2025-07-31-accounts

2024/25 Annual General Meeting

Monday 10[th] November 2025

CHRISTCHURCH u3a ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING (AGM)

INDEX

Page 1 > Agenda

Page 2 > List of Committee & Non Committee members

Pages 3 - 6 > Minutes of Last General Annual Meeting Held

Pages 7 - 9 > Chair's Report

Page 10 > Treasurer's Report

Pages 11 - 13 > Financial Report

Pages 14 > Auditor's Report of the Accounts

Page 15 > u3a committee nomination form

This information pack is available online at www.christchurchu3a.org.uk

CHRISTCHURCH u3a ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING (AGM)

MONDAY 10th NOVEMBER 2025

The meeting will start at 14.00

NewVenue: The Runway

15 Airfield Way

Christchurch

BH23 3TG

What3words:saves.vast.meant

Venuehasamplefreeparking

AGENDA

• 1 Apologies for absence

• 2 Minutes of the last AGM, 11[th] November 2024

• 3 Matters Arising

• 4 Chair’s Report

• 5 Treasurer and Financial Report

• 6 Approval of any changes to the Constitution (if required)

• 7 Approval and Appointment of the Examiner of the Accounts

• 8 Election of Management Committee

• 9 Propositions Received 10 Any Other Business

The meeting will be followed by an exciting performance by the Christchurch u3a Ukulele Group.

The Agenda, Minutes of the last AGM, Chairs report, Treasurers Report, Statement of Accounts will be published on the website and will be sent by email towards the end of October. Members are welcome to come into the Epicentre, on Monday mornings (10.00 - 12.00) to view the documents from the beginning of November.

Charity No: 1091197

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CHRISTCHURCH u3a – TRUSTEES AND SUPPORT STAFF (Trustees to be appointed at the AGM)

Trustees (Committee)	Trustees (Committee)
RosemaryMcCulloch	Chair
Kathleen Smith	Treasurer
Sue Fillery	Secretary
Eileen Lancaster	MembershipSecretaryand Webmaster
RosemaryMcCulloch	Magazine Editor
Paula Watton	PublicityCoordinator
Jackie Sherman	GroupCoordinator
Ian Peterkin	Programme Coordinator
Sue Crosoer	Venues Coordinator and Vice Chair
Paul Heighes	Assistant Treasurer
Elaine Trayler	Epicentre Manager
Non-Trustee Support Staff
Alison Hearn	Assistant Venues Coordinator
David Mobbs	Website Support
Gillian Walker	New Members Contact
Gill Kennedy	Assistant Office Manager
Sarah Howell-Davies	Examiner of the Accounts
Vacant Posts

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Christchurch u3a Annual General Meeting

Minutes of the Annual General Meeting held at Christchurch Baptist Church on Monday 11 November 2024

Present: A list of those members present is attached to a hard copy of these minutes.

John Bell thanked everyone for attending the meeting and confirmed the meeting was quorate.

1. Apologies for Absence were received from: Sue Crosoer, Vivian Goodwin, Gill Kennedy, Bernice Taylor, Elaine Traylor, Cheryl Veal, April Weal and John Weal

2. Minutes of the previous Annual General Meeting held on 13 November 2023

The Minutes were accepted and signed as a true record

Proposer: Lindsay Turner. Seconded: Helen Wilson.

1. Matters Arising. There were no matters arising.

2. Chair’s Report.

John Bell said Christchurch u3a is committed to providing the best possible experience to members through the delivery of a diverse range of activities. The committee is extremely grateful to the many individuals who willingly invest their time and effort with the objective of bringing pleasure, friendship and learning to members.

The scope of activities is becoming more varied with greater emphasis on delivering a range of social activities. As an example, the Out of Hours Group is offering an innovative range of activities enabling daytime, evening and weekend social activities. Likewise, the Reading Group has expanded to five separate groups.

JB was pleased to report that Christchurch u3a is in a stable financial position. He is confident that while costs continue to rise, with careful fiscal management coupled with sustained membership levels the future is secure.

This year the decision was made to reduce the membership fee by £10 which will be absorbed, in part, by reserves. In addition, it was decided to continue with a 34week programme.

The committee is individually, and collectively, committed to making Christchurch u3a a rewarding experience for all members. It’s important to remember that they are volunteers who give up their time without any expectation of reward.

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Finding volunteers to serve on the committee is a huge challenge. It took almost a year to find a new Venues Coordinator and next year there are several positions which will have completed the 3 years term of service. JB said he will extend his tenure to four years with the intention of stepping down at the 2025 AGM.

JB extended a warm welcome to Sue Crosoer and Phil Erwin both of whom have volunteered to join the committee. Sue has agreed to take on the Venues Coordinator Role and Phil has agreed to become Assistant Treasurer.

