AGM report
Minutes of the Annual General Meeting
held at the Civic Hall, Blackshots, Grays on Wednesday 28th February 2024 at 10am
1. Welcome: Our Chairperson, Paul Heasmer, opened the meeting at 10.13am – he welcomed
everyone and thanked them for attending. A minutes silence was held in memory of those
members who have passed this year.
2. Members present: 194
3. Apologies for absence – none received
4. Minutes of the 2022 AGM, held on 22nd February 2023, were agreed by members
5. Matters Arising: There were no matters arising from the 2023 AGM minutes
6. Chairperson’s Report from Paul Heasmer: When I took over as Chair in February 2023, my main concerns were the stability of both our membership numbers and our finances, following 3 years of uncertainty due to the pandemic and other internal issues. I am pleased to report that, in the absence of any increase in fees for the hire of the Civic Hall, and mainly due to the proceeds from the monthly raffle, our finances are currently healthy. With regard to our membership numbers, they are slowly recovering after a small decline post Covid. Our U3A has no upper limit with regard membership numbers so, the more the merrier!! Finally, I would like to thank everyone who volunteers to make our U3A so successful including; the committee, group leaders, the Tea Crew, the Book Table and Glenda who produces our wonderful monthly newsletter.
7. Treasurer’s Report from Jean Hopkins: A copy of the accounts was printed in this month’s newsletter showing a closing balance, as at 31st Aug 2023, of £7790.50. Our main income is from membership fees (approx £9,000), Gift Aid (approx £1,500) and income from the raffle (approx £1,000). Thank you to everyone who supports the monthly raffle, it really has made a difference. Our biggest expense is the hire of the Civic Hall for our monthly meetings - there was an £2000 increase in cost last year.
8. Election of Committee Members: Paul Heasmer explained to the membership that Officers have to be elected as committee members as well as Officers, otherwise when they cease to be Officers they would no longer be committee members. The current committee have all volunteered to stand for re-election – Kay Hatter has resigned as Vice-Chair so Ruth Hood has volunteered to fill this position otherwise it was proposed that all other Officers remain in their current posts. The current committee and proposed Officers, as outlined above, were re-elected unopposed. The Chair advised that, whilst the committee is full, volunteers are always welcome - please feel free to contact Paul if you would like to know more – contact details can be found in the newsletter.
9. Any Other Business: Kay Hatter, our Group Co-ordinator, announced that Malcolm Crane has volunteered to run a Chess Club, so any members wishing to join should contact Malcolm direct or contact Kay – details are in the February newsletter
Kay reminded members that our U3A is always open to supporting members who wish to set up clubs/special interest groups but is also willing to look into finding leaders should members have an interests that they would like to pursue. If any member has any ideas for new groups, or wishes to run a group, please contact Kay whose details can be found in the newsletter
The meeting closed at 10.30am