit of Elmbridge U3A in 2024 and 2023. In 2023 we benefitted from a one-off distribution of £1,500 from Spelthorne U3a, which was wound up during 2023.
Advances to assist groups: The General Funds, from time to time, provide short term funds to groups to facilitate their establishment or development, with the advance

5. Monthly Meetings:

The receipts from meetings at Claygate Village Hall were £1,443 (2023: £1,301). Numbers attending the monthly talks appears to be on an upward trend.
Monthly meeting costs, which include those of the speaker and the rental of Claygate Village Hall were £2,543. (2022: £1,784). In 2024 Elmbridge U3A contributed £500 towards an upgrade of the audio in the hall.
Third Age Trust Costs: these costs are outside our control
The Third Trust charges an annual affiliation fee calculated on the actual number of members as at 31 March.
The Third Age Matters is paid in May, based on the number of copies despatched in the year to the previous February.
The Beacon licence is also membership based.
Newsletter: the cost of the printing and posting the tri-annual newsletter increased to £9,066 in 2024 from £7,465 in 2023. This reflect both additional membership and the increase in costs particularly postage.
A Group leaders’ event took place during the year (£1,140) (2023: £672).
Publicity and marketing spend included a successful stand at the West End summer fair.
Spend on new members meetings totalled £280 (2023: £360).
Administration costs decreased marginally to £693 (2023: £735).
IT related costs: this covers the Dropbox subscription and Zoom licence costs. In 2024 a new PC was acquired.

Ring- fenced group activities

The number and scale of group activities increased in 2024. The excess of payments over receipts of £3,282 (2023: £9,349) relates to timing differences due to the receipt of amounts in advance for future activities and trips as well as to the late invoicing of costs.

ELMBRIDGE u3a Independent Examiner’s Report

I report on the accounts for the year ended 31 December 2024

Respective responsibilities 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(2) of the Charities Act 2011 (the 2011 Act). An independent examination is required by the Charity Commission as the Receipts exceed £25,000.

It is my responsibility to:

examine the accounts under Section 145 of the 2011 Act;
follow the procedures laid down in the General Directions given by the Charity Commission under Section 145(5)(b) of the 2011 Act; and
state whether particular matters have come to my attention.

Basis of independent examiner’s report

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 you as trustees concerning any 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 2011 Act; and to prepare accounts which accord with the accounting records and comply with the accounting requirements of the 2011 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: 19th March 2025

Adrian Searle FCA ACMA CGMA Chartered Accountant 122 Thorkhill Road,

Thames Ditton, Surrey KT7 0UW

MINUTES OF THE 26th ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING OF ELMBRIDGE u3a Held at CVH

1.30 Wednesday 3rd April 2024

Present:

Nigel Cudby Chair David Rodway Vice-Chair and Webmaster Andrew Craig Treasurer Meg James Committee Secretary Barry Peters Groups Secretary Nikki Lindsey Speaker Secretary Philippa Allison Web Development Gillian Adams Editor Mark Dowdney Public Relations Peter Andrew New Members Secretary Tony Wharton Membership Secretary +140 Members

The chair introduced the Committee to the members.

1. Apologies

Some members sent their apologies

2. Minutes

Resolved that the Minutes of the 25th Annual General Meeting of Elmbridge u3a held on 5th April 2023 be approved and signed by the Chair.

Proposed by: Stephen Black Seconded by: Sylvia Rodway Passed: nem con

3. Matters arising

There were no matters arising.

4. Chair’s Address on behalf of the Trustees (Committee)

Whilst on the subject of committee members I would like to pay our respects to Tom Appleton who passed away at the end of December.

Tom Appleton joined Elmbridge u3a in April 2006 and became a committee member and treasurer two months later. In 2008 he became both the Chair and treasurer and retained both roles until Andrew Craig took over as treasurer. Tom guided and grew Eu3a over the next five years until Janet Larcher took over as chair in 2013. During his time as Chair of Eu3a Tom also supported the growth of South East regional meetings of u3as and chaired those meetings. Tom was made an honorary member of Eu3a in November 2016. He was a highly respected and much-loved member of our organisation.

2023/24 Recap

At last year’s AGM we defined 4 objectives for the following year: FIRSTLY We would concentrate on helping new members integrate into the u3a.

Peter Andrew was appointed to the role of New Members Secretary and based on his success in this role we propose today that he is elected to the committee.

SECONDLY We would attempt to minimise issues with full groups and waiting lists.

We created a dedicated email address for the reporting of full groups and a committee member champion - Mark Dowdney – to manage the data and responses to members. We can never completely solve this problem but we are doing our best to alleviate it.

THIRDLY We would continue our public relations and recruitment campaign through marketing within the Elmbridge community and building relationships with other organisations.

We continued our investment in marketing with attendance once again at the Esher Show and by providing permanent outlets for our publicity leaflets. We created a very successful affiliation with The Riverhouse Barn Arts Centre and are continuing to grow our relationship with the Active Partnerships charity.

FOURTHLY We would continue to grow and provide opportunities for our members.

