OpenCharities

This text was generated using OCR and may contain errors. Check the original PDF to see the document submitted to the regulator.

← Watford Park u3a

2024-10-31-accounts

WATFORD PARK UNIVERSITY OF THE THIRD AGE

(WPu3a)

ANNUAL REPORTS AND ACCOUNTS

FOR THE YEAR ENDED

31 October 2024

Registered Charity Number 1123484

Page 1 of 12

CONTENTS

Page(s)
Trustees’ Report 3 - 5
Treasurer’s Report: 6 - 7
Figure 1: Summary of Income and Expenditure
 8
Figure 2: Simplifed Income and Expenditure Account 9
(Main Funds)
Figure 3: Simplifed Income & Expenditure Account
 10
(Event Funds)
Figure 4: Asset Register
 11
Independent Examiner’s Report
 12

Page 2 of 12

----- Start of picture text -----
Watford Park
usa
----- End of picture text -----

Trustees’ Report

Year ending 31 October 2024

Registered Charity No. 1123484

The Trustees present their report and accounts for the year to 31[st] October 2024

Structure, Governance and Management

The charity is controlled by Trustees who serve for three years following election at the AGM. This Executive Committee (EC) meets monthly.

The committee for the period were as follows:

Ronald Duckling (Minutes Secretary and acting Chairman) Andrew Robertson (Vice Chairman) Ingrid Brady (Joint Membership Secretary and acting Secretary) Timothy Rhodes (Treasurer) Colin Miller (Joint Membership Secretary) Alan Rose (Social Secretary) Alison Kallsen (Speaker Secretary) Janet Reynolds (Member and Webmaster) Zoe Mowbray (Member)

It was disappointing that at the AGM in January 2024, we were unable to find volunteers to take on the posts of Secretary and Chairman. In March, Ronald Duckling was co-opted to the job of acting Chairman (having been chairman in the past) and in May, Ingrid Brady was co-opted as acting Secretary, a role which she has also filled in the past.

After moving our monthly meetings from the church hall to the church itself for 2024, at the request of the Church Wardens, we have now been refused use of the church from 2025 onwards. Furthermore, in moving back to the church hall, we have had to change our meeting day. At present we do not know what the impact of this change will be on monthly meeting attendances, but there is a fear that they will drop initially. In this event, we may be forced to seek an alternative venue for monthly meetings.

Achievements and Performance

As well as being unable to find officers for the EC, the Covid years saw the demise of the Outings Group, Theatre Group and the very popular Garden Group and its committee. These three groups organised all of the trips that we had enjoyed in the past and which are so important to a successful u3a, so their collapse presented a real loss of opportunities for members. Fortunately, people have stepped in to rescue the situation. Marion McCrindle, the previous chair, has taken on the task of organising theatre trips. She started with trips to local theatres but has also resumed outings to other venues, including the West End. She has an extensive list of planned events for next year for which we are extremely grateful. Theatre trips are very popular with members and attendances are high.

To fill the gaps, we created a new role of Social Secretary. Alan Rose was elected to the role which entails organising trips and visits and overseeing the trips organised by other members. He has organised a number of coach trips and visits to local attractions and has generated a lot of

Page 3 of 12

----- Start of picture text -----
Watford Park
usa
----- End of picture text -----

Trustees’ Report

Year ending 31 October 2024

Registered Charity No. 1123484

enthusiasm among members. Alan has even bigger plans for next year. He has also encouraged others to organise events such as a coach trip to the Strictly Come Dancing costumes production studio and a visit to Highclere Castle.

Finally, we have Andrew Spanner who thankfully offered to repeat the coach trip for a week at a Warners hotel which was so successful last year.

Other individuals took on the organisation of our only garden visit, to the Royal Horticultural Society at Wisley and arranged for two separate Christmas lunches, which are always popular with members. Hopefully, next year the Watford Colosseum will re-open. This is a local venue providing a range of musical, theatre and general events and a new group will be formed to take advantage of what is on offer. Once that opening takes place, Watford will once again have two good venues with a wide range of entertainment.

