Romsey and District u3a
TRUSTEES REPORT and CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
For the period ended 31[st] March 2025
1. REFERENCE AND ADMINISTRATION DETAILS
Name : Romsey and District u3a
Registered Charity No. 1082501
We are affiliated to the Third Age Trust
Address : 2 Windfield Drive Romsey SO51 7RL
2. OBJECTIVES AND ACTIVITIES
The formal objective of the charity is, ‘the advancement of education, and in particular the education of older people and those retired from full time work, by the means including associated activities conducive to learning, and personal development in Romsey and the surrounding areas.’
We provide a programme of activities which includes monthly speaker meetings and regular interest group activities which provide members with physical, mental and social stimulation to support active living. Members learn from each other, through sharing their knowledge, skills and experience. Our interest groups provide opportunities for physical activity e.g. table tennis, pickleball and walking, learning activities e.g. German, French and Industrial Heritage and creativity e.g. painting and creative writing and study e.g. Philosophy. A full list of current interest groups and contact details can be found on our website.
Public Benefit : Due regard has been given to complying with public benefit guidance. The charity proactively encourages and supports anyone in the local community who is no longer in full time employment or raising a family to learn through mutual education, creative and leisure activities.
3. STRUCTURE, GOVERNANCE AND MANAGEMENT
The charity is governed by it’s constitution adopted on 30[th] March 2022. The charity is managed by a committee of a maximum of 12 and trustees are elected annually. During the period of the report, it comprised
| CHAIR and AccessibilityOficer | Bob Shemilt | Elected 2024 |
|---|---|---|
| VICE CHAIR | Tim Holmes | Elected 2024 |
| SECRETARY | Trisha Meredith | Elected 2024 |
| TREASURER | David Percival | Elected 2024[died November 2024] |
| TREASURER | Diana Blakeman | Appointed December 2024 |
| TRUSTEE[joint membershipsecretary] | Jan Tudball | Elected 2024 |
| TRUSTEE[joint membershipsecretary] | Jean Wilks | Elected 2024 |
| TRUSTEE[Groups Co-ordinator] | Margaret Marchbank | Elected 2024 |
| TRUSTEE | John Scarborough | Elected 2024 |
| TRUSTEE | Caroline Saltrick | Co-opted January2025 |
| TRUSTEE | Linda Meyer | Co-opted March 2025 |
The Trustees have had 6 meetings during the year and have been assisted by other member volunteers whose work has been invaluable.
Our u3a is part of the Southeast Hants u3a network. Representatives of the u3as within the network generally meet four times a year and are provided with updates from the regional trustee for the Third Age Trust and the meetings also give an opportunity to share ideas and good practices. They have been running peer group Trustees report 2025.docx
meetings and recently provided one for secretaries which again enables the sharing of procedures and local practices.
4. THE FUTURE OF ROMSEY AND DISTRICT u3a
In line with many organisations in the voluntary sector, we continue to find it difficult to secure a sufficient number of trustees to maintain our charity. Our legally binding constitution requires us to have a Chair, Vice Chair, Secretary, Treasurer and at least one other trustee. As a result of the continuing trend the majority of the trustees’ time and attention this year has focused once again on ensuring the survival of Romsey and District u3a. We have continued to communicate the importance of identifying members willing to stand as trustees through our quarterly newsletter and monthly meetings with very little success. We have also sent out a direct email to all our members outlining the need for volunteers to consider joining the committee as a trustee either now or at the next AGM in May 2025. An urgent request was sent out to members for a new Treasurer and for this we were successful receiving three replies offering to help. A separate request was sent out asking for volunteers to take on the role of Chair at the AGM to ensure Romsey and District could continue. To this we received just one response.
5. ACHIEVEMENTS AND PERFORMANCE
Operational roles
Our u3a is run for members by members who volunteer to undertake specific roles. Some are trustees, others lead interest groups, some look after the arrangements and sourcing speakers for our monthly members meetings and others undertake communication activities and keeping our new website updated and relevant. We have about 70 volunteers who do this which is approximately 10% of the membership. Without them the charity would be unable to operate.
Every person who does something for our charity e.g. trustees, group leaders, the refreshments team, is a volunteer. The trustees would like to place on record their thanks to each and every one of them for their valued support.
Membership
Membership, as in most years has fluctuated but we are pleased that 81 people were attracted to join our u3a this year leading to a closing total of 650 fully paid up members. Jan Moody has continued as our ‘new member buddy’ providing a valuable role in welcoming and helping them to settle in and answering any queries they may have.