JB also extended his sincere thanks to Judy Hall who is stepping down as Venues Coordinator after almost 7 years of dedicated service. Judy has made a huge contribution to the success of Christchurch u3a, and her legacy will live on.

JB also thanked Martin Prince who stepped down from a publicity support role.

Finally, JB recognised the contribution made by Rosemary McCulloch for her innovative work on the new Active News on-line format.

On behalf of all members, JB thanked Group Leaders, and their deputies, who have worked tirelessly to deliver an exceptional programme. It is fully recognised that these individuals invest a considerable amount of time, effort that benefits us all.

New group leaders are always needed to enable further development of the range of activities as well as providing increased availability for existing ones.

It is equally important to recognise the vital contribution of all u3a volunteers who work in the background supporting the office function, catering, helping with repairs and other group activities.

Christchurch u3a has developed its policies based on Third Age Trust guidelines. Two years ago, the Trustees initiated a Governance Review which resulted in some changes. Last year the Constitution and several key governance policies were updated. This year internal policies and procedures have been reviewed and notification of the changes are included in the AGM Booklet.

On behalf of the Committee, JB wished everyone a very rewarding year.

JB asked if there were any questions:

Julia Baker asked if a way of recognising the contribution made by volunteers had been set up. JB replied he had written to all current and retiring Group Leaders to thank them for their help and commitment and in future it would be standard practise for the Chair to write to volunteers to acknowledge their contribution. Also, a barbeque was held in the summer to thank group leaders, their deputies and volunteers. In accordance with TAT guidelines, spouses of volunteers were not invited to the barbecue.

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Mary Fyfe suggested that the committee members’ roles and the length of service currently served by each member should be available on the website to enable members to know which and when roles will be up for renewal. In reply JB agreed the length of service of committee members’ roles should be available on the website. JB said whilst the length of service for a committee role is 3 years it has been very difficult to find volunteers willing to take on a committee position. It has taken the best part of a year to find replacements for the Programme Coordinator and Venues Secretary roles. A succession plan for all committee positions has been discussed and it is hoped that each role should have a deputy. It was suggested that any member interested in a committee position should contact the relevant committee member to discuss working alongside them to become familiar with the role before the position becomes vacant. The positions that will have completed the 3 year length of service at next year’s AGM are Chair, Secretary and New Members Contact. The job descriptions for all committee positions are available on the website.

Mary Fyfe also asked, what consideration had been given to adopting the Beacon website membership system used by most u3as. Mary said with the possibility of committee positions changing more frequently TAT would be able to provide support and help required where necessary for members working with a new system. JB replied the Beacon system had been considered but as it would not be a simple conversion from the current database it was decided to review the position next year.

5. Financial Report.

Kathleen Smith said the Treasurer’s report is as published in the AGM booklet. A question was asked regarding the Charity Commission guidelines for financial reserves. Whilst it was acknowledged reserves have been significantly higher than recommended it was confirmed they are held in accordance with the Reserves Policy. Actions have been taken to reduce reserves held, in particular the membership subscription was reduced by £10 this year and the term length increased to 34 weeks. However, costs are constantly rising, specifically venue costs that have increased from £34k to £47k so it is important that reserves are managed carefully and regularly reviewed.

6. The Accounts

The Accounts, audited by Sarah Howell-Davis and Zeyla Alarcon (Choir Accounts Auditor) were approved and accepted.

Proposer: Eileen Lancaster. Seconded: Frances York

The Accounts and Financial Report were accepted unanimously.

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JB thanked Sarah Howell-Davis for taking on the role of Auditor, the only person ever to volunteer at an AGM.

7. Election of Management Committee

The committee members were introduced:

John Bell Chair John Fairbairn Vice-Chairman and New Members Contact Sue Fillery Business Secretary Kathleen Smith Treasurer Eileen Lancaster Membership Secretary Ian Peterkin Programme Co-ordinator Jackie Sherman Group Co-ordinator Paula Watton Publicity Organiser Rosemary McCulloch Publicity Assistant and Active News Editor

Also nominated: Sue Crosoer Venues Secretary Philip Erwin Assistant Treasurer Elaine Trayler Office Manager Proposed: Jennet Lambert. Seconded: Margaret Thomas

The election of the committee members was accepted.

8. Propositions Received None received.

9. Any Other Business

Rosemary McCulloch proposed a vote of thanks for John Bell. All agreed.

Julia Baker suggested for publicity and recruitment purposes the u3a flag should be positioned on the High Street on market days.

John Bell thanked everyone for attending and the Ukuele Group for providing the entertainment after the AGM.

