Minutes Meeting 4th January 2016

University of the Third Age Moraira-Teulada

Minutes of the Meeting held on 4^th January 2016

at the Salon G.L., Teulada

It is confirmed that the President and the Deputy Secretary attended this Monthly Meeting as voted in at the AGM on 1^st December 2014.

Jill Cole welcomed everybody to the first Meeting of the New Year, especially the 62 new members. Jill explained the emergency procedures and said that the lift should not be used in the case of evacuation. It was requested that mobile phones were either turned off or put on silent.  Jill then asked if everyone had collected their raffle ticket.

David Haxon read out the synopsis of the Minutes from the 7^th December Meeting. The full minutes had been posted on the Website and were proposed by Don Roberts and seconded by Hugh Stewart. The minutes were approved by the members with a show of hands.

There were no matters arising from the minutes.

President’s Address.

Jill hoped that everyone had had a good Christmas and that members’ and their families had been safe from the floods in the UK.

Jill continued that the committee is often asked what is discussed at their meetings and agreed that she would give a brief overview of the items discussed on 15th December.

1. The Group Leader ‘Thank you’ Meal would be held on 22nd January 2016 at Gemisant.
2. Jill would write to all Group Leaders asking them, or a deputy, to attend the Monthly Meetings so they were available for members to discuss their groups.
3. The start time of the Committee meetings was changed for the winter months to 10:30.
4. The Treasurers Report was read and it was confirmed that the books would be closed by the end of December and the Audited Accounts would be available prior to the AGM in March.
5. The Groups Co Ordinator asked if any of the Committee had a problem with the Classical Music Group having a CD swap at the Monthly Meetings. The committee agreed to this.
6. There was a reminder that members of any group have to be current members of the U3A.
7. Shirley suggested that we should have certain groups considered as “associated groups” as those run by teachers/people who offer a discount or are specialised teachers for U3A Members e.g. Pilates, Spanish etc.
8. Eileen Haxon provided an update on the forthcoming speakers and had received a suggestion of having a speaker on “what happens if the UK left the EU”.  There was a long discussion about this and it was decided that at the moment as no one knows what will happen, it would all be supposition; therefore this will be looked at later in the year.
9. Pat Clarke provided an update on the organisation for Renewals for Jan/Feb/March. Margaret Roberts would update the New Members info sheet and Jill offered to get 100 printed.
10. John Manley provided an update on the items that had been printed by the local papers and that he had prepared the notices for 1st quarter 2016.
11. Insurance for the U3A assets were discussed at length and a statement had been placed as a note to the Internal Regulations on the Website.
12. Steve Higham had created a list of possible social events for 2016, of which some were discussed.  It was agreed that there should be a subcommittee led by Steve, involving non committee members, to arrange events who would keep the main Committee informed.  Jill asked for volunteers to help Steve and anyone willing to help should contact him.
13. One committee member commented that it had been good to see so many people at the December meeting, and wondered why. It was thought that maybe free coffee should be offered each month rather than have a raffle. 

The AGM is in March, and at the Committee meeting Jill stated that she didn’t think 16 people were needed on the Committee.  However as Jill will be standing down in March she was happy to follow the thoughts of the rest of the Committee. Jill then read out who was willing to stand again in committee posts but pointed out that nominations could be received for ALL positions. It was obvious that members are needed to come forward for some vacant positions for YOUR U3A to continue being successful and that filling these posts was vital. Jill said that nomination forms are available and these should be fully completed and handed in by the next General Meeting.

REPORTS

Treasurers Report

Jill explained to the members that the €1000 given to the Teulada/Moraira Town Hall was as a thank you for letting the U3A use the facilities at La Senieta free of charge which saves our association a large amount of money. The theatre is regularly used at least once a week throughout the year by various groups, and the charge for its use is usually around €300 per time. Also the committee regularly meets there and various exhibitions have been held. The Town Hall had been asked that the donation should be used specifically to help local families in need, and was handed over to Laura Hillstead who is the Social Services representative on the Council.

Group Coordinator

Shirley Baehr reminded members that information about all the groups can be found on our brilliant Website, and was an excellent way of finding out information. An excellent way of selling items, finding the latest information on group activities etc is by joining the U3A Closed Facebook Forum Group.

Shirley also said that members should check before returning to their groups that there are no changes. The Gardening Group will be holding its first meeting soon under the leadership of Eileen Brown. Other relatively new groups are Cycling, Salsa and Jive.

