A message to all members about preparation for membership renewal in March.
In the first week of March you will receive an email asking you to renew your Epsom & Ewell U3A membership. In preparation for renewing in March there are some points to consider below and answers to questions that have been asked before. This year it is even more important to pay by Bank Transfer if you can.
Why is bank transfer the preferred method and what is the impact if I pay by cheque?
The bank has very recently started charging charities, including our U3A, for every cheque processed. This reduces the funds we have for other U3A benefits for our members.
Bank transfers are free. Even if you do not use online banking you can ask your bank to arrange the transfer, free of charge.
Additionally, the postal service cannot be relied upon and last year some cheques went astray in the post, took a long time to arrive or in one particular case arrived 8 months after it was posted to the correct address! Cheques also take longer to process.
Why are we asked for renewal payments from the beginning of March when our membership runs out at the end of March?
We have 1250 members. Each individual membership renewal and payment reconciliation is handled manually and it takes many weeks to handle these.
If we do not start processing renewals at the beginning of March we would not be able to renew all members by 1st April.
Each renewal is handled in the order we receive the payment.
Will there be any increase in the membership fee for 2026-27?
No. We are pleased to be able to hold membership at the 2025-26 rate and you will be notified of the amount in the renewal request in early March.
Will I get a confirmation when my payment is received?
You will not receive a separate confirmation about payment receipt. Once your renewal has been processed you will receive your new membership card by email. That will be confirmation that your payment has been received.
As mentioned above there will be many payments to process so please do not expect your renewal to take place as soon as your payment has been received. Allow at least a week (or 2 weeks if paying by cheque).
My partner/wife/friend has received a renewal email at the beginning of March but I haven’t. Why and what should I do?
There can be a number of reasons for this.
1. An email address is shared.
2. Membership is classed as joint and sometimes the U3A system will just send to one party.
3. Your email handler may class the email as being spam/junk so please check spam/junk folders. In some cases the email could be blocked all together by your email handler
4. You have changed your email address but haven’t let us know. If you know you have changed your email address recently please let us know.
If you are aware that the general renewal request has been sent out at the beginning of March but you haven’t received the email you can still make payment, but include your membership number as the reference and your renewal will be processed.
I do not want to renew my membership who do I inform?
If you do not want to renew, we will be sorry to lose you but would appreciate you letting the Membership Secretary epsommembership@gmail.com know so that your record can be updated and to avoid you receiving numerous payment reminder emails.
Kind Regards
Pam Buckmaster
Membership Secretary