Annual Report 2025 Pershore & District u3a
Although I hold the title of Chair, I’m always reminded that the word’s roots simply mean “a seat” — a place from which someone speaks on behalf of others. And that’s exactly how I see the role: a position supported by so many others. Historically it has never been tied to any gender and therefore promotes inclusivity. So, while I’m the one writing this report, about the past year being another vibrant one for Pershore & District u3a, with continued growth in membership and sound finances, it’s a team effort: -the committee, group leaders, and members.
Since I became Chair in January, I’ve visited over 35 groups and I am always heartened by the friendly welcome and positive feedback about the benefits members get from their groups reinforcing the phrase “learn, laugh, live”. It’s been useful to chat to members and get to know more of you so thank you for welcoming me so far, and I hope to see more of you in 2026.
Our dedicated Group Leaders make it possible for us to enjoy an impressive mix of interest groups. You may have seen our new leaflet where we say: “from walking to talking, crochet to croquet, art to yoga, the choice is endless with Pershore & District u3a,” and it really is true. As I write this report we have 95 groups; some have not continued, such as Aviation Interest and Sewing Bee but new ones including Crochet 3, Crossword Setting and Jazz Appreciation have launched. In others, the Group Leaders have had to step back but thankfully members have come forward to keep them going. Group Leaders are central to our u3a’s success, creating opportunities for members to get involved. To show appreciation, we hosted a lunch in June at the Banking Hall in Pershore where about 50 leaders came together to chat and celebrate their efforts. We have also had two successful Group Leader meetings including a thoughtprovoking presentation from Rosie our Accessibility Officer about inclusion.
After 4 years, our Groups Coordinator John will be stepping down at the AGM with yet no one to take on the role which is likely to lead to difficulties in the future as you can imagine. Many thanks to him for his sterling contribution over the last 4 years enriching our groups and u3a. But we won’t be losing him entirely as John has offered to stay on the committee as Day Trips Coordinator, which seems like a full-time job! It remains a favourite, with outings to ABBA Voyage, Oxford, Weston super-Mare, Shrewsbury, Cardiff & Bath Christmas market taking place with more destinations planned for 2026.
Financially we continue to be in a healthy position, with thanks to Ian our Treasurer’s diligent control of the accounts. This allows us to support groups with costs and host social events. Ian is stepping down as Treasurer at the AGM, but we have been fortunate to recruit and hopefully welcome a new Treasurer then. My sincere gratitude to Ian for managing the finances so ably during his tenure. We have also had 2 successful Quiz nights, organized by Ian and he will continue to offer these in 2026. He will also become our Beacon administrator, managing our secure database which in these days of GDPR is so important.
Social events and opportunities to welcome new members and entertain long-term members remain a priority and Ingrid our Social Secretary been very active arranging regular CAMEO (Come And Meet Each Other) events, our lively and successful annual open coffee morning at St. Andrews, and one- offs such as our VE Day picnic and the (now annual) Summer picnic. She is ably supported by a friendly and hardworking STAR team for refreshments and manual handling; and a "Buddies" team to greet and support new attendees at Monthly Meetings. Thank you to you all, too numerous to mention individually.
Reg Charity No: 1093328 Address: 20 Choules Close, Pershore WR10 2FB
Our membership numbers have steadily increased from 800 recorded in the previous annual report to 925 (including 77 Associate and Cotswold link members). I do sometimes wonder what would happen if everyone turned up to the monthly meeting! It was a busy time for our outgoing Membership Secretary Mary who is to be congratulated on the introduction of payment via PayPal on Beacon which has simplified the transaction business considerably through the renewals period. Under her successor Daina the new memberships continue to be processed smoothly and efficiently, which we all appreciate.
Our new Business Secretary Helen has been an endless source of reassurance and sense for me this year, keeping us all compliant as we head towards the AGM and steadily preparing for, minuting during and following up on our committee meetings. We are very grateful for this support.
Monthly Meetings have continued to attract increasing attendance—including guests who often become members. Many thanks to Peter who continues to record meetings so they can be accessed later by everyone.
Speaker Coordinator has been my role for 4 years now and under our constitution I can no longer continue to do this. It is a hugely satisfying and enjoyable position and I have many months of speakers in the pipeline booked, but it is imperative to have someone take on this role to facilitate speakers at Number 8 in the future. It would be such a shame if we could no longer have our Monthly Meetings as no one is able to take over.
As I mentioned earlier Rosie has taken on the role of Accessibility Officer, focusing on equality, diversity, and inclusion making us all more aware of issues for which I thank her. Helen our Newsletter Editor has done a magnificent job this year, turning our unpolished contributions into a smart and coherent edition each month so you as members are abreast of activities and news. Our website continues to be expertly managed by Mary keeping on top of changes and updates. We are very grateful to her behind the scenes work. Also thank you to Sandra and for her work on our Facebook page promoting events and ideas.
We have much to look forward to next year when we celebrate our 25[th] Founding Anniversary, so look out for details nearer the time of a “Silver Picnic” on August 18[th] , 2026.
As my first year as Chair ends, I look back on a positive time but recognise a significant challenge facing us: encouraging more members to volunteer for essential roles. Our u3a thrives because members volunteer—our guiding principle is “by the members, for the members.” If Pershore & District u3a has contributed to your life and you haven’t volunteered yet, please consider how you might help sustain its success. Thank you to all who gave their time over the past year; you truly make our u3a exceptional.