Our monthly meetings are well-attended and we are grateful to our Speaker Secretary, Alison Kallsen. Throughout the year, we have enjoyed excellent speakers at our monthly meetings, found and recruited by her. We have learned about European butterflies, the life of Agatha Christie and the story of the Space Shuttle among many other interesting topics.

We also had our annual variety show, allowing members to display their talents. The show was wellreceived and a recording of it is now available on YouTube for the world to see.

Membership

There was a serious slump in membership during the Covid years and we have been slow to bring our numbers up to pre-Covid levels. At its height, this u3a had almost 500 members, but now we have only 398. We continue to recruit at a reasonable rate, taking on a few members every month, but there is also an attrition rate which slows the growth of overall numbers. One of our main objectives for next year will be to bring membership numbers back towards 500.

We continue to use the Simple Membership computer system and its associated website for managing our membership systems, communications and our groups. The system has proved robust over the years and is providing useful facilities for all members. Unfortunately, not all of our members are happy working online, just as many resist online banking and insist on the use of cheques for payments.

Interest Groups

Following the resignation of Zoe Mowbray for health reasons earlier in the year, we recruited a new Interest Group Coordinator in David Silver who is trying to get new groups started and attract members to current groups. David is another ex-Chairman of this u3a. We still have over 50 groups in operation covering a variety of activities but we would like to see more groups starting up to provide members with more choices. We have seen interest in many of David’s suggestions for new interest groups but there is some reluctance to lead or host a group which is hampering their start-up.

Page 4 of 12

----- Start of picture text -----
Watford Park
usa
----- End of picture text -----

Trustees’ Report

Year ending 31 October 2024

Registered Charity No. 1123484

And that brings us to a problem. The current EC is trying hard to revitalise Watford Park and turn it into the vibrant and busy organisation it was pre-Covid. We are getting there slowly, but to do that we need more volunteers. We need people to volunteer to serve on the Executive Committee. We need people to fill roles that are not committee-based, such as setting out chairs at monthly meetings, and most of all we need members willing to run groups that they are interested in. Recently, we have assembled enough people to form a group, but were unable to persuade one of those to take on the running of it. We have suggested sharing roles, or members taking it in turns to organise meetings, but nothing seems to work.

I believe that many new members see the u3a as a service, where they pay their money to join and are rewarded with things to do and places to go. The true ethos of the u3a movement, that we help one another and share our knowledge and experience seems to have been lost. I believe this is reflected in the failure to fill Committee posts and finding reluctance to lead or host interest groups, even if sufficient members show an interest in belonging to a group. Furthermore, in talking to representatives from other local u3as, I believe that it is a wider issue than just our u3a. Watford Park is heavily reliant on members of previous Executive Committees to keep it running, with a worrying lack of new members volunteering to help.

Policy Development

Where required, policies have been reviewed, modified or created to ensure that our range of policies and procedures are fit for purpose and available for members to read on our website.

Financial Review

It has been a stable year with no surprises. The reduced membership has caused us to raise membership fees this year from £20.00 to £22.00, but we continue to be viable with a surplus in line with the Third Age Trust recommendation.

External

Watford Park u3a continues to work within the local u3a cluster and is a member of the Chair’s Forum.

Approved by the Trustees at the Executive Committee meeting held on January 7[th] 2025.

Ron Duckling – Acting Chairman 23 January 2025

Note: For security reasons we will not publish an actual signature on a public document.

Page 5 of 12

Watford Park ~~ya~~

Introduction

Treasurer’s Report to the Annual General - Meeting, Financial Year 2023 24

Registered Charity No. 1123484

I have pleasure in presenting the Financial Report for Watford Park u3a for the financial year from 1 November 2023 to 31 October 2024. I took over from Jerry England in March 2024, and thank him for his unstinting help in my initiation. I shall seek to follow the meticulous standards he set.

The accounts and the supporting data have been approved by the Trustees and an Independent Examiner.

