Hungerford & District U3A |
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Annual General Meeting 18 July 2023
Minutes of the Annual General Meeting of the Hungerford and District U3A
held on 18th July 2023
Venue; The Corn Exchange, Hungerford
50 members attended.
> Apologies for Absence
Apologies received from 10 members.
> Previous Minutes and Matters Arising
The minutes of the previous meeting held on 12th July 2022, were approved.
> Chair’s Report
The Chair’s written report is appended.
BD thanked the retiring Treasurer, Jeff Riggs for all his hard work on behalf of the U3A, both as Treasurer and Chair. He also thanked all committee members for their efforts during the last 12 months.
> Treasurer’s Report and Accounts
The retiring Treasurer was unable to attend, but his Treasurer’s Report and Accounts are appended and were presented by the Chair. The accounts are awaiting audit. The main costs are the hire of rooms and speakers, something the committee is reviewing. Reserves stand at £1500 - £2000. The accounts were approved.
> Membership Subscriptions for 2023/24
It was proposed that the annual subscription should be increased to £18. The included subscription to Third Age Matters magazine has been removed.
The proposal was approved.
> Election of Officers and Committee
After 3 years as Chair of Hungerford & District U3A, Brian Davis announced that he was stepping back. He will continue in the role of Vice Chair.
Katherin Daking was elected to take over as Chair and Richard Daking was elected as Treasurer.
Other committee members agreed to stand for re-election (Linda Pateman -Secretary, Sylvia Breadmore, Margaret Barter, Jenny Knight, Elaine Outlaw). All were re-elected.
> Any other business:
Linda Pateman proposed a vote of thanks to Brian Davis for his hard work on behalf of U3A members during the three years of his Chairmanship.
Notice and Agenda
The Hungerford & District U3A AGM will be held in The Corn Exchange, Hungerford on Tuesday 18 July 2023 at 10.45am.
The venue will be open from 10.15am and committee members will be on hand for discussion prior to the meeting. Tea and coffee will be available.
Following the formal business, we are pleased that Brian Freeland will be giving a talk entitled ‘A View from the Wings’ (backstage gossip from Butlin's Holiday Camps to the London Palladium, the Royal Shakespeare Company to the National Theatre).
Agenda
- Apologies for absence
- Approval of the Minutes of the 2022 AGM
- Chair’s report
- Treasurer’s report and Accounts
- Membership subscriptions for 2023/4
- Election of Officers and Committee
- Chair: Katherin Daking
- Vice-chair: Brian Davis
- Treasurer: Richard Daking
- Secretary: Linda Pateman
Other Committee members (Jenny Knight, Sylvia Breadmore, Margaret Barter and Elaine Outlaw) are standing for re-election
- Any other business
Voting
If you are unable to attend the meeting but would like to register your vote for item 6, please email or write to The Secretary (details below) with your apologies for the meeting and how you would wish your vote to be cast. The Chair of the meeting will then act as your proxy and make the vote for you.
You can write a separate email or letter or simple forward this note to The Secretary (secretary@hungerfordu3a.org.uk) with a clear indication of which way you wish the Chair to vote. Please make sure your name and, if possible, your membership number are clearly shown.
Linda Pateman
Secretary
Tel: 01488 668563
Minutes of the Annual General Meeting of the Hungerford and District U3A held on July 12th 2022
Venue; Corn Exchange, Hungerford
43 members attended, which exceeded the quorum.
Apologies for Absence
Apologies were received from 13 members with 7 absent members asking the Chair to vote on their behalf.
Previous Minutes and Matters Arising
The minutes of the AGM held on 5th August 2021 were approved.
Chair’s Report
The Chair’s written report is appended. The membership currently stands at 137. The committee is in need of more help and volunteers will be very welcome.
The Chair’s report was approved.
Treasurer’s Report
Treasurer’s Report and accounts are appended.
The membership fee will be maintained at £16 but may have to be reviewed if costs continue to rise rapidly.
The accounts were approved.
Election of Officers
Brian Davis (Chair), Jeff Riggs (Treasurer) and Linda Pateman (Secretary) were re-elected to continue in post.
Other committee members are Sylvia Breadmore, Margaret Barter and Jenny Knight.
Elaine Outlaw will join the committee.
Questionnaire Results and Discussion
BD had circulated a questionnaire and received a response from more than 50% of members. 85% were interested in group activities and 50% in general activities. Interest was evenly spread between different types of “outings” (rather than just theatre trips). The most popular price point (to cover transportation and entrance) was £60pp. JR mentioned that the cost of coach transportation has risen to approximately £25 per head.
A wide range of new groups were suggested but with practically no common requests. It is proposed that a minimum of 3 interested members would be needed to enable a new group to be considered.
AOB
A vote of thanks for the Committee Members for their hard work during the last year.
Chair’s Report 2023
It is pleasing to report that our membership has increased from 136 at last year’s AGM to 180. This may be partly due to the ‘bounce-back’ now that the pandemic is a fading memory, but also to new people coming to the town having been U3A members elsewhere. Of course, with our age profile, we have to accept the sad loss of some members.
We have had very successful theatre trips and outings, with sufficient numbers to be able to travel to the venues in a comfortable, 36-seater coach – which we intend to continue to book for our future excursions.
Our coffee mornings are now firmly established as regular monthly events. On alternate months we have had a guest speaker and have covered a wide range of topics – from the life of a Beefeater to that of a Royal Butler, from Gardens to Prime Ministers. An innovation introduced for some other months has been to have a presentation from a group – both Art Practical and Creative Writing have entertained. The AGM in July also had a guest speaker and December’s morning coffee was converted into a well-received afternoon Christmas tea party.
Group activities are also on the increase. Some existing groups now have a waiting list; we have already established an extra group for those who love reading and five other new groups have also been set up. We have also held a Group Contacts meeting in order to share information and also to thank them for ensuring we have a thriving U3A.
I have been associated with our U3A since the start and have enjoyed my three years as Chair, even though the pandemic did set a few unexpected challenges. Throughout this time the Committee has been wonderfully supportive and they all have my heartfelt thanks. In particular, on behalf of us all, I would like to thank Jeff Riggs, who has been a stalwart from the outset, being the first Chair and recently Treasurer. He really does qualify as one of the founding fathers.
Brian Davis
July 2023
Accounts
Membership subscriptions for 2023/24 (1 Oct – 30 Sep)
The proposal is to set the annual subscription at £18 (£1.50/month)
This will no longer automatically include the ‘Third Age Matters’ magazine, which will be available separately to those who wish to receive it, for £3.
Over the past 3 years the organization has made a cumulative loss of £393. This was partly budgeted for and our reserves are still over £1500, but recent inflation now requires us to increase income to be able to continue with a full programme of events and to avoid any further losses.
The recommended subscription should produce a small profit in the coming year if member numbers are maintained.
To put it into context, the last reported National average subscriptions ranged from £15-20 and locally are £10-30.
Note:
Half-year will be £9
Full year but already a member of another U3A will be £14
Half-year but already a member of another U3A will be £9