Brighton & Hove U3A University of the Third Age

Transcription

1 Brighton & Hove U3A University of the Third Age Charity No MINUTES OF COMMITTEE MEETING MONDAY 2 nd September Café Koba, Western Road Present Committee Members Alan Cooke Liz Kempshall Veronica Williams Ruth Sennett Janis Jefferson Carolyne McKinlay Norma Brickle Chairman Vice Chairman Treasurer Business Secretary Groups co-ordinator Membership Secretary Committee member Also attending Dave Brownstone Website manager Agenda Item 1 Apologies Jackie Williams and Brian Greenford. 2 Minutes of the committee meeting of the 3 rd June 2013 were agreed by all present. Alan signed the minutes. 3. Matters Arising. In June our U3A branch had a stand at People s Day, where we displayed details about the groups and some photos. We also had some draft programmes and application forms. Much interest was shown by passers by and a number of people said that they had already checked our website and seemed quite impressed. We would like to thank again the eighteen U3A members who volunteered to take turns to man the stand. Open Day in August went very well and seemed far more organised and less stressful than last year. The leaders were there early and those who arrived before the advertised opening time to enrol were asked to sit in the cafeteria until 11am. The fact that many members had enrolled before the open day was also a bonus. One helper felt that she had not received adequate instructions for the meeting and greeting, and one person who came to 1

2 enrol said that she was asked to sit down to wait until opening time and then did not hear the announcement that the rooms were now open. Sixty new members enrolled on the day. Alan has received many compliments on the smooth running of the open day. Holding the Open Day in August has presented some problems because it leaves the groups organiser little time to find venues. This year there are fourteen new groups and sometimes other groups need larger venues. It was suggested that there could be provisional booking of rooms in July but, after much discussion, it was decided that next year the Open Day should be on 30 th July. The annual picnic went well and twenty people attended. Geoffrey Smedley-Stevenson, one of the leaders of the history group, who worked tirelessly to share his immense knowledge with other members of the group, has died recently. There will be a collection taken at the first local history session for Cancer Research UK. It was proposed that Geoffrey s membership fee be used to buy a history book for the group in memory of him. Liz is stepping down as Vice Chairman but has agreed to continue with the communication with The Third Age Trust until a new vice chairman is in place. 4. Correspondence At the Third Age Trust Annual General Meeting this year a special resolution will be discussed to allow a region, which by the end of an AGM has no regional trustee appointed or loses a regional trustee for whatever reason, the right to hold an election. Should the post remain unfilled after this the Trust will have the power to appoint a Trustee who will remain on the National Executive committee until the next AGM. Supporting notes for the amendments are as follows. The main impetus for looking at the Articles was the situation we faced last year when for various reasons, three regions were without an elected trustee at the conclusion of AGM, which meant that co-option by the NEC until the following AGM was the only possibility. We could have faced an addition problem if another of the existing trustees had been appointed to an Officer role, thereby creating a fourth vacancy, because under our current Articles only 3 co-options were allowed. The situation was clearly unacceptable and so with that in mind we took the opportunity to make some additional changes. None of these changes required advance consent from either Companies House or the Charity Commission. Ruth has replied with our agreement to such a change. 5. Finance Report. Veronica has prepared the statement of accounts for August 1 st 2012 to July the 31 st Once again the total in the general account looks very healthy, and the records of membership payments from Gift Aid signatories have been 2

