## u3a Bury St Edmunds 

Trustees’ Annual Report 

and 

## Financial Statements 

Year ended 31 July 2023 

Bary St Edmunds 



## Trustees’ Annual Report for the year ended 31 July 2023 

## 1. Administrative information 

Charity Name University of the Third Age in Bury St Edmunds Charity Number 803112 Charity Website https://www.u3aburystedmunds.co.uk 

Registered Address Risbygate Centre 90 Risbygate Street Bury St Edmunds IP33 3AA Banker Lloyds Bank 9 Buttermarket Bury St Edmunds IP33 1DB 

Independent Examiner Jacobs Allen 59 Abbeygate Street Bury St Edmunds IP33 1LB 

## 2. Governance and Management 

u3a Bury St Edmunds is an unincorporated association and a registered charity. It is governed by its constitution which was adopted on 20 June 2001, and is affiliated to the Third Age Trust and the East of England u3a. 

Appointment of Trustees: trustees are elected at the Annual General Meeting which is normally held in October. Under the constitution, there must be a minimum of eight and not more than twelve elected trustees. The trustees may co-opt a further two trustees if they consider it would be in the interests of u3a Bury St Edmunds to do so. 

Management: the trustees are responsible for strategic direction and governance as well as the day to day operation 

Trustees who served in the year to 31 July 2023: 

## Committee Role 

Rainaldo O’Meara Chair John Byrne Vice Chair Elizabeth Barham Secretary 



Jennifer Baker News/IT Peter Chapman Education David Dawson Development/Talks Sheila Deare Membership Stuart Lee Interest Groups Malcolm Seymour — Treasurer Jonathan Hart Talks Appointed 18 October 2022 Susan Hawthorn Social Appointed 7 February 2023 

Desme Smith Appointed 1 November 2022 Resigned 5 January 2023 Cheryl Wilder Appointed 1 November 2022 Resigned 5 January 2023 

## 3. Objectives 

The charitable purpose of the u3a Bury St Edmunds is 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 Bury St Edmunds and its surrounding locality. 

As a member of the Third Age Trust we adhere to the principles of the u3a movement which is non-religious and non-political: 

- e membership of a u3a is open to all in their third age, which is defined not by a particular age but by a period in life in which full time employment has ceased. 

- e members promote the values of lifelong learning and the positive attributes of belonging to a u3a. 

- e members should do all they can to ensure that people wanting to join a u3a can do so. 

## 4. Financial Results 

The Trustees have maintained the annual subscription at £15, and the subscription income has increased by £1,699 in the year. This represents a growth of over 100 members, to a yearend total of 967. In part this can be attributed to the interest generated by our successful celebration event held on 21 September 2022. 

The results for the year produced a deficit of £1,870 on the General Fund, which compares with a surplus of £2,755 in the previous year. The main reason for this movement is that the charge for the Third Age Matters Magazine in 2021/22 was not received in the financial year, and consequently two years’ costs have been paid in 2022/23. 

The total Unrestricted Funds are £21,161 compared with £22,051 in the previous year, and the Restricted Funds held on behalf of Interest Groups totals £7,658. 



The Trustees’ policy is to maintain reserves of Unrestricted Funds at a level that will cover a minimum of six months operational expenditure. Looking forward, the Trustees have decided to utilise £2,500 of the Unrestricted Reserves in 2023/24 to develop the role of our u3a with other organisations in Bury St Edmunds. 

## 5. Chair's Annual Report for the Year 

In the Chair’s annual report this time last year, | noted the Committee’s efforts to keep the Bury St Edmunds u3a afloat following the membership and income setbacks suffered as a result of the Coronavirus pandemic. Thankfully, due to the enthusiasm of the members to return to normal we were able to thrive then, and now | can report yet another successful year in terms of a membership increase, as well as a solid income base - both whilst maintaining our annual subscription unchanged. 

The 31 July 2023 year-end total of 967 represents an increase of over 100 members compared to last year. And without going into the details of our accounts, which you can read in our Financial Statement, | would like to offer my thanks to the steady steering of our Treasurer, Malcolm Seymour. Whilst our total cash funds at year-end were slightly down compared to July 2022, we still carried forward a handsome £21,000 into 2023/24. 