Communication with Members
We have a publications manager John Dick who is our newsletter editor producing an edition each quarter and this provides updated information on interest groups together with editorial and photographs leaders have provided of group activities. The newsletter is sent out to all members by email, with a printed copy hand delivered or posted to members who do not use or have access to email. The newsletter is also made available on our website. Positive feedback from members continues to be received on the layout and content.
Following the large amount of time spent by John last year working with the siteworks team he has successfully made the migration from the old system to our new website provider and has provided initial training where required. John is planning to hold additional training sessions for group leaders during 2025 to enable them to make efficient use of the website. The new website is now easier to keep updated with relevant information and is more attractive and user friendly for those seeking information on our u3a and what is available.
The trustees would like to once again put on record their thanks for all John’s hard work and continued support on this.
Trustees report 2025.docx
Interest Groups
Throughout the year we have maintained around 44 interest groups with changes throughout this time of new leaders, new groups and ones that have ended.
Changes to Interest Groups April 2024 – March 2025
-
New Groups - Books for Pleasure and Crime Fiction 2 Closed Groups - Latin Literature for Pleasure which was dissolved and restarted
-
Books for Pleasure which was dissolved and restarted with new members
-
Change of Leader - Genealogy, Philosophy and Spanish
Monthly Meetings and other events
Gill and Timothy Bailey continued in the post of Programme Secretary this year and have done an excellent job. Due to technical restrictions in the venue [Crosfield Hall Romsey] we no longer offer the option for members to join any of the meetings via Zoom, all meetings have been in person and the attendance has been growing to between 100 – 120 each month. The speakers have been well received with a wide range of topics. Although the dates and speakers are available to view on our website a reminder is sent out to members in advance of the meeting providing details of the speaker and their topic.
Risk Management
The trustees recognise they continue to have a duty of care to their members and as part of this group convenors are required to complete risk management plans taking into account health and safety risks arising from group activities. The trustees monitor and keep on record all incident and accident reports received from the groups.
Website
Our website is managed by John Dick and he has been involved with training trustees and group leaders which will enable them to update their group information with upcoming activities and meeting dates.
Our Zoom licence is now managed by John Dick but there has been very little use during the year.
6. FINANCIAL REVIEW
Reserves
We maintain a reserves policy which is regularly reviewed. The policy is to maintain a reserve of 50% of running costs averaged over the preceding three years.
Subscriptions
The annual subscription remained at £15 or for members who pay their Third Age Trust capitation through another u3a a fee of £11.
Financial Overview
Our finances are organised into three bank accounts, Main, Reserves and Groups, on a receipts and payments basis. All accounts are managed by the Treasurer who is signatory together with the Secretary, Vice Chair and John Scarborough, Trustee. Our main source of income is from membership subscriptions and the claiming of gift aid on eligible subscriptions.
All three bank accounts had an independent auditor examine and authorise them.
Outgoings: The Third Age Trust fees include yearly membership fee, cost of the Third Age magazine [TAM], plus the annual fee for use of the Beacon Membership Database. We purchased one yearly licence for Zoom. We continue to pay for speakers at the monthly members meetings at Crosfield Hall Romsey plus the hire of the venue.
Trustees report 2025.docx
Main Current Account: The balance at the beginning of the year [01.03.2024] was £11,933.81 and ended with a balance of £16,127.76
Reserve Account: The balance at the beginning of the year [01.03.2024] was £6,011.22 and ended with a balance of £6,101.55
Groups Account: The balance at the beginning of the year [01.03.2024] was £9,151.87 and ended with a balance of £7,962.37
8. OUTLOOK
During the year some volunteers have given up their role and we thank them for their commitment and contribution to the success of our u3a and it’s members. We lost our Treasurer in November 2024 due to illness and sudden death. He provided excellent support to our u3a during his term in office and was greatly missed by us all. One of the existing trustees stepped forward to take on the role for the remainder of the year which provided invaluable support through a very difficult time.
The coming year will see changes within the committee as members will be stepping down for various reasons but four of the trustees have agreed to stand for a further term to ensure the continued success of Romsey and District u3a and provide opportunities for members.
The current trustees do need to highlight once again the fact that more trustees and volunteers are needed to help share the load, bring more ideas to the running of Romsey and District u3a and to help with future planning and continuity. If there were more trustees we would also be able to put on more events for members. Due to the limited resources of trustees’ time available we were again unable to put on any large events for the members during the year and as a result the decision was taken at a Trustees meeting to reduce the subscription from £15 to £5 for the year 2025 – 2026 in order to reduce the substantial balance held in our main account. The hope is for additional volunteers to come forward for next year to help with putting on an event for members in order that they can benefit from the funds currently held.
