**Chairman’s report letter 2025** 

**Welcome to Sawston Area u3a members old and new.** 

**Our u3a has had another successful year with a wide range of daytime classes/groups for people no longer in fulltime employment. Please, look at the website for groups that might interest you.** 

**The success of our u3a is due to a wide range of members, giving their time, skills, and knowledge to the benefit of all members. It’s all about a team of people working together, from the committee, officers, technical support, group coordinators, and all those who regularly attend interesting groups.** 

**Most of our groups continue successfully year on year, but inevitably, groups and faces will change as time goes by, and it would be remiss of me not to mention the contribution of leaders/ facilitators of groups who are stepping down this year, some over many years. A heart felt thank you from all of us.** 

**The committee have been mindful of increasing costs, and taken steps to address this, without impacting our financial reserves to a large extent. Our membership income is currently below our running costs, and therefore the membership fees will rise this year. The new annual membership fee will be £30 (or £35 if you apply for Theatre & Other visits). If you are able, then please sign the Gift Aid** 



**form, and by doing this you’re helping supplement the u3a income.** 

**There have been significant changes to the TAT (Third Age Trust) governance. There is a small board, of ten members, overseeing the day to day workings of the Trust, and an elected regional council, which comprises of around twenty five members.** 

**Our u3a is affiliated to the trust, and pays a fee, based on membership numbers. This cost is substantial, and for this we receive, insurance, access to resources and advice. Looking to the future, this change should improve communication between u3as and the Trust. Thank you for your continued support, and kind regards, John. Sawston Area u3a Chairman.** 



Treasurers report 2025 

Good afternoon everyone 

As you can see the u3a made a loss last year. This was expected and the reason why membership fees were increased by £5.00 this year. 

This, along with the increase in membership should cover our increased costs which are mainly hall fees. We have moved some groups to help with the rising costs. 

It is not only hall costs that have risen, but many banks are also now charging for charity accounts and for in paying cheques. Of which we have several hundred especially at renewal time. 

As many of you know I make an annual request for members to pay by BACS, this is another reason to do so. Your bank will help you to set this up, or perhaps a family member of friend but if you would like we can also help you. On line, we cannot see your bank statement or any other detail, except for your name. 

Paying by Bacs also enables easier processing of your payments and negates the difficulties of cheques being rejected by the banks due to incorrect completion. I do try to read all the cheques carefully, but when there are large bundles to process some errors sometimes get missed. This also adds to the workload, as members then must be contacted to arrange a new payment. 

As my workload increases,  I would appreciate anyone who would like to help with the u3a accounts. to please contact me. 



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|||7/31/2025||||||||
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|Income|||||Expenditure|||||
|||||||||||
||Class income|5714.00|||u3a HQexp|||3600.00||
||golf|3886.95|||class expenses|||16751.06||
||subs|9911.00|||golf|||3140.78||
||visit subs|865.00|||general expenses|||1288.30||
||visits|30337.95|||Beacon|||505.00||
||interst|74.19|||visit expense|||10974.99||
||gift aid|482.06|||visits|||16017.50||
||other||||accounts||||186.48|
|||51271.15||||||52464.11||
|||||||||||
|||||||||-1192.96||
|||||||||||
||current account||7702.51|||||||
||deposit account||7125.77|||||||
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|I have examined the books and from the informationprovided have found them to be in|||||||good|||
|order||||||||||
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|Gavin Southgate||||||||||
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|Date||||||||||