Brighton Five Deans u3a Trustees’ Report 2024/25
This report from the Trustees to the Brighton Five Deans u3a (”5Deans”) membership complies with the requirements of the Charity Commission and the Third Age Trust and covers the period between the May 2024 and May 2025 Annual General Meetings (AGMs). 5Deans is a charity registered with the Charity Commission.
Objectives and Activities
Purpose of the Charity. 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 activities conducive to learning and personal development.
Summary of main activities . The governing principle of u3a is “by the members, for the members”. The members form Interest Groups which cover as wide a range of topics and activities as they wish. Members also serve on committees, provide administrative help, organise outings, study days, etc, on a voluntary basis. Everyone is expected to help in some way in the running of the organisation if they can, whether that is helping in a practical way e.g. helping with refreshments, running an event, joining a committee or offering to be a Group Organiser.
Monthly General Meeting is an open meeting, which all members may attend. It offers a chance to meet others, hear a speaker who is an expert in a subject of general interest, as well as enjoy refreshments afterwards.
Newsletter together with booking forms for special events, is distributed to all members either by post or email. Reading the newsletter and regularly reviewing this website is the best way to stay informed about what is going on.
Interest Groups are self-help learning groups of various sizes. They normally meet during the day, often in the home of a group member. There is usually a Group Organiser who also acts as secretary, and the meetings vary in frequency, generally weekly, fortnightly or monthly. The objective is to pursue a common interest in the company of likeminded people. There are no qualifications, pressures or expenses beyond basic materials.
Achievements and performance in 2024/25
There are over 20 Interest Groups in 5Deans u3a and they continue to meet, giving members the opportunity to learn about subjects which interest them or participate in physical activities. The Groups’ Co-ordinator can often create new groups which are tailored to our members’ interests, recent additions to the Groups on offer are Writing for Fun, Chicago Bridge and Bird Watching. We rely on the Group Organisers who put in so much work to keep their groups running.
Our Monthly Meetings are very popular, with an average of 80 members attending each meeting, an increase from the previous year. The meetings have enabled us to hear a range of educational talks on a wide range of topics which included Chailey Heritage, Sussex Witches and Witchcraft, The Role of Women in World War 1, Churchill, Jewellery Design, The Women’s Land Army and Sussex Community Search Team.
Our Open groups allow any member to join them. This year The Outings group arranged, visits to Maidstone Gin Distillery, Heaver Castle, Polesden Lacy, Strictly Come Dancing Costumes, Chatham Dockyard, Call the Midwife and Arundel Tulip Festival, Beaulieu and Museum of the Home at Hoxton.
Our Lunch group organised lunches which were well supported and allowed members to sample a wide range of cuisine ranging from English, to Turkish, Mexican, French and Italian
We have members’ coffee morning on the last Wednesday of the month with book swapping in a local tavern. This has been welcomed by members and is an opportunity to meet for the cost of a coffee.
We also have two New Members Welcome Meetings each year. This allows new members to find out about groups and other activities. Our Membership Secretary and Groups’ CoOrdinator are working together to make this an informative and useful meeting for our new joiners.
Membership numbers are around 300 up by 11% from the previous year. We hope with the range of groups we offer these numbers will increase. Most new members are joining on the recommendations of their friends and neighbours. We also run a publicity stall at two community events during the year.
We are a self-help organisation run by members for the members, we need members who will help support us by running groups or joining supporting teams. We can only continue to operate with members who volunteer their skills and enthusiasm.
Our Newsletter has had a makeover and has more photos and reports than in the past. We have a new website, which is a great improvement on the previous one, which was rather dated.
Our committee currently has 10 members. Trustees are elected by the members and have full regard to and awareness of the Charity Commission guidance on public benefit.
The ten trustees are: Ann Titheradge Chair In post until May 2026 Anne Bickmore Vice Chair In post until May 2026 Linda Bushell Secretary in post until May 2026 Robert Fodor Treasurer In post until May 2026 Chris Watson Speakers Secretary In post until May 2026 Mel Peatfield Group Coordinator until May 2026 Sue Nicholls Membership Secretary In post until May 2026 Linda Fisher Committee Member In post until May 2026
Ros Halls Committee Member In post until May 2026 William McNaught Co-opted
Finance
The annual accounts this year show a further reduction in the general funds held at year end when this stood at £5,400 down from £7,034 in 2024. Our stable membership subscriptions and donations have enabled us to hold the fees at the same level as the previous year. Membership numbers have increased after declining in recent years which is a positive indicator that our efforts to provide in particular lunch and outing events are giving positive results resulting in group income increasing from £10,268 o £20,410 a 100% increase.
However, there are further continuing signs of the impact of inflation on our central costs, especially printing & distribution which includes the cost of membership cards. We also intend to reduce other costs by enhancing the web site which should become the primary source of information for all our members.
A conservative budget for next year indicates we are at our reserve target of £5400 for nongroup activities. The trend of increasing membership and related income means we are cautiously optimistic we can keep our membership fee at current levels. However, turbulence in the UK economy may have unforeseen impacts on our u3a.
