Minutes of General Meeting 6th October 2014

University of the Third Age Moraira-Teulada 

Minutes of the Meeting held on

6th October 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 27 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 then asked if everyone had received a raffle ticket.

Jill had some sad news to pass on to the members in that the Cribbage Group Leader, Colin Turner, had sadly passed away. Jill extended condolences to his wife Brenda and their family. Colin had started the Cribbage Group some years ago, and it had always been successful, but passed it over to Geoff Eley when he became ill.

David Haxon read out the Synopsis of the Minutes from the Monthly Meeting held on 1st September 2014. The full Minutes had been posted on the Website. These Minutes were proposed by Shirley Tuckey and seconded by John Snell. 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 1st September there had been expenses of €735.08 made up as follows:

Payment to Groups             246.52
Stationery & Printing         308.56
Room Hire x 2                 180.00
Committee Expenses             nil

Income for October was €290.00, made up from 2 renewals and 27 new members, making the total membership 1495.

 

Therefore as at 6th October 2014 the following amounts were held.

Contingency Fund              4000.00
Current Account              17062.75
Cash in Hand                     7.81
Total                       €21115.56

 

The Current Account balance includes the amount of €3500 being held for the Dinner/Dance tickets.

 

There were no questions regarding the Treasurers Report.

 

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:-

Diana Price, who runs the Scrabble Group, had had to be back in the UK for a while, so Shirley said she would like someone to come forward temporarily to run the Group.

Les Coughtrey was at the meeting with a car boot full of wool and cottons to give to anyone who was interested.

The Spanish Groups have now restarted and Shirley reminded people that they were required to pay one month in advance even if they were going to be away during that month, as the teachers give their commitment regardless of the number of people attending.

Shirley thanked Mosaics Group Leader Meri Snell and the group members for a wonderful display of the mosaics they had created.

New Groups this month are as follows:

Coffee & Cake This will be an informal social event held once a month, on the third Monday of the month in order to avoid the lectures. The first one will be held at 11a.m at Bonissimo Cafe on 20th October.

Smartphones & Tablets. This will be an informal get together to learn and share information with other users and how to get the most from these appliances. The first meeting will be held at Cafe Relax at 2p.m on 7th October, and thereafter on the first Tuesday of every month.

Spanish Social & Culture Group. Penny Hyslop is trying to get a group together to meet for a meal and a visit to the Bodega Museo Maserof. It will be on 23rd October from 1p.m – 3.30p.m (approx) at the Maserof Bodega next to Verd i Vent with a tour of the museum and lunch with their own wine included in the cost of €33. It is recommended that members car share where possible as parking is limited.

Walking Football. This is a proposed new group that has been requested, so Shirley needs someone to come forward to run it. The idea is based on association football but without running and so is suitable for the over 50’s. It can be played indoors or outdoors.

Dining at Home. Another new idea where people arrange dinner parties at home with the costs being shared.

Zumba Group. Shirley has contacted an experienced professional teacher who is willing to take on a class for our U3A. Shirley needs a list of names of interested members so that the possibility of these fantastic workouts can be explored.

Shirley asked the members to look at a new feature on the Website called “Vintage Spain” which shows old photos of the area.

Meri Snell thanked the members of her Mosaic Group and said that she was very proud of them all and the standard of work that they had produced. The items are very heavy and many had been taken down from walls etc, so she was very pleased with the wonderful display and hoped that other members enjoyed seeing the work.

 

Travel Group News

Carol Mantle read the Travel News, welcomed the new members and said that full details of all trips could be found on the website.

The trip to Segovia & Salamanca had been very enjoyable and successful.

Day Trip to Ayora Honey Festival 8th October. This trip, now consisting of two coaches, was full.

Day trip to Ikea, Shopping Centre & Murcia Town Centre. This trip was now full.

The trip to Barcelona in December has been cancelled due to lack of interest.

Day Trip to Valencia 9th December. This trip was now full.

Cartegena Easter Parades 31st March – 2nd April 2015. This trip is now full but names are being taken for a reserve list.

Prague, Vienna & Budapest 17th May – 5th June 2015. Again this trip is full but Carol encouraged members to put their names on the reserve list.

 

Cultural Arts News

Eileen Hodson read out the report on behalf of Beverly & Hugh Stewart and outlined some of the many events being offered over the next couple of months.

3rd – 10th October. The 18th International Organ Festival of Pedreguer will take place every Friday at the Church of the Holy Cross in Pedreguer at 8.30p.m and tickets will cost €12.

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

Friday 17th October. The Bourbon Street Stompers will be performing at the Palau in Altea. The tickets cost €15.50 and are available from the Ayuntamiento in Altea.

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.

Sunday 19th October. The 2nd Annual Books & Blues Festival is being held at the Bar Mediterraneo opening with a Literary Coffee Morning at 11a.m. Then after a break at 14.00 there will be a Blues Matinee Concert starring Danny Boy Sanchez playing the blues harmonica.

Sunday 26th October. The English Choir presents “the last hundred years of song” at the Salon de Actos in Teulada.