The year saw the appointment of Alan Rose to the role of Social Secretary, and as an EC member. Alan has overseen a total of 26 events this year, each of which was well managed by Event Organisers, who are the bedrock of the program. Indeed, a further 11 events have either taken place or been planned for 24-25.

Events and groups are key to the viability of our u3a, and they are only provided because of a group of dedicated organisers who give freely of their time. The Trustees Report summarises some of the many events, but I would note that our erstwhile Chairperson Marion has effectively re-created the long defunct Theatre Group in arranging many visits both in Watford and further afield, and which have proved to be popular.

Accounting Policies

Until October of this year, Watford Park had adopted what might be called a 'hybrid' financial recording policy. The Executive Committee agreed that from 01/11/2024, the 'Receipts and Payments' approach (sometimes called 'cash accounting') would be adopted. A new software system was introduced to implement this.

Income & Expenditure

The overall income and expenditure for the year is as presented in Figure 1. The Annual Accounts and further breakdowns, along with comparisons with the previous financial year, are provided in Figure 2 for the Main Funds, and in Figure 3 for the Event Funds.

Main Funds (Figure 2)

The charity’s Main Funds include all of the general activities. Income under this heading is provided from membership subscriptions, Gift Aid and (where relevant) donations.

In general, both income and expenditure in 23-24 has been in line with expectations, but the following should be noted:

Event Funds (Figure 3)

A total of 26 events were arranged during the year, including two Christmas Lunches and the Rock Bottom show, which have become popular recurring events. For 2024-25 there are already

Page 6 of 12

----- Start of picture text -----
Watford Park
ya
----- End of picture text -----

Treasurer’s Report to the Annual General - Meeting, Financial Year 2023 24

Registered Charity No. 1123484

arrangements in place for a further 11 eleven events, and expectation is that a similar total number of events will be held as have been in the year in review.

My thanks go to all the organisers of these events, who have managed all the arrangements (and money) in a very professional way.

Reserves and Fixed Assets

Watford Park currently holds reserves of 10-12 months of averaged expenditure.

Fixed Assets are shown in Figure 4. 60 chairs previously located in the hall have been disposed of, and the sale is being sought of the larger of two projectors, which is now effectively obsolete.

Tim Rhodes

Treasurer

December 2024

Page 7 of 12

Treasurer’s Report to the Annual General - Meeting, Financial Year 2023 24 Registered Charity No. 1123484

Figure 1

Page 8 of 12

Treasurer’s Report to the Annual General - Meeting, Financial Year 2023 24 Registered Charity No. 1123484

Figure 2

(Note 1)
Reecipts
Prepayments
Surplus bit
(Note 2)
Cash b/f		 (Note 2)
Membership Fees (current year)
(current year}
Receipts
EXPENDITURE
(Note 3)
Meetings
(current year}
charges
Administration Costs		 (Note 4)
(Note 5)
Charges		 (Note 5)

Page 9 of 12

Treasurer’s Report to the Annual General - Meeting, Financial Year 2023 24

Registered Charity No. 1123484

Figure 3

Page 10 of 12

Treasurer’s Report to the Annual General - Meeting, Financial Year 2023 24

Registered Charity No. 1123484

Figure 4

Page 11 of 12

Inde endent Examiner's Re ort 3A8U 24 TOT￿5 o. 2 IXI 1trJ4.XI 12828.50 O L¥) (5742 CQ> 15742 C#)1 (592 (7644 10) ta2￿110) 1n7.82 J75.$2 o. o( o. 1T27.a2 8247.W 9975.52 ¢ Re¢eits 4787 75 ory) 1761425 15142 fy)) 18241 101 25 40￿) 24Ql8 77 Tsl 1•)43 25 217.50 140 501 177.1*) oixl 45538 87 4S538 87 (4(YJ 85> 4&3rJ ￿. O.LYJ 140181741 140481.74) oThJ $921XI 11549.43 12141.43 5475 5) gM28 •y2 m85 931 149X7 671 792 07 12933.S) Is￿ 07 o.( 40 917.47 81LIry.48 7tta93 0.0) o.fxi o.c o.c 94747 oc 40fy) 07 Page 12 of 12