FARNHAM U3A

GUIDANCE NOTES FOR GROUP LEADERS AND SECRETARIES

Thesenotesoutline the responsibilities of U3A group leaders and secretaries. At its simplest, Group Leaders are responsible for the running of their groups, and the Secretaries’ job is to help the Group Leaders by dealing with the administrative tasks involved in running the groups.

As a full member of the Third Age Trust, Farnham U3A has signed up to:

  • Uphold the Guiding Principles of the U3A movement
  • Operate in accordance with its Trust approved constitution.
  • Abide by the legal requirements of the Charity Commission in England and Wales

Farnham U3A is comprised of individual groups which run themselves, and as long as what you do is within the overall U3A spirit of sharing our knowledge and experience, and developing our own individual capabilities by learning from other members, then how you do it is up to you.

What follows is necessary for the smooth interaction between the groups which make up Farnham U3A, and for the well-being of Farnham U3A as a whole. All group leaders and secretaries should familiarise themselves with these notes; where any particular item falls within the specific responsibility of a group leader as opposed to secretary, or vice versa, that will be indicated. If anything is not clear to you, or if something crops up that isn’t covered by these notes, get in touch with the Groups’ Co-ordinator or another person on the Committee.

Contact details for our committee members are on our website or on our Maltings noticeboard in the corridor leading to the café.

Most U3As have to use a variety of accommodation for their groups that may be spread over a wide geographical area in a mixture of village halls, Scout huts and individual members’ houses. Farnham U3A is very fortunate to have most of our groups at the Maltings where we also have facilities for storing our audio-visual equipment, our rooms are set up by the Maltings staff, and we can use the café and the car park. Encourage members to remain polite to the Maltings staff at all times so we can continue good relations and remember that there are many other groups that use the Maltings.

Forms

There are three forms that you will have to use:

  • Registration sheet, for enrolling members in your group, on which you list their names, membership numbers and contact details
  • Class Waiting List
  • Class Attendance form, for recording members’ attendance, any cash paid and their In Case of Emergency (ICE) details

More copies of the forms are available from the main U3A cupboard or online at

The U3A Cupboards

  • We have the use of various store cupboards(in the long corridor next to the Long Kiln Gallery and outside the South West Kiln), where all our audio-visual equipment is kept, also a photocopier for use by group leaders for material for their groups, and extra copies of the forms mentioned above.
  • If you need access to the store cupboards, the keys are held at the Maltings box office. Please return them as soon as possible so that other groups can use them. Please do not keep the keys during your group meeting – others may require them!
  • The store cupboards must be properly locked when not attended. Note that after using the large cupboards in the long corridor, secure both the top and bottom bolts before locking the door. If the cupboards are not properly secured then our insurance won’t cover lost items.

Booking room and equipment needs

  • Notify your room and equipment requirements to the Programme Manager by email when requested (around May for the following year), and each time your requirements change.
  • It is important that groups do not exceed the numbers of members permitted in their room at the Maltings. Spot checks may be made.

Group Leaders Meetings

Please ensure that your group is represented at the annual Group Leaders’ meeting, by the Group Leader, Group Secretary or an appointed representative.

Registering members in your Group

  • Once members have paid their subscriptions for the new academic year, they may register for groups before Registration Day, and you may accept their registrations.
  • Towards the end of the academic year, you mayaccept provisional registrations from your members (subject to their renewing their membership) for the following year.
  • Do not automatically enrol existing members for the following year – they must tell you that they want to continue the following year.

Waiting Lists

  • Because different groups have different circumstances, and groups are responsible for their own management, there are no exact rules on the management of waiting lists for those groups that are fully subscribed. We do, however, ask you to share your waiting lists with the Groups Co-ordinator.
  • As long as you follow the over-riding principle of fairness to those on waiting lists (to include keeping them informed of the state of the waiting list), it is up to you to decide on your policy for removing members from the class registers and admitting waiting-list members. In default of a policy better suited to your group’s circumstances, it is suggested that you should remove from the class membership any member who without reasonable cause misses a group meeting twice in succession, or three times in an academic year.
  • It is up to Group Leaders to make their policy clear. It is not fair to leave people on a waiting list if one or more current members do not attend regularly.
  • And of course, if your group is full, and has a waiting list, then it’s clearly a popular one, so do consider the possibility of encouraging the setting up of a duplicate group. Discuss this with the Groups Co-ordinator.

