Minutes General Meeting 3rd Sept 2018

University of the Third Age Moraira-Teulada

Minutes of the Monthly Meeting held on

3rd September 2018 at Salon G.L., Teulada

at 10:30

It is confirmed that the President attended the meeting as voted in at the AGM on 7th March 2018. The Meeting was minuted by Margaret Roberts as both the Secretary and Deputy were absent.

David Haxon, the President, welcomed everybody to the Meeting especially the 28 new members. He confirmed the usual Security checks had been made, advised the position of the emergency exits and asked for all mobile phones to be switched off.

Prue Jackson read out the synopsis of the Minutes of the Meeting on 2nd July 2018. The full minutes had been posted on the website and these were proposed by Eileen Haxon, seconded by Robin Woods and approved by the members.

President’s Address

 David welcomed everybody back from the summer break, and said those who had been here all summer had experienced some extremely humid weather, but that soon it would start to cool down. Many Groups will be restarting after a break, and David said that as usual all the Group Leaders’ work is greatly appreciated. A request for help on the day of the Hog Roast at Font Santa has been made by Peter and Pauline Griffiths, and anyone who can assist should make themselves known. Today the new projector will be used for the first time and it is hoped that life will be made easier for future Speakers. David hoped that all members would continue to enjoy any groups or activities they are involved in.

Reports

Treasurer – Carin read out her report which will be on the website. As at 2nd July the money held was €10824.66, with income for July €1117.50 and expenses €2318.53 the balance held as at 3rd September is €9623.63. Carin explained several of the extraordinary expenses that have been incurred over the last two months, one of which was the need to buy a new laptop because the Council is now doing all their bookings through the Internet. A Card Reader is needed and the old laptop was not compatible with the card reader. Also involved in this expense was the cost of the card reader, a visit to the notary and the digital certificate that was needed.

Travel – David gave thanks to the Travel Group for all their hard work, and Carol echoed her thanks to people who had helped on the Travel Desk.  Carol said she would not give too much detail on the trips because these can be found in the Travel section of the U3A Website. 21st October – Sunday lunch at Viva España at €45 per person which includes a horse display, lunch, Flamenco Dance show and the bus. 14th November – shopping and sightseeing trip to Valencia at €10 per person. 24th November – a night out to Benidorm Palace. There are two prices for this trip, of €60 and €70, which will determine the seating. Both prices include the bus. In 2019, on 9th January a shopping trip to IKEA in Murcia, in the morning an option to go shopping at the Condominio Centre, at €10 per person. Overnight Trips: 1st – 5th December – trip to Barcelona to coincide with the Christmas Lights and Christmas markets. On the fourth day there will be an optional trip to Tarragona.  6th to 31st May a 26 day 25 night trip to Italy, the cost will be approximately €2050 with a single supplement of €525 (there is a lady who is willing to share a room to save this supplement). Full details of this trip and all others can be found on the U3A Website and on the display boards at the monthly General Meetings.

Group Coordinator. Lynn said that since the July meeting it has  been quite a busy summer. At the end of July we started a new Group, Spicy Dining and had the first meal at Ichiban Restaurant in Moraira with 32 attendees. At the dinner two of the members offered to become group leaders so Lynn is pleased to say that John and Elaine Ross are the new group leaders. They are now arranging the next dinner for the end of September which they tell me is already fully booked. So looks like another popular eating group for the U3A.There will also be starting a Dance to Get Fit group later this month so if anyone is  interested in joining,  go on to the website. This will start on Thursday 20th September. Lynn is also looking at two new groups Archery and Beach Patrol, more about those next month. If anyone has an idea for new Groups please let Lynn know.

Members/Committee Liaison. Dot said that following David’s request in the last newsletter, two members have said they are interested in taking the Treasurers post. Dot also reminded that Job Descriptions for all the posts on the Committee can be found on the Website under Internal Regulations. The Website is currently being updated and if anyone has any comments or suggestions, these should be directed to Dot Garrett. We would like to include new and reports from individual groups so please send any information to Lynn Clark, Group’s Coordinator. Dot gave thanks to Piotr Azia and Peter Bayliss for all their IT support with changes to our website and service provider. Dot reminded members that any items for the Newsletters should be sent to her. Dot said that a lost wallet had been returned by the Police to its owner due to them being able to identify the owner through his U3A membership Card, another benefit of belonging to our U3A.

Cultural Arts

Beverly gave details of many events. 8th September – The Chaplaincy Singers are at the Ermita San Josep, La Fustera. 26th September – Second arts show presented by the Arts Society Marina Alta at Salon Canor Teulada. Also 29th September. Picnic Concert – Claire Marie Trio at the Lavender Gardens, Jalon. 4th October – Three Shades of Grey at the Ermita San Josep. 6th October – Bourbon Street Stompers at the Auditori Teulada. The Royal Opera House’s live cinema season will show 11 productions live from Covent Garden to the Casa de la Cultura Calpe, Cine Roma Alfaz del Pi and the Condado Theatre Denia. The first production will be on 15th October – the ballet Mayerling, the second is the opera – Die Walküre. A full list for the whole season can be found on the Website. New season for Concerts Costa Blanca begins on 20th October – Puccini’s Turandot. More details of the full programme will be made available. STOP PRESS: 27th October – Tribute to Il Divo. For more details of all events please go to the U3A Website.

Matters Arising

There were no matters arising from the Reports.

Any Other Business

A member informed the members that there is a meeting on Wednesday 5th September with the Mayor and Councillors from Benissa, and the public regarding the Moraira – Calpe Road, and urged all people who have an interest in this area to attend, so that their thoughts and suggestions can be heard.

Eileen introduced the Speaker Tony Grande, who directs the Make a Smile Charity which supports disadvantaged children on our part of the Costa Blanca. Tony outlined how the charity supports these children, which currently number 98, from the various homes and his wonderful talk was accompanied by a selection of photos of the homes, staff and helpers. There were very few pictures of the children (and these were not close up) as most are the subjects of Court Orders and their anonymity is essential. David presented Tony with a cheque for €700 which was raised at a quiz night. Also at each General Meeting there is a collection box as Make a Smile is the named charity of 2018 for our U3A. Tony was extremely pleased with this and the members gave a round of applause.

The raffle was drawn and the winning ticket was number 65, held by Paul Pruden who received a €50 voucher for JYSK. 

The Meeting closed at 11:20

Proposed as a true and accurate record of the meeting held on 3rd September 2018

Proposed by…………………………………….Seconded by………………………………..Date ……………………… 

Secretary for the Meeting ………………………………..Marg Roberts