Sadly we have to say farewell to three of our stalwart Committee members. Our indebted thanks go to Sheila Deare, who has served as Membership Secretary for 6 years; John Byrne, who has served as Chair, Vice Chair, and has been responsible for championing EDI during his 3 years; and Stuart Lee, who took on the role of communicating with Interest Groups. 

Fortunately, we have been able to recruit two new Trustees. In January Susan Hawthorn was co-opted onto the Committee and already you will have experienced the enthusiasm that she has brought to the role of Social secretary with organising a number of successful events. We also welcome Caroline Saul who will join the Committee in November and will become our new Membership Secretary. 

However, once again this year | have to mention that the total number of 8 Trustees remains too low for the growing size of our u3a, and as a priority we continually seek to recruit more, both for our capability now, and also to ensure succession planning for the future. Whilst recruitment of Trustees has been a major problem for u3as across the country, particularly in recent pandemic times, we are thankful that we have many volunteers in noncommittee roles to whom we are particularly grateful because without them we would not be able to provide the activities in our programme. The Group Leaders, the Technical Team, the Computer Clinic, the Apex Stewards, and those that run our publicity and trips are all noncommittee volunteers. Their enthusiasm and commitment is invaluable in helping make Bury St Edmunds u3a the success it currently occupies. 

So please, if you are willing to spare some time as a committee member, you can read details about the responsibilities in the section ‘Committee Roles’ which can be found in the dropdown menu of ‘About Us’ on the website. Alternatively, if you would like to help us but not necessarily in an official committee capacity or on a regular basis, why not become one 



of our volunteers by getting in touch with any member of the Committee who will be happy to answer any questions you may have about specific roles and expectations. 

Early this year, the Committee met to discuss a SWOT (Strength, Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats) analysis of our u3a, in order to define better our way forward this year. Resulting from that analysis, a programme of actions was agreed on. 

## Progress Against Actions 2022-2023 

## 1. Publicity 

One of the key ongoing roles of the u3a is to provide information to the wider community, but it was felt that we needed to strengthen our position with regular publicity and more frequent events in addition to the monthly talks. To that end we identified a need for both a Social Secretary and a Publicity Secretary to work in tandem. These roles have been admirably filled by Sue Hawthorn from the Committee and by Gayle Wade as a non-committee volunteer. Indeed, Gayle was quick into action in organising a local newspaper report for our July talk by Paul Atterbury. In addition, we have produced a new Members Booklet and a new flyer for GP surgeries to link in with social prescribing for mental wellbeing and health. Last but not least is the monthly newsletter, keenly edited by Jennifer Baker, that has gone from strength to strength and is a constant and renewable source of news and information about our u3a. 

## 2. Recruitment and Looking after New Members 

As mentioned earlier, there has been a significant growth in our membership, for which we are delighted. However, our SWOT analysis identified a need to help integrate these new members into the u3a family. The existing programme of ‘new members’ coffee mornings was thought to be successful but needed to be expanded. We also thought that the venue previously used was not particularly suitable, being too public and quite noisy, and it was agreed that a trial would take place in a more private hired venue. Our new Social Secretary, Sue Hawthorn, quickly moved into action and in March hosted the first of a planned regular coffee morning for new members. Since then two more have taken place. 

## 3. Demographics of our u3a 

Another important result of our SWOT analysis was the view that we lacked comprehension of the demographics within our u3a. An investigation by means of a questionnaire was then undertaken by our Vice Chair, John Byrne, the results of which were very informative and will provide data in helping us recruit and retain our members. 4. Public Talks at the Apex Moving on from the successful re-introduction of our monthly talks in 2021, our programme last year, planned and booked by David Dawson and Jonathan Hart, included the famous journeys on the Oregon Trail and Stanley’s meeting with Dr Livingstone. Bringing us closer to home were talks on Suffolk gravestones and Suffolk public health, and there were also important topics addressing net zero climate change and personal finances. Tales from the Antiques Roadshow just before our summer break, however, clearly brought us our largest audience not only of the year but also since the pandemic. In mid-year we introduced extended sessions of our monthly talks by offering members the opportunity to meet and 