Principal risks facing the charity and actions for dealing with them.
Our membership numbers are increasing, which has a positive impact on our finances and annual income. Still to save money we are ceasing printing and posting of membership cards, confirmation of renewal of membership will be by email. We are aware that we may have to increase subscriptions in the future so will continue to focus on increasing member numbers.
As part of our aim to increase membership and the number of groups we will hold events for group leader volunteers who organise groups to make it more attractive and allow better communication between the groups and the committee. Our strategy for growth and development requires continuous reviewing and updating to make sure we are addressing potential problems.
Over recent years lack of new volunteers means we cannot expand our group activities and shortage of committee volunteers put risk to our future operations. We therefore will focus on measures to address this challenge before our next AGM.
Signed electronically by confirming email on 22 January 2026
| Ann Titheradge | Linda Bushell | Robert Fodor |
|---|---|---|
| Chair |
Secretary | Treasurer |
Brighton Five Deans 22/01/2026
BRIGHTON FIVE DEANS U3A - MEMBERSHIP ACCOUNT
| 31 March 2025 MEMBER ACCOUNT £ Membership 3,164 0 Participants payments 896 Participants re-payments 0 0 Donations 138 0 Members Gift Aid 0 Funds from Closed Account 0 Other 0 Member Account Receipts Sub-total: 4,198 Member Account Payables Member Account to Group Account Transfer (1,692) 0 u3a TRUST FEES 0 U3A Trust (1,040) 0 U3A Trust Beacon (271) 0 U3A Trust Magazine (213) 0 0 Monthly And Other Meetings 0 Hall Hire (483) 0 Monthly meetings (162) 0 Catering (607) 0 Speaker (370) 0 0 0 Administrative and Other Costs 0 Zoom 0 0 Other transfer (240) 0 0 0 Assets and Spares (125) 0 Post and Printing (484) 0 Transport & Travel (125) 0 0 0 Member Payables Sub-totals: (5,812) 0 0 0 Member Profit and Loss Sub-totals: (1,614) 0 Participation Fees paid to Wrong Account. Amount Includes 2022/23 and 2023/24 Financial Year Group Account on Next Page |
31 March 2025 £ 3,164 0 896 |
31 March 2024 £ 2,854 2,300 |
|---|---|---|
| 0 0 |
0 509 167 44 5,874 0 |
|
| 138 0 |
||
| 0 0 |
||
| 0 | ||
| 4,198 | ||
| (1,692) | (1,600) | |
| 0 0 |
(1,024) (267) (270) (540) (643) (308) 0 (75) 0 (47) (255) 0 (5,029) 0 845 |
|
| (1,040) 0 (271) 0 (213) 0 |
||
| 0 0 |
||
| (483) 0 (162) 0 (607) 0 (370) 0 |
||
| 0 0 0 0 0 |
||
| (240) 0 |
||
| 0 0 |
||
| (125) 0 (484) 0 (125) 0 |
||
| 0 0 |
||
| (5,812) 0 |
||
| 0 0 |
BRIGHTON FIVE DEANS U3A - GROUP ACCOUNT
| GROUP Receipts Membership Donations Receipts including transfers from Member Account Keep Fit Lunches Meditation Outings Tai chi Talking Art Group Receipts Sub-totals: Group Payables Outings Admission & Venue costs Transport & Travel Participants re-payments Lunches Catering Keep Fit, Meditation, Tai-chi and Talking Art Hall Hire Instructor Other Monthly Speaker Group Payable Sub-totals: Group Profit And Loss Sub-Total: Acccounts Report Summary on Next Page |
31 March 2025 £ |
31 March 2024 £ 1,000 |
|---|---|---|
| 0.00 0 |
||
| 2,000 | ||
| 0 | ||
| 0 | ||
| 2,094 4,060 165 11,254 2,750 87 |
2,157 210 863 4,191 2,020 155 |
|
| 0 | 10,596 (2,107) (2,640) (420) (473) (1,479) (3,085) (85) (10,289) 307 |
|
| 0 | ||
| 22,410 | ||
| (4,155) (4,038) (500) 0 (3,895) 0 0 (1,520) (3,230) |
||
| 0 | ||
| 0 0 |
||
| (17,338) | ||
| 5,072 | ||
ACCOUNT PROFIT AND LOSS
PROFIT OR LOSS EXCLUDING EXTRAORDINARY TRANSACTIONS
| Receipts Excluding Extraordinary Transactions: Payables Excluding Extraordinary Transactions: Sub-total: EXTRAORDINARY TRANSACTIONS Donations Gift Aid Sub-total: PROFIT AND LOSS Sum of All Receipts: Sum of All Payables: TOTALS: ACCOUNT RECEIPTS AND PAYMENTS |
