| Ferndown & District University of the Third Age | Ferndown & District University of the Third Age | Ferndown & District University of the Third Age | Ferndown & District University of the Third Age |
|---|---|---|---|
| Statement of Accounts 1stJune 2020 to 31st May 2021 | |||
| Current Account | |||
| Income & Expenditure: | |||
| Income | Expenditure | ||
| ADMINISTRATION: | |||
| Third Age Trust: Annual MembershipSubscription | £ 1,708.00 | ||
| Central,Equipment,Meetings | £ 1,926.40 | ||
| SundryItems | £ 1,778.87 | ||
| MEMBERSHIP SUBSCRIPTIONS | £ 20,615.00 | ||
| HMRC GIFT AID | £ 3,801.59 | ||
| GROUPS - ACCOMMODATION | £ 1,659.90 | ||
| FIRST FRIDAYS | £ 300.00 | ||
| VISITS & EVENTS: | |||
| Events | £660.00 | £ 280.00 | |
| Visits - Local | £ 50.00 | ||
| Visits - Lake District | £ 386.00 | £ 9,990.00 | |
| Visits - Bruges | £ 56.10 | ||
| Sub-totals | £ 25,518.69 | £ 17,693.17 | |
| Current Account Operating Surplus | £7,825.52 | ||
| BALANCE OF TRANSFERS TO/FROM RESERVE ACCOUNT | £9,000.00 | ||
| Current Account Defcit | -£1,174.48 | ||
| Reserve Account | |||
| **Income & Outgoings ** | Income | Outgoings | |
| TRANSFERS FROM CURRENT ACCOUNT | £9,000.00 | ||
| INTEREST | £27.36 | ||
| TRANSFERS TO CURRENT ACCOUNT | £ 0.00 | ||
| Sub-totals | £ 9,027.36 | £ 0.00 | |
| Reserve Account Surplus | £ 9,027.36 | ||
| Total Surplus/Defcit for theyear: | |||
| Current Account | -£ 1,174.48 | ||
| Reserve Account | £ 9,027.36 | ||
| Combined Surplus | £ 7,852.88 | ||
| Balance Sheet at 31st May 2021 | |||
| CURRENT BANK ACCOUNT | £ 3,756.96 | ||
| COIF CHARITIES DEPOSIT FUND | £ 41,436.02 | ||
| Total | ### | ||
| ACCUMULATED FUND AT 31st MAY 2020 | |||
| Current A/c £4,931.44 + Reserve A/c £32,408.66 | £37,340.10 | ||
| ADDSURPLUS FOR THE YEAR | £ 7,852.88 | ||
| Total | £45,192.98 | ||
FERNDOWN & DISTRICT U3A
MANAGEMENT REPORT for the year ending 31 May 2021
Registered Charity Number: 1073206
This report meets all the current statutory reporting requirements.
The Charity Commissioners require a response to a number of specific questions, and these are included below (marked ‘CC Ref.’) where applicable.
LEGAL & ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION
Ferndown & District University of the 3[rd] Age (Fu3a) is a member of the Third Age Trust as an unincorporated association.
The Trustees are the members of the Committee elected annually at the AGM. The following members served during the year:
Keith Banks, Jenny Bass, Glyn Bosanko, Clare Clayton, Malcolm Gill, Judith Hodges, Derek Holden, Anne Hutton, Bob Reeve, Jean Stone, Richard Tucker, Yvonne Warner, and Ralph Weeks.
Judith Hodges and Derek Holden formally retired from the Committee in March 2021.
Jo Brearley and Thelma Poole were Associate Members of the Committee for part of the year, and were elected as full members in March 2021. Angela Larcombe joined as an Associate Member at the same time.
We welcomed our Honorary President , Gerry Lewis, to our meetings by invitation.
Our Independent Examiner is Ian Burr, 84 Twyford House, Fairways, Ferndown BH22 8BB. Our Bankers are Lloyds Bank, Ferndown Branch, Victoria Road, Ferndown.