audience not only of the year but also since the pandemic. In mid-year we introduced extended sessions of our monthly talks by offering members the opportunity to meet and mingle post-talk with speakers and fellow members upstairs in the mezzanine area of the Apex. These have proven to be not as successful as hoped and we plan to assess and review this pilot option. On the other hand, we have piloted an initiative of intermittent speciality talks in smaller venues. The first of these was on bereavement, which was proven to be successful, and we will seek appropriate speakers on suitable topics for future talks. 

## 5. Interest Groups 

Last year saw a number of new interest groups starting up, among which concerned Architecture, Calligraphy, Formula 1 Racing, History of the English Language, and new book and music groups. These subjects reflect the diverse nature of the interests within the u3a membership. Nothing is too niche and there is always a good chance that there will be others that share your interest. There is no requirement for expertise, to teach or lecture — just enthusiasm to pursue and share that interest. 

## 6. Administration and IT 

Last year it was decided to replace the existing electronic filing system with a web-based one for essential documents, and during the year this has been in progress with many of the documents revised and updated. The ability to pay online for trips and social events is now well in place. 

## 7. Social Events 

We are indebted to another of our non-committee volunteers, Pat Lees, who working with Peter Chapman has undertaken to plan and organise our programme of day coach trips. Trips to Kelvedon Hatch, Henry Moore’s Studios, the Combined Military Services Museum, and the Blickling Estate, amongst others, have proved most popular. The Travel, Gardening, and Theatre Groups have also run trips which are well attended, and all make an important contribution to the u3a offer. As mentioned earlier, our new Social Secretary, in addition to introducing the coffee mornings, has also been instrumental in organising other events such as the Quiz and Fish & Chip Supper nights. 

In closing, my warmest thanks to all members serving on the Committee for their commitment and support, particularly Liz Barham, our Secretary, who, as ever, has been a constant source of energy and enthusiasm. | would also like to thank all members for continuing to support the Bury St Edmunds u3a. 

## Rainaldo O’Meara 

Chair 



Approved by the Trustees on 5 September 2023 and signed on their behalf by: 

an andPR ttt 

Rainaldo O’Meara (Chair) Malcolm Seymour (Treasurer) 



## University of the Third Age in Bury St Edmunds Charity Registration Number 803112 Receipts and Payments Account for the year ended 31 July 2023 

||||Restricted|||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
||Unrestricted|Funds|Funds|||
|||Eventsand||Total|Total|
||General Fund|Visits|StudyGroups|2022/23|2021/22|
|Income||||||
|Membership subscriptions|14,514|-|-|14,514|12,814|
|Bank interest|403|-|-|403|26|
|Donations|191|-|-|191|13|
|Gift Aid reclaim|1,938|-|-|1,938|1,921|
|Grant income|-|-|-|-|150|
|Events and visits|-|7,001|-|7,001|3,220|
|Travel Group receipts|-|-|650|650|442|
|Theatre Group receipts|-|-|28,563|28,563|30,372|
|Other Study Group receipts|-|-|14,895|14,895|8,703|
||17,046|7,001|44,108|68,155|57,661|
|Expenses||||||
|Third AgeTrust membership|3,692|-|-|3,692|3,224|
|Third Age Matters Magazine|4,278|-|-|4,278|232|
|u3a Suffolk District Network|-|-|-|-|25|
|Equipment purchase|-|-|-|-|34|
|Website|1,237|-|-|1,237|1,086|
|Monthly talk costs|5,437|-|-|5,437|4,789|
|Coffee and Social Events|1,725|-|-|1,725|-|
|Room hire and accommodation costs|62|-|-|62|763|
|Telephone|-|-|-|-|52|
|Accounting software licence|470|-|-|470|522|
|Postage and stationery|569|-|-|569|364|
|Membership Cards|423|-|-|423|-|
|Publicity|240|-|-|240|-|
|Committee expenses|37|-|-|37|80|
|Independent Examiner Fee|390|-|-|390|390|
|E-banking commission|340|-|-|340|270|
|Miscellaneous expenses|16|-|-|16|187|
|Events and visits|-|6,021|-|6,021|2,018|
|Travel Group expenditure|-|-|1,024|1,024|1,667|
|Theatre Group expenditure|-|-|29,889|29,889|28,372|
|Other Study Group expenditure|-|-|12,294|12,294|8,479|
||18,916|6,021|43,207|68,144|52,554|
|Net Receipts/(Payments)|(1,870)|980|901|11|5,107|
|Cash Funds as at 31 July 2022 b/f|20,654|1,397|6,757|28,808|23,701|
|CashFundsasat31July2023c/f|18,784|2,377|7,658|28,819|28,808|



