Annual General Meeting 2023
Minutes of 10th Annual General Meeting of Edenbridge u3a held at Crockham Hill Village Hall on Wednesday 26th July 2023 at 14.00 hours
Apologies were received from: Sue Farrell, Estelle Barling
Chairman welcomed everyone to 10th AGM. He thanked Ken and his team for getting hall ready and Fiona and her team for managing tea and biscuits. He also thanked all members of the committee.
1. Approval of the 9th Annual General Meeting Minutes
The minutes of the previous AGM in 2022 had been circulated and a vote was taken to
acknowledge and accept those minutes
Proposed: Peter Welch Seconded: Stephen Guy - carried unanimously
2. Chairman’s Report
Who would have thought that the small group who met in 2012 to consider setting up a new branch of u3a would create such a wonderful local organisation. Like Topsy it grew and grew and within two years had outgrown its base in Edenbridge at Rickard’s Hall and moved to a new HQ at Crockham Hill village hall. The membership grew to 250 and new members were joining all the time – then along came covid. At the time none of us knew or realised what the virus would do to our way of life and for u3a what it would do to our organisation. Meetings had to stop, groups had to cease their activities and we had to get used to keeping away from other people. Our membership figures plummeted along with all other u3a groups nationally and people were very reluctant to meet in groups so our activities ground to a halt. Well, that is the history of our journey – but it is good news time again. During 2023 our membership numbers have started rising again. People are gradually becoming more comfortable at going out and meeting in groups. At the end of our tenth-year membership stood at 195 and we already have new members joining for our eleventh year. There are over 430,000 members in local associations across the country. We have over 50 different groups running – providing a really wide and interesting range of activities. I think we can truly say that we are upholding the philosophy of the National u3a – learn, laugh and live! With access to other groups in Westerham, Knole and Sevenoaks we have access to such a wide range of opportunities to come together and learn for fun. Throughout this last year we have enjoyed excellent speakers – we aim to stimulate your senses with talks on a wide range of subjects – congratulations to our speaker organiser, Maureen, for choosing such good speakers this year. We have also run a tight ship financially and despite cost increases in ingredients we have been able to provide free tea and biscuits after our speaker sessions. Where else do you get such value for your subscription? As you know u3a is run as a charity and we are so pleased that in our sound financial position we are able to reduce subscription rates. A single membership of £15 per year equates to £1.25 per month! Finally you are an amazing group of members, you have skills and knowledge in many different for areas and it is so good that many of you want to share your skills through running a group. Long may that continue!
3. Treasurer’s Report and Approval of Accounts
Treasurer presented and explained the accounts, which are attached to these minutes. He reported that we are financially stable. A vote was taken to accept the accounts
Proposed: Isobel Lanyon Seconded: Christine Byrne - carried unanimously.
4. Accounts Checker
The accounts have been audited again by Joanna Unsworth and her report is attached to these minutes. A vote was taken to appoint the same auditor next year.
Proposed: Brian Swift Seconded: Elaine Holloway - carried unanimously.
5. Committee
It was reported that leaving the committee this year were Estelle Barling, Peter Welch and Sue Farrell. The Chairman expressed thanks for all their hard work.
The meeting was handed over to Colin Fairman and he announced there was one nomination for chairman - Mike Collins.
Proposed: Ken Harrison Seconded: Isobel Lanyon - carried unanimously
Chairman then stated nomination for Treasurer - Bill Salmond, membership secretary – Diane Sharp and website manager – Peter Gentry
Proposed: Christine Byrne Seconded: Jenny Chettle carried unanimously
Chairman the stated nominations for rest of committee
Compliance - Colin Fairman, Speaker organiser – Maureen Young, Minute secretary – Brain Swift, New members - Maggie Buckingham, Group co-ordinator – Chris Prickett
These were proposed en bloc
Proposed: Peter Welch Seconded : Heather Guy - carried unanimously.
6. Annual Subscriptions
As our finances are in a healthy position we were able to reduce our annual subscriptions for the coming year to £15 for single membership and £25 for household membership.
Meeting closed and after our speaker, members were able to enjoy a glass of Prosecco and a slice of cake to celebrate our 10th anniversary.
