Minutes for the 8th Annual General Meeting Held in the
Southwell Leisure Centre
At 10 am on 5th August 2014
1. Apologies
BH.
2. Chairman’s Opening Remarks
The Chairman welcomed the members to the meeting, mentioning the necessity of 20% membership in attendance, which appeared to be the case.
3. Minutes of the AGM held on 5th August 2013.
The Minutes of the meeting held last year had been displayed on the Southwell U3A Website for a full year, and the Chairman asked for proposals that these were a true record. There being no questions from the floor, these were accepted unanimously and signed as a true record. Proposed by Judith Robbins and seconded by Roger Bennett.
4. To Receive and Adopt the Annual Report.
The Chairman gave a summary of the Annual Report to the members mentioning that Southwell U3A is now just over eight years old and it has grown to be a successful and vibrant organisation. Groups and Group Leaders are central to the life of any U3A and at the latest count we had 74 groups meeting regularly, and with a growing membership we need to support new group leaders so we can access a wide range of learning and social activities.
During the past year our Social committee has organised and run many coach trips to many varied and interesting places. This is an onerous task and we thank them for their dedication and hard work.
The main monthly meetings have seen a variety of academic and entertaining speakers. The PA system was upgraded by the purchase of new equipment and the new four speaker system does certainly seem to enhance presentation. The Chairman informed the meeting that the old system had been offered to several of our groups, who had declined the offer, so rather than scrap it the committee authorized it to be donated to another local U3A.
He then went on to talk about the growth in membership of approximately 8% and that the Committee had held a number of extra meetings to discuss this. It was finally agreed that the membership should be allowed to grow, but that this decision is not set in tablets of stone and a future committee may decide to alter this position.
The Chairman then turned to the subject of communication and informed the members that the committee had agreed that Newsline would continue to be produced as a personalised copy with a new look. He also talked about the Website which is in the progress of being updated.
A further fact that he brought to the attention of the members was the necessity of upgrading the equipment used by the Membership Administration Team to assist in the efficiency of producing renewal slips, membership cards, reminders and keeping the membership database up to date. The committee had agreed after considerable discussion, to keep a rolling renewal system, and buy the necessary hardware and software needed to enable our dedicated team to work more efficiently. This has been executed.
He then said that the full Annual Report would be found on the Website in due course, and he asked the members to Adopt the Report. This was proposed by Richard Astbury and seconded by Richard Woodward. The report was unanimously accepted by the members.
5. To Receive and Adopt the Statement of Accounts for 2012
The Treasurer then gave a brief summary of the Statement of accounts, which had been circulated in Newsline, as follows.
1. Total receipts and payments for 2013/14 were up by 30% over the previous year to £42,283 and £40,083 respectively.
2. The totals are broken down between the three accounts namely General, Groups and Social.
3. The General account returned a surplus of £2,757, much higher than predicted at the start of the year, due to under spending on capital projects, increased membership income and lower than expected inflation.
4. The U3A has adopted a reserves policy for the General account which sets out the minimum level of reserves which should be held at the beginning of each year in order to support cash flow in the early months of the year, to cover for risks (including equipment failure) and to provide a "pot" for future investment. General account reserves of £11,297 are in excess of this minimum. The target minimum reserves level will be reset each year.
5. The U3A finances are therefore in a strong and stable position.
The Treasurer then went on to thank the Committee and a number of other people for their support over the past year.
There being no further points, the adoption of the Statement of Accounts, proposed by Geoffrey Harrington, and seconded by June Fillmore, was accepted unanimously by the members present.
6. To Appoint an Independent Examiner of Accounts
The Chairman stated that the above accepted accounts had been independently audited by Graham Ball and he asked for proposals of his appointment. Roger Bennett proposed the motion which was seconded by Bob Pitcher and the proposals were unanimously accepted by the members.
7. To Elect the Officers and Committee of the Association
The nominees for the officers and committee had been published in Newsline for the member’s information and the Chairman asked for proposers. Jane Ellis proposed the motion which was seconded by Chris Jakeman and the members voted unanimously to appoint the Officers and Committee.
8. Vote of Thanks for Retiring Members.
The Chairman then proposed a vote of thanks to the retiring committee members Eddie Burch, John Martindale, John Davies, Judith Robbins, and Jackie Pitcher. The members responded with hearty applause.
9. Any Other Business
John Elkington brought to the attention of the meeting that he would like to propose that a formal person be nominated at the end of each monthly meeting, to thank the Speaker of the day. This was agreed by the meeting and would be put into operation.
