Information on anything new!
Good Afternoon hope you are well and looking forward to some brighter weather.
Just a reminder that next week is the AGM and some of our groups are ready to entertain us and show us what they have to offer.
Doors open at the usual time of 0945am and the AGM is at 10.30am. This is a free event and only paid up members are eligible to vote. There will be a signing in sheet as you come in upstairs and you will be given the AGM paper to wave for voting.
The Loom is the venue for the AGM as it our new home.
Don't forget the Green Room cafe offers 10% off on meeting days and Rose our welcomer will give you a dated raffle ticket so you can enjoy a bit of lunch.
If you don't fancy the cafe you make find a walk round our new market more appealing and there are lots of venues nearby.
Looking forward to seeing as many members there as possible.
Kind Regards
Karen Bartlett(Secretary Oldham and District u3a)
Committee Nominations and Motions form 2026
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MEMBERSHIP SUBSCRIPTIONS
The Committee has received a number of representations concerning the fact that
for 2026-27 the membership subscription was set at £15, which was a £3 increase
on the £12 set for 2025-26 and a return to the 2024-25 level. Some members were
concerned that this was not in line with our Reserves Policy and was not justified.
In setting the level for this year, the Committee was acting with an abundance of
caution in view of the considerable uncertainty concerning the cost of hiring The
Loom for our monthly meetings and a slight decline in membership numbers. The
issue of Loom hiring costs has now been resolved favourably. However, with
hindsight we recognise that we acted prematurely, without the benefit of a detailed
financial projection and without taking account of our policy on reserves. For that we,
as your Committee, apologise. We have learnt from this, and new processes are
being put in place which will ensure it can’t happen again.
We are pleased to have agreed that for the financial year 2027-8, the membership
subscription will be £12.
It’s too early to make any decision for 2028 and beyond, but we can give you an
assurance that subscriptions will only be increased if an increase is justified and
having full regard to our reserves policy.
PURCHASE OF EQUIPMENT
Questions have also been raised, in some cases fuelled by misinformation, about
our recent purchase of a table tennis table and some branded t-shirts.
Our Table Tennis Group meets at Denshaw Table Tennis Club and has done for
many years. We have always used their equipment without charge other than the
regular attendance fees. When one of their tables needed replacing, it was
suggested that u3a may be able to help them buy a table as our members make up
the bulk of Denshaw’s users. This will be our property, will have our logo on it, and
will be available for any u3a members to use. The Committee supported this
proposal, and the table has now been purchased.
However, in view of the response to this by some members, the Table Tennis Group
has offered to repay the cost of the table over time, as and when they have available
funds.
We also agreed to buy a number of branded t-shirts for our Walking Cricket Group so
that they felt that they looked the part when representing Oldham against other
Groups, most of who also wear branded kit.
We do make a distinction between running costs – entry fees, travel costs,
consumable materials etc – which are the responsibility of group members, and
equipment, which can be purchased by u3a to be used by any members.
In drawing up our budget for 2027-28, we will be exploring how we can set aside the
funds we receive via HMRC through their Gift Aid program to create a pot of money
that Group Leaders can bid for, for essential equipment. This may be particularly
useful for new groups setting up. Further information about this will follow.
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The following message was sent via the Oldham & District u3a web site, from a contact on page /contact.
It was addressed to Any enquiry.
Please reply to Chris Hall ( christoff_hall@yahoo.com ). No phone number provided.
On July 11th a unique day’s event commemorating the 90th anniversary of the Spanish Civil War is taking place at the Peoples History Museum in Manchester. For more details see:
https://phm.org.uk/events_new/the-spanish-civil-war-at-90-collections-conversations/
Could you please pass this information onto your members and we hope to see some of them at the event.
Best wishes
Chris Hall
IBMT (International Brigade Memorial
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.... and here is a link to the national u3a that offers events, activities and online learning