2012 Annual Report by Jean Hart, Chairman of Broxbourne U3A

2016 Annual Report by Steve Shirley, Chairman of Broxbourne U3A

Good morning ladies and gentlemen and thank you all for coming today. My fourth year as Chairman has been a challenging but nonetheless enjoyable one and it was one during which we celebrated the 15th anniversary of Broxbourne U3A.

Although, as usual, we lost one or two subjects along the way we also started one or two new groups and turned some waiting lists into second groups so that we now have 61 groups listed. We also continue to grow our involvement within the Herts Network and the 6 local U3As (ourselves, Lea Valley, Cheshunt, Harlow, Ware and Hertford). When Waltham Abbey U3A was formed, they, too, were asked if they would like to join us but at the time they were still busy organising themselves and felt unable to participate sufficiently. However, they have now settled in and have said they will send a representative to our next meeting.

Although our actual 15th anniversary was much earlier in the year, in September we held a special event to which various organisations were invited to give appropriate advice to our members. These included Citizens Advice Bureau, Neighbourhood Watch, Fire & Rescue Service, Herts Careline, Crime Prevention and Groundforce, an organisation that offers one-off help to tidy up gardens and homes for those less able. A light buffet and drinks were arranged and entertainment was provided by a Jazz Band and our own singers, led once again by Sheila Dorling. The Deputy Mayor, local MP and representatives from other local U3as were also in attendance.

The 2015 joint Christmas Carol Concert was organised by ourselves this year and held at Christ Church, Waltham Cross, which was once again packed for what proved to be a wonderful evening of festive readings, music and singing. This year the organisation of the event reverts once again to Lea Valley.

As we were not able to have our usual extension of hire for the last meeting before Christmas, we deferred our entertainment and refreshments to the January meeting and received much positive feedback from it. At the January meeting, Sheila Dorling and her singers plus the Guitar Group led by David Lofthouse were very well received and we thank them once again.

Membership numbers for 2015/2016 peaked at 944 and we continue to see very good attendances, averaging around 359, at our Monthly Meetings.

As to our speakers, most have again been both entertaining and innovative and I thank Jean Hart very much for continuing to organise a varied programme of interesting, informative talks. During the past year we have heard about Royal Babies and behind the scenes at Buckingham Palace, the history of garden tools, Elstree, policing the River Thames and were given an insight into the world of Harry Secombe. We discovered London parks as well as the secret side of both London and Siberia! Locally we learned about the Pulhams of Broxbourne and young local Nature Photographer Tom Mason returned to recount his experiences photographing bears. As in previous years an eclectic and fascinating range of subjects which we trust will continue.

I mentioned earlier the number of groups that we organise and I am again pleased to add that there are still more in the pipeline, some of which are awaiting venues, dates and/or Group Leaders. Once again, it is satisfying to note that several existing groups have been so popular that they have had to start waiting lists. We are also continuing to progress further involvement with groups within other local U3As and we currently support groups within Cheshunt and Lea Valley U3As who have Groups already listed in our Programme.

The ‘U3A Matters’ page in the Herts Mercury, showcasing the activities and functions of U3As in Hertfordshire continues to flourish and improve and our thanks again go to Jean Hart for continuing to co-ordinate items from the other U3As before submitting them to the newspaper. This can only enhance our profile in the community and convey the message to those who are not already aware of our existence.

And now to thank all our Volunteers, without whom our Monthly Meetings would not run so smoothly: The Raffle, the Bookstall, "Check-in" people, Meeters and Greeters, our Really Useful Group and all who help with our Christmas arrangements, Group Leaders’ Meetings and occasional other functions.

A huge thank you also to all our Group Leaders who deserve a very special mention. For many members the whole purpose of joining a U3A is to pursue interests, learn new skills and/or hone fledgling talents and to interact socially with others of like mind. The enthusiasm and commitment of our Group Leaders provide all our members with that opportunity to take part in a wide and varied choice of activities and I’m sure all the members appreciate that and would like to join me in thanking you all tremendously for your efforts.

Now I would like to introduce and thank the Committee who have again given me great support during this past year and have been both forthcoming with and receptive to new ideas. Most of the Committee Members will be familiar to you, some of whom are standing down today, having completed their terms of office. These matters are to be dealt with later in today’s meeting but at present they are - on the stage with me:

Mike Sutterby, Treasurer and Vivienne Edwards, our Minutes Secretary.

The rest of the Committee is in front of the stage and perhaps they could make themselves known as I introduce them:

Secretary, Una Coaker; Assistant Treasurer, Christine Sutterby; Elizabeth Elve, our Membership Secretary and David Lofthouse, Website and Programme Editor. Una, Elizabeth and David are all standing down today. Also, during the year we were assisted by Linda Davenne, Spotlight Co-ordinator and Myrtle Prior, Groups Co- ordinator – both of these had to leave us due to personal circumstances.

Finally, as I stated at the beginning, I have continued to enjoy my role within this U3A very much and the support I have had from all the Committee and other volunteers has been gratefully received and I personally thank them all very much.

Thank you for your past and continuing support of Broxbourne U3A.

I commend this report to you.

Signed ……………………………………………… Dated ......