The meeting closed at approximately 10.30 am.
Southwell Leisure Centre
At 10 am on 5th August 2014
1. Apologies
BH.
2. Chairman’s Opening Remarks
The Chairman welcomed the members to the meeting, mentioning the necessity of 20% membership in attendance, which appeared to be the case.
3. Minutes of the AGM held on 5th August 2013.
The Minutes of the meeting held last year had been displayed on the Southwell U3A Website for a full year, and the Chairman asked for proposals that these were a true record. There being no questions from the floor, these were accepted unanimously and signed as a true record. Proposed by Judith Robbins and seconded by Roger Bennett.
4. To Receive and Adopt the Annual Report.
The Chairman gave a summary of the Annual Report to the members mentioning that Southwell U3A is now just over eight years old and it has grown to be a successful and vibrant organisation. Groups and Group Leaders are central to the life of any U3A and at the latest count we had 74 groups meeting regularly, and with a growing membership we need to support new group leaders so we can access a wide range of learning and social activities.
During the past year our Social committee has organised and run many coach trips to many varied and interesting places. This is an onerous task and we thank them for their dedication and hard work.
The main monthly meetings have seen a variety of academic and entertaining speakers. The PA system was upgraded by the purchase of new equipment and the new four speaker system does certainly seem to enhance presentation. The Chairman informed the meeting that the old system had been offered to several of our groups, who had declined the offer, so rather than scrap it the committee authorized it to be donated to another local U3A.
He then went on to talk about the growth in membership of approximately 8% and that the Committee had held a number of extra meetings to discuss this. It was finally agreed that the membership should be allowed to grow, but that this decision is not set in tablets of stone and a future committee may decide to alter this position.
The Chairman then turned to the subject of communication and informed the members that the committee had agreed that Newsline would continue to be produced as a personalised copy with a new look. He also talked about the Website which is in the progress of being updated.
A further fact that he brought to the attention of the members was the necessity of upgrading the equipment used by the Membership Administration Team to assist in the efficiency of producing renewal slips, membership cards, reminders and keeping the membership database up to date. The committee had agreed after considerable discussion, to keep a rolling renewal system, and buy the necessary hardware and software needed to enable our dedicated team to work more efficiently. This has been executed.
He then said that the full Annual Report would be found on the Website in due course, and he asked the members to Adopt the Report. This was proposed by Richard Astbury and seconded by Richard Woodward. The report was unanimously accepted by the members.
5. To Receive and Adopt the Statement of Accounts for 2012
The Treasurer then gave a brief summary of the Statement of accounts, which had been circulated in Newsline, as follows.
1. Total receipts and payments for 2013/14 were up by 30% over the previous year to £42,283 and £40,083 respectively.
2. The totals are broken down between the three accounts namely General, Groups and Social.
3. The General account returned a surplus of £2,757, much higher than predicted at the start of the year, due to under spending on capital projects, increased membership income and lower than expected inflation.
4. The U3A has adopted a reserves policy for the General account which sets out the minimum level of reserves which should be held at the beginning of each year in order to support cash flow in the early months of the year, to cover for risks (including equipment failure) and to provide a "pot" for future investment. General account reserves of £11,297 are in excess of this minimum. The target minimum reserves level will be reset each year.
5. The U3A finances are therefore in a strong and stable position.
The Treasurer then went on to thank the Committee and a number of other people for their support over the past year.
There being no further points, the adoption of the Statement of Accounts, proposed by Geoffrey Harrington, and seconded by June Fillmore, was accepted unanimously by the members present.
6. To Appoint an Independent Examiner of Accounts
The Chairman stated that the above accepted accounts had been independently audited by Graham Ball and he asked for proposals of his appointment. Roger Bennett proposed the motion which was seconded by Bob Pitcher and the proposals were unanimously accepted by the members.
7. To Elect the Officers and Committee of the Association
The nominees for the officers and committee had been published in Newsline for the member’s information and the Chairman asked for proposers. Jane Ellis proposed the motion which was seconded by Chris Jakeman and the members voted unanimously to appoint the Officers and Committee.
8. Vote of Thanks for Retiring Members.
The Chairman then proposed a vote of thanks to the retiring committee members Eddie Burch, John Martindale, John Davies, Judith Robbins, and Jackie Pitcher. The members responded with hearty applause.
9. Any Other Business
John Elkington brought to the attention of the meeting that he would like to propose that a formal person be nominated at the end of each monthly meeting, to thank the Speaker of the day. This was agreed by the meeting and would be put into operation.
The meeting closed at approximately 10.30 am.
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