Trustees report 2025.docx
Romsey & District U3A Financial Statement for year 2024/25 ending 28 February 2025
| Current Acc Income 2024/25 |
£ |
Current Acc Expenditure 2024/25 |
£ |
Current Acc Expenditure Breakdown |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| I1. Membership subscriptions | 9801.50 | E1. Third Age Trust – Membership Fee, TAM, Beacon |
4011.60 | TAT £2412, TAM £957.60, Beacon £642 |
| E2. Monthly meetings – speakers, refreshments |
1583.26 | Crosfield Hall £189, Speakers £962.70, Zoom £155.88, Refreshments £275.68 |
||
| I2. Donations | 272.00 | E3. Events,StudyDays,W/Shops | 53.25 | Crosfield Hall £44, Labels £9.25 |
| I3. Gift Aid | 1027.52 | E4. Printing,Postage,Stationery,Ink | 177.76 | Paper ex HCC £25.87, ink £66.89, stamps £85.00 |
| I4. Miscellaneous | E5. Website,Newsletter | 736.80 | Newsletter printing £359.68 | |
| barclays | E6. Committee,AGM Costs | 273.20 | Committee meetings £158, AGM printing £65.20, gift card £50, |
|
| Banked to be tfrd togrpups | 61.00 | E7. U3A Day | 0.00 | |
| E8. Miscellaneous | 132.20 | Microsoft word - £59.99, CLA License - £67.21, |
||
| 2024/25 Income | **11162.02 ** | 2024/25 Expenditure | 6968.07 | |
| 2024/25 Income less Expenditu | r 4193.95 |
|||
| B/F Balance 1/03/2024 | 11933.81 | |||
| Balance at Bank at28.02.2025 | 16127.76 | |||
| Reserve Acc Income 2024/25 |
£ |
|||
| B/F Balance 01/03/24 | 6,011.22 | |||
| Interest received March | 22.48 | |||
| Interest received June | 22.57 | |||
| Interest received September | 22.65 | |||
| Interest received December | 22.73 | |||
| Balance at Bank at 31.10.24 | 6101.65 | |||
| Total of Current and Reserve | 22229.41 | |||
| Balance of Groups Account | 7962.37 | |||
| Loans to | ||||
| Theatre repaid (included in Groups reserve ) |
1,000.00 |
Romsey & District U3A Financial Statement for year 2024/25 ending 28 February 2025
| Current Acc Income 2024/25 |
£ | Current Acc Expenditure 2024/25 |
£ | Current Acc Expenditure Breakdown |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| I1. Membershipsubscriptons | 9801.50 | E1. Third Age Trust – Membership Fee,TAM,Beacon |
4011.60 | TAT £2412, TAM £957.60, Beacon £642 |
| E2. Monthly meetngs – speakers, refreshments |
1583.26 | Crosfeld Hall £189, Speakers £962.70, Zoom £155.88, Refreshments £275.68 |
||
| I2. Donatons | 272.00 | E3. Events,StudyDays,W/Shops | 53.25 | Crosfeld Hall £44, Labels £9.25 |
| I3. Gif Aid | 1027.52 | E4. Printng,Postage,Statonery,Ink | 177.76 | Paper ex HCC £25.87, ink £66.89, stamps £85.00 |
| I4. Miscellaneous | E5. Website,Newsleter | 736.80 | Newsleterprintng £359.68 | |
| barclays | E6. Commitee,AGM Costs | 273.20 | Commitee meetngs £158, AGM printng £65.20, gif card £50, |
|
| Banked to be trd togrpups | 61.00 | E7. U3A Day | 0.00 | |
| E8. Miscellaneous | 132.20 | Microsof word - £59.99, CLA License - £67.21, |
||
| 2024/25 Income | 11162.02 | 2024/25 Expenditure | 6968.07 |
| 2024/25 Income less Expenditu | r 4193.95 |
|---|---|
| B/F Balance 1/03/2024 | 11933.81 |
| Balance at Bank at28.02.2025 | 16127.76 |
| Reserve Acc Income 2024/25 |
£ |
| B/F Balance 01/03/24 | 6,011.22 |
| Interest received March | 22.48 |
| Interest received June | 22.57 |
| Interest received September | 22.65 |
| Interest received December | 22.73 |
| Balance at Bank at 31.10.24 | 6101.65 |
| Total of Current and Reserve | 22229.41 |
| Balance of Groups Account | 7962.37 |
| Loans to | |
| Theatre repaid (included in Groups reserve) |
1,000.00 |