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CHAIR’S REPORT

November 2025

Christchurch u3a continues to be dedicated to providing the most enriching experience to our members through the delivery of a broad and diverse range of activities. Your committee are extremely grateful to the many individuals who willingly invest their time and effort with the objective of bringing pleasure, friendship and learning experiences to our community. As a committee we fully understand the impact of social isolation and we continuously strive to refresh our programme to cater for the needs of our members.

As we look forward, we can see that the range of group activities is becoming more varied with greater emphasis on delivering opportunities to enable our members to engage in a more diverse range of social activities. There are many new initiatives; however, as an example the Out of Hours Group is offering an innovative range of activities enabling daytime, evening, and weekend social activities. During the current year we signed up our 1000[th] member for the year. This is a significant milestone that reflects the perceived value of Christchurch u3a to our members.

Despite many pressures, I am pleased to report that Christchurch u3a is in a stable financial position. It’s an unfortunate fact of life that our costs continue to rise; however, with careful fiscal management, coupled with sustained membership levels, we are confident that our future is secure and that we can look forward to many years of creative and successful operation. As reported last year we have begun the task of progressively reducing the level of our reserves until we reach a level more in line with the Third Age Trust guidance. This process will continue for several years and the results, and plans, will be published in the Reserves Strategy which is available on the website.

Our budget for FY 25/26 was set in Feb 2025 based on the predicted FY 24/25 performance plus an allowance for group changes, inflation and planned capital expenditure. I am pleased to report that our year end 24/25 actual performance closely aligns with our February forecast which is a real credit to all involved. We continue to look for opportunities to reduce our operating costs; however, our priority is on delivering value to our members. Ultimately, financial stability is dependent on achieving sustainable membership and this year, like previous years, we have achieved significant success in maintaining our membership numbers.

You will all be aware that Christchurch u3a is an organisation run by the members for the benefit of members. Over the next 12 months several Committee posts are due to be refreshed and it important that we establish an effective and deliverable succession plan. Through the past 18 months it has proved to be increasingly

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challenging to identify members who are prepared to step up into committee roles. However, we are constantly on the lookout for new members to take up a committee or support role. It’s important to realise that our future is only secure if we can establish a reliable flow of members to take up committee roles.

You have a committee who are individually, and collectively, dedicated to making Christchurch u3a both a success and a rewarding experience for all our members. It’s important to remember that, like all our supporters, we are volunteers who give up our time without the expectation of reward to improve the quality of life for all our members. Our reward is derived from the certain knowledge that we are improving people’s lives and enhancing both their, and our own, life experiences. They are all self-motivated and will always rise to the challenge regardless of the circumstances.

On behalf of us all I would like to extend a warm welcome to Gillian Walker (New Members Contact), Alison Hearn (Assistant Venues Coordinator), Paul Heighes (Assistant Treasurer), Gill Kennedy (Assistant Office Manager) and David Mobbs (Website Support) all of whom have volunteered to join the Management Group. I would also like to thank Sue Crosoer who has agreed to cover the role of Vice Chair in addition to her Venues Coordinator role. I would also like to extend my sincere thanks to John Fairbairn who is stepping down as New Members Contact and Vice Chair after many years of dedicated service. For myself, after four years in the role, I will be stepping down as Chair. During the past four years it has been an honour to work with such a dynamic and dedicated team and to support the membership; however, it is now time to refresh the role and hand over the reins to a new leader who will be appointed at the AGM.

I would like to take this opportunity to express my gratitude to all our Group Leaders, and their deputies, who have worked tirelessly to deliver an exceptional programme. Their enthusiastic support and unwavering commitment are the essence of Christchurch u3a and without this the value of the programme would be diminished. We fully recognise, and appreciate that these individuals invest a considerable amount of time and effort into running groups, that bring pleasure, friendship, health benefits and learning to our members, undoubtedly enhancing their life experiences. We are always seeking members who would be willing to start a new group in order to further develop the range of activities as well as provide increased availability for existing ones. As an example, we asked for volunteers to run Reading groups and as a consequence we were able to offer and fill 5 Reading groups in 24/25 compared to just 2 groups the year before. I would also like to acknowledge the vital contribution of all u3a volunteers who work in the background supporting our office function, catering, helping with repairs and other group activities.

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Some of you will be aware that over the past two years we have undertaken a rolling programme of updating the Epicentre with the aim of improving the working environment and enabling it’s use as a venue for smaller groups. I am grateful to Elaine Trayler, our Office Manager, who has been instrumental in managing the project. Please pop in the next time you are in town on a Monday morning to have a look.

On behalf of the committee, I would like to wish you all a very happy and fulfilling year as a member of Christchurch u3a.

