u3a

Skelmanthorpe & District

Documents

CHAIRMANS REPORT for ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING 2026

Since our formation in 2017 annual membership has been over 300 and over 30 activities offered over the course of each year. Membership fees have remained the same at £15 pp.
This  can be attributed to a hard working committee and the enthusiastic volunteers who coordinate the activities of each group.

THE COMMITTEE  consists of the following :-
Frank Dolan Chairman and a Trustee of the Charities Commission
Joan Beedle Vice Chair - website, Facebook, bulletin and Beacon also a Trustee of the Charities Commision
Lynne Onyskiw – Business Manager, liaison with national organisation, membership and Beacon and also a Trustee of the Charity Commission
Jane Bews - finance and Charities Commission representative 
Diane Nichols - speakers and group coordinator
Mike Kuszyk - day trips and longer excursions
Judith Tagg - minutes secretary 
Tony Renshaw - liaison with both the Yorkshire and Humberside Area U3A Network and the South Yorkshire Group.

Frank, Lynne and  Joan are founder members  and along with other Committee members, (with the exception of Tony), are eligible for replacement.
NOMINATIONS SHOULD BE SUBMITTED PREFERABLY WITH A SECONDER BEFORE 1ST NOVEMBER.

MONTHLY MEETINGS
FEBRUARY- Stuart Merry “Building the M62”
MARCH - Stuart Atkinson “My life in music”
APRIL - Stephen Midgely Wildlife Photographer 
MAY- Janet Johnson and Adrian Hughes “ Illuminating Wentworth Castle”
JUNE - Yorkshire and Humberside Police Economic Crime  Unit “Scam Awareness” 
         - Brian Groome nationally acclaimed author of ‘These Isles’ a Waterstone’s history book of the year
JULY - Mark Gregory celebrant “A different approach to marriage and funeral arrangements ” 
SEPTEMBER - Stephen Womack U3A photography group, “Northumberland Scenes”

TRIPS AND EXCURSIONS
DECEMBER 25 - Singalong 
                             -  Christmas meal
                             -  Bishop Auckland Palace and Christmas lights.
MAY 26 - National Arboretum 
JULY 26 - ‘Kynren’ and Durham overnight
OCTOBER - York and  National Railway Museum
DECEMBER - Lincoln, 2 nights in King’s Lynn, Thursford Spectacular and Belvoir Castle.

None of the above could function without the diligence and dedication of Diane to source the speakers and Mike for excursions, (with backup from Joan and Jane). Many thanks to them.
In addition Creative Writing have compiled a book of short stories and the Photography group have produced a calendar which will be available for collection at the AGM, monthly meetings, etc
The Council Building has also hosted 2 popular exhibitions curated by the Art Group and the Photography group.
The popular Gardening Group has enjoyed many visits to places of interest.
The Craft group’s stall at the Village  Christmas Light Switch On raised £250 used to assist the Kirkwood Hospice.
The Chapel has benefitted from a new set of blackout curtains skilfully altered by  Joan. 
In concluding this section, it would be remiss of me not to mention the immense contribution made by others on the committee. 
Joan, despite a heavy official workload, tirelessly responds to frequent problems from the membership and other potential members
Lynne has a similar heavy workload which she handles with great efficiency and good humour.
Jane as the Finance Secretary has maintained a healthy surplus on our accounts allowing us to respond to requests from groups and to subsidise trips and comestibles at events such as the Singalong.
Tony is building relationships with local and countywide U3As providing us with different perspectives with regard to new issues.
Judith produces the minutes concisely and promptly and is our longest serving Minutes Secretary, (often a forgotten yet vital contribution).

GROUP LEADERS
Just like the Committee, Group Leaders are absolutely essential to our continuation, but there is often a difficulty in recruitment. Suggestions for new groups occur on a regular basis yet often the proposer is reluctant to accept a coordinating role. This is understandable but specific skills are only rarely needed and help is always available. Some groups share these responsibilities with more than one coordinator and this has worked well. Please think carefully about this for without them we will fail to thrive. 

CONCLUSION.
We formed in 2017 with two aims:-
Firstly to support increased usage of the council building, thus aiding finances and increasing footfall in a Library threatened with closure.
Secondly to provide opportunities for retired and semi retired people to meet together and participate in enjoyable activities.
I BELIEVE WE HAVE ALWAYS ACHIEVED THIS.
My previous reports have always consisted of 3 parts- “Where we are now; “Where we want to be” and “How will we get there?” I hope I have covered the first part and we always satisfy the two original aims.
However we live in a world which is rapidly changing, where individuals are increasingly dominated by technology and we will need to adapt to this, hence we are widening our horizons to communicate with both local and countywide U3A groups.
AI will effect us in ways we are unaware of; perhaps not as slowly as we would like, so we do need to consider how it might impact us: therefore “Where do we want to be?” remains an unknown at present.
We would welcome any IDEAS and SUGGESTIONS along with the usual local issues at the AGM, (after socialising and lunch of course!)
Frank Dolan.









We are a registered charity under Charity No 1202000. In accordance with The Charity Commissions requirements. A copy of our Financial Policy is shown together with copies of our Safeguarding Policies and Procedures below

Annual Accounts. 03-26Download

Links