University of the Third Age Moraira-Teulada
Minutes of the Meeting held on
1st September 2014 at Salon de Banquettes, Teulada
It is confirmed that the President and the Secretary attended this Monthly Meeting as voted in at the AGM on 2nd December 2013.
The President, Jill Cole, welcomed everyone to this Meeting, especially the 16 new members. Jill went on to remind the members about the Emergency Procedures and asked them to use the main stairs and those through the kitchen, and that the lift should not be used. Jill asked if everyone had their raffle ticket which was for a meal voucher at Casa Toni.
David Haxon read out the Synopsis of the Minutes from the Monthly Meeting held on 7th July 2014. The full Minutes had been posted on the Website. These Minutes were proposed by Eileen Haxon and seconded by Linda Clark. The Minutes were then approved by the members with a show of hands.
There were no Matters Arising from the Minutes
Reports:
Treasurer:
John Hopwood read the report on behalf of the Treasurer, Titch Crossfield. John said that since the Meeting on 7th July there have been expenses of €729.15 made up as follows:
Payment to Groups 444.00
Stationary & Printing 71.65
Room Hire 90.00
Committee Expenses 23.50
Income for July was €130, made up from 3 renewals and 10 new members, making the total membership 1454.
Therefore as at 26th August 2014 the following amounts were held.
Contingency Fund 4000.00
Current Account 13566.46
Cash in Hand 542.89
Total €18109.35
John reminded the members that the Budget Forecast for 2014 had been set at €13645, and that €6495.00 had been spent so far.
However, one area of expense over the next six months would exceed its budget, this being expenses to Groups which, although it is a form of subsidy, had been accepted as this benefits many members.
Group Coordinator:
The details of all Groups are on the Website and the only extra items that Shirley Baehr added to her Report are recorded as follows:-
Shirley began by saying that unfortunately David Kennedy, the Gardening Group Leader, has had to return to the UK for a significant period and was unable to continue. Shirley said this was a popular group and she would really like to keep it going so appealed for someone to come forward.
Some Spanish Groups are re-commencing this week and members were reminded that they should contact Pauline McGough direct for her groups, or Linda West after 10th September for information regarding Carmen’s and Laura’s groups. Members were also reminded that they would have to pay for a full month up front, even if they were going to miss some lessons in that month.
Los Chavales is a group for men who meet once a month for a good Menu Del Día, and the first meeting will be at Casa Toni on 15th October. There are a few places remaining.
Las Chicas Que Comen is the equivalent to the men’s lunch group and continues to go from strength to strength. September is fully booked but places are being reserved for the October lunch.
Shirley reminded members that they should check with their individual Group Leaders about dates for re-commencement after the summer break.
As always Shirley was very keen to be able to offer some new Groups and asked members to come forward with any new ideas, otherwise the U3A could go stale. Shirley said there were openings for more craft groups, other card games, coffee and cake mornings (or afternoons), “how to get the best from your smart phones or tablets”, social networking – like Facebook or Twitter, and many others. There was a wealth of knowledge within our U3A and Shirley said she would help in any way she could. Shirley also said that members should continue to look at the website, although it has been quiet through the summer, as we are soon hoping to include a couple of new features.
Shirley said it was with great sadness that we had heard that Helen Coughtrey, Group Leader of the Quiz Group, had passed away a few weeks ago. Someone who knew her as a friend and colleague was Hugh Stewart and he was invited to say a few words. The full announcement can be found on the Website.
Hugh said that he and Beverly first met Helen through their love of quizzes, and through a radio programme that they produced, Helen (and Les) took part in the quiz just about every week. When they eventually met, they became firm friends. Helen then joined the team as a guest broadcaster and wrote and recorded a segment for the radio where she reviewed some of the stranger stories of the week, plus producing a daily anagram (this in the days where everything was done longhand – no computers back then).
Helen was the Newsletter Editor on the original Steering Committee when our U3A started and since then had always been involved in writing quizzes, or designing and printing tickets for various functions, and of course helping to run the fortnightly Quiz Group. The Group recently held its 100th meeting and this fact was reported in the local press, probably to Helen’s embarrassment. Hugh said that Helen was ever modest, always smiling, a real lady, a valued member of U3A and she will be greatly missed by Les and their three children.
Travel Group News:
Brian Clarke read the Travel News on behalf of Carol Mantle and said that as full details could be found on the website, he would only give a brief outline of trips, and a little more information where there were vacancies.
Segovia & Salamanca 22nd – 27th September for 6 days and 5 nights at a cost of €405 with a single supplement of €100. There were still a few places available.
Day Trip to Ayora Honey Festival 8th October. This trips was full.
Day trip to Ikea, Shopping Centre & Murcia Town Centre. This trip was now full.
Barcelona 1st – 4th December. The cost of this includes a ticket to the show “Sister Act”, and will be €260 pp with a single supplement of €75.
Day Trip to Valencia 9th December. There are spaces available for this sightseeing/shopping trip at a cost of €10 per person.
Cartegena Easter Parades 31st March – 2nd April 2015. This popular trip is being repeated and will cost €115 pp with a single supplement of €20.
Prague, Vienna & Budapest 17th May – 5th June 2015. The cost will be approximately €1600. The exact prices could not be determined until after the flight schedules and prices for hotel etc for 2015 have become available later this year. The Travel Group had received about 50 bookings already.
Cultural Arts News:
Beverly& Hugh Stewart briefly outlined some of the many events being offered over the next month.
Sunday 7th September. This will be the last of the Moraira Lions free concerts in Moraira at the castle. This time the music will be performed by Manhattan Jazz.