With over 1400 members (at the end of December 2023) we again exceeded our previous highest levels. Many new groups have been formed throughout the year. Opportunities have been created for members especially through our relationship with The Riverhouse Barn.

Additionally during the year we:

Began to update our processes and documentation.
AND we have invested considerable effort in the development of our new website and in preparing to migrate to it later this year.

Thanks

I want to take this opportunity to formally thank every one of our invaluable volunteers – quite literally we would not exist without you.

And that brings me to the demise of one of the two Spelthorne u3as. This was wound up last year and its balance of funds was shared across local u3as, including ours. What is pertinent is that it foundered because they were unable to get members to volunteer to replace committee members.

Looking Forward

Therefore, looking forward, our focus will be on increasing the number of volunteers we very much need to sustain our u3a. To make roles less onerous we will examine how responsibilities can be packaged into small units which demand less effort from individuals. This will reduce the significant workload on committee members and make their role more attractive at the same time. That said we urgently need two new committee members to replace impending retirees. Volunteering can be very rewarding and also beneficial to mental health, so please contact me or any other committee member if you would like to help.

Thank you.

Adoption of the Annual Report of the Trustees (Committee) for the year ended 31 December 2021

Proposed by: Joanna Rand Seconded by: David Warren Passed, nem con

5. Treasurers Address on the Examined Accounts for the year ended 31 December 2021

Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen and thank you for joining us for our AGM. Printed Copies of the Annual report and accounts to 31 December 2023 have been put out for you although these have been previously posted on our website.

I must stress that our accounts are very simple, showing receipts of the money paid in and payments the money paid out of our bank accounts for example money received to renew your 2024 membership before the 31st of December 2023 is included in our 2023 receipts. Similarly expenses are shown as and when these are paid. In other words these are not related to the period to which those income or costs relate.

There are 2 individual and a total column in our accounts. The first shows our receipts and payments on general funds. These are the funds relating to the overall activities of Elmbridge u3a for the benefit of all members. The second is for The Ring fenced funds. These are funds, held by and on behalf

of certain groups such as the theatre, choir and jaunts and whose activities have no impact on the finances of the General fund and relate exclusively to the groups concerned.

The good news is our Bank accounts in the General fund increased in the year by £4,800 to £38,000. The Bank balance sounds a large figure but of this £17,000 relates to 2024 renewals received by 31 December 2023.

These bank balances are higher than we anticipated at the time of the last AGM. Our overall receipts were higher in 2023 by £5,700 whereas our payments only increased by £1,200 as the increase in costs was lower than expected this time last year.

Our principal source of income is our membership fees.

Membership fees received were higher in 2023 by £4,300, of which £2,400 approximately relates to the increase in membership fee and the balance to the increase in membership in the year.

In addition we received a one-off donation from the winding down of a Spelthorne U3A, Of our Payments, those to the Third Age Trust account for some 44% which is a lower percentage than in 2022. These payments are outside our control and are a function of membership numbers and the unit costs charged by the Third Age trust and are largely charged in arrears.

For example the affiliation fee is based on the number of members as at 31 March each year The Third Age Matters is also based on the number of copies sent in the year.

The same principle applies to the Elmbridge Newsletter. Higher postage and printing charges, increased membership as well as more activities to report pushed up the cash spend.

Elsewhere It was pleasing to see the numbers attending the monthly Claygate village Hall talks are on the rise and other costs were marginally lower than 2022.

Finally I would like to say we all owe a special vote of thanks to Adrian Searle for conducting an examination of the accounts and to all individuals, who behind the scenes make Elmbridge U3A so successful and vibrant.

Adoption of the Financial Report for the end of year 31[st] December 2021

Proposed by: Christine Purdey Seconded by: Stephen Black Passed: nem con

6. Membership Fees for 2024

At the AGM we set the membership fee for the following year, in this case 2025.

Your committee has to look at our cash flow through to the December of the following year, so we have carefully looked at our projected receipts and payments through to December 2025.

Although we are forecasting our payments will be higher than receipts in 2024 and 2025 we have sufficient funds to hold the membership at £14 for 2025.

Proposed by: Andrew Arnold Seconded by: Sylvia Rodway Passed, nem con

7. Election of Committee

The following members were offering themselves for election:

Nigel Cudby Meg James Barry Peters Andrew Craig Nikki Lindsey Gillian Adams Mark Dowdney David Rodway Tony Wharton Philippa Allison Peter Andrew

The Chair asked that these members be elected.

Proposed by: John Larcher Seconded by: Noel Richardson Passed, nem con

8. Appointment of Independent Examiner

Adrian Searle has indicated that he is happy to continue acting as Elmbridge u3a Independent Examiner for next year.

Proposed by: Christine Purdey Seconded by: Linda Tovey Passed, (nem con)

9. Any other business

Q. Did any members of the disbanded Spelthorne u3a join Elmbridge. A. Not known A vote of thanks was given to the Committee for all their hard work.

The Chair closed the meeting at 1.55pm

The next AGM will take place on Wednesday 2ndApril 2025

2024-12-31-accounts