2023-03-31-accounts

Annual Report 2022 - 2023

It has been another strong year for Barnsley u3a; with some 1,200 members, an impressive 125 Activity groups and a full Executive Committee of 14 people already in place for 2023-24, it was not surprising to be told at the regional AGM in May that “we look to Barnsley to see how it’s done”. Recruitment and retention of members and of Committee members is a major u3a issue but Barnsley is doing so well. Our fine 26year history rests on the shoulders of countless outstanding, long-term, selfless volunteers who have set the example that we are trying hard to follow and match.

The single, most memorable day of the year was, perhaps, the visit in April of the BBC’s ‘The One Show’ to report on Bu3a ‘ambassador extraordinaire’ Mac McKechnie’s Walking Cricket fame. A Community Award for Mac from Radio Leeds led to clips on Look North and Calendar, a full article in The Guardian and then Angela Rippon with full TV crew at Dodworth for a ‘One Show’ report that will go out on the 9th of June to coincide with the Summer’s Test Matches. The 5- minute slot is excellent and will create hundreds of membership requests to join u3as throughout the country.

We try hard to let people know who we are but still remain hampered by our mysterious ‘u3a’ name. U3a Day in September was a great success in town with Flutes Galore, The Stringalongs and The Old Blowers supporting Bu3a groups in the library and members who distributed our 2023 publicity leaflets in the Town Square. Wanting to spend less on hiring gazebos for such events, we decided to purchase our own blue and yellow 6m x 3m gazebo which has our name emblazoned on it. Its first outing was at Monk Bretton Methodist Church in October when the Mayor planted a rowan tree to commemorate our 25th anniversary, u3a’s 40th anniversary and The Queen’s Canopy project. The Mayor, a Bu3a fan, subsequently invited 20 members of Bu3a to an excellent Town Hall visit.

The biggest and hopefully the best innovation of the 2022-23 year has been our move to Simple Membership for our website and our internal management system. Its predecessors, Sitebuilder and Beacon, were creaking and the Sitebuilder website actually failed in November 2022 but it still took a bit of a leap of faith to abandon them. Simple Membership had been adopted by some strong u3as and would cost the same £1 per member per year so we went for it.

Bu3a Web Manager, Robin Northcut, and Membership Secretary, Trudy Atkinson, took the lead in a three-month trial in January to learn the new system so that we could use it for our April ‘23 renewals and then start to

build a brand-new website. It has been a fast learning curve for them and they deserve our sincere gratitude. It is a great example of how the Committee works behind the scenes to keep our u3a moving ahead. The website is already popular, and it will develop fast under the talented team of Robin Northcut, Janet Elvy and Helen Simms.

Our search for the perfect venue for Monthly Meetings continues although The Metrodome has, in general, served us well; the Rigby Suite has been full for every meeting. Some of the meetings have been very good indeed; perhaps the most memorable moment was the Yorkshire Air Ambulance speaker showing a video of himself being rescued by the helicopter crew after suffering a cardiac arrest on the pitch before a Barnsley FC match. Ian McMillan, the ‘Bard of Barnsley’ was a real ‘hit’ and he accepted our offer to become an Honorary Bu3a Member. Alison Spencer from Barnsley Hospital’s ‘The Well’ for cancer survivors was very impressive. Alan Swann’s comedy show was hilarious. Milly Johnson was predictably ‘downto-earth’ and funny. It has been a varied, happy and worthwhile programme that has brought us together on a regular basis.

Of course, our main business is helping retirees to have a meaningful, happy, retirement. Our 125 groups are wide-ranging and offer so much friendship and enjoyment. Our Buzz magazine that enables these groups to showcase their ‘work’ remains pretty unique; with a new flexible website and moving with the times, the paper Buzz will now contract in size and more Bu3a information and photos will go into the website’s Buzz section. Our huge thanks to Helen Simms for her forward-looking and committed work on the Buzz; it’s a massive task that she is driving ahead superbly.

Our most sincere thanks to Committee members Hilary Newton and Margaret Saxton who stand down as Treasurer and Social Secretary after their maximum six years on Committee. Finally, enormous thanks to every single Coordinator, to their assistants and to the multitude of members who help out in any way at all to make Bu3a such a vibrant and successful organisation. Here’s to 2023-24!

DEREK BACON (CHAIRMAN)

990.ij 9ttst:'lJ I 6t SVJ'£iJ 03 C•J C3 Iv1￿ IVWI4" $3SWHXJ, •r£srwJ W4ry3 95 k6L 23 IYJ J3 03 CIJ ￿53 90f61.3 1 gEFi If •LkJ Jln YED. IffCP3 Jtsj yf, Isl 104 kO- 9¢3 SZI£L3 os"ioiJ co w4rJ 9k 9613 fr143 99 fi953 9L 66'.'L3 11￿lj g•BiU-Jlld ItJW.' 99W3 OLOK3 SIE3 cocrJ 1 96 iK.TJ CA) 03 rdsj 99 S19"U 91 *19'13 IEU Zf'.ÈC Li IZ¢Yl'li L I13 rAI rcs

Minutes of the 27[th] Barnsley and District AGM held on June 5[th] 2023 at The Metrodome, Queens Road, Barnsley.

1. Some 125 Bu3a members attended the meeting.

2. The Chairman welcomed everyone to the meeting including a few new members.

3. Everyone stood in a minute’s silence in memory of those members who had passed away during the past twelve months.

4. ‘Barnsdale Hood’ played a few tunes and raised £50 for the ‘Louis George medical fund’

5. There were no questions about the Minutes of the 26[th] AGM in 2022 so acceptance of them was proposed by Ken Audin, seconded by Chrissie White and approved unanimously by the members.

6. The Chairman summarised his Annual Report for 2022-23 which was available for everyone to read in full on page 15 of the new ‘Buzz’ issued before the meeting started. The Report emphasises our strength in the number of members and group activities we have. Mention was made of our upcoming appearance on BBC’s The One Show when Angela Rippon spent the day with Mac McKechnie and his Walking Cricketers. It was announced that we expect to be returning to Priory Campus for our Monthly Meetings from September. The move to Simple Membership went well and thanks were expressed to Robin Northcut and Trudy Atkinson for their work setting it up. Thanks were given to all 100 or so Coordinators who ‘drive forward’ our Bu3a. Acceptance of The Annual Report was proposed by Gwenda Midgely, seconded by Jean Constable and approved unanimously by the members.

7. The Treasurer, Hilary Newton, retiring from Committee after the maximum six years, spoke about the Accounts for the year, emphasising how well our decision to rent a storage space at Storefirst had gone with Flutes Galore and the Executive and Events Committees using it to offset the cost of rental. Acceptance of The Accounts were proposed by Jo Kasparek, seconded by Anne Swann and approved unanimously by the members.

8. At this point the Chairman presented cards and flowers to Hilary Newton and to Margaret Saxton who were both having to stand down after six years on Committee. He thanked them for their outstanding and exemplary service as Treasurer and Social Secretary, respectively. They had also received cards and gifts from the Committee itself.

9. The Chairman spoke of his delight in receiving twelve nominations from members to be on the new 2023 Committee, a figure that would probably be much envied throughout the u3a organisation. Added to the Chairman and Vice-Chairman who were entering their second year of office, this gives us the maximum size permitted of fourteen members sitting on Committee.