FERNDOWN & DISTRICT U3A
MANAGEMENT REPORT for the year ending 31 May 2023 Registered Charity Number: 1073206
This report meets all the current statutory reporting requirements
prescribed by the Charity Commissioners
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:
Jenny Bass, Glyn Bosanko, Jo Brearley, Clare Clayton, Jane Cresswell, Vivian Dedman, Debbie Gill, Malcolm Gill, Anne Hutton, Angela Larcombe, Anu Patel, Thelma Poole, Bob Reeve, Jean Stone, Richard Tucker.
In December 2022 Jenny Bass and Jean Stone retired from the Committee, and Debbie Gill and Anu Patel joined it. During the course of 2023 Chris Preece, Val Tucker and Carole Ward were co-opted on to it.
Our Honorary President is Gerry Lewis.
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.
For 2022-23 we advertised 88 Groups, led by 61 Group Leaders, to 568 members who were able to enrol in up to eight different Groups.
We continue to champion the advantages of our enrolment process which gives every member - new or returning - 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.
FINANCIAL ACCOUNTS & MANAGEMENT
A Statement of Accounts for the year 1[st] June 2022 – 31[st] May 2023 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 .
We did not receive income from contracts from central government or a local authority, nor did we receive any grant funding from these sources. Our charity does not make grants as the main way of carrying out its purpose. We did not operate outside England and Wales, and we did not receive income from outside the UK. We have no trading subsidiaries. None of the trustees received remuneration or benefits other than expenses incurred, and none were paid for any services. None of the trustees resigned and took up employment with the charity (Fu3a does not employ any staff).
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 make donations to other charities only on a marginal basis.
A total of £3230 was raised in the 2022 calendar year for Lewis Manning Hospice Care .
ACCOMMODATION
Securing appropriate, accessible and safe accommodation at a reasonable cost remains an on-going challenge. In 2022-23 we used nine different venues in the wider Ferndown area, with 14 Groups meeting in members’ homes. Two Groups continued to meet via Zoom.
In 2022-23 we continued to use the Barrington Theatre only for ‘First Fridays’ and major events such as the Open Day. Its rental charges are relatively high, and accommodating Fu3a Groups there would impact significantly on our finances. Your Committee believes that such a change is unnecessary given our successful use of the KGV Regency Room, the Youth Centre and Heatherlands, for example; but the potential use of available local accommodation is kept under review.
ADMINISTRATION
Once again this year we produced our brochure in hard-copy format, supported by our strongly developed website. Communication with members is normally done via email (fewer than 1% of our members do not have email access).
Committee sub-groups continued to meet as required, benefitting from the interest and specialist expertise of individual members: 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 continue 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 .
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 2022-23 at least 120 members contributed in at least one of these categories, and we are extremely grateful to everyone involved.
None of the trustees or volunteers work directly and unsupervised with children or adults at risk .
On behalf of the Trustees
Bob Reeve Chairman November 2023
| Ferndown & District u3a End Of Year Statement of Accounts 1/6/2022-31/5/2023 | |||
| Current Account | |||
| Income & Expenditure: | |||
| Income | Expenditure | ||
| ADMINISTRATION: | |||
| Third Age Trust: Annual MembershipSubscription | £ 2,244.00 | ||
| Central,Equipment,Meetings | £ 1,992.20 | ||
| SundryItems | £ 780.11 | ||
| MEMBERSHIP SUBSCRIPTIONS | £ 27,870.00 | ||
| HMRC GIFT AID | £ 4,293.81 | ||
| GROUP FUNDS | £ 1,258.47 | £ 353.87 | |
| GROUPS - ACCOMMODATION | £ 28,818.99 | ||
| FIRST FRIDAYS | £1,251.26 | ||
| EVENTS | £4,324.83 | £ 4,784.57 | |
| VISITS | £ 17,640.00 | £ 16,423.49 | |
| Sub-totals | £55,387.11 | £56,648.49 | |
| Current Account Operating Deficit | £ 1,261.38 | ||
| BALANCE OF TRANSFERS TO/FROM RESERVE ACCOUNT | £ 6,000.00 | ||
| Current Account Surplus | £ 4,738.62 | ||
| **Reserve Account - Income & Outgoings ** | Income | Outgoings | |
| TRANSFERS FROM CURRENT ACCOUNT | £ 14,000.00 | ||
| INTEREST | £ 924.95 | ||
| TRANSFERS TO CURRENT ACCOUNT | £ 20,000.00 | ||
| Sub-totals | £ 14,924.95 | £ 20,000.00 | |
| Reserve Account Deficit | £ 5,075.05 | ||
| Total Surplus/Deficit for theyear: | |||
| Current Account - Surplus | £ 4,738.62 | ||
| Reserve Account - Deficit | £5,075.05 | ||
| Combined - Deficit | £336.43 | ||
| Balance Sheet at 31st May 2023 | |||
| CURRENT BANK ACCOUNT | £8,352.37 | ||
| COIF CHARITIES DEPOSIT FUND | £22,392.86 | ||
| Total | £30,745.23 | ||
| ACCUMULATED FUND AT 31st MAY 2021 | |||
| Current A/c £3613.75 + Reserve A/c £27467.91 | £31,081.66 | ||
| LESS DEFICIT FOR THE YEAR | £336.43 | ||
| Total | £30,745.23 |
10/10/2023