24,470 (23,150) 1,320 |
14,961 (15,318) (357) 1,152 1,000 509 1,509 |
|
|---|---|---|---|
| 2,000 138 2,138 |
|||
| 26,608 (23,150) 3,458 |
16,470 (15,318) 1,152 |
||
----- Start of picture text -----
ACCOUNT RECEIPTS AND PAYMENTS
31 March 2025 31 March 2024 31 March 2023 31 March 2022 31 March 2021 43,921
RECEIPTS £ £ £ £ £ £
Membership 4,060 2,999 2,879 3,517 631 11,176
Groups 20,410 10,268 4,680 4,853 472
Receipts before Extraordinary Receipts 24,470 13,267 7,559 8,370 1,103 14,890
Extraordinary Receipts 2,138 1,509 175 7,781 1,822 0
RECEIPTS 26,608 14,776 7,734 16,151 2,925 14,890
31 March 2025 31 March 2024 31 March 2023 31 March 2023 31 March 2022 44,286
PAYMENTS £ £ £ £ £ £
Operations (5,812) (3,435) (3,218) (2,711) (2,295) (3,490)
Interest Groups (17,338) (9,784) (4,634) (4,774) (684) (12,575)
Payments Total before Extraordinary Payments (23,150) (13,220) (7,852) (7,485) (2,979) (16,065)
Extraordinary Payments (420) 0 (7,680) (1,822)
PAYMENTS (23,150) (13,640) (7,852) (15,165) (4,801) (4,801)
NET MOVEMENT IN FUNDS 3,458 1,136 (7,313) (1,175) (1,175) (1,175)
BALANCE SHEET
FUNDS 31 March 2025 31 March 2024 31 March 2023 31 March 2022 31 March 2021 43,921
£ £ £ £ £ £
Membership A/C 5,400 7,014 6,169 5,981 3,709 3,912
Groups A/C 6,384 1,312 1,005 1,312 4,473 5,437
Cash 16 16 16 16 16 26
Totals: 11,800 8,342 7,190 7,309 8,198 9,374
31 March 2025 31 March 2024 31 March 2023 31 March 2022 31 March 2021
NET MOVEMENT IN FUNDS £ £ £ £ £ £
Membership A/C (1,614) 845 188 2,272 (203) 801
Groups A/C 5,072 307 (307) (3,161) (961) 2,412
Cash 0 0 0 0 (10) (7)
Totals: 3,458 1,152 (119) (1,876) (1,174) 3,205
31 March 2025 31 March 2024 31 March 2023 31 March 2022 31 March 2021
RESTRICTED FUNDS £ £ £ £ £ £
U3A Trust Charges before new Membership Year (1,412) 1,544 1,539 1,317 3,336 2,653
Owed to Interest Groups (4,038) 1,652 1,191 926 1,138 2,783
Other Committed Expense (650) 585 575
Totals: (6,100) 3,780 3,305 2,243 4,473 5,437
FREE RESERVES 5,700 4,562 3,885 5,066 3,351 2,679
----- End of picture text -----
3[rd] May 2025
To: Robert Foden Treasurer, Brighton Five Deans u3a
I have examined the accounts in the Brighton Five Dean u3a, Annual Report 2024
- 2025 and find them correct according to the information provided.
Name:
Tony Garwood (Treasurer, Newhaven & Peacehaven u3a)
Signature:
Date:
3[rd] May 2025
ANALYSIS OF ASSETS Year Ending 31 March 2025
| Device | Brand | Model | Procurement date | Purchase Price | Market value |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Projector | VOPLLS | P1E | 04/01/2025 | £109.99 | £65.00 |
| Projector | Mitsubishi | XD206U | 30/03/2007 | £1,860.20 | £20.00 |
| Projector | Epson | £75.00 | £75.00 | ||
| Projection Screen and stand | 07/05/2003 | £80.17 | £20.00 | ||
| HDMI to VGA ConveDell | 20/11/2024 | £9.99 | £0.00 | ||
| USB C to VGA converter | 20/11/2024 | £5.99 | £0.00 | ||
| Speaker Speaker |
Prosound Prosound |
A87RZ A89RZ |
23/01/2016 23/01/2016 |
£243.18 | £75.00 £75.00 |
| Speaker Stands | 27/12/2018 | £29.95 | £0.00 | ||
| Microphone | FIFINE | K037 | Not available | £15.00 | |
| Microphone | Unknown | Handheld | £20.00 | ||
| Gazebo | MasterCanopy | Heavy Duty 3mx3m | 22/06/2022 | £210.85 | £50.00 |
| Display stand | 05/05/2011 | £175.00 | |||
| Speaker Lead | 27/12/2018 | £8.99 | £0.00 | ||
| Extension Lead | 19/03/2019 | £20.42 | £0.00 | ||
| ASUS PC | 23/01/2017 | £480.00 | £0.00 | ||
| ASUS PC | 23/01/2017 | £480.00 | £0.00 | ||
| ASUS PC | 23/01/2017 | £480.00 | £0.00 | ||
| Total Purchase Value | £4,329.52 | ||||
| Value at 31/03/2025 | £435.00 |