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 tribute acts from Elvis and Shaking Stevens at Espai La Senieta at 7.30 with tickets costing €15.

Weds & Thurs 12th & 13th November. The Footlights presents “Half a Sixpence” at Casa de Cultura, Calpe from 8pm and tickets will cost €12.

Friday 21st November. The gypsy jazz trio Fabian Barraza plays Django Reinhardt at the Parador in Javea. The evening starts at 8.30pm and tickets cost €15.

Friday 28th – Saturday 29th November. The Teulada Moraira Lions are presenting “Out of this World”, an evening with Chess and Lady Gaga Tribute Act at the Auditorio in Ondara. Tickets cost €15.

Saturday 13th December. Jazz at the Parador presents Jeff Jerolamon’s Swing Thing, to honour one of the world’s greatest drummer’s Gene Krupa.

The Palau de les Artes Reina SofĂ­a 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 introduced himself and outlined his role for the benefit of the new members and said that he had not received many comments this month. One thing that had been requested was for a Summer Ball to be held for members unable to attend the Christmas event. As this will be next year, Brian said that this would be for the new Committee to consider and therefore he will bring up the matter again in January.

Brian said that at this month’s Committee Meeting items discussed amongst other things were the forthcoming Annual Elections, the criteria for commemorative trees, and the December Dinner/Dance. As these are all ongoing items Brian will report back at the next appropriate Meeting.

Brian told members that he had had very few emails from anyone this month and he would be pleased to receive any queries or questions via email or the suggestion box. All contacts remain anonymous unless otherwise asked, and Brian said he could understand if any members get frustrated when their views are not endorsed by the Committee, but he assured everyone that the Committee always fully discusses the points made. However with a membership of over 1400 of which a very small percentage attend the Monthly Meetings, the Committee has to reflect a reasonable balance as to what strategy is acceptable to the majority.

Brian asked that members continue to send him constructive comments.

 

Matters Arising from the Reports:

There were none.

 

Any Other Business.

Jill asked how many members were able to use a Spreadsheet, a lot of members put up their hands. However when Jill asked how many of those people were resident in Spain, only two people kept their hands up. Jill said, tongue in cheek, that maybe one of those two would consider coming on to the committee as Treasurer.

Jill then said that when she had first joined the committee, several people had commented that it was a “closed shop”. Jill said that in view of the lack of people prepared to step forward to join the committee she could now understand why members saw it that way. In the past and probably in the future, we have had to approach people to come forward rather than wait for them to volunteer.

There is an item on the Website that is a survey for Expats. This is from a student who is doing a UK Residents Survey for his PhD thesis. It is NOT a commercial survey but the youngster needs about a hundred more people to answer it, so Jill asked members to consider taking the time to complete it.

Apparently Bay Radio had announced twice that U3A Moraira was holding a meeting at Sol Park on Wednesday 8th October in the afternoon, and it was open to non members! The committee knew nothing about any of this so Jill said she would contact both Los Leones restaurant and Bay Radio and tell them that the event is nothing to do with U3A.

Thursday 9th October is the Día de Valencia so is a Bank Holiday celebrating James 1 victory over the Moors in 1238. This is followed by another Bank Holiday on 12th October which is the Día de España which celebrates the landing of Christopher Columbus in South America, well the Bahamas anyway.

Jill then introduced the guest speaker Judith Goodall, who is the President of HELP.

Judith gave a brief outline of the main types of help they give to people, dealing with bereavement and manning the HELP desk at DenĂ­a hospital, as well as visiting In-patients during their stay, and manning phone lines to answer questions and give out information of all kinds. Judith reminded everyone that all their helpers are voluntary and that they rely heavily on the two Charity shops for funds, as well as donation and fund raising events, in fact the Moraira shop provides the majority of the funding that the organisation needs. The Moraira shop also has medical equipment and items that can be borrowed. The shop in La Xara has larger items such as electric beds, and also, having been totally refurbished, offers a welcoming Drop-in centre.

HELP also offers a respite service in Teulada so that carers can get a much needed rest for a week or two. In our area HELP covers a large area from Pego to Calpe, and each area has a Care Coordinator who tries to support people in any way they can.

To offer Care in the Community Judith has been working with a local Community Nurse, and now Judith has signed a contract for a provision of care, though this can be quite expensive. This new scheme started in June

and already HELP have been able to aid 6 people and their families.

However Judith said there is always more that can be done, and at the next Carers Meeting on 18th October at La Senieta, a new initiative will be announced, which will be based in Teulada. All are welcome at this meeting, and Judith made a plea for new volunteers for the committee especially Secretary, as the current secretary is standing down.

Jill thanked Judith for taking the time to tell us about the work of HELP and the members gave Judith a round of applause after which she was presented with a gift.

The raffle, which was for a meal voucher at Restaurant Ca Pepe, was drawn, and the lucky winner was Martha Ackroyd.

The Meeting closed at 11.45

The next Monthly Meeting will be held on 3rd November 2014