; 



## University of the Third Age in Bury St Edmunds Charity Registration Number 803112 

## Statement of Assets and Liabilities for the year ended 31 July 2023 

||Equals|Lloyds|CCLA|Lloyds|Lloyds|Total|Total|
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
||Cards|MainA/c|Deposit|TheatreA/c|Travel A/c|2022/22|2021/22|
|Unrestricted Funds|-|5,587|15,574|-|-|21,161|22,051|
|Restricted Funds||||||||
|Theatre Group|112|-|-|3,066|-|3,178|4,379|
|Travel Group|147|-|7|-|303|450|664|
|OtherGroups|361|3,669|-|-|-|4,030|1,714|
|TotalCashFunds|620|9,256|15,574|3,066|303|28,819|28,808|



## Assets retained for the charity’s own use 

The following assets are held for members use and relate to the General Fund: 

3 Hewlett Packard Pavillion notebooks 

Toshiba Satellite laptop Epson projector Ative AT-16X shredder 2 x iZettle card readers 

## Notes to the Accounts for the year ended 31 July 2023 

   1. The financial statements have been prepared on the Receipts and Payments basis. 

2. Restricted Funds were held during the course of the year on behalf of the following 

; Interest Groups: 

Art Appreciation, Art History, Badminton, Calligraphy, Choir, Churches and Villages, Craft, Current Affairs, Garden, Government and Politics, History, Music Matters, Painting & Drawing, Philosophy, Photography, Science and Society, Theatre, Travel, Wine Appreciation, Wines Around the World 



3. Membership subscriptions include £255 of income prepaid in the year ended 31 July 2022. 

4. Events and Visits receipts include £1,448 received from members relating to a future visit. Coach hire costs of £600 relating to a July visit have not yet been invoiced to the u3a. 

5. Theatre Group receipts include £8,891 received from members relating to future events; costs of £6,863 have been paid in advance. 

Approved by the Trustees on 5 September 2023 and signed on their behalf by: 

OW ekeee fl 22D Ch . ¥ . oe Rainaldo O’Meara (Chair) wel es WE Svtrsicscennscsvess Malcolm Seymour (Treasurer) 



Independent Examiner’s Report to the Trustees of The University of the Third Age in Bury St Edmunds Charity Number 803112 

| report to the trustees of my examination of the accounts of the University of the Third Age in Bury St Edmunds (the Trust) for the year ended 31* July 2023 which are set out on pages 1 to 3. 

## Responsibilities and basis of report 

As the charity trustees of the Trust you are responsible for the preparation 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 all the applicable Directions given by the Charity Commission under section 135(5)(b) of the Act. 

## Independent examiner’s statement 

| have completed my examination. | confirm that no material matters have come to my attention in connection with the examination giving me cause to believe that in any material respect: 

1. Accounting records were not kept in respect of the Trust as required by section 130 of the Act; or 

2. The accounts do not accord with those records. 

| have no concerns and have come across no other matters in connection with the examination to which attention should be drawn in this report in order to enable a proper understanding of the accounts to be reached. 

## Signedaa Cant Daten AY 2S L223, 

Christopher P Kelly FCA 

Jacobs Allen Limited 59 Abbeygate Street Bury St Edmunds Suffolk IP33 1LB