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Draft Minutes of Committee Meeting May 5th 2026 at the Drill Hall 11.30 am

Note: CMs = Committee Members, TAT = Third Age Trust, GL = Group Leader, DH = Drill Hall, CC = Charity Commission.

Apologies: Rose, Brian, Cathy

 Present: Helen, Stephen, Rob, Sue, Pam, Kay, Lesley, Tony, Derek, Colin Bond

The minutes of the last Committee Meeting were formally approved. There were no matters arising from the minutes that weren’t covered later in the Agenda

Chairs – Helen, Stephen

  • Colin Bond was welcomed to the meeting. Colin will be supporting Tony with Beacon.
  • Stephen attended a meeting at the Palmer Centre organised by Chepstow Town Council for Charities. He wasn’t impressed.

 Secretary – Derek

  • Request from Matt Hill, University of Leicester research study to be advertised to members via ‘Notices. See Website later in Agenda. Action Website Team
  • Also TAT ‘Missing Places’ learning activity. Action Website Team
  • Chepstow u3a 40th anniversary is in December 2027. Note added to Year Planner for January 2027 to discuss possible event.
  • Secretary requested that CMs use the Secretary Email address for all official communications and not his private address.

Treasurer – Rob, Brian

  • Financial & Groups Statements and Budget Comparison accepted with little discussion.
  • Internal accounts review ongoing
  • Coffee Morning float to be reviewed. Action Helen
  • Helen requested a third Credit Card for the Chairs. Action Rob
  • Update on closure of Lloyds Bank Oct 2026 – nothing.
  • Discussion on use of Post Office for depositing cash and cheques. Nothing will be decided until Lloyds closes and the Banking Hub is established.

 Programme – Cathy

  • Tuesday Live Programme booked well into the year.
  • June is likely to be very popular. You and Your Medicines with Jamie Hayes.
  • DH future Tuesday Live bookings
    • August 2026. 12 noon to 5 pm. Times can be amended.
    • December 2026. 11 am to 4 pm. Times can be amended.
    • All 2027 from 11 am to 4 pm including August.
  • August Tuesday Live ‘Summer Party’ August 4th
    • Cathy has ‘booked’ 4 u3a groups agreeing to play... Wyenotes, guitar group, recorder group and ukulele.
    • If each group plays for 20 mins with 10 mins changeover this is a tight schedule.
    • Three groups would be better fit time wise if we start at 2 pm and finish at 4 pm with break in middle.
    • Have two groups then a break and then the final group
    • Serve cakes on the tables and Committee (i.e. no Activity Group) go round serving wine.
    • Committee need to be there from 12 noon to 5 pm to prepare tables and clear up afterwards.

 Membership – Pam, Kay

  • Membership report (last year in brackets).
    • Members: 1185 (1103)
    • Full: 1104
    • Associate: 81
    • New: 16 (13)
    • Outstanding renewals: 99 (111)
    • Resignations: 35
  • Direct Debits. We would have to go through a third party and incur a cost so we will not pursue this.
  • The necessary change in Membership Bank Account has caused a lot of problems to the Membership Team.
  • Pam has made a decision to credit a member with membership who claims they have paid. This may be a bank account issue. The Committee supported her with this decision.

Group Support – Rose, Sue

  • All going ok.
  • About 40 for GL Coffee Morning on Saturday 23rd May

 Social – Lesley

  • Skittles Friday 5th June
    • 37 booked. Fish and Chips to be booked and collected.
  • Coffee Morning start and finish times to be brought forward by 30 minutes from June to 10.30 to 12 noon. Helen has amend website and contacted the Chepstow Club, the Chepstow Club Team and Community Fridge. Stephen to amend Facebook. Action Stephen.
  • Lesley has booked Chepstow Club for Coffee Mornings to December 2027.

South Wales Network – Derek

  • SWN Secretaries Meeting Thursday 7th May
  • SWN AGM Wednesday 13th May. Derek continuing as Treasurer

Website and Domains – Tony and Colin

  • Old website is now closed.
  • Domain renewal Thursday 21st May to be paid by Credit Card. Action Tony
  • Google Workspace is being considered. It is free and would be a replacement for our Domains and Zoom (Current Zoom licence expires in October) and has other facilities.
  • Some Groups are advertising their events in Magazine and not adding them to the website. Action Tony 
  • ‘Notices’ to be added to the Welcome page on Website.

Beacon – Tony

  • There will be no more Beacon fixes unless they are simple because Beacon 2 is being developed. Will be available in 18 months to 2 years.
  • Continued problem with bounced emails.

Next Magazine: Items for Discussion or Inclusion

  • Helen will write an article on the Website.

Miscellaneous

  • Tea Duty Group: Latin and Norwegian
  • Technical Team: Andrew and Ray

Next Meeting 2nd June at 11.30 am at the Drill Hall