## **Trustees’ Annual Report for the period** **From** 1[st] February 2023 **To** 31[st] January 2024 **Charity name:** FURNESS UNIVERSITY OF THE THIRD AGE (u3a) **Charity registration number:** 1118002 ## **Objectives and Activities** ||SORP reference|| |---|---|---| |Summary of the purposes of
the charity as set out in its
governing document|Para 1.17|The advancement of education and, in
particular, the education of older people
and those who are retired from full time
work, by all means, including associated
activities conducive to learning and
personal development in the Furness area
and its surroundinglocality.| |Summary of the main
activities in relation to those
purposes for the public
benefit, in particular, the
activities, projects or
services identified in the
accounts.|Para 1.17 and
1.19|Furness u3a, part of the nationwide u3a
organisation, exists to help its members
make new friends, develop their interests
and enjoy social activities.
Furness u3a raises funds through an annual
membership fee [£12 in the reporting
period].
Furness u3a covers the whole of the
Furness area and has about 50
interest groups which meet regularly
and are led by the u3a members
themselves. These cover a wide
range of activities, including: reading
groups and walking groups, history,
photography, drawing, painting,
table tennis, philosophy, theatre
visits and board games. Any member
whose interest is not catered for can
start a new group. We have a Groups
Liaison officer who helps with the
setting up of new groups. Some
interest groups meet in members’
homes, others meet at a venue
which may incur a small charge and
others meet outside.| Page **1** of **10** |||Throughout the reporting period,
Monthly Meetings open to all
members took place each month,
normally in the Coronation Hall,
Ulverston, with a speaker, coffee and
an opportunity to socialize. A
Christmas Social was also held, in the
same venue.
Throughout the reporting period, Furness
u3a also ran a Drop-In each month, where
our groups introduced themselves and
their activities. As well as providing an ideal
opportunity to find out what the u3a can
do for members, members could also get
help with computing problems at the
Computer Helpdesk, which is run by
volunteers.
Throughout the reporting period, the
Trustees of Furness u3a met on a monthly
basis to ensure the smooth running of
Furness u3a. The meetings involved
reviewing finances, organising Monthly
Meetings and Drop-ins, dealing with
matters related to the smooth running of
existing groups and the setting up of new
groups, and developing and monitoring
strategies and policies for enabling the
charity’s activities to continue effectively
and appropriately. The Trustees also
worked to ensure good communications
with its members, through a monthly
Newsletter and an up-to-date website.| |---|---|---| |Statement confirming
whether the trustees have
had regard to the guidance
issued by the Charity
Commission on public
benefit|Para 1.18|All trustees have regard to the guidance
issued by the Charity Commission on public
benefit.| ## **Additional information (optional)** You may choose to include further statements where relevant about: ||SORP reference|| |---|---|---| |Policy on grant making|Para 1.38|_[Not relevant.]_| |Policy on social investment
including program related
investment|Para 1.38|_[Not relevant.]_| Page **2** of **10** |Contribution made by
volunteers|Para 1.38|All of our activities were run by volunteers
from within the membership of Furness
u3a.| |---|---|---| |Other||_[None.]_| ## **Achievements and Performance** ||SORP reference|| |---|---|---| |Summary of the main
achievements of the charity,
identifying the difference the
charity’s work has made to
the circumstances of its
beneficiaries and any wider
benefits to society as a
whole.|Para 1.20|Overall, this has been another good year
for Furness u3a. Attendance at Monthly
Speaker meetings and Drop-ins has been
good, and the number of our members
increased to 651 at the end of the period,
over 100 more than at the same time in
2023.
The Christmas Social in December was
successful, despite the low temperatures in
the venue. Members enjoyed a festive
quiz; a magician had also been booked, but
was unable to attend due to ill-health.
The Trustees held a successful event for
Group Leaders in the summer.
Several Trustees, and other members of
the u3a, staffed a stand at the Ulverston
Retro Rendezvous Festival in June and the
Ulverston Charter Day in September. These
were successful publicity events, and we
plan to participate again in 2024 We also
had a stall at the Morecambe Bay NHS
Trust Members Meeting in September,
which was very poorly attended, and we do
not propose to participate in such events in
the future.
Our website has been relaunched, and is
now much improved. This was done as
part of a project across the Third Age Trust.