Admission of non-members

Occasional guests may be admitted at your discretion. Guests may attend ONE taster class per year only. Charges are £1 for members of other U3A groups and £2 for non-U3A members. Arrange to pay this money to our Treasurer.

Registration Morning

  • Your group must be represented at the annual Registration Morning, early in September, preferably by the Group Leader or Secretary.If neither of these is available, please arrange for another groupmember to attend your group desk at registration. Even if your group is already fully subscribed, there should be someone there representing it, to talk to potential members, and to take names for a waiting list.
  • Representatives should arrive between 9:30 and 9:45 and check through the pack of information on their desk.
  • Please note there is space for only ONE representative per group.
  • Your duties on Registration Day are covered in a separate briefing note produced for the event.
  • Please note that each group is now required by the Maltings to sign a Fire Regulations document. This will be given to you and collected at Registration Morning.

Checking of membership cards

  • You must check the membership cards of those who sign up in person at Registration Morningto make sure they have paid their subscription for the coming year.
  • For those who join the group by email or by telephone, or who are continuing your group, it is important that you check these at the first opportunity – this will usually be the first meeting of the group.

In Case of Emergency (ICE)

  • On the back of all membership cards there is a short form for members to fill in with the emergency contact details of a relative, neighbour or friend in cases of emergency.
  • Group leaders should encourage members to fill these in and encourage them to carry their membership card with them not only to their groups but also on trips.
  • The Class Attendance sheets include a column for noting In Case of Emergency (ICE) details.

Making new members feel welcome

  • Introduce new members to your group and encourage the group to be welcoming.
  • Tell members how your group operates; don’t assume they will just know e.g. arrangements for tea and coffee; policy on apologies for absence.

Travelling and Parking expenses

Farnham U3A does not reimburse Group Leaders’ travelling and parking expenses.

Visiting Speakers

  • A U3A car parking reservation board to reserve a parking space for speakers is stored in the main U3A cupboard.
  • Please arrange for it to be put out and collected by a member of your group – this is not a duty of Maltings’ staff.

Cancelling a Group meeting.

If you need to cancel your meeting:

  • Ensure that all groupmembers are notified;
  • Inform the Programme and Venue Management, so that the Maltings can be informed and the room released;
  • If this is a last minute cancellation then also inform the Maltings Box Office (01252 745444).

Maltings’ Fire Regulations

  • Group Leaders will be sent a Maltings Fire Prevention and Evacuation Procedure to read in advance of Registration Morning in September. They should retain this copy for their records. They (or their group representative) will sign another copy at Registration Morning and this will be collected from them, as this is now required by the Maltings.
  • Group Leaders are responsible to their class members for evacuation in case of emergency so they must be thoroughly familiar with the Maltings Fire Prevention and Evacuation Procedure.
  • At the beginning of each term group leaders must remind members of the correct procedure and familiarise them with where the fire exits, fire routes, break glass point and extinguishers are located.
  • If you see, smell or hear smoke or fire, activate the alarm without hesitation via the nearest break glass point (located at most exits) and evacuate the building as below.
  • Do not at any time allow members to wedge open any fire door.
  • Make sure that you know the fire escape route from the building for the room that you are using. If the fire alarm sounds, TAKE CHARGE and insist that the room is vacated WITHOUT DELAY. Get your Secretary to leave first, leading members to the season ticket car park, which is on the far side of the main Maltings’ car park. Be the last to check and leave the room taking any stragglers ahead of you. Close all doors behind you.
  • Members should NOT leave the Maltings via Red Lion Lane (the approach road to the Maltings) by foot or by car, as the fire engine will approach at speed along this road.
  • Members should not go and sit in their car until we have the all-clear.
  • If the nearest fire exit brings you to the courtyard at the back of the Maltings, again head to the contract car park, but do not walk in Red Lion Lane. Members need to walk the long way round by turning left out of the yard, and by making your way along the pavement and then over the road bridge and then using the riverside path and the foot bridge, continuing on to the contract car park.

Fire Guidelines for those with Walking Difficulties

  • If members have difficulties in walking and happen to be on an upper or lower floor, other than ground level, during a Fire Alarm, they should not attempt to use the stairs.
  • The Maltings advises that these members should stay in the room, with the door(s) shut. Ask a member of your class to inform one of the Maltings’ staff that a member with walking difficulties is in which room. They will be escorted out as soon as possible. The lifts automatically cut out when the Fire Alarm goes off.

