University of the Third Age Moraira-Teulada
Minutes of the Meeting held on
3rd March 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 29 new members.
Jill went on to remind the members of the Emergency Procedures. Jill also asked if everyone had a raffle ticket.
Don Roberts read out the Synopsis of the Minutes from the AGM held on 3rd February 2014, the full Minutes had been posted on the Website. These Minutes were proposed by Mike Lawson and seconded by Mags Williamson, and were then approved by the members with a show of hands.
There were no matters arising from the Minutes.
Jill said that our Guest Speakers were from the Guardia Civil who would be giving a talk about Security in the home and in the community.
Jill told members that the U3A Groups are the mainstay of the association and that when they are participating in their group activities they must be aware of new members, and make them feel welcome. Although many members use the opportunity to get together with old friends, it is also an opportunity to meet new people and help them integrate, especially if they are new to the area. Jill reminded everyone that they should welcome new members and invite them to join in.
Last month it was mentioned that there is a new speed limit in the main road outside the salon, and Jill said that the road from the railway bridge to the N332 also has a speed limit of 40km/h with cameras in place.
Reports:
Treasurer: The Treasurer, Titch Crossfield, said that since the Meeting on 3rd February there have been expenses of €3412.80 made up as follows:
Room Hire 90.00
Payments to Groups 860.37 (includes new headset microphones for the Drama Group)
Copying & Stationery 76.00
Printing & Computer 203.53
Translation 79.00
Gifts (including monthly draw) 193.69
Committee Expenses 36.00
Refreshments 26.00
Non Asset Equipment 25.00
Insurance 1902.21
Income for February was €5760.00, made up from 500 renewals and 76 new members, making the total membership 1132 members.
Therefore, as at 3rd February 2014 the following amounts were held.
Contingency Fund 4000.00
Current Account 13115.42
Cash in Hand 283.08
Total: €17398.50
Titch went on to say that although the balance appears to be large at this stage of the year, the Budget for 2014 has been set at €13645, in order to provide the necessary equipment for the groups, for the members enjoyment and any unexpected expense.
There were no questions from the members about this Report.
Group Co-ordinator: The details of new Groups are on the Website and the only extra items that Shirley added to her Report are included here.
Rona Hurst said that the Golf Group needed two extra people for the Texas Scramble being held on 10th March.
Maureen Burrows had taken some of the items recently made by the Knit and Natter Group to the Meeting and Shirley encouraged the members to look and admire their excellent work.
Shirley gave a vote of thanks to Colin Turner who had run the Cribbage Group for nearly five years. The members gave Colin a round of applause.
As always Shirley is looking for ideas for new Groups and reminded members that the Website is a wealth of information for details of all the groups.
Before the Travel Report Jill welcomed Ann Colclough to the meeting in her new role as Group Leader of the Cocina Club.
Travel Group News: Carol Mantle was away so the latest information was read by Anne Cattle.
Names were still being taken for Reserve Lists for the trips to Benidorm Palace and Jerez.
There were still a few spaces left for the trips to Barcelona, the Albufera Lakes and the day trip to Valencia.
Members should register their interest for the trip being planned to Salamanca in September.
Anne made a plea to members who register for trips to inform the Travel Group of changes to email addresses.
As usual all details of all trips can be found on the website.
Cultural Arts News: Full details of all the events read by Hugh and Beverly Stewart are on the new Website, which will be updated as and when news of new events is received.
Member/Committee Liaison: Brian Nicholls told members that he was only going to report items that have not been covered by the preceding reports.
1. Brian had received criticism about the use of microphones and voice projection at the Monthly Meetings. Brian reported that this was discussed thoroughly and hoped the situation had improved. Ideally it would be better to reposition the speakers but the members were told that this isn’t possible, however the situation will be monitored and improved where possible.
2. A Group Leader had asked for her offer of the free loan of baby equipment to be advertised. This was agreed.
3. There had been a negative comment about the distribution of the free raffle tickets. Brian had noted that the President had already checked that everyone in the Salon had received a ticket.
4. There had been a long discussion about the (lack of) integration in some established groups for new members, and how Group Leaders could be encouraged to avoid this situation. The matter is on going while appropriate answers are being considered.
5. As a continuation of the Item before, there was a discussion about how to encourage Group Leaders to attend the Monthly Meetings regularly so that members, especially new ones, could speak to the Group Leaders directly about their groups.
6. It was discussed as to whether to appoint a dedicated PRO for Moraira U3A, but this was felt not to be needed.
7. There had been much talk about the new Website, but as this was to be covered by the new Webmaster later, Brian did not elaborate.
Brian reminded members that he would continue to monitor the Suggestion Box and encouraged members to use it.
The New Website
Piotr Azia, the new website administrator, gave a talk and demonstration about the new site. Some pages were displayed on a screen and Piotr talked to the members about what was being shown and how to navigate the pages. Piotr said that work is still in progress and he wants to expand the Contacts page. He encouraged members to send him additional information to be included, especially photographs of different activities.
Jill thanked Piotr and pointed out that the first page will be continually changing as this will always have the latest Postings that people have sent in. The idea of this was to encourage members to look at the site more regularly.
A member asked whether Facebook or Twitter would be linked, and was told that U3A Moraira Facebook is already in operation.
John Hopwood asked if there would be a “Notice board” where members could advertise items for sale or recommendations for services or goods. It was confirmed that this idea will be implemented at a later date.
Any Other Business:
A member said that she had found the sound system much better.
Committee member John Manley said that he and John Freeman do their best and try very hard to give everyone a raffle ticket as they entered the Salon, after having been asked to confirm that they are staying to the Meeting but sadly some members try to slide past the check, and also tickets are often found on the floor having been dropped.
Jill said that the Auditor has just finished his Audit for 2013, so the Accounts would be presented for approval at the next Monthly Meeting.
Jill then introduced the Guest Speakers, who were two members of the Guardia Civil. One of them spoke at length about Safety in the Home and in the Community with the emphasis on older and vulnerable people. Councillor Sylvia Tatnell accompanied them to translate. Leaflets were distributed which summarised all that was said. At the end of the talk members were reminded that this is a very safe area to live, but if anything suspicious is noticed then a call should be made to the Guardia Civil on the national phone number of 062
After the talk a presentation was made of wine, and Sylvia received a plant and Cava. All three were delighted and Jill thanked them for giving us their time and the members gave them a round of applause. Several members stayed behind to ask direct questions.
The raffle was drawn but no one came forward to collect the prize of a meal at the Restaurant Casario. After another number was drawn, which still remained unclaimed, and many people had left the hall, it was decided to hold over this prize until the April Meeting..
Jill Cole closed the Meeting at 12.30
The next Monthly Meeting will be held on Monday, 7th April 2014.