AGM Monday 7th August 2023
Some 60 members attended in person, including 7 trustees. There were proxy votes from 167 members (166 on-line and 1 by post). The draft minutes will be published in due course, in the meantime this is a short summary of what happened at the meeting.
The Chair, Pam Stonebrook, spoke about how u3a Dacorum is thriving, with 1,228 members, a strong financial position and a wide variety of groups and meetings. The Treasurer, Peter Marshall reported on our finances and reported that u3a Dacorum had £26,000 in reserves, which the Committee were planning to reduce to meet the recommendations of the Charity Commission and our Book Examiner. For the current financial year (2023-24), the membership fee has been reduced by £2 a head, which reduces income by around £3,000 and during the year we will consider other options to reduce the surplus prudently. The Groups Co-ordinator, Lee Pace, spoke about our activities. There are 86 different groups, including a new one this year. Unfortunately, a couple of groups have folded, as their Co-ordinator was unable to continue and could not find a successor.
The motion to appoint Jane Seymour as our Independent Book Examiner was passed.
The following people were elected as Committee members for 2023-24:
Chair: Pam Stonebrook
Treasure Peter Marshall
Secretary Ellen Duffy
Trustee Lee Pace
Trustee John Dodkins
Trustee Jane Campbell
Click here to download a copy of the accounts.
AGM August 2022
Click here to read the 2022 AGM minutes.
SGM December 2021
A Special General Meeting was held on 6th December 2021, to accept the new constitution. The draft minutes, to be presented for approval at the next AGM, may be downloaded here.
AGM August 2021
The AGM for 2021 was held at the monthly meeting on 2nd August via Zoom. Our President, Mayor Stewart Riddick, addressed the members.
Using proxy-voting, all motions were passed. Up to 190 members voted on each motion, twice the number at historical face-to-face AGMs.
Click here to read the minutes.
AGM 2020
We had a very successful AGM, with about 86 members attending over 72 zoom links. It was clear that many old friends and acquaintances were pleased to see each other.
Our President, His Worshipful Mayor Councillor Terry Douris addressed the meeting and congratulated us on the numbers present, going on to extol the virtues of virtual meeting technology. He expressed surprise at the breadth and depth of the subjects covered by our groups and wished us every success when Covid-19 abates.
The Chairman, Treasurer and Groups Liaison Officer all addressed the meeting and reported on events through the year. Covid-19, finances and resuming group meetings were discussed in some detail.
The personal liability of the trustees should the Third Age Trust insurance be invalidated by the actions of members was explained as the major reason why groups would not resume meetings until government guidance allowed it. Currently, Dacorum was bordering on becoming a ‘hotspot’ and extra caution was needed.
Many halls were trying to pass their legal responsibilities for effective cleaning to the hirers, and we will not accept this.
The subject of paid for speakers was debated with some passion. It was explained that Monthly General Meetings were held to be different from Group Meetings. It was also held that there was no good reason for some groups to be subsidised while others were not. An example of Dance Instructors was given. It was also explained that many of the monthly speakers did so for no remuneration, and an example of a group frequently using a free speaker was given.
Efforts to lessen the workload of committee members were mentioned – the adoption of the Beacon Membership Management System and simplification of our membership fees.
It was agreed by the meeting to remove the rebate for members whose primary U3A is another U3A. This will greatly simplify the administration of charges, but more importantly it will ensure that all members are insured in meetings without the admin burden of having to frequently check on the membership status of 95 members with other U3As.
Everything can be expected to change, and we can make no assumptions about when we will be able to resume meetings or how much meetings will cost.
If you would like to help run the U3A through these interesting times, or want to know more in any way, please contact any committee member for a chat. We have done a lot to spread the load and make things easy for the most heavily loaded people on the committee, including adopting a new Membership Management System.
Click here to email a committee member.
Last updated: 12 Aug 23
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