John Bell

Chair Christchurch u3a

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Christchurch u3a Treasurer’s Report 2024-2025

Membership fees were kept at £45 to reduce our Reserves in line with u3a guidelines. Our Reserves are held with CCLA (Churches, Charities and Local Authorities) Investment Management Limited). These Reserves did not perform as well in 24/25 compared to previous years and only made a return of 3.5% as opposed to 7% in 23/24. We are going to review our investments and potentially diversify our portfolio as seen fit in the coming year.

Membership numbers have continued to rise and we have now reached over 1000 members. Nearly all fees are paid by BACS online or by card in the Epicentre. This reduces the workload for the membership volunteers due to local bank closures in Christchurch.

Venues comprise most of our outgoings. These costs have risen in the last year by 14%. This is partly due to the increased number of new groups and more venues being hired. However, nearly all of the venues increased their costs during the year. Whole day venue hiring and other options are now being considered to reduce the costs.

Our figures reflect the Committee’s decision to reduce the Reserves gradually by a third. Gift Aid has slightly reduced in line with the reduced membership fee, although the increase in members has offset the reduction. The five accounts, u3a Singers, OutofHours, Social Events, Theatre and Travel balances are not part of the Reserves as they are only holding accounts for trips, events or activities.

I have also taken into account the recommendations made by our auditor and these will be implemented during the 25/26 period.

Current FY subscriptions Gift Aid Sundries, Donations, Transfers Sub Total Less Expenditures Current a/c Loss year 24/25 CCLA Interest 24/25	£43,488.21 £6,149.35 £376.27
	£50,013.83 -£60,062.92
	-£10,049.09 £1,832.91
	-£8,216.18

Christchurch u3a is in a good position financially and I look forward to working with the u3a Committee and members in the forthcoming year.

Kathleen Smith

Treasurer Christchurch u3a

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u3• Chri5tthurch Arcounts OV0812024 to 3110712025 A8rn•d bank ba￿The•s 31stJuty 2025 Nat West Current Accotsnt Clolrt8 sa￿￿¢& I￿2.58 Nat West Social and Fundraisin8PLcourbt Nat West Christchurch u3a &n8ers Nat West OutofHour5 Nat West ￿1claI Events Nat West Subscription Account for 24125 Nat West Theatre Account Nat West Travel kcount 7381.33 1654.88 1524.83 2343.97 7801.KS 5LX).LK> 39289.39 Totlof bnk bk•nc• Summary CIA R•e•lpts Alc Transfers Grft l￿d Interest ICCLA SUI￿riptiOn F￿r￿See below Other RefundslDonations Sub5CriPtion5124125 YrD 24125 YrD23124 3(KK). 6149.35 6798.73 316.27 70.IXI 50.to 43488.21 5rw3.83 721.20 49714.20 60304.13 Tgtsl Summary CIA Ouwkn8S Advertising Caterin8 Epicentre MainteTharKe Epicentre Utilities Group Leader experises Member Booklets Print, Post & Stationery Refunds Speaker5 Sundries YrD 24125 626.92 YrD23124 829.77 43.26 1824.14 4708.58 899.10 717.50 809.51 855.to 477.37 527.72 799.20 1569.15 45. 577.50 466.20 u3a News 236.(X> 205.20 u3a Trust ￿bS 3752.(K> 3520. Venues 50116.68 43802.46 Total 6LJ62.92 57545.34 CCLAac¢ounts Iialan¢eJ u It 31Jul 2025 s￿￿(￿P1]0￿ account C03043411 Reserve F￿d C03043412 Social ard Fundraisin8 aCco￿t C03043414 Reserve Share fund C03th13413 Total 31.07.25 16791.64 12496.03 2525.66 Interest 24125 804.61 -237.66 121.02 23894.25 1144.94 55707.58 1831.91 li

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Christchurch u3a Committee Nomination Form 2025/26

The Committee is responsible for the organisation and running of Christchurch u3a, so it is important that we have a strong committee. Committee members are elected for a period of one year at the Annual General Meeting. Committee members are the Trustees of the Christchurch u3a charity & will be required to be registered with the Charity Commission. Each committee member is asked to take responsibility for one aspect of u3a’s work. Committee meetings are held approximately every eight weeks, amounting to about six per year.

Please use the form below to nominate any member you know who is willing to serve on the Committee. Alternatively, if you would like to join the Committee, please ask other members to propose and second your nomination.

Nomination forms should be sent to the Secretary by Monday 3 November 2025. Extra nomination forms are available in the Epicentre.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ✂

We nominate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Membership Number .. . . . . . . . . . . .

to serve on the 2025/26 Christchurch u3a Committee.

Home tel no. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

E-mail address. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Signed by nominee . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Proposed by . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Membership no . . . . . . . . . . .

Seconded by . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Membership no . . . . . . . . . . .

Please return this completed form by 3 November 2025 to the Secretary, at The Epicentre, 27A High Street, Christchurch. BH23 1AB.

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