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CHAIRMAN'S REPORT AGM 2007 Wokingham U3A has had what I believe to be a very successful year and you and I have two groups of people to thank for this. The first group consists of the dedicated people who keep the groups going: I don't just mean the convenors or group leaders because there are also members looking after group money, others who are teaching classes, leading activities or hosting meetings and even more involved in preparing refreshments or getting rooms ready and tidying up after meetings. These individuals are all vital to the good operation of the groups and I thank them on behalf of the membership as a whole. The second group is formed of those people who oil the wheels of Wokingham U3A as a whole. This includes the Committee of course but also those looking after equipment for this and group meetings, others getting Newsletters into envelopes ready for you, or making sure that we get a cup of tea at the end of this meeting. There are others I'm sure: thank you all. Now to the year covered by this report, 2006. It has been the first year when the Chairman has been required to prepare two reports. This is my second one: the first report was the formal one that the Charity Commission now requires. Copies of this are available to view on the table in front of me and members who would like a personal copy should lodge their name with the Secretary. The report to the Charity Commission is just one aspect of the new relationship between charities and the Commission; you have probably seen others in the press. This new relationship has meant that the Committee has had to be particularly careful to do things in accordance with the Charity Commission's requirements. In this we, in common with all other U3As, are being advised by the U3A's National Office to be completely transparent about any money handled by the groups as well as that looked after by the Treasurer. Most group leaders and treasurers have co-operated in providing the Treasurer with information for the accounts and I thank you for this. When the Treasurer makes his report in a minute you will see that 'group' money now appears more clearly than it has previously. This transparency takes us a long way towards meeting the Charity Commission's requirements but we need to go a bit further during the 2007 financial year. The new Treasurer whom you elect today will be asking for a little more information from many groups: it's too early to detail this now but I will be working with the Treasurer and others to make sure that we collect information in a simple way that doesn't involve you in lots of book keeping or form filling. I will also make sure that what we will be doing and the reasons for it are published in the Newsletter. Putting the legalities to one side it is a pleasure to report that to judge by the growth in our membership numbers and our groups we must be very successful. This growth, to 801 members at the end of 2006, has a great deal to do with the excellent quality of our eighty or so groups and the welcome that most of you members offer to new people. Our continued growth is a cause of concern to some members and we will be addressing this in Any Other Business. However, let me say now that I and the Committee are conscious of the challenges that growth brings. We have taken advice from the U3A National Office and other U3As on this and made three steps towards meeting the challenges. The first step has been to identify ways of sharing some of the load on the Groups' Co-ordinator, Membership Secretary and Treasurer; these will evolve during the year ahead. The second step has been to raise the subscription to £10 so that we can afford to offer more support to groups, improve our equipment and possibly make the big financial jump to hiring larger rooms for U3A-wide meetings. We have a good bank balance at the moment but this would soon be reduced if we were to hire a large hall for another Open House or the next Annual General Meeting. The final step in seeking to support a larger membership has been to set up a small development group to examine other ways of improving the U3A for you; I look forward to reporting what they have achieved at next year's AGM. I would like to conclude my report by repeating my thanks to all of those who have helped to make Wokingham U3A the success that it is. Colin Mitchell Chairman 20th March 2007 |
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