Sally Whyte, Chair, Pershore & District u3a
Committee 2025
Sally Whyte- Chair and Speaker Coordinator Daina Gromadzki - Membership Secretary Vacant – Vice Chair John Wright – Groups’ Coordinator Ian Smith – Treasurer & Beacon Administrator Ingrid Fox – Social Secretary Helen Barrett – Business Secretary Rosie Chandler – Accessibility Officer
Reg Charity No : 1093328 Address: 20 Choules Close, Pershore WR10 2FB
| Pershore& Districtu3a -FinancialStatements RegisteredCharityNo. 1093328 YearEnded : 30September2025 |
Pershore& Districtu3a -FinancialStatements RegisteredCharityNo. 1093328 YearEnded : 30September2025 |
Pershore& Districtu3a -FinancialStatements RegisteredCharityNo. 1093328 YearEnded : 30September2025 |
Pershore& Districtu3a -FinancialStatements RegisteredCharityNo. 1093328 YearEnded : 30September2025 |
Pershore& Districtu3a -FinancialStatements RegisteredCharityNo. 1093328 YearEnded : 30September2025 |
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|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year to 30/09/2025 | Yearto 30/09/2024 | ||||||||||
| Income and Expenditure | £ | £ | £ | £ | £ | £ | |||||
| Income | |||||||||||
| Groups -u3a managed |
11,768.39 | 8,528.04 | |||||||||
| Groups - selfmanaged | 11,981.49 | 12,520.20 | |||||||||
| Donations | 61.76 | 479.15 | |||||||||
| Membership | 12,348.25 | 10,185.60 | |||||||||
| HMRC | 1,678.48 | 1,580.66 | |||||||||
| Functions | 85.00 | 57.00 | |||||||||
| Bank Interest | 258.37 | 244.63 | |||||||||
| Total Income | 38,181.74 | 33,595.28 | |||||||||
| Expenditure | |||||||||||
| Groups* -u3amanaged |
11,750.22 | 8,877.51 | |||||||||
| Groups - selfmanaged |
11,979.96 | 12,439.26 | |||||||||
| Group Contributions | 113.92 | 70.07 | |||||||||
| New members meetings | 51.00 | ||||||||||
| Stationery | 59.60 | 7.50 | |||||||||
| National | 6,151.72 | 5,795.80 | |||||||||
| Postage | 217.69 | 258.54 | |||||||||
| Printing | 167.65 | 197.80 | |||||||||
| MM - Room Hire | 550.00 | 525.60 | |||||||||
| MM- Speakers | 647.22 | 816.50 | |||||||||
| MM -Zoom | 93.54 | 187.08 | |||||||||
| MonthlyMeetings | 1,290.76 | 1,529.18 | |||||||||
| Room Hire | 480.00 | 436.90 | |||||||||
| BankCharges | 85.00 | 126.64 | |||||||||
| PayPalCommission Miscellaneous Functions |
136.31 149.07 1,745.02 |
- 324.06 550.97 |
|||||||||
| Training | 222.50 | 75.00 | |||||||||
| Equipment | 284.48 | 1,051.85 | |||||||||
| Total Expenditure | 34,833.90 | 31,792.08 | |||||||||
| NetIncome/(Expenditure) | 3,347.84 | 1,803.20 | |||||||||
| NetGroup (income)/Expenditure | (19.70) | (268.53) | |||||||||
| NetRetained Income/(Expenditure) | 3,328.14 | 2,071.73 | |||||||||
| Balance Sheet | |||||||||||
| Cash atBankand in hand | |||||||||||
| Savings Current |
15,009.34 151.46 |
11,500.97 351.75 |
|||||||||
| Paypal | 122.84 | - | |||||||||
| Cash held byGroups | 1,751.30 | 1,749.77 | |||||||||
| PettyCash | 96.60 | 201.81 | |||||||||
| 17,131.54 | 13,804.30 | ||||||||||
| Retained Funds | |||||||||||
| Brought Forward | 10,742.23 | 8,670.50 | |||||||||
| Net Income/(Expenditure) | 3,328.14 | 2,071.73 | |||||||||
| 14,070.37 | 10,742.23 | ||||||||||
| Creditors | 22.00 | 42.60 | |||||||||
| Held forGroups | |||||||||||
| Broughtforward | 3,019.47 | 3,288.00 | |||||||||
| Net inyearmovement | 19.70 | 3,039.17 | (268.53) | 3,019.47 | |||||||
| 17,131.54 | 13,804.30 | ||||||||||
| rg | |||||||||||
| Signed: | tl | / | ] | / | ° | ; | |||||
| SallyWhyte, Date 20thJanuBry |
ChairPershore & Districtu3a 2026nnn |
lan Smith, Date= |
TreasurerPershore& 20thJanuary2026 |
Districtu3a |
k CHARITY COMMISSION FOR ENGLAND AND WALES
‘ Independent examiner's report on the accounts
Section A Independent Examiner’s Report
Report to the trustees/ oe members of | Pershore & District u3a
On accounts for the year | 30" September 2025 ended
Charity no | 1093328 (if any)
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| report to the trustees on my examination of the accounts of the above charity (“the Trust”) for the year ended 30/09/2025
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Responsibilities and As the charity trustees of the Trust, you are responsible for the preparation basis of report. of the accounts in accordance with the requirements of the Charities Act 2011 (“the Act’).
| report in respect of my examination of the Trust’s accounts carried out under section 145 of the 2011 Act and in carrying out my examination, | have followed the applicable Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 145(5)(b) of the Act.
Independent | have completed my examination. | confirm that no material matters have examiner's statement come to my attention (other than that disclosed below *) in connection with the examination which gives me cause to believe that in, any material respect:
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e accounting records were not kept in accordance with section 130 of the Act or
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e the accounts do not accord with the accounting records
| have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached.
- Please delete the words in the brackets if they do not apply.
Name: | Mary Kingdon
Relevant professional | A.A.T. qualification(s) or body (if any):
Address: | 4 Huntsman Close
Drakes Broughton
Pershore, WR10 2BQ
IER
1
October 2018
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