The Trustees developed several new
policies and guidance documents, now
available from the website. These include:
• _Minimising risks: a Guide for_
_Walking Groups_;
• a_Day Trip Risk Assessment_
_Checklist_;
• an_Incident Report Form_;| Page **3** of **10** • a set of _Role Descriptions for Committee Members_ ; • a set of _Complaints Procedures_ . The Trustees are grateful to so many volunteers who have done so much to keep our u3a going. over the past year! In particular, we are immensely grateful to all our Group Leaders, walk leaders, members who organise trips and talks, members who book in attendees at meetings, members who serve refreshments, and many others who selflessly offer their time to our u3a. ## **Additional information (optional)** You may choose to include further statements where relevant about: |Achievements against
objectives set|Para 1.41|_[Not relevant.]_| |---|---|---| |Performance of fundraising
activities against objectives
set|Para 1.41|_[Not relevant.]_| |Investment performance
against objectives|Para 1.41|_[Not relevant.]_| |Other||_[Not relevant.]_| Page **4** of **10** ## **Financial Review** |Review of the charity’s
financial position at the end
of the period|Para 1.21|We ended the year financially in very good
health.
At the end of the reporting period, our
Reserve stood at £11145.80. This is
somewhat in excess of our target (£7000),
but has enabled us to freeze membership
subscriptions despite an increase in costs.
We have embraced online finance - for
membership subscriptions as well as our
general business We have also acquired a
card reader to enable payment by credit and
debit cards.| |---|---|---| |Statement explaining the
policy for holding reserves
stating why they are held|Para 1.22|A reserve level of £7000 has been identified
as an appropriate target to cover the month-
on-month variations in liquidity and to allow
for financial cover in the (unlikely) event of
Furness u3a ceasing to operate.
This reserve level is a judgement based
largely on the normal annual subscription
income.| |Amount of reserves held|Para 1.22|End of period balance is £11,145.80 with no
current liabilities; future outgoings are
budgeted to be covered by member
subscriptions and meeting door charges.so
this balance is taken as our reserve.| |Reasons for holding zero
reserves|Para 1.22|_Not applicable._| |Details of fund materially in
deficit|Para 1.24|_Not applicable._| |Explanation of any
uncertainties about the
charity continuing as a going
concern|Para 1.23|The trustees judge that the charity is likely
to be able to continue as a going concern for
the foreseeable future.| **Additional information (optional)** You may choose to include further statements where relevant about: |The charity’s principal
sources of funds (including
any fundraising)|Para 1.47|The primary source of income is
membership subscriptions (including Gift
Aid)
We do not routinely arrange 'Fund Raising'
events.| |---|---|---| |Investment policy and
objectives including any
social investment policy
adopted|Para 1.46|We have no investments.| Page **5** of **10** |A description of the principal
risks facing the charity|Para 1.46|1.
A significant reduction in membership
numbers, leading to a significant
reduction in income. However, this is
highly unlikely in the short term:
membership numbers are growing in
u3as across the UK.
2.
A significant increase in costs, especially
room hire costs for meetings. However,
the cost of hiring our main hall have
been reduced recently, and we are
confident that we will be able to handle
likelyincreases over the next fewyears.| |---|---|---| |Other||_[None.]_| Page **6** of **10** ## **Structure, Governance and Management** ## **Description of charity’s trusts:** |Type of governing document
(trust deed, royal charter)|Para 1.25|Constitution|Constitution| |---|---|---|---| |How is the charity
constituted?
(e.g unincorporated
association, CIO)|Para 1.25|A Member of the Third Age Trust as an
Unincorporated Association.|| |Trustee selection methods
including details of any
constitutional provisions e.g.
election to post or name of
any person or body entitled
to appoint one or more
trustees|Para 1.25|Elected by members at Annual AGM which
is in March.|| |**Additional information (optional)**
You may choose to include further statements|||| |Policies and procedures
adopted for the induction and
training of trustees|Para 1.51||New trustees are inducted via meetings with
the Chair; this induction uses, inter alia,
training documents issued by the Third Age
Trust.| |The charity’s organisational
structure and any wider
network with which the
charity works|Para 1.51||We belong to an area Network group with
other local u3a groups| |Relationship with any related
parties|Para 1.51||None.| |Other|||We have an up-to-date Safeguarding Policy.