Insurance

  • Farnham U3A is a fully paid up member of the Third Age Trust and so has the benefits of the nationally providedPublic & Products Liability Insurance policy. To see this, log onto the National U3A website: > Members Area > Section E > Insurances and Safety. You will need to register on the site to gain access (create an account, free of charge).
  • The insurance which we have through the Third Age Trust does not cover injury caused through the negligence of a PAID tutor. If you are the Leader or Secretary of a group which engages the services of a paid tutor (Pilates, Yoga and Tai Chi) then it is vital that you ensure that the tutor carries sufficient third party insurance cover. A copy should be passed to the Treasurer annually.
  • Class Attendance sheets must be completed at each class and kept for up to a year afterwards, for insurance purposes. This includes all groups that meet outside the Maltings.

Communications

  • Please encourage the members of your groups to keep up to date with other U3A events by: reading our:
  • U3A Update email newsletter
  • The Owl (annual publication)
  • Visiting our website,
  • Looking at the U3A notice board
  • The U3A Update newsletter is emailed approx. every 10 days during term time to all members for whom we have a correct email address. Group Leaders are encouraged to email notices for inclusion to the vice chair publicising their groups’ forthcoming events which are open to all members.
  • When emailing members of the U3A committee, please distinguish your email clearly: in the subject/header box, write U3A, group name if relevant, and what you are writing about e.g. “U3A Horticulture Group: request for equipment training.”

Farnham U3A Website

Group Leaders are encouraged to write information about their group for the Group Pages section of the Farnham U3A website and update it yearly. Send any new pages or updates to the Vice Chair.

Contact Details

  • Please keep your groups’ contact details secure and up to date.
  • Make sure members notify the Database Manager of any change in their contact details, including their email addressso that they can receive communications and the U3A Update newsletter.
  • If you or your secretary’s emails or telephone numbers change, make sure you update these with the Database Manager and the Groups’ Coordinator.

National U3A website

The most useful part of the national website is the Resource Centre available in the Member’s Area. Group Leaders are encouraged to register (create an account, free of charge) so that they can take advantage of what’s available there. These include:

U3A Resource Centre:

This includes document downloads; subject advice; publications including the magazines; DVDs and CDs to borrow for your groups. You can also phone/email the Manager who is a trained librarian, for advice

U3A Sources magazine

This is an Educational Journal published 3 times a year and aimed at Group Leaders. Each edition focuses on a particular subject area. You can read back copies online in the Resource Centre. This is not the same as Third Age Matters which is a general magazine for all members with back copies also available to read online.

U3A Subject Advisors

There are over 50 voluntary subject advisers you can contact for both new groups and existing groups; some keep in touch with Group Leaders through newsletters or blogs; you can find their contact details on the national website through the Resource Centre (under Subject Advice) and in Third Age Matters

Refreshments

  • A tea and coffee break, however short, is a welcome opportunity for groups to relax, get to know each other and visit the loo!Breaks also facilitate concentration!
  • Members can go to the Maltings café to drink there or they can take a drink back to the room in a disposable cup.
  • Alternatively, arrangements can be made directly with the Maltings catering staff for drinks to be brought to outside the room. It will be up to you to see that all refreshments taken by members of your group are paid for in full, and that members understand the arrangements so that they do not help themselves to refreshments without having paid for them.Please note:
  • Special forms for ordering drinks are held at the Maltings Desk and these should be used whenever possible.
  • It is useful for the Secretary to have change available to speed up the ordering.
  • Drink orders should be taken down to the Maltings at the beginning of the session.
  • Drinks for Guest Speakers are not provided free but should be paid for out of Group funds.

The Maltings catering staff are sometimes working under great pressure, and if there is a delay in the delivery of your order, or there is an apparent shortfall between what was ordered and what was delivered, any problems should be dealt with calmly and courteously.

Share the Load

  • Delegate where you can and spread the workload amongst your group, no matter how small the tasks.
  • Encourage people to get actively involved within the group, such as planning a group lunch or trip.

Encourage a culture of planning

Many U3As have found that regular planning sessions can contribute towards ensuring a lively, dynamic interest group. The best ideas come from an open ‘brainstorming’ session where everything and anything relevant to the topic can be suggested. Even frivolous suggestions can trigger unusual or exciting practical suggestions that might have stayed dormant otherwise. Negative comments should not be part of the discussionuntil a good selection of possibilities has been identified. At this stage the practicalities can be assessed but constructive comments should be encouraged.