Thursday 11th September. At Pedramala in Benissa, an evening with Duo Intermezzo, commencing at 7pm, take your own picnic. This event is now being held in the memory of Nick Green who has recently died and was the Leader of the Classical Music Appreciation Group.
Tuesday 25th September. Musicals of Tonight, a selection from various musicals will be presented by Amadeus. It starts at 8pm and tickets cost €10. Donations will be to Emaus.
Friday 10th October. Celebrating one year of Jazz at the Parador in Javea, Swingsational Jazz Reunion are a group of friends who received standing ovations whenever they performed. Tickets cost €15 and the evening commences at 8.30pm.
Thursday 16th – Saturday 18th October at the Careline Theatre & 24th October at Casa de Cultura, Calpe. Lest we Forget is being presented at 8pm, an evening of popular songs dance routines and sketches from the War years. Tickets are €12 with donations to The Royal British Legion and RAFA.
Saturday 18th October. Concerts Costa Blanca are presenting the Bourbon Street Stompers at the Auditoria in Teulada. Tickets will be €15 and the start will be at 7pm.
3rd – 7th November. The Javea Players are presenting the 39 Steps, a comedy /thriller, which commences at 8pm at a cost of €12.
Thursday 6th November. Teulada – Moraira Lions are presenting “Night of the Titans Rock and Roll” with tributes acts from Elvis and Shaking Stevens at Espai La Senieta at 7.30 witj tickets costing €15.
Weds & Thurs 12th & 13th November. The Footlights presents “Half a Sixpence” at Casa de Cultura, Calpe at 8pm and tickets will cost €12.
Friday 21st November & Saturday 13th December. At 8.30 Jazz at the Parador is presenting an evening to honour Gene Krupa.
The Palau de les Artes Reina Sofía in Valencia is commencing a new 2014/2015 season on many dates and featuring many composers. For full details see the website or the poster at the Cultural Arts desk at the Monthly Meetings.
Member/Committee Liaison:
Brian Nicholls said that he did not have much to report on, there was one issue about Online Banking, which he had raised with the committee and said the committee had considered this previously and, as then, declined the suggestion due to the following reasons.
- A committee member would have to monitor the bank account on a regular basis to see what payments had been received. This could be complex and time consuming for a voluntary committee.
- Bank charges are levied on electronic transfers for both the payer and the receiver, and even cheques are subject to a fee. For example a cheque for €8 received by another U3A member attracted a fee of €1.73.
- Payments for something like the Christmas Dinner/Dance need to be made in person as details were required from the members plus their menu choices.
- The Monthly Meetings are not only held to enable the members to meet socially and hear about any business, but also to enable the members to make payments easily in person.
Brian encouraged the members to keep questions and suggestions coming in to him whether by email or via the Suggestion Box. Members could remain anonymous if they so wished.
Matters Arising from the Reports:
There were none.
Any Other Business.
Jill said that there was no guest speaker at the Meeting, but next month the President of HELP, U3A member Judith Goodall, would be talking to us about the La Xara Drop in Centre and about the HELP organisation generally.
Jill reminded members that although we do not support a particular charity, she would like to mention that the Teulada-Moraira Lions are going to open a Charity shop near Barclays Bank in Moraira and it will be called the Lions’ Den. The shop will be officially opened on 18th September by the Mayor.
Jill had received a note from Les Coughtrey that donations collected in memory of Helen amounted to €150 and this had been sent to the British Heart Foundation. Les wanted to thank all those who had been so generous.
The members were reminded that whenever a new person joined the U3A or a Group Meeting that extra effort should be made to welcome them. It is very difficult to take that initial step in joining something new, and several comments had been received by the committee that members only want to sit with friends.
As the summer is now nearly over Jill said that it is time to think about December (accompanied by groans) and the AGM elections. This is because there are several members of the committee that want to step down this year, including the key positions.
Jill gave a list of the 6 vacancies that will become available in December.
- Margaret Roberts, Secretary. Margaret, Jill said, has done a fantastic job for 6 and a half years taking Minutes at both the Committee and Monthly Meetings, and has been Secretary since the beginning of the Moraira U3A.
- Don Roberts, Vice President. Don has been on the committee since the beginning of the U3A and now, due to health reasons, feels it is time to hand over.
- Sue Popkin, Membership Secretary. Sue has held this post for 5 and half years and feels that it is time for someone else to take the role.
- Margaret Williamson, Deputy Membership Secretary. Margaret has moved away from Moraira and does not feel she can keep making the journey to and from Moraira.
- Titch Crossfield, Treasurer. Titch says that she has enjoyed her year as Treasurer but has other commitments next year so cannot dedicate the time needed to fulfil the post.
- Jill Cole, President. Jill said that she had been on the committee for 3 years, two as Treasurer and one as President and that she has other commitments next year that will require more of her time.
Jill emphasised that there is no problem among the committee members at all, in fact they are a friendly bunch of people. However due to different circumstances in each case, changes are needed.
The rest of the committee had indicated that they would be willing to re-stand for election.
Jill encouraged members to consider either putting themselves forward or to nominate another person. The requirements are quite simple in as much as members need to have email, have knowledge of Word or Excel, but only if the role needs it. The posts must be filled as without the key positions there will be no U3A, so it is very important.
Nomination forms will be available at the Meeting next month, or can be made by email to the Secretary.
Job descriptions for the main roles are available on the Website under the Internal Regulations, should anyone need this information.
The raffle which was for a meal voucher at Casa Toni was drawn by Meri Snell, and the lucky winner was Graham Coleman.
The Meeting closed at 11.15
The next Monthly Meeting will be held on 6th October, 2014.