We have an up-to-date Data Protection
Policy.| ## **Reference and Administrative details** |Charityname|Furness Universityof the Third Age(U3A)| |---|---| |Other name the charityuses|Not applicable.| |Registered charitynumber|1118002| |Charity’s principal address|18 Lyndhurst Road, Ulverston, Cumbria, LA12 0EG| Page **7** of **10** ## **Names of the charity trustees who manage the charity** |1
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11|**Trustee name**|**Office (if any)**|**Dates acted if not for**
**whole year**|**Name of person (or body)**
**entitled to appoint trustee (if**
**any)**| |---|---|---|---|---| ||Ann Wilson|Chair||Not applicable| ||Harry Knowles|Vice Chair||Not applicable| ||Neil McLaughlin Cook|Secretary||Not applicable| ||Chris Brown|Treasurer until 9th
October 2023|1stFebruary 2023 to 4th
November 2023|Not applicable| ||Gary Thompson|Treasurer from 10th
October 2023|11thApril 2023 to 31st
January 2024|Not applicable| ||Julie Amos|||Not applicable| ||Janet Barlow|||Not applicable| ||Christine Butler||9thMay 2023 to 31st
January 2024|Not applicable| ||Richard Lewis||10thOctober 2023 to
31stJanuary 2024|| ||Linda Marshall|||Not applicable| ||Julie Wilson||12thDecember 2023 to
31stJanuary 2024|Not applicable| ## **Between 31[st] January 2024 and the date this report was agreed:** - Ann Wilson stood down as Chair, and was elected as Vice Chair, at the charity’s AGM on 12[th] March 2024; - Richard Lewis was elected as Chair at the charity’s AGM on 12[th] March 2024; - Harry Knowles stood down as Vice Chair at the charity’s AGM on 12[th] March 2024; - Julie Wilson resigned as a trustee on 10[th] September 2024; - Duncan Platts was appointed as a trustee on 8[th] October 2024. ## **Corporate trustees – names of the directors at the date the report was approved** **Director name** _[None]_ ## **Name of trustees holding title to property belonging to the charity** |**Trustee name**|**Dates acted if not for whole year**| |---|---| |_[None]_|| Page **8** of **10** ## **Funds held as custodian trustees on behalf of others** > Description of the assets Not applicable held in this capacity > Name and objects of the Not applicable charity on whose behalf the assets are held and how this falls within the custodian charity’s objects > Details of arrangements for Not applicable safe custody and segregation of such assets from the charity’s own assets ## **Additional information (optional)** ## **Names and addresses of advisers (Optional information)** None **Name of chief executive or names of senior staff members (Optional information)** None ## **Exemptions from disclosure** Reason for non-disclosure of key personnel details Not applicable. ## **Other optional information** Not applicable. Page **9** of **10** DAclaratlon$ Full tPNXy Ileil mtia￿lhIin tha II" 1024 2D21J Page 10 of 10 ## **Independent Examiner’s Report to the Trustees of Furness U3A** I report on the accounts of the Trust for the year ended 31 January 2024, which are set out on page 2. ## **Respective Responsibilities of Trustees and Examiner** As the charity’s Trustees you are responsible for the preparation of the accounts; you consider that the audit requirement of section 144(2) of the Charities Act 2011 (the Act) does not apply. It is my responsibility to state, on the basis of procedures specified in the General Directions given by the Charity Commissioners under section 145(5)(b) of the Act, whether particular matters have come to my attention. ## **Basis of Independent Examiners Report** My examination was carried out in accordance with the General Directions given by the Charity Commissioners. An examination includes a review of the accounting records kept by the charity and a comparison of the accounts presented with those records. It also includes consideration of any unusual items or disclosures in the accounts and seeking explanation from you as Trustees concerning any such matters. The procedures undertaken do not provide all the evidence that would be required in an audit, and consequently, I do not express an audit opinion on the view given by the accounts. ## **Independent Examiners Statement** In Connection with my examination, no matter has come to my attention: 1. Which gives me reasonable cause to believe that in any material respect the requirements - To keep accounting records in accordance with section 130 of the Act; and - To prepare accounts which agree with the accounting records and to comply with the accounting requirements of the Act have not been met, or 2. To which in my opinion, attention should be drawn in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached. ……………………………………………….. **Mrs L Piechura** TI Accountancy Ltd 07/02/2024 74 Duke Street Barrow in Furness Cumbria LA14 1RX