3 collated for last year. Gift Aid Amounts to some 7800 a year, resulting in a tax refund of some 2000 a year. The Social Account is now closed. There is still 7000 in the reserve fund as recommended by the Charity Commission and we are starting the year with no debts. Veronica will present the accounts for Independent Examination very soon, to be completed by 1 st October. Impact Initiatives have agreed to undertake the Examination at no cost. Veronica is standing down as treasurer at the AGM and Alan congratulated her on the immense amount of work that she has accomplished over the last year. Veronica paid tribute to the help that she had received from Carolyne throughout the year, particularly in relation to the Gift Aid application, saying that without that assistance she could not have managed the work. 6 Website Update. Dave told us that, for once, there was no new structural change to the website. Liz said that she found the website fantastic and there was enthusiastic agreement from all members of the committee. Recently there have been hits a day on the website. Alan thanked Dave for his incredible work on the site over the last year and all of the committee congratulated Dave on his success. 7 Next Newsletter is due on 17 th September. All news items to be submitted by 10th September. The package will contain formal notice of the AGM and agenda, nomination forms for the committee, and Chairman s Report 8 Leaders Meeting. Liz will take coffee, tea and biscuits along to the meeting. There will be no charge to the leaders for refreshments. There are now about fifty groups and Janis will send an to all leaders. Agenda items for the meeting are as follows. Welcome of group leaders. Facilities for those who have problems with their hearing. Leaders to check new members and collect membership numbers. Health and safety annual check and accident forms to be explained Leaders opinions of rooms to be sought. Alan will prepare an agenda. 9 Nomination forms for the committee Our U3A constitution says that nominations need to be received by a specified date. 3

4 Officers are allowed to stand for one year but may stand for re-election for no longer than three years. Liz suggested that our new vice chairman should continue to keep an eye on the trustee regulations and keeping in touch with the Third Age Trust. We need nominations for a new vice chairman, new treasurer and four new committee members. 10 AGM 14 th October The venue is the Friends Meeting House and the time for coffee and 11am meeting. Norma apologised that she will not be able to attend the AGM. She is willing to stand again as a committee member. It would be better if the bridge group were cancelled for the 14 th October because it would be better for members to attend the AGM. Liz will provide tea and coffee and biscuits. 11 2nd December All Members Meeting. The Newhaven Storytellers will provide entertainment. 12. Christmas lunch 12 th December. Liz has produced tickets for the dinner and group leaders will be given a number each to sell to members. Tickets for members and visitors to be the same price. The raffle will be different this year. Liz will buy four prizes and dinner tickets will be taken from a hat to select winners. The prize draw will be after the main course and before the musical entertainment. Music will be played during the second course. In his welcome to members Alan will announce that following the main course members should feel free to leave their seat and move around the room to chat with other friends. 13. Groups and Venues report. Dave Armstrong is going to run a beginners bridge course. The cost to each member will be The writing group is going to meet at Hove Methodist Church. Alan proposed that all out-of-pocket expenses for the new table tennis groups should be met from U3A funds. The purchase of new equipment was unlikely to exceed 100. Veronica seconded this and it was agreed unanimously. There was discussion about the yoga group and the barn-dance group. After much discussion, and checking on recommendations and guidelines of the Third Age Trust constitution, it was decided that it was acceptable to continue to allow members to donate a small fee each session to help to cover the expenses of the leaders. 4

5 Any yoga leader needs to maintain their qualification and continue their professional development in order to ensure the safety of the members. They also have to pay for professional indemnity. Our yoga teacher also provides mats and blocks for the members. The barn-dancing leader has to provide insurance in case of injury to any member. Ruth proposed that the group members should continue to pay the token amount to the leaders of the groups. Janis seconded the motion and there was the unanimous agreement of the group. The Unitarian Church has offered to advertise the U3a on its website. There was no objection to this. All leaders have been asked to keep registers. 14 Membership report. There are sixty new members bringing the total number of members to 381 by the end of Open Day, and nearer 420 today. 15 Health and Safety Report. The main venues have been visited and there are no problems evident. Visits to premises of one or two of the groups have yet to be completed due to holiday commitments of managers and health issues. A briefing note for group leaders will be available in the next week and circulated following the formula previously used. Key points to remind group leaders, particularly those leading new groups, will be access and egress, recording correctly each session numbers and names of attendees and familiarizing themselves with the venue in advance of the first session of the group. 16 SUN activities There was no report from Patrick but Alan told us about a possible new archeology project. It is being organized by the University College London and Brighton Council and will be funded for a year by the Heritage Lottery Fund. Alan will be looking for volunteers, and other U3A groups in and around Brighton will be encouraged to join in. The dig will be on Whitehawk Hill. 18 Any other business. It was decided that we would hold three committee meetings in the current term and two or three times a term in future. 19 Date of the next meeting 7 th October at the Café Koba at 9am. 5