OUR PROGRAMME
We continue to strive to offer the best opportunities for Lifelong Learning, Recreation and Leisure to all those living in Ferndown and the surrounding areas who are no longer in full-time employment.
In 2020-21 we advertised 93 Groups, led by 72 Group Leaders, to 499 members (compared with 626 the previous year). The membership fee was £42.
We continue to champion the advantages of our enrolment process which gives every member - new or old - an equal opportunity to join their chosen Groups. We believe that this is a fairer system than asking new members to wait until vacancies arise. This arrangement also helps support a flow of ‘new blood’ into the membership.
Members had the opportunity to enrol in up to eight different Groups from the following curriculum areas:
Art & Design (9) Bridge (6) Discussion Groups (11) History (8) Travel (4) Sport & Fitness (21) Language & Literature (12) Music (11) Science & Technology (6) Food & Drink (5)
By the beginning of June the impact of the Covid pandemic was already being felt, but the Committee was unanimous in agreeing that we should encourage members to re-enrol for 2020/21. Our aim was to be ‘ready to resume business’ as soon as Government pandemic regulations and Third Age Trust advice allowed.
Almost 500 members responded to this call, and your Committee much appreciated their encouragement. It was clear that members did not want our U3A to close down - as many U3As did - ‘until it was safe to come out’, but to be ready to open again as soon as practicable.
In September, we went to considerable efforts to put special surface cleaning and social distancing measures in place - but all to no avail. We relied increasingly on Zoom video-conferencing for maintaining as many Fu3a activities as possible, all of which followed government requirements and Third Age Trust advice (eg outdoor activities took place under the Rule-of-6 regulation).
We were impressed by how successfully many of our members adjusted to meeting via Zoom. Many of them enthusiastically supported our Something Every Day programme, and we were enormously heartened by the messages of appreciation and encouragement we received. I want to renew my thanks to everyone who presented within that programme.
Given the uncertainty surrounding Covid, it was difficult to budget with certainty for the 2021-22 year. We were not spending as much as we would normally have done - though it is important to remember that our fixed costs (Third Age Trust membership, Beacon membership, brochure production, licences, etc) remained in place. With that in mind, our Finance & Membership sub-group undertook
detailed scenario planning, allowing us to offer current members a voucher for £32 to set against the normal membership fee held at £42.
We were able to hold an outdoor, socially-distanced Open Day at the end of May, and encouraged current members to re-enrol and find new members to join us. The results have been encouraging.
Our overall aim continues to be to reduce our reserves towards the level expected by the Charity Commissioners for our kind of organisation, with the goal of operating a balanced budget (at the level of pre-Covid membership fees and enrolments) by 2023.
FINANCIAL ACCOUNTS & MANAGEMENT
A Statement of Accounts for the year 1[st] June 2020 – 31[st] May 2021 is attached. These have been audited by our Independent Examiner.
Our reserves are considered sufficient to meet current and future liabilities.
We continue to use the Third Age Trust Beacon finance system to monitor our monthly cash-flow against budget. Our Finance & Membership sub-group monitors our policy and practice on financial control and investment (CC Ref.36).
Note: The following statements are included in response to Charity Commission requirements which
reflect its continuing concern about illegal activity (such as money laundering) across the charity
sector. While there has never been the slightest suggestion that any FU3A monies have been
- misappropriated, we nonetheless recognise that we are expected to respond and have systems
in place to provide an audit trail if required.
-
Our charity does not make grants as the main way of carrying out its purpose (CC Ref.10)
-
We did not receive income from contracts from central government or a local authority (CC Ref 11), nor did we receive any grant funding from these sources (CC Ref.14)
-
We did not receive income from outside the UK (CC Ref.17)
-
We did not operate outside England and Wales (CC Ref.20)
-
We have no trading subsidiaries (CC Ref.27)
-
None of the trustees received remuneration or benefits other than expenses incurred (CC Ref.29), and none were paid for any services (CC Ref.30)
-
None of the trustees resigned and took up employment with the charity (Fu3a does not employ any staff: CC Ref.31)
FU3A CHARITY OF THE YEAR
In 2018 we began a tradition of identifying a ‘Fu3a Charity of the Year’, mindful of the fact that individual U3As are not permitted to make donations to other charities except on a marginal basis ( - the sums raised are kept entirely separate from the Fu3a accounts).
The final total raised in 2020 for MacMillan Caring Locally was £2573. Our current success in raising c. £3000 for the Fletcher Foundation in 2021 will be formally included in next year’s Report.
Information is attached about the short-listed nominations and voting procedure for determining our Charity of the Year 2022.
ACCOMMODATION
Securing appropriate, accessible and safe accommodation at a reasonable cost remains an on-going challenge. Were it not for the pandemic, we would have used 11 different venues in the wider Ferndown area, with 20 Groups meeting in members’ homes.
ADMINISTRATION
Once again this year we produced our brochure in hard-copy format, but communication with members is now generally done via email (fewer than 6% of our members have no email access at home).
The following Committee sub-groups continued to meet as required, benefitting from the interest and specialist expertise of individual members:
Finance & Membership Accommodation, Equipment & Risk Brochure Production Visits & Events Governance
Each group is chaired by either the Chairman or one of the Vice-Chairmen, subsequently reporting recommendations to the full Committee for confirmation or amendment.
We have continued to keep our governance under review, especially our policies relating to Health & Safety, and the Assessment of Risk. There were no serious incidents to report (CC Ref.4).
VOLUNTEERS
Our Group Leaders and Committee Members remain the Charity’s greatest resource, since without them it would be impossible to achieve our objectives. A
significant number of other members undertake a wide range of tasks to ensure that our charity continues to be a lively and successful organisation. We estimate that in 2020-21 at least 100 members contributed in either or both of these categories (CC Ref.35), and we are extremely grateful to them all.
None of the trustees or volunteers work directly and unsupervised with children or adults at risk (CC Ref.37).
On behalf of the Trustees
Bob Reeve Chairman
November 2021
CHARITY COMMISSION FOR ENGLAND AND WALES Independent examinerfs report on the accounts Section A Independent Examiner's Report Report to the trusteosl members ol (-'LQJQObJ I U s Charity no (If any) On a¢¢ounts for the year ended Set out on pages I report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of the above charity (kn8 Trusf) for the year ended Responsibilities and As the charity trustees, you are responsible for the preparation of the basis of report accounts in accordance with the Charities Act 2011 ("the Acf,). I report in respect of my examination of the Trusys accounts carried out under section 145 of the 2011 Act and in Carrying out my examination, I have followed all the applicable Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5){b) of the Act. Independent examiner's ststement I have ¢ompE8ted my 8xamination. I confirm that no material matters have Come to my attention { "} in connection with the examination which gives me cause to believe that in, any material respect,: the accounting records were not kept in accordance with section 130 ofthe Act,. or the accounts did nol accord with the accounting records., or the account5 did not Gomply with the applicable requirements conceming the form and content of accounts set out in the Charities (Accounts and Reports) Regulations 2008 other than any requirement that the accounts give a 'true and fairf view which is not a matter Considered as part of an independent examination. I have no COnmS and have come across no i)ther matters in connertion with the examination to which attention shoukl be drawn in this report in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached. Please delete th words in the brackets if they do not apply. Signed: Date: 17.10.2<JLI Name: bMJ, 5) Relevant professional qualificationls) or body (if any): DLr IER October 2018
Addr88S'. i OL) 4LL&r Section B Disclosure Only complete if the examiner needs to highlight matters of concern (see CC32, Independent examination of charity accounts.. directions and guidance for examiners). Give hare details of any itsms that the examiner wishes to di1088. IER October 2018