Shirley hoped that out of the 62 new members perhaps someone would come forward to start up a new group and that some had been requested, such as Scrabble. Shirley said that she hoped to get some new ideas and that she is always very willing to help anyone get started.

Travel Group

Carol Mantle announced the following trips:

Maserof Bodega on 16^th March at the cost of €40 each which includes a six course meal and as much red wine as you can drink. There are 10 places left.

There will be a trip to Albaida and Bocairent, this is a repeated popular trip and will cost €30 including lunch, and there are 4 places left for this.

Another trip to Barcelona for Christmas shopping is being arranged for later in the year, as this has been requested by a number of people. This will cost €325 per person and there are already only 25 places left.

Overnight Trips are:

A trip in February/March 2017 will go to Cambodia and Vietnam. The provisional cost of this is €2800 with a single supplement of €1000 and includes a mini cruise; for full details refer to the website.

A trip will be made to Croatia with a Cruise and Excursions from 10^th – 30^th September 2017. The provisional cost is €2400 pp and is based on 2016 prices so could be subject to change. Our U3A will occupy the whole boat, and there is only one cabin left.

Full details of all trips are available from the travel group and can be found on the Travel Webpage and on the display boards adjacent to the Travel Desk.

Cultural Arts

Hugh Stewart gave a brief outline of some of the events planned for January in the local vicinity.

Saturday 9^th January – The Coral Benissenca is performing a New Year Concert at the Center D’Art Taller D’Ivars in Benissa at 8pm.

14^th – 17^th January the Careline Theatre presents their Panto, Aladdin at 8pm with matinees at 3pm on 16^th & 17^th.

Friday 16^th January – Jazz at the Parador in Javea by Ernesto LLorens called Gypsy Jazz Project.

Wednesday 20^th January – Concerts Costa Blanca is presenting Samson & Delilah at the Palau de les Arts Reina Sofia in Valencia.

Sunday 24^th January – Teulada Moraira Lions are presenting a tribute band to Take That at La Senieta in Moraira.

Tuesday 26^th January – At Cine Roma in Alfaz Del Pi, a broadcast from the Royal Opera House in London, the ballet Rhapsody/The Two Pigeons, and on

Tuesday 4^th February – again a broadcast of La Traviata from the ROH at Cine Roma.

19^th/20^th February Teulada Moraira Auditori presents Verdi’s Rigoletto.

For full details of all events please refer to the U3A Moraira-Teulada website.

Members/Committee Liaison Officer

Brian Nicholls introduced himself for the benefit of the new members and explained his role. Brian said that thanks to pressure from the members, a reduction in the membership renewals for existing members for 2016 had been agreed by the committee.

Brian reminded members that the AGM is in March and asked that they consider standing for the committee and “step up to the plate” in order to keep our U3A being successful; also helpers are always needed by the committee.

Brian said that he hoped improved communication will be helped by having a synopsis of the committee meetings being presented each month. Names of individuals who vote one way or another on the various issues will still be kept confidential.

Brian referred to idea of “associated groups” and the paying of specialist people for some groups and said this is something that is currently under discussion; also the committee will keep an eye on the possible exit of the UK from the EU and any repercussions for Expats.

There were no matters arising from any of the reports.

Any Other Business

Jill confirmed that a member had raised the issue of Insurance for the U3A assets and said that after discussion at the committee meeting, the question had been answered, and a comment had been added to the end of the Internal Regulations on the Website.

Dot Garrett queried whether carrying cash taken at the meetings is covered by insurance and Jill said that the Insurance Company will not insure this as the amount and the person carrying it is always unknown. People never carry cash alone and the committee is very aware of the vulnerability of the situation and takes every necessary step to ensure the wellbeing of the carriers.

Dot also asked if payments by PAYPAL would be considered again. Jill replied that this has been thoroughly investigated, reported on and it had been decided that it was not suitable for us. Other local U3A’s that have had the facility are now withdrawing it as so few people used it, also there are costs and a lot of extra work involved.

Lynn Clark pointed out that the committee is trying to set up a card payment system. This had not been possible before with La Caixa bank but the U3A has now changed to Sabadell and the new bank is looking into payments being made by card and also online transfers. This is another ongoing investigation. Carol Mantle from the Travel Group pointed out that these new methods would only be used by the Travel Team for the more costly trips and not for €10 Day Trips for instance.

The raffle was drawn and was won by new member Lyn Larner and was for a €50 restaurant voucher.

There was no further business and the meeting closed at around 11.20 a.m.

The next Monthly Meeting will be on 1^st February 2016.