u3a

Odiham District

Odiham and District u3a AGM 2024

This web page contains the following sections:

Minutes of 2024 annual general meeting, Wednesday, 6th November

Voting was completed online ahead of the AGM.

  • Chairman Hugh Thomas welcomed the members present at the Cross Barn to the 14th AGM of the Odiham District u3a. 
  • Apologies for absence were received from Committee member Mike Shaw and from u3a members Elaine Alderton, Kate Fagan and Pat Jones.
  • The Chairman introduced the meeting saying that the Odiham District u3a Constitution states that 10% of members must have voted in order for the results to be valid so the meeting was quorate as nearly 25% had voted.   Four motions had been approved by the voters:
  • Approval of the Minutes of the 2023 AGM. Proposed by Hugh Thomas, Seconded by Ian Green, Approved by 158 members with 11 abstentions.
  • Approval of the 2023/24 accounts. Proposed by Ian Green, Seconded by Jane Osgood.   
  • The Chairman noted that the Accounts are checked to ensure they were robust by an “Examiner of the Accounts”.  John Markham had once again kindly undertaken this task and was thanked.  
    • As the Treasurer had mentioned in his report attached to the Accounts, the u3a had at the end of last fiscal £22k in reserves of which £5k belong to a few large groups.  Even so, we have more reserves than we need, so earlier in the year we set up a task force to explore ideas, took the discussion to the Group Leaders Conference, and have now set up 5 specific budgets to strengthen aspects of our u3a in the coming year including  Events, Technological help and help for members with disabilities.  The new Chairman will explain these ideas further in the coming months.
    • There were no questions about the Accounts which were approved by 159 members with 10 absentions.
  • Approval of a small rewording of the Constitution to increase flexibility and thus help ensure continuity on the Committee.  Proposed by Hugh Thomas, Seconded by Marion Sharp.
    • The Chairman explained that under the original Constitution several members of the Committee would have had to step down at the same time this autumn so we have made a small change so as to stagger the handovers and better manage continuity of the roles.
    • The motion was approved by 163 members with 6 abstentions.
  • Approval of the election of offices and committee members for 2024/2/25.  Proposed by Hugh Thomas, Seconded by Maggie Brain and Approved by 167 members with 2 abstentions.  A full list of the new Committee is below.
  • There were no new motions put forward and no members offered to join the Committee. 
  • The Chairman announced that he had four “Thank You’s” to make:
    • Viv Needham who is retiring from the Committee and her position as Business Secretary – Viv was presented with a bouquet.
    • Maggie Brain, also retiring from the Committee and from her position as Membership Secretary – and also presented with a bouquet.
    • A personal thank you to his wife for all her support over the years – the Chairman had a bouquet bought personally to present.
    • The last thank you was to all his colleagues on the Committee which is truly a team effort: Maggie has kept the Membership going, the magazine is a wonderful achievement by Jane Osgood, Gill Harden keeps the Groups and the Events vibrant.  Many of the Committee members are continuing to serve, though there is one current vacancy, the Business Secretary, which the new Chairman has in hand.  
  • At this point the Retiring Chairman handed over the keys of the Odiham District u3a cabinet to the new Chairman, Ian Green, who was welcomed to the floor.
  • Ian thanked Hugh for leading the u3a through the pandemic and helping to make the u3a a joyful place for its 700+ members.  It is the members who are important and who, together with the Group Leaders, all help to keep our u3a fresh and moving forward.  Ian will follow that philosophy and looks forward to leading the u3a over the next 3 years. 

Confirmation of the Committee for 2025

  • Chair Ian Green
  • Vice Chair Chris Gotla
  • Treasurer Chris Gotla
  • Treasurer Designate Albert Boniface
  • Business Secretary to be appointed
  • Membership Secretary Anne Murray
  • Beacon first port of call: Marion Sharp
  • Website first port of call: Mike Shaw
  • Groups Co-ordinator Gill Harden
  • Publicity & Newsletter Jane Osgood
  • Minutes and Monthly Meeting Speakers Sue Mitchell

Chair's letter for AGM 2024

Dear fellow Members,

I'm glad to report that the Odiham and District u3a had another successful year with a small increase in membership numbers, in the number of groups and in our financial reserves.

As the u3a is run by its members for its members this is very much an achievement which everybody has contributed towards. Whether ti as a member of the committee, or as a member of a group leadership team, or as a key member of the teams which make our monthly meetings so successful, or simply as a member making new members feel welcome, it is a result everybody has played an important part in bringing about. Thank you.

They often say "success breeds success" and a key element in this is to gradually evolve to meet the changing needs and interests of our members. Thus, for example in the last 12 months we have substantially upgraded our website and began to look at how we can use our financial strength to benefit our members by widening the range of groups we offer. We love it when members propose and offer to help establish a new group but in some areas such as languages, a more structured approach involving outside tutors may be helpful and we wil continue to explore this idea in 2025.

Also, key to maintaining the continued vitality of our u3a is to ensure that our Committee attracts new talents and skills. During the year, we have therefore been delighted that both Anne Murray and Albert Boniface have joined the committee. Anne will be taking over the membership secretary role from November and Albert will become our Treasurer during the coming year.

In connection with this I would want to record my thanks to Chris Gotla for agreeing to stay on the Committee to facilitate a smooth transition from him ot Albert. Under our existing constitution Chris would have had to step down at the forthcoming AGM and this clearly was not in the interests of our u3a. We therefore are proposing a small change to the detailed wording regarding terms of office in our constitution to provide greater flexibility. This change has been fully agreed by the Third Age Trust and so that it can formally take effect we are seeking member's approval at the AGM.

We have however, retained the requirement that, at the end of a three-year term, the chair has to step down. This rules sensibly ensures that we do not become locked into one person's point of view. So, effective this AGM I will be stepping down and I'm delighted that Ian Green, who has been a brilliant vice chair for the last 12 months, has agreed to become our next chairman. He has extensive experience of chairing local charities and with his depth of knowledge of our community will, I'm sure, be very effective chairman. I really wish him and the new committee every success,

For me it has been a great pleasure to serve as your chairman for the last three years and in stepping down I really want to pay particular tribute to all my colleagues on the Committee. In truth what we have achieved as a team, is a result of their particular efforts and I thank them all, not only for this but also for their tolerance of me.

Also stepping down this year are Maggie Brain and Viv Needham and behalf of all members I would like to say a big "thank you" for all that they have done as membership secretary and business secretary respectively.

Finally, l'd like to thank you al for your support over the last few years and I look forward to the continued success of our u3a in the coming years.

Best wishes,

Hugh.

Treasurer's report for 2023/2024

This is the second year where we have recorded a healthy surplus. This is due to our encouraging rise in membership numbers and to the continuing move to digital platforms which keeps our communication costs down. We have achieved this whilst at al times supporting new groups and making funds available to groups seeking new initiatives. We have an open-door policy for members or groups who require start-up or development funds.

A significant increase in Group activities is clearly demonstrated by a 20% rise in the amount which has been collected and spent in the past 12 months. Nearly £58,000 was collected by our Groups, up from £47,500 last year, and double the amount immediately post-Covid.

Our central costs are all in line with expectations, and some of the anticipated rises in affiliation fees and licencing charges are yet to materialise.

We finish the year with a healthy balance sheet showing net assets of £22,447 of which some £5,100 still belongs to individual groups, which they have been encouraged to use. We are conscious that the surpluses made are for our members. As such I have this year led a working party to explore how our accumulated funds can be best utilised to enhance members' experiences and improve the learning and social programmes. The recent language initiative is one of such ideas with others to follow.

Next year will be my last year as Treasurer and I am delighted that Albert Boniface, a qualified Accountant, has agreed to take on the role which has grown significantly over the last six years. I look forward to involving him in my communication and dealings with all Group Leaders.

Chris Gotla,

Treasurer

( Click here to see full report, including accounts)

Minor revision to our constitution

Agreed by the Committee on 14th February, 2024
Approved by Third Age Trust 15th February 2024

For the avoidance of doubt these are the only changes to our existing Constitution but need Members Agreement at the AGM to become effective.

The only changes are to Para 6v of the constitution and are simply being made to increase flexibility and thus help ensure continuity on the Committee.

New wording for paragraph 6v

V          Terms of office and limits on periods of service

(a) All members of the Executive Committee shall have a fixed 3 year term of office and may be re-elected for a further 3 year term. In addition, if they are willing, they may serve all or part of a third term, subject to the approval of the committee and the members at the AGM. This is with the view to retaining certain skill sets on the committee such as Publicity & IT and also to ensure continuity if needed.

(b) The Chairman and Vice Chairman shall have a fixed 3-year term of office.  They may be re-elected and serve a further 3 years provided it is in a different role.

To assist members to understand the change the previous wording is shown below

V       Terms of office and limits on periods of service

(a) A non-officer member of the Executive Committee shall have a fixed 3 year term of office and may be re-elected for a further 3 year term. In addition, they may serve a third term subject to the approval of the committee. This is with the view to retaining certain skill sets on the committee such as IT.

(b) The Chairman and Vice Chairman shall have a fixed 3 year term of office. They may be re-elected and serve a further 3 years provided it is in a different role.

(c)  The Treasurer and Business Secretary shall have a fixed three year term of office and may be re-appointed to one further term (to give a maximum period of six year’s service in the